Thomas Ahern (1842-3/11/1912) was born in Cork, Ireland. He was the son of Martin (1780-) and Catherine Ahern (1806-1863) who came to America in 1861. The family settled in Portland, Middlesex. Connecticut. They were part of the Irish-Catholic migration. After Catherine’s death, Martin moved to New London, Connecticut with a family (Relationship unknown) Thomas was one of four sons.
Thomas came to California via the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco. Thomas farmed for a while in San Pablo CA. He married Honora Purcell (1846-4/15/1933) from Contra Costa County in 1866 in San Francisco. He was 24 and she was 20. Honora’s parents arrived on 11/8/1851 in New York from Liverpool, England aboard the Winfield Scott when she was five years old.
The couple moved to Santa Barbara Township in 1866 where he became a major bean producer. In 1881 he moved his family to what is now known as Inglewood California, leasing land to raise grain products. In 1893, Thomas relocated his family to Orange County where he leased land on the San Joaquin Ranch. At age 65 he wanted to downsize and raise Citrus. He purchased 40 acres in Anaheim around 1905 where he made his home. Thomas and Honora had 14 children, all born in California.
Thomas died in Anaheim, California, at the age of 70. Honora stayed in her home on 528 W Center Street in Anaheim with her daughter Lillian. Honora died when she was 87.
The life story of their children follows:
William Ahern (7/1867-11/1/1935) married Mary Newman in 1890 in California. In 1900, they lived in Los Angeles with his sister Lillian. He was a contractor. He then married Minnie E Sproul (11/26/1870-11/15/1953) on November 19, 1910, in Los Angeles, California. He was 43 and she was 40. In 1920, they moved to San Diego, California where he worked on a construction crew for the City of San Diego and later worked at the Naval Supply Depot while he managed is own farm and was a gardener. They had no children.
He died in San Diego, California, at the age of 68. She died at age 82 in Ventura County
Margaret Ahern (10/1868-6/24/1914) married Stanley King (1864-) in Los Angeles in 1890. He was 29 and she was 22. They had two children, Gracie and William. She died at age 45 and is buried at the Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Catherine Agnes Ahern (2/12/1869-6/7/1957) married Ole Almond Nelson (1868-1/21/1951) on 8/1/1894. He was 26 and she was 25. Ole’s father came to California from Norway prior to 1860 and married Louisa Borquez who was born in Oregon. Catherine and Ole had no children, and her mother lived with them on their Los Angeles County farm. He died at age 83 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles. She died six years later in Orange County when she 88.
Anna E Ahern (8/1870-7/5/1939) married Theodore Edmund Clark (12/1868-1/2/1910) on 3/18/1888 in Compton CA. He was 19 and she was 17. They had one son, Eugene Edmund. They lived in Los Angeles where he was a laborer. Theodore died at age 39. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery. Anna then married Emil Christian Miller (8/29/1876-2/1937). He was 37 and she was 43. They lived in Anaheim CA where he was an engineer at the city power plant. He died at age 60 and she died two years later at age 68.
Anna’s son Eugene joined the Navy when he was 19 and saw duty on the USS Tennessee and was discharged from the USS Wilmington on 10/3/1914. He then became a customs officer in Canton, China.
Mary Martha Ahern (1874-8/29/1957) married John Feliciano Nelson (5/19/1872-7/1/1941) in Los Angeles CA on 7/2/1894. He was 22 and she was 21. He was Ole Nelson’s brother. They had a daughter, Gertrude, who died when she was two years old. They lived in Los Angeles where he was a US Meat Inspector.
He died at age 69 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery. She died in Orange, California, at the age of 83.
