California Biographies

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


HIRAM B. ALGER. The People's market, owned and operated by the firm of Morgan & 
Alger, successors to John R. Parr, is one of the most popular and well-conducted enterprises of 
the kind in Tulare county. As an adjunct to the business life of Visalia the market is without a 
peer in its facilities for catering to a large and exacting trade, its promoters being men of 
proved ability and integrity. 

Hiram B. Alger, junior member of the firm of Morgan & Alger, owes his birth and early 
training to Delaware county, Iowa, where his life began on a farm near Edgewood, October 
1, 1867. His father, Myron H. Alger, was born in New York in 1844, and was a babe in arms 
when his parents located in Delaware county in 1845. His entire life has been spent on a farm, 
and he still makes Delaware county his home, his wife, formerly Cynthia J. Robinson, having 
also survived the changes of existence. There were four sons and three daughters in this 
family, and Hiram B., the oldest, was the first to assume the responsibility of self support, en- 
gaging in school teaching in different parts of Iowa after leaving the Upper Iowa University, 
which he attended for one year. Later he engaged as brakeman on the Central Iowa Rail- 
road, using his wages to secure further educational advantages for himself, a fact which in- 
dicates the resource and adaptiveness which has characterized his entire life. Returning to farm- 
ing in Iowa, Mr. Alger came to California in 1 901, and in Visalia engaged in the meat-market 
business, later becoming a member of the firm of Morgan & Alger, purchasing the business of 
John R. Parr. The plant covers twelve acres the firm owning their own slaughter houses, and 
besides supplying the home trade, the products are shipped throughout the county. Mr. Alger 
has a thorough understanding of his business, has a large acquaintance with stock and business 
men, and from the beginning of his residence here has impressed the community with his earn- 
estness and sincerity and his keen desire to please. 

In political affiliation Mr. Alger is independent, and in religion he is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. He was reared in an atmosphere of piety and responsibility, and 
has never departed from the belief that a man owes much to his church, and that his influence 
is largely augmented thereby. He is active in the business and social circles of the church, is sec- 
retary of the board of trustees, and contributes generously toward its general support. His 
marriage with Alice Schroff, a native of Pennsylvania, occurred in Iowa, and of this union 
three sons have been born, Otto Dean, Donald Wayne and Merle H. Mr. Alger is fraternally 
connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Neighbors.