HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY – Samuel Armour (1920) Biographies
ELMER ORVAL HOOKER. — Prominent among the interesting pioneers of Orange County who have contributed something worth while toward the development of the section in which they have lived and toiled, must be mentioned Mr. and Mrs. Elmer O. Hooker, identified in an enviable way with the introduction of the sugar beet into Los Alamitos. He was born at Terre Haute, Ind., on January 18, 1873, the son of William O. and Elizabeth (Ratts) Hooker, natives of Virginia and Indiana, respectively, and when three years of age was brought by his parents to Phillips County, Kans. There his father raised wheat, corn, rye and oats; and while he strove for a common school education, he helped on the home farm. Of their six children, four of whom are living, our subject is the third eldest.
In 1894, Mr. Hooker came out to California, and that same year he took up farming at Pomona. Three years later, he removed to Los Alamitos, settling there early enough to build one of the first houses, and to become one of the first sugar beet growers in that vicinity. He helped on the construction of the sugar factory, and he also became one of the foremen for the five following years of the Los Alamitos Sugar Refinery and helped to make its reputation for a superior product. He was manager of the Los Alamitos Beet Growers Association for a number of years, and set the pace in growing beets by the latest, most up-to-date methods. He operated from 15O to 500 acres planted to sugar beets, but in 1919 he gave up raising sugar beets and located on a ranch of forty-seven acres he had purchased in Santiago Canyon in 1917. The ranch was formerly a part of the Madame Modjeska ranch, and has over 3,000 olive trees planted by the distinguished Polish actress over twenty years ago which he is grubbing out so that he may plant the land to alfalfa and walnuts. Besides seven head of horses and eight of cattle, he follows the chicken industry as a side issue. He also improved and still owns valuable residence and business property at Seal Beach, Los Alamitos and Huntington Beach.
At Los Alamitos on September 12, 1915, Mr. Hooker was married to Mrs. Adelina S. Upperman, a southern lady born at Macon, Ga., the daughter of Harry I. and Laura A. (Alverson) Joy, natives of Ellsworth, Maine, and Macon, Ga., respectively. Harry Joy served in a Maine regiment during the Civil War, after which he married a southern woman and engaged in farming until his death; his widow now lives in Evansville, Ind. Adelina Joy was educated in the schools of Macon, Ga., and there, too, she married William Upperman and they removed to Saskatchewan, Canada, where he was employed as railroad engineer on the Canadian Pacific until he was killed in a train wreck. After his death his widow engaged in railroad Y. M. C. A. work until she came to California in February, 1915, and in September of the same year changed her name.
Besides ranching so successfully, Mr. Hooker has had both public office experience and done good civic work. He was in charge of the road improvement work in his district for years, and has served for a season on the jury. He is what might be termed an exceedingly useful citizen, both doing things and setting an inspiring, contagious example to others.