Eugene Owen Ahern (4/28/1874-3/26/1934) married Margaret E Kelly (8/21/1880-9/10/1963) on 2/2/1899 in Santa Ana CA. He was 24 and she was 18. Margaret was born in New Zealand. Her father, a boat captain, worked as a pilot guiding boats safely into Newport Harbor. Kelly’s came to Newport Beach Ca in 1884. Margaret had two brothers: David N (President of Abstract and Title Company) and William (Owner of Kelly Roofing)
He worked on the Twist Ranch becoming Mr. Twist’s foreman. Beginning operations on his own, Eugene farmed over 3.500 acres in the El Toro Area. He primarily raised grain products. He served on the Board of Trustees for the El Toro School District and was a registered Democrat. Eugene died at age 59.
They had two daughters, Laura Mae and Juanita Owen.
Laura Mae (11/29/1899-3/28/1987), married Drennan E Krauchi (1898-11/1/1919) on 3/3/1918 in Los Angeles. He was 20 and she was 18, He died of the influenza seven months later leaving her pregnant. He is buried in Fairhaven Cemetery. She lived with her parents until she married Harvey H Gulick (11/22/1901-4/20/1973) in 1921 in San Diego. He was 20 and she was 22. Harvey’s father was William Gulick, co-owner of the Tustin Garage. They had no children. They lived in the El Toro Area where he was an auto mechanic, and she operated a lunchroom. They moved to Costa Mesa. He became a Deputy Sheriff, and she was a bookkeeper at the Tustin Garage.
Harvey died at age 71 and Laura Mae died at age 87. Both are buried in Fairhaven Cemetery.
Laura Mae’s son, Drennan graduated from Tustin High School in 1936. His sport was swimming where he set several records. He lived with his grandmother Margaret for a time. He enlisted in the Navy on 5/6/1942 and served with the 16th Construction Battalion (Seabees) in the Pacific Theatre. He was awarded five Bronze Stars, the Good Conduct Medal and the American Theatre and Asiatic-Pacific Ribbons. Except for time in the service, He was the Field Superintendent for the Tustin Hills Citrus Association until the packing house closed in 1964. He then went to work for Fairhaven Cemetery as the Operations Superintendent until he retired in 1995.
He married Frances Philbrook in 1946. They had one son: Alan. They lived at 1881 Highway 101 with his grandmother Margaret A Ahern. Drennan and Frances divorce in 1971. He married Dorothy Heil, his high school sweetheart in 1972.
Juanita Owen (1/31/1911-8/20/2005) married her high school sweetheart Robert Dale Park (10/3/1910-3/8/1971) on 11/14/1930. He was the son of Rollo Park from North Tustin. They had no children. They lived in Santa Ana where he was a service station attendant at his father’s service station (Park Service Station) and she worked in the lunchroom. Robert enlisted in the Navy on 1/1944 and was a Fireman First Class. He was stationed at Coronado Island. They divorced and each remarried. She married Robert Evarand Austin on 8/17/1951. He was a salesman. They lived at 326 Chestnut in Santa. Ana. Robert Dale Park worked as a Deputy Court Clerk for Orange County.
Juanita died at age 94 in Joshua Tree Ca.
Thomas Ahern (10/17/1876-11/13/1953) married Edna Forsythe on 19/16/1903 in Orange CA. He was 27. He divorced Edna and boarded in the home of Leman Throll, an Irvine Reach livestock foreman. He then was a boarder in the home of Charles Hendricks on Culver Drive. He never remarried and worked as a laborer for Lewis. F. Moulton Co then worked for the Irvine Ranch in their livestock Division. He is buried at Fairhaven Cemetery.
Phillip J Ahern {1/23/1879-6/22/1954) married Antoinette (Kidney) Wheeler (12/13/1882-2/24/1958) on 2/16/1901 in Santa Ana CA. He was 22 and she was 18. Prior to marrying Phillip, she was a servant in a San Juan Township home. She was born in Kansas. She was an orphan and was adopted by Wheeler’s.
Phillip was the section foreman for the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. He was responsible for upkeep and maintenance of the track and other duties such as bookkeeping and inventory control. He was a member of the Knight of Pythias.
He died at age 77 and she died at age 76 in Lake Forest. Both are buried at El Toro Memorial Park Cemetery.
