In early 1888, the Ventura firm of Stow & Power, Civil Engineers and Surveyors, completed a survey of a portion of Rancho San Francisco (about 10,000 acres) for the owners, the Newhall Land & Farming Company. That surveyed land was labeled the "St. John (not John's) Subdivision" and called a "Prohibition Colony."(1) What was the reason for this survey?
On April 7th, 1888, at a special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Newhall Land & Farming Company (which were W. Mayo Newhall, E.W. Newhall, Walter P. Newhall, George A. Newhall, and H.G. Newhall by his attorney in fact, E.W. Newhall), a contract was ratified. The minutes of that special meeting reported that: "On motion of WP Newhall, seconded by EW Newhall, it was unanimously resolved that the contract entered into on the 4th of April, 1888, between this company and J.P. St John and associates, having with the latter parties 10,000 acres of the San Francisco Rancho in Los Angeles County for sale and the signing of said contract by the Vice President and Secretary as and for the act, and deed of this Company be and the same are, thereby ratified and confirmed. Geo. A. Newhall Sec."(2)
Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the contract, but much of it can be inferred. It is certain that the Newhall Land & Farming Company did not sell 10,000 acres to J.P. St John and his associates, as has often been reported. No land deed was ever recorded. The Company apparently agreed to the creation of a prohibition colony and to sell St. John and associates lots in the subdivision at a low price. St. John and associates would then sell the lot to a buyer at a higher price. The NL & F Company could also sell lots (after all it was still their land). The deed for any lot sold by all parties would include a prohibition clause. It is possible that St. John and associates paid the Company to obtain the contract, but that's just a guess. It would seem that the Company received nothing for the contract except the possibility of populating their Rancho San Francisco with more people which, at that time, it was lacking.
J.P. St John and associates was a partnership consisting of John P. St. John, George B. Katzenstein and Jesse Yarnell. It was formed in late 1887 or early 1888 specifically for the prohibition colony they had plans for. We do not know how these three particular men got together. As we shall see, they had much in common, but they had much in common with many men at that time. Los Angeles resident Yarnell, already engaged in selling land, became the land agent for the colony. The associates' headquarters was Room 3 in the California Bank Building at the corner of Fort and Second streets in Los Angeles. In 1889, H.C. Needham, a friend of St. John's living in Kansas, moved west to Newhall and took over as the main sales agent.
John P. St. John (3)
George B. Katzenstein (4)
Jesse Yarnell (5)
Henry C. Needham (6)
THE PARTNERS AND NEEDHAM
John P. St. John was the most famous of the three associates. He was born in Indiana in 1833 and moved to Illinois in 1848. Both parents died before he was 19. His father had been an alcoholic, which influenced John the rest of his life. In 1852 he got married, but divorced in 1859. He fought in the Indian Wars in California and Oregon, studied law, and married again 1860. St. John fought in the Civil War. About 1869, he and his family moved to Kansas. In 1872 he was elected to the Kansas State Senate. St. John was strongly for prohibition and a member of the Prohibition Party. In 1878, he was elected as governor of Kansas. He authored (maybe along with H.C. Needham) an amendment to the constitution of Kansas that would ban the manufacture and sale of liquors. The amendment was voted in by the people in 1880. With so many black people migrating north and west after the Civil War, St. John argued that it was the morally right thing to allow them into Kansas, which happened. Many other states refused them. In 1882, St. John was defeated for a third term of governor. In 1884, he was the presidential candidate of the Prohibition Party For the rest of his life he would travel around the country speaking in favor prohibition and morality in general. In 1916 he died in Kansas.(7)
Jesse Yarnell (b. 1837, Ohio - d. 1906, Los Angeles, Ca.) came to Los Angeles in 1866 and began a newspaper publishing career and became part owner of the Weekly Mirror and founded the Evening Express in 1871. He would also become associated with many other industries in Los Angeles including oil. Yarnell was a lifelong supporter of prohibition and often worked for the prohibition party, in which he was many times nominated for office on that ticket. He was three times elected to the prohibition State Committee. At one time, Yarnell was a director of the Porter Land & Water Company, the ex-Mission and San Fernando Water Company, and the Richfield Land and Water Company. He was also the president of the Southern California Prohibition Club. He was also a promoter and seller of land.
