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EXCELLENT STORY BY MR. R.C. PRIMMER
June 1971
Dear Mr. Gordon:
Referring to our telephone conversation a few days ago, I
am submitting this true account of my early years in Palmdale
and how I happened to be there.
PROLOGUE
HOW AND WHY I CAME TO CALIFORNIA
My parents, Rudolph and Esther Primmer had for many years
farmed a quarter section in McHenry county Illinois. I was the
youngest of five children, having one brother and three sisters.
Dad had reached the age where he could not stand the hard winters
of that country, so he sold the farm and auctioned off most of the
stock and farm equipment, retaining three cows, a span of mares,
some housegoods and some farm equipment, all of which was loaded
into a box car routed to Palmdale over the Santa Fe railroad. Dad
and I also came in the car to tend the stock. Mother and my
youngest sister came in a passenger train. My two older sisters
being married, and my brother did not come west at that time. Dad
had previously purchased a twenty acre orchard at Littlerock,
Calif. Palmdale was the nearest railroad station.
We arrived in Palmdale a few days before Christmas, 1901.
PALMDALE, DEC. 1901
My mother and sister arrived a few days before we did due to
the improper routing of our car.
As Dad's property was in Littlerock, which had no school at
that time, we had to live in Palmdale so sister and I could attend
school, which was a two story brick building west of the tracks,
just opposite the town.
We moved into a 3-room shack about three quarters of a mile
south of town, Dad would spend several days each week at
Littlerock working in the orchard, coming home on weekends.
Several months later Dad purchased the hotel from Mrs.
Basler, whb ran it with her daughter, Emma Lawson. Emma had a
pretty redheaded girl, named Rita, who later on married S.P.
engineer, Art Champlin.
Mother and sister ran the hotel for several months, with 11
year old me helping out with the chores. The hotel had a dining
room where full meals cost 25› (can you imagine that) Mother was
the cook and sister waited table. This is now the Pearland Hotel.
PALMDALE PEOPLE I REMEMBER
John Shearer, store keeper and postmaster--Bill Carter,
blacksmith--Aaron Wolff, saloon keeper, the Wolff's had three
boys and a girl May, when she grew up she married Tony Godde, a
rancher west of Lancaster. A Mr. Hollingsworth, who ran the
gypsum mill at what is now the north-west corner of 6th St. East
and Ave. R.
Abbe engineer was a man named Randall--A Mr. Berkley had
charge of the water works, the reservoir, ditch from Littlerock
and the necessary piping. Oscar Newquist, a hunch backed man, did
the maintainence work. Oscar lived in a shack in the hills south
of town and used a buckboard and span of mares for transportation.
After several months, we rented the hotel to a Mr. & Mrs. Frank
Robinson of Lancaster. We then moved to "Old" Palmdale, where I
attended school during most of 1903.
THE S.P. RAILROAD
The railroad property was the largest part of the town, at
that time. There was the depot (torn down in 1970), section foremans
house, shacks for the section gang (Mexicans), a water tank, well and
windmill, an oil tank, a coal yard (a few engines still used coal),
a two stall roundhouse with turntable, a tool house and right of way
maintainence equipment.
Palmdale being a helper station, 2 or 3 engines were kept there
to help all south bound freights up the hill to Vincent, where they
would uncouple and back down to Palmdale, Years later a Y was installed so helpers could turn around and head back.
Chris Schneckengerger was the hostler, and had charge of the
engines and the other property. Chris had four boys, and one girl,
who was only a few years old when I left Palmdale in 1904.
THE SCHNECKENGERGER STORY
Chris' boys were Albert the oldest, George, Eugene and Alec.
When they were old enough, the three youngest became firemen and
later on, engineers. Albert was the first to go, he was killed when
the oil tank collapsed, due to decayed timbers, smashing the pump
house where Albert was working, and nearly getting his dad also.
Many years later, George who was pulling a passenger train, struck
a gasoline tank truck on a crossing at Kingsburg, in the San Joaquin
valley, killing himself and the fireman, and several passengers.
Alec, the third to go, died of a heart attack, but was not on duty
at the time. Eugene, last of the boys, passed away from natural
causes. The girl, Agnes, when she got older, married a railroad
brakeman. It was said he committed suicide, I never knew him.
Their parents had long since passed away, Chris in his later
years, going blind, as rumor has it.
Agnes, if she is still alive, at this writing, 1971, should be
in her early seventies. This account extends from 1903 to around
1956 or 1957.
Such is the tragic history of the Schneckenberger family.
"OLD PALMDALE"
During most of 1903 we lived at "Old" Palmdale where I went to
school in the old building that was built in the 1880's, and many
years later a resident of Lancaster purchased it, moved it to town
and made a dwelling of it. For many years it was located on Beech
Ave. in Lancaster and used as a rental house. Around 1960 Glen and
Doreen Settle acquired it, moved it to their museum at the Tropico
Gold Mine and have preserved it as an historical building, along with
several other early homes of the valley.
PALMDALE AGAIN
Early in 1904 we returned to Palmdale to resume operating the
hotel, the Robinsons, having given it up. I then finished the school
term at the Palmdale School, ending in June 1904. The next month we moved to Los Angeles, my folks having swapped the hotel for a rooming house in L.A.
LITTLEROCK, JAN. 10, 1916
After 11 1/2 years in the city, I moved to Littlerock, where
my parents had gone to look after their property. I did orchard work
for Frank Stanton, who ran the store. This was enough of that kind
of work for me. I decided to get back into garage work, and together
with Gus Anderson of Lancaster, we bought out a Mr. Chapman, who had
a small garage near the present location of the Dodge Agency in Lancaster. Mr. Chapman was glad to sell his garage business, as he was
making more money bootlegging.
During the next 30 years I was in the auto repair business at
several locations, except for about two years, when I worked at the
Burney Starksen Chevrolet agency.
In 1948 I built a garage building on Yucca Ave. in Lancaster,
where I continued in business for 16 years. I sold this property
to Dave Watson of Lancaster, who took possession on June 30, 1964
at which time I retired from business at the age of 73 1/2 years.
In 1925 I built my home on Date Ave., Lancaster and am still
living at that location.
R.C. Primmer
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