They had eight children as follows:
Gertrude Louise Ahern (1901-1966). The 1930 census shows her married to Fred Ephron Warner 1887-1950). He was 14 years her senior. They have one daughter, Harriett. They lived in Santa Barbara where he was a railroad agent. He had previously been married to Elizabeth Oliver Fuller living in Santa Ana while working as a telegrapher for Western Union. Gertrude died at age 65
Phillip Robert Ahern (1903-) He ran away from home and no other information is available.
Antoinette Ahern (9/4/1904-11/12/2001) graduated from Tustin High School in 1923. She married her high school sweetheart, James Lyle Forney (5/23/1904-7/12/1972). Lyles parents, David Milton Forney (7/26/1869-7/1/1937) and Ida Belle Hale Forney (12/8/1874-11/25/1951) came to Orange County from Kansas around 1918. The young Forney’s lived on Mountain View next to his parents (Possibly on the same property). They had one son, Russell. Her sister Dorothy lived with them for a while after she graduated from High School.
James Lyle worked as a driver for Excelsior Creamery then went to work for Tree Sweet as a mechanic. She worked in a packing house. They moved to 121 N Batavia in the City of Orange. Then spent their later years in Florida where they both died. He died at age 68 and she died age 97. They are buried at Fairhaven Cemetery.
Kathleen Honora Ahern (11/28/1906-7/25/2010) married Percy Cedric Clark (8/20/1896-11/22/1985) on 1/2/1923 when she was 17. He was 10 years older, and they eloped, being married in San Diego, California. When Kathleen was in high school, she wrote articles about school events for the Santa Ana Register and was paid 5 cents per column inch.
The Clark’s lived in Laguna Canyon on the Irvine Ranch where he raised beans, grains and truck garden crops. Kathleen worked at the grain and bean warehouse being paid 33 ½ cents an hour. They later moved to Midway City where he was in construction work. He was away much of the time building barracks at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Kathleen was a member of the National Woman’s Relief Corps, Auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic for over 50 years. Percy died at age 89 and was cremated.
They had two children, Percy Cedric Clark Jr (11/10/1925-5/202011) and Elinor Clark Bigonger (1/12/1929-1/22/2014).
Percy Jr enlisted in the Army Air Corp (which later split into two branches, the Army and the U S Air Force) and was discharged 25 years later as a Chief Major Sergeant. He then became a civilian employee of ITT Federal Corp at Vandenburg for 25 years and died at the age of 85.
Elinor Allene Clark Bigonger married Roland Bigonger (12/23/1926-1/14/1997) who became the first mayor of the City of Yorba Linda.
Kathleen spent her later years living with her son Percy Clark Jr, and his wife Margaret in Lompoc, California. She died at the age of 104 and is buried at El Toro Memorial Park Cemetery.
(See Museum File for Kathleen’s and Percy Jr’s recollections of growing up in Orange County)
Dorothy Ahern (8/13/1910-10/8/2001) married Harry Lacy (7/25/1900-1/19/1952) on 12/23/1933. He was 33 and she was 23. Harry had moved to Santa Ana with his father a few years before their marriage and served in the military for two months during 1918. Harry worked for the City of Santa Ana Waterworks then went to work for North American Aviation during World War II. They lived at 1108 E 4th St in Santa Ana. They had a daughter, Barbara.
Harry died at age 51. Harry enlisted in the Army on 10/4/1918 and was entitled to a military funeral and headstone. He is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery. Dorothy then married Andrew Mougianes who had been a sergeant in the Marine Corp.
She died at age 91 in Sun City, Arizona.
Dwight Scott Ahern (12/31/1912-2/21/1992) was born in Irvine, California. Dwight graduated from Tustin High School in 1930 where his sport was baseball. He married Martha A Drake (1914-1987) on June 17, 1934. He was 21 and she was 20. Dwight served in the Army as a Sergeant, 927th Signal BN during World War II. He operated the Irvine Service Station, and they lived at 6454 101 Hwy. He also served as the Clerk of the San Joaquin School Board. Martha was an office holder in the Sisters of Pythias. They adopted a daughter: Phyllis.