George Katzenstein (b. 1848, Louisiana - d. 1909, Sacramento, Ca.) came to Sacramento as a child in 1853. He had a prominate business career. Starting in 1868, he was the manager of the Earl Fruit Company, the largest fruit shipper in the state. Katzenstein was one of the directors of the Orangevale, a subdivision for farmers in Sacramento that included an anti-saloon clause. He was also involved in the prohibition part and the anti-Chinese league. It is unknown exactly what his duties were in the partnership. Living in Sacramento, he could not have been much help, so it is probable that he only provided financial support.
In 1851, Henry Clay Needham was born in Kentucky. Moving to Kansas in 1871, he attended college and became a teacher. He also became active in the Prohibition Party. Needham may have helped John St. John, the governor at that time, author the Kansas Dry Law. In 1879 he married Lillie Taylor. On April 2, 1888, Needham was elected mayor of Arcadia, Kansas.(8) However, in December of that same year, he resigned. The reported reasons were "a disagreement between him and the city council concerning the enforcement of law and order regulations"(9) and for "consideration of health,"(10) probably the former. His prohibitionist views probably conflicted with the council's views. Soon he was hired by St. John to be the agent (or superintendent) for the St. John Subdivision in Newhall. He was promised a percentage of the sales.(11) By April of 1889, Needham and his wife had moved to California.(12) He was always a prohibitionist and, now in California, he served as the state party chairman numerous times even becoming their candidate for president in 1920. Needham died in 1939 on his Newhall ranch, which was located on land in the St. John Subdivision he had purchased from the NL & F Company.(13)
All four men were staunch members of the Prohibition Party and were excellant orators for their cause. They were often at same Prohibition political conventions and other prohibition meetings over the years and must have become acquainted with each other. For example, attending the June, 1884, Prohibitionist State Convention in Sacramento were George Katzenstein and Jesse Yarnell.(14) At the May, 1886, California Prohibition Convention Katzenstein was chairman and Yarnell was in attendence.(15) At the 1888 National Prohibition Convention in Indianapolis, Illinois, the chairman was John P. St. John. Yarnell was a committeeman from California. H.C. Needham was also there. (16) In September 1887, at the Armory Hall in Los Angeles, Jesse Yarnell introduced John P. St. John as the principle speaker on prohibition. St. John predicted that "in two years from now prohibition will be in the majority."(17)
When the California Bank open in Los Angeles in 1887, Jesse Yarnell was a stockholder and H.G. Newhall was the President.(19) Newhall was one of the owners of the Newhall Land & Farming Company. Was this the link between the three men and Newhall Land & Farming that would get them the 1888 contract to sell land owned by NL & F?
However it happened, St. John, Yarnell, and Katzenstein formed their association and the St. John Subdivision was created.
NEWSPAPERS AND ADVERTISING
The first mention of the St. John prohibition colony that I could find in a newspaper was in the Tulare, California, Advance Register of August 8, 1888. It stated that "Governor John P. St. John has bought a fine valley of land near Newhall, this county, and will establish a colony thereon. No Saloons need apply - Pomona Times." Of course, he did not buy the land but contracted to sell it. The Spring Hill, Kansas, New Era of December 27, 1888, reported that "During Ex-Gov. St. John's brief stay in Los Angeles Cal. he has been honored by having a beautiful suburban addition to the town of Newhall named 'St John subdivision' and is a Prohibition colony. We presume the Gov. is investing some means in that famous country [California]." The Topeka, Kansas, Daily Press of December 31, 1888, was "in receipt of a circular, with accompanying map, from ex-Governor St. John who is now located at Los Angeles, California, giving an interesting descriptionof the location, etc., of a 'prohibition colony' which has been projected by the eminent reformer in the Golden state."
