Eldon Wickham
From Ancestry.com U.S. Census records (up to 1930 - the 1940 and later censuses are not available to the public), California Voter Registrations (up to 1960), and death records, I have pieced together the following information.
See also Bill Rundberg's "Special Memories of Pico Canyon" for his memories of the Wickhams. He writes: "In the canyon behind the Larinans, the Wickhams lived in a small house and had a power plant. A secondary and much older building there was the first private adobe home I had ever seen. I have forgotten its history. While shy of electricity, plumbing and wooden floors, it was very cool on hot summer days."
Eldon Blaine Wickham was born on June 4, 1884 in Iowa to Ranson Quigley Wickham (1/31/1855 Ohio – 10/20/1920) and Laura S. (born Jan. 1865 in Iowa). Eldon had a brother George Ranson Wickham (1893 - 1965) and a sister Laura Louise (1896 - ?). On the 1900 census the family was living in the city of Los Angeles.
On March 19, 1906, Eldon married Margaret Bibb (who was born in Missouri). On September 29, 1907, a son, Robert Eldon, was born. On the 1910 U.S. Census, they lived in the city of Los Angeles with their son. On the 1916 Voter Registration list for the City of Santa Monica Precinct No. 16, Eldon and Margaret were listed as living at 1453 25th Street. Eldon was a land attorney.
Sometime between 1916 and 1918 Margaret died and Eldon moved to El Centro. On the November, 5, 1918 (and 1920) Voter Registration list for El Centro, Imperial County, California, Eldon was still listed as a land attorney. On the 1920 U.S. Census Eldon is listed as a widower and a lodger in El Centro. On the same census, his son Robert is listed as a lodger with Page and Lena Strother in the city of Los Angeles.
On the 1922 Voter Registration list for Los Angeles County Precinct No. 481, Eldon B. Wickham is listed as an attorney living on 109 S. St. Andrews Place. On the 1928 Voter Registration list for Los Angeles City Precinct No. 785, Wickham is listed as an attorney living at 529 Heliotrope Drive. Also listed at that address is his son, Robert E. On the U.S. Census of April 11, 1930, Eldon is listed, with his son Robert, as living in Glendale, California.
Sometime between April, 1930, and 1932 Eldon B. Wickham and his son Robert E. moved into the future Wickham Canyon from their home in Glendale, California. On the 1932 Voter Registration for the Newhall District 1, Eldon and Robert are listed as living in Section 6, the location of Wickham Canyon. On the 1934 Voter Registration for Newhall Precinct No. 1, Eldon B., Robert E., and Mrs Leona M. were listed. Robert and Leona married on June 4, 1932. On the 1936 Voter Registration for Newhall, only Robert E. and Mrs. Leona were listed. Eldon evidently didn't register to vote that year.
On 4/23/1937, Eldon received a homestead patent for 11.3 acres of land in Wickham Canyon. On 5/5/1937, son Robert received a homestead patent (including land for stock raising) for 620 acres of land in, and around, Wickham Canyon. On the 1938 - 1942 Voter Registrations for Newhall, only Eldon B. was listed. Robert and Leona were listed on the Voter Registrations for the City of Los Angeles from 1946 - 1954.
In 1944 Eldon B. was not on the Voter Registration list for Newhall, but he was on the list for Glendale, California, Eldon (who would be 60 years old) was listed as retired and living at 1861 W. Mountain Street. Also listed at the same address was his brother George R. (a lawyer), Mrs. Vesta B. (George's wife), and Miss Margaret M., George and Vesta's student daughter. On the 1946 Voter Registration for Glendale Precinct 149, Eldon B., George R., Mrs. Vesta B., and Miss Margaret M. were listed as living at 1861 W. Mountain St.
The 1948 Voter Registration for Newhall Precinct 1, list Eldon B. and Mrs Blanche N. Wickham. Eldon had married Blanche between 1946 and 1948 and moved back into the canyon, which he still owned. He would remain there the rest of his life. Between 1948 and 1960, Eldon B. and Mrs Blanche N. are listed on the Voter Registrations for Newhall.
On August 19, 1963, Eldon Blaine Wickham died at the age of 79 in his Wickham Canyon home. He was buried in Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall, Ca.
On August 11, 1965, George R. Wickham (Eldon's brother) died in Glendale, Ca. On November 3, 1974, Blanche N. Wickham (Eldon's 2nd wife) died in Riverside, Ca (she was born Sep. 21, 1892). On June 21, 1983, Robert Eldon Wickham died in Los Angeles County. On December 26, 1999, Leona M. Wickham died in Los Angeles County (she was born Feb. 28, 1912)
Eldon Wickham World War I draft registration card
The Wickham's leaving on a trip. Newhall Signal, March 10, 1960.
Eldon was well-liked. Newhall Signal, May 25, 1961.
Wickham's funeral notice. He died on August 19. Newhall Signal, August 22, 1961.
Wickham's rock collection. Newhall Signal, April 16, 1964.
Wickham's headstone at Eternal Valley Memorial Park and Cemetery in Newhall , California.
Wickham's grave looks across to Sanford Lyon's grave (left of red arrow) in the Garden of the Pioneers. Both men have canyons named after them.
George Wickham (Eldon's brother), 1893 - August 11, 1965. George was an attorney and long-time councilman of Glendale, California. He was also the mayor of Glendale from 1949 to 1951. He was married to Vesta B. Wickham and they had four children (Margaret, Mildred, George Jr., and Frank).