He died in Tustin, California at the age of 79 and she died at age 73. Both was buried in El Toro Memorial Park, California.
Lucy Margaret Ahern (3/3/1915-12/18/1975) married William Harold Hucka (6/21/1907-) from Long Beach. She was 19 and he was 27. They had a son, Harold. He was a chemist for General Petroleum Corp. She died at age 60.
Isabelle Inez Ahern (2/20/1920-11/30/2015) married William Alvin Harris (2/13/1918-10/6/2002) on 9/3/1938. He was 20 and she was 18.
William was the son of Otis H (7/8/1896-4/9/1961) and Martha Poh Harris (7/12/1899-9/13/1992). The Family moved to Orange County in 1936 from McCook, Nebraska. Martha is the daughter of William C Poh (12/13/1876-1/26/1962) who moved to Tustin prior to 1930 along with her brother George Poh.
William had four siblings: Betty Harris Walker (Herbert), Beulah Harris Cummings (James), Geraldine Harris Bemies (Edsel) and Robert Harris (Ann). Otis was a barber.
Isabelle and William had one son, Marc Dwight Harris, born on 1/22/1941 and daughters Saralee Ann Harris born 11/12/1943 and Margaret Evelyn Harris born 9/26/1949. William was an employee of Tree Sweet Products and Douglas Aircraft. William was transferred to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1951 where he and Isabelle both worked and retired from Douglas Aircraft Company. Isabelle continued to work for Sears and Roebuck & Co after retirement. They both died in Oklahoma but are buried in the El Toro Memorial Park Cemetery in Lake Forest, California.
Lillian Frances Ahern (4/2/1890-4/19/1958) married Benjamin J Rulison on 6/29/1902 in Los Angeles. He was 23 and she was 22. He was a tailor. In 1940 they were living in San Francisco and had two children. They were divorced and she returned to Anaheim to live with her mother. She took back her maiden name and remained single and remained in the house after her mother’s death. She died in Anaheim at age 88.
Richard James Ahern (1884-12/1917) was killed during a cave in at his work site. He was an employee of Standard Oil Company. He was 33 years old and single. He lived in Anaheim with his brother John, sister Abbie and his mother.
John Joseph Ahern (4//7/1885-1/2/1923) was killed when his skull was fractured by a falling oil derrick beam when working for Amalgamated Oil Company in Fullerton. He was unmarried and lived with his mother and sister Lillian in Anaheim. He was 36.
Clara Belle Ahern (9/4/1886-12/24/1957) married Elbert Leroy Kuebler (11/30/1884- 3/20/1941) on 11/20/1906 in Anaheim CA. He was 21 and she was 20. He was a machinist. They bought a home at 1108 E Broadway in Anaheim. They had a son, Chester Leroy. Elbert died at age 56 of Tuberculosis. She died at age 71 in Anaheim. They are both buried in Anaheim.
Arthur L Ahern (9/2/1891-10/16/1937) was a boarder at several residences in the El Toro area and worked as a laborer in the grain fields. He was killed when a tractor he was driving overturned. He was 46 and unmarried.
Abigail “Abbie” Ahern (9/2/1891-2/20/1970) married William Elias Robertson (8/10/1891-2/26/1983) on 11/10/1916 in Los Angeles. He was a drilling foreman in oil fields in the Fullerton area. His job took him to Bakersfield CA for a while before returning to Orange County. They had two children, Winifred Marie and William Roy. William Elias died at age 91 and she was 78 when she died. They are buried at Loma Vista Memorial Cemetery in Fullerton CA
Created: 4/28/2022. Researched by Vicki Gray, Margaret Clark (widow of Percy Clark Jr.), Alan Ahern (Son of Drennan Ahern), Phyliss Ahern Bell (Daughter of Dwight Ahern), Saralee Ann Harris Hains and Margaret Evelyn Harris Been (Daughters of Isabelle Ahern Harris)
