Finding Aid for the Gardner Family Papers LSC.0759
Finding aid prepared by Saundra Taylor, May 1970; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2002.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Business Number: 310-825-4988
Fax Number: 310-206-1864
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Gardner Family papers
Creator:
Gardner family
Creator:
Gardner, Henri F.
Creator:
Gardner, Dian Rathbun
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0759
Physical Description:
13.0 Linear Feet
(12 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1877-1960
Abstract: The Gardner family was important in the land development and citrus production of Orange County, California. His son, Dian
Rathbun Gardner, was a attorney who helped establish the Gardner Company by the family heirs after the death of his mother,
Emma Howard Gardner, in 1935. The company dissolved in 1961 following the death of Dian Rathbun Gardner. The collection consists
of correspondence, clippings, legal material, and ephemera relating to Henri F. Gardner, his wife Emma H. Gardner, his son
Dian Rathbun Gardner, and the Gardner Company of Orange, California. Also includes account books, bank statements, correspondence
and stock certificates relating to water development in Orange County, employee records and files on citrus production of
the Gardner Company.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Gardner Family papers (Collection 759). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Dion L. Gardner 1962, 1970.
Processing Information
Processed by Saundra Taylor, May 1970.
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UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
The Gardner family was important in the land development and citrus production of Orange County, California; Henri F. Gardner,
landowner and developer, also played a role in water development of the county during the late 19th and early 20th centuries;
his son, Dian Rathbun Gardner, was an attorney who helped establish the Gardner Company by the family heirs after the death
of his mother, Emma Howard Gardner, in 1935; the company dissolved in 1961, following the death of Dian Rathbun Gardner.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of correspondence, clippings, legal material, and ephemera relating to Henri F. Gardner, his wife Emma
H. Gardner, his son Dian Rathbun Gardner, and the Gardner Company of Orange, California. Includes over 100 land deeds, leases,
and rental agreements from 1874-1918, Henri Gardner's daily journals for the 1880s, and papers dealing with the estate of
Emma Howard Gardner. Also includes account books, bank statements, correspondence and stock certificates relating to water
development in Orange County, employee records and files on citrus production of the Gardner Company.
Expanded Scope and Content
This collection contains materials on land development and citrus production in Los Angeles and Orange counties. It is divided
into three sections: 1) The papers of Henri of Henri F. Gardner (1852-1918), land owner and developer, ca. 1877-1918. Included
in this section are land deeds, leases, rental agreements, tax records, journals, and materials relating to water development
in Orange County during the late 19th early 20th centuries. 2) The papers of Dian Rathbun Gardner, lawyer and manager of Gardner
Company. These papers cover the period ca. 1920-1961, and contain materials relating to the estates of H.F. Gardner, his widow
Emma Howard Gardner (d. 1935), and the setting up of the Gardner Company by the Gardner heirs following the death of Emma
Gardner. 3) The papers and business records of the Gardner Company, ca. 1935-1961. These files are arranged alphabetically
and include account records, employee files, some legal correspondence, etc. The company was dissolved in 1961, following
the death of Dian R. Gardner.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Papers of Henri F. Gardner (Box 1).
- Papers of Henri F. Gardner and Emma H. Gardner (Box 2).
- Papers of Dian Rathbun Gardner and misc. (Boxes 3-4).
- Gardner Company papers (Boxes 5-12).
Related Material
For further information about the background of Henri F. Gardner and the Gardner family, see
History of Orange County California With Biographical Sketches.... By Samuel Armor. Los Angeles, 1921. pp. 1125 (*F 868 06A7).
Items Removed from Collection
- 3 photographs of South Pasadena Ostrich Farm, ca.1897.
- 1 photograph of Palo Alto tree, 1897.
- 1 photograph of Ontario, California, 1889.
All of the above were added to the Picture Collection (Collection 99). UCLA Library Special Collections.
Missing Title
- Santa Ana Valley Walnut Growers Association. By-laws of incorporation. Santa Ana, 1898.
Removed for separate cataloging as local imprint.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Citrus fruit industry -- California -- Orange County -- Archives.
Family papers.
Water resources development -- California -- Orange County -- Archives.
Real estate development -- California -- Orange County -- Archives.
Gardner family--Archives.
Gardner, Dian Rathbun--Archives.
Gardner, Henri F.--Archives.
Gardner Company (Orange County, Calif.)
Gardner Company (Orange County, Calif.)--Archives.
Papers of Henri F. Gardner:
1877-1918
box 1, folder 1-2
Bank records of H.F. Gardner.
box 1, folder 3
Land development, (Leases, deeds, etc.).
1877-1899
Scope and Contents note
Includes property owned by Emma H. Gardner (Mrs. H.F. Gardner).
box 1, folder 4
Land development,
1900-1907.
Scope and Contents note
Includes papers
re estate of Margaret Eleanor Tate, 1901.
box 1, folder 5
Land development,
1908-1918.
box 1, folder 6
Miscellaneous papers. Cards, clippings, fragments of printed materials.
box 1, folder 7
Miscellaneous papers. Receipts, some scattered correspondence.
box 1, folder 8
Miscellaneous papers. Includes stock certificates, etc. Some correspondence [water].