As 1889 began, many other Kansas newspapers began mentioning the colony.(20) For example, the Olathe, Kansas, Mirror, of January 3, 1889, reported that "Ex-Gov. St. John has engaged in a real estate speculation some thirty miles north of Los Angeles, California. In company with two gentlemen, with unpronounceable Hebrew names, they have sub-divided a tract of about ten-thousand acres of land near the station of Newhall, on the Southern Pacific railroad, named it 'Prohibition Colony," and placed the lots on the market. The Mirror received circulars and a map, descriptive of the governor's new scheme, last Saturday."
Kansas was the focus of St. John's advertising, although there were some advertising in Illinois. St. John probably believed that there were many families living in his home state of Kansas that wanted to move to a strictly prohibition colony. He may also have believed that many of Needham's followers would also move to California. As we shall see, he was wrong.
Yarnell was the original sales agent, but he was evidently too busy with other endeavours to have much time for the St. John Subdivision. I could not find even one lot sold by Yarnell in the new prohibition colony. That was probably one of the reasons that Needham was hired. When Needham arrived on the scene, he began his own an advertising campaign. The Osage, Kansas, Mission of May 16, 1889, reported that "H. Clay Needham, general manager [of St. John's prohibition colony], is flooding Kansas with circulars describing the beauties of 'Newhall,' and soliciting Kansans to seek a home in the land of flowers and sunshine." He also sent letters. Here is one from the Arcadia, Kansas, Times of June 13, 1889.
Others also wrote glowing letters. The Arcadia, Kansas, Times carried letters from Sam Taylor (October 31, 1889) and Dan Wiest (October 13, 1892). The Stafford County Rustler (St. John, Kansas) published a letter from George Selfridge (February, 13, 1890).
Circular from The Lever, Chicago, Illinois, January 9, 1889, Page 3. The ad on the right side is from the Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection.
This small classified ad is from the Los Angeles Times of November 1, 1889. It is the only ad from a California newspaper that I found and, curiously, it only ran for one week (November 1 - 7).
THE PROHIBITION CLAUSE
The prohibition clause slightly differed from deed to deed, but the substance was the same.
On June 14, 1889, the Newhall Land and Farming Company sold George Campton a part of lot number 40 of the St. John Subdivision for $100 (Deeds Book 583, Pages 186-189). Here is the prohibition clause:
"But this conveyance is made and delivered by the party of the first part and as a part consideration hereof and so accepted by the party of the second part, upon the expressed condition and reservation that no distilled or alcoholic liquor or malt, beer or intoxicating liquors whatsoever, shall be manufactured, sold, or offered for sale, or kept in storage for sale or use as a beverage upon the premises hereby conveyed, or any part thereof, by the said party of the second part, or any person holding under him. And as a part consideration and inducement to make, execute and deliver this deed by the party of the first part, and the acceptance by the party of the second part, it is hereby mutually covenanted, understood and agreed that a breach of the above conditions, or any of them by the part of the second part, or any person holding under him, shall immediately work a forfeiture of this conveyance, and the estate hereby granted shall thereupon revert to the party of the first part, its successors or assigns, together with all and singular the improvements and betterments made upon the premises or any part thereof; and the party of the second part, his heirs or assigns, shall thereupon have no right to have or claim the purchase money or any part thereof or any money whatever. And the part of the first part shall immediately upon the breach of the foregoing conditions, or any of them, be entitled to reenter upon the said premises, take possession thereof, and hold the same as its own propety and estate, anything in this deed contained, to the contrary notwithstanding."
Another version with minor differences was on this deed recorded on March 15, 1890. H. Clay Needham and Lillie Needham sold Louis Ledger and Frank Jewell a part of lot number 33 of the St. John Subdivision for $800 (Deeds Book 637, Pages 302-304):
"But this conveyance is made and delivered by the party of the first part and as a part consideration hereof and so accepted by the party of the second part, upon the expressed condition that no distilled or alcoholic liquors, beer, malt or other intoxicating liquors whatsoever, shall be manufactured, sold, or offered for sale, or kept in storage for sale or use as a beverage upon the premises hereby conveyed by the said parties of the second part, or any person holding under them. And it is hereby understood and agreed by second parties as a part consideration to execute this deed by first party that a breach of the above agreement and conditions, or any of them, by the second parties or any person holding under him, shall immediately work a forfeiture of this conveyance, and the estate hereby granted shall thereupon to the party of the first part, his successors or assigns, together with all and improvements made upon the premises or any part thereof; and parties of the second part, their heirs or assigns, shall thereupon have no right to have or claim the purchase money or any part thereof or any money whatsoever, and party of the first part shall immediately on the breach of the foregoing conditions, be entitled to reenter upon the said premises, take possession thereof, and hold the same as its own propety and estate, anything in this deed contained, to the contrary notwithstanding."
