Armstrong-Clemens papers
Finding aid created by Ontario City Library, Robert E. Ellingwood Model Colony History Room staff using RecordEXPRESS
Ontario City Library, Robert E. Ellingwood Model Colony History Room
2024
215 East "C" Street
Ontario, California 91764-4111
(909) 395-2206
localhistory@ontarioca.gov
https://www.ontarioca.gov/LibraryEvents
Title: Armstrong-Clemens papers
Dates: 1915
Collection Number: Consult repository
Creator/Collector:
Armstrong, John Samuel, 1865-1965
Clemens, Earle R., 1878-1943
Armstrong Nurseries (Ontario, Calif.)
Extent: 0.25 linear feet (1 box)
Repository:
Ontario City Library, Robert E. Ellingwood Model Colony History Room
Ontario, California 91764-4111
Abstract: The Armstrong-Clemens papers is a small collection containing correspondence between Earle R. Clemens and John S. Armstrong
in 1915, concerning sales of olive and other trees.
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research during the operating hours of the Robert E. Ellingwood Model Colony History Room, or by appointment.
Collection open for research.
[Identification of item]. Armstrong-Clemens papers. Collection Number: Consult repository. Ontario City Library, Robert E.
Ellingwood Model Colony History Room
This collection was donated by Eugene Verkaik, firefighter for the City of Ontario, who purchased the items on eBay on behalf
of the Model Colony History Room in September 2016.
Biography/Administrative History
Earle R. Clemens was born in Flowerfield, Michigan in 1878. He was a newspaper editor who moved west, founding newspapers
along the way. He was the editor of the Grand Encampment Herald in Wyoming, then editor of the Rhyolite Herald in Rhyolite,
Nevada before settling in Terra Bella, California, where he founded the Terra Bella News in 1911. It appears, from the materials
in this collection, that Clemens also worked as an agent for Armstrong Nurseries, selling primarily trees to residents in
the Terra Bella area. He is listed in the California Directory of Nurserymen, 1918-1919 as a licensed agent. It is unclear
whether or not he owned a nursery business. John S. Armstrong is well-known as an Ontario pioneer, founding Armstrong Nurseries
in 1893. See the John S. Armstrong Nursery Collection Finding Aid for more information.
Scope and Content of Collection
Included are letters from Armstrong on nursery letterhead, carbon copies of letters sent to Armstrong by Clemens, postcards,
and telegrams.
Armstrong Nurseries (Ontario, Calif.)
Armstrong, John S., 1865-1965
Clemens, Earle R., 1878-1943
Ontario (Calif.)
Tulare County (Calif.)
Terra Bella (Calif.)