Papers of Henri F. Gardner and Emma H. Gardner
box 2, folder 1
H.F. Gardner's notebooks.
1880s.
General Physical Description note: (4 vol.).
box 2, folder 2
H.F. Gardner's notebooks.
General Physical Description note: (6 vol.).
box 2, folder 3
H.F. Gardner's taxes. State, county, city tax assesments and payments,
1883-1906.
box 2, folder 4
re estate of Henri F. Gardner.
box 2, folder 5
Estate of H.F. Gardner. Operating expenditures for Emma H. Gardner.
Scope and Contents note
Includes mortgages, receipts, repairs, etc.
box 2, folder 6
Emma H. Gardner's taxes. State, county, city for
1917/18-1926/27.
box 2, folder 7
Taxes (continued). State, county, city for
1927/28-1930/31.
Scope and Contents note
Includes miscellaneous assesments, etc.
box 2, folder 8
re estate of Emma Howard Gardner,
1932-.
Papers of Dian Rathbun Gardner: ca.
1920-1961
box 3, folder 1
Notes, minutes, etc. of Gardner heirs before forming Gardner Company,
1931-January 1935.
box 3, folder 2
Land development, (Leases, deeds, etc.).
1920s.
Scope and Contents note
Includes land owned by Emma H. Gardner.
box 3, folder 3
Land development. Some correspondence.
Scope and Contents note
[Includes Gardner Company materials].
box 3, folder 4
Liquidation of Gardner Company, [Following death of D.R. Gardner].
1961.
box 3, folder 5
Miscellaneous papers.
Scope and Contents note
Includes Manager's report on Gardner Company, January 15, 1939; one daily notebook of D.R. Gardner; etc.
box 3, folder 7
Gardner Company check book,
1946-1947.
Papers of Dian Rathbun Gardner and Miscellaneous
box 4, folder 1
D.R. Gardner trip diary, Mexico, Photograph album.
1950.
box 4, folder 2
Photographs. Santa Ana High School diploma of D.R. Gardner,
1903.
box 4, folder 3
Ephemera--examples of late 19th and early 20th century advertising.
box 4, folder 4
Ephemera--scattered periodicals.
box 4, folder 6
Two certificates of district and circuit court practice for D.R. Gardner.
box 5, folder 1-4
Secretary Treasurer reports,
1935-1949.
box 5, folder 5-6
Annual reports,
1935-1939.
box 5, folder 7-9
Manager's reports,
1935-1942.
box 6, folder 3
Los Angeles Property reports,
1942-1949.
box 6, folder 5
Account Book--Orra G. Devereaux, ca.
1935-1955.
box 6, folder 7
Financial reports and appraisal (3).
1946, 1954, 1959.
box 7, folder 1
Farm Center.
Officers Handbook. Orange County Farm Bureau,
October 1936.
box 8, folder 1
Laboratory work [Agricultural].
box 8, folder 2
Legal matters--Fogel and Berman, attorneys.
box 8, folder 3
Lemons.
General note
See also: Box 3, folder 6
box 8, folder 4
Los Angeles property.
General note
See also: Land Development (Box 1, folder 3-5) and Taxes (Box 11, folder 4-10 and Box 12, folder 1)
box 8, folder 5
Los Angeles property--insurance.
box 8, folder 6
Los Angeles property--labor, repairs, supplies.
box 9, folder 1
Los Angeles property--Third & Flower (leases, appraisals, etc.).
box 9, folder 2
Miscellaneous [mostly correspondence].
box 9, folder 3
Mortgages: Citizens Trust & Savings.
box 9, folder 4
Mortgages: Roland J. Giroux.
box 9, folder 5
Office supplies; telephone tolls.
box 9, folder 6
Oil leases (mostly Basin Oil Company).
box 9, folder 7
Orange County property--rentals,
1935-1947.
box 9, folder 8
Orange County property--Florance Barnes, lots 3, 4, & 5 of Gardner's addition.
box 9, folder 9
Orange County property--additions to 140 west La Veta House.
box 10, folder 4
Oranges--returns and refunds, (Glassell Street and Taft Avenue ranches).
1948.
box 10, folder 6
Persimmons, avocadoes, limes, olives, etc.
box 10, folder 7
Persimmons, avocadoes, limes, olives, etc.
box 11, folder 2
Real estate--letters,
1931-1941.
box 11, folder 3
Social Security, unemployment insurance and taxes.
box 11, folder 4
Taxes--data for and subsequent years.
1944
box 11, folder 6
Taxes--federal returns,
1935-1946.
box 11, folder 7
Taxes--Internal Revenue, information and rulings.
box 11, folder 8
Taxes--Los Angeles and Orange City & County,
1934-1939.
box 11, folder 9
Taxes--Los Angeles and Orange City & County,
1940s.
box 12, folder 1
Taxes--State Corporation franchise tax returns,
1935-1938.
box 12, folder 5-7
Water development, Orange County.