SALES
To say that the St. John prohibition colony was a failure is an understatement. Of the 10,000 acres available for sales, only about 286 acres were actually sold during the years of its existence (1888 to 1892). That's less than 3% of the total. Needham sold about 178 acres and the Newhall Land & Farming Company sold about 108 acres. This is based on an extensive review of the indexes to the deeds recorded during those years. However, I know the indexes were not totally complete (on FamilySearch org) and there was at least one deed that I could not find listed. The deeds that I did find can be seen here.
Some of the sales were very interesting. The 19.79 acre of land in Lot 33 was first sold to Lillie Needham (H. C.'s wife) on January 10, 1889 for $5. On May 7, 1890, the Needhams sold the lot to George & Mattie Barnett for $1000, $50 an acre. However, on December 1, 1890, the Barnetts sold it back to Lillie for $500. They must have been very dissatisfied, because they lost $500. The Needhams then sold it to Victoria Orr on December 6, 1890, for $250. But on November 7, 1892, Orr sold it back to Lillie for $1000. Why so much? The Needhams then sold it to Sam Geier for $1000. By now, the contract held by St. John and associates was cancelled, so this was all profit for the Needhams. Two years later, Geier sold it to the Newhall Land & Farming Company for only $10. That's a lot of activity for 20 acres.
On October 27, 1890, Needham sold 88 acres of Lot 32 to W.S. Hannaford for $4000, about $45 an acre. Hannaford sold it back to Needham in 1892 for only $1. Another dissatisfied buyer?
THE END
In 1892 (the actual day was not recorded), at a special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Newhall Land & Farming Company, their contract with St. John, Katzenstein, and Yarnell was cancelled: "Resolved that the Vice President and Secretary, or Secretary Pro-tem, be and hereby are authorized and empowered as and for the act and deed of this Company, to enter into an agreement with J.P. St John, Jesse Yarnell, and George Katzenstein, releasing from the operation of that certain agreement entered into with said parties and bearing date April 4th, 1888, lots 1 to 29 both inclusive and lots 51 to 59 both inclusive, St John Subdivision, except such lots thereof as may have been sold or under contract to be sold."(21)
From then on, the prohibition clause was left out of virtually all deeds. However, the St. John Subdivision was used in deeds long after that since the subdivision lots, or parts of, were still bought and sold. In 1912, Henry C. Needham recorded a map of the subdivision in the Los Angeles County Recorder's Office.(1) He was still living there on his large ranch.
(2) Minute Book of the Newhall Land & Farming Company 1883-1893, pp. 107-108; Newhall Land and Farming Company records; The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
(3) Photo from Kansas Historical Society found here.
(4) A History of the New California, Its Resources and People, edited by Leigh H. Irvine, The Lewis Publishing Company, New York, 1905, p. 436.
(5) USC Libraries Special Collections, California Historical Society Collection 1860-1960, Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960.
(6) In "My First Wild Turkey", short story by H.C. Needham (ca.1900), found on the SCVHistory website.
(12) Arcadia, Kansas, Times, January 11, 1889; Arcadia, Kansas, Times, February 7, 1889; Arcadia, Kansas, Times, April 11, 1889; Pittsburg, Kansas, Daily Headlight, April 12, 1889; Girard, Kansas, Press, April 25, 1889; Bronson, Kansas, Pilot, April 26, 1889; The Western Herald (Girard, Kansas), April 27, 1889; The Leader (Wichita, Kansas), May 4, 1889.
(21) Minute Book of the Newhall Land & Farming Company 1883-1893, p. 139; Newhall Land and Farming Company records; The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
