Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- W.H. Kindig Collection
- Dates:
- 1925-1936; bulk 1931-1933
- Abstract:
- Materials mostly document homesteading claims and literature from the 1920s on the validity of Mexican land grant patents, and subsequent investigation by the Subcommittee of the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys by the U.S. Senate. Also includes publications by Silver Shirts of America and a case file on gas and oil rights.
- Containers:
- box: 1
- Extent:
- .5 Linear Feet 1 legal document box
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Name of item], W.H. Kindig Collection (Collection 050). Local History Center, Peninsula Center Library, Palos Verdes Library District, Rolling Hills Estates, CA.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Collection includes W.H. Kindig's correspondence file, clippings, and collection of Citizens Land Association publications, judicial hearings and reports, court cases, U.S. House bills, and publications by the Silver Shirts.
- Biographical / historical:
-
William Harvey (W.H.) Kindig (1869-1946) was a real estate salesman and a broker. He was associated with the Palos Verdes Project as early as 1922, where he worked in the General Sales Office underwriting subscriptions for E.G. Lewis. Kindig was also an early lot owner in the Palos Verdes Project. The Palos Verdes Homes Association permit files from 1928 show Kindig listed as the owner of 4021 Via Nivel (#148), 4177 Via Solano (#149), 400 Via Colorin (#150, #304), and 216 Via Colorin (#151).
From 1935-1937, Kindig was a City Councilmember in Los Angeles representing the 7th District. In 1938, he become the Sales Manager for the real estate firm, Willett & Crane, the exclusive agents for the Palos Verdes Trust. He was also the manager of the Alpha Syndicate Corporation, the first independent real estate office in Malaga Cove Plaza.
Just prior to lots in Palos Verdes being sold in earnest from 1923, homesteading claims on former Spanish land grant areas, including Palos Verdes, were being filed with the General Land Office in Los Angeles on the claim that patents to these lands were fraudulent and therefore open to entry. By 1925, a reported 300 claims had been made on land in Palos Verdes.
By the late 1920s, the Citizens Land Association led by Harry Newkirk (H.N.) Wheeler, a self described "crusading California Homesteader, in a patriotic campaign to arouse the Nation to the "The Peril of the Gangster and Communist," was distributing pamphlets and other writings on the supposed fraudulent titles. For filing and retainer fees, Wheeler worked on behalf of homesteaders to file applications.
In 1929, the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Surveys led by Senator Sam Bratton and Senator Gerald Nye convened to investigate the merits of the homesteaders' claims. Kindig testified in the hearings, and later through correspondence urged the Subcommittee to issue a report as land sales in Palos Verdes were being affected by the claims of questionable titles. The December 1930 issue of the Palos Verdes Bulletin noted a lot purchaser filed a lawsuit against the Palos Verdes Trust to cancel the purchase because a homesteading claim had been filed on the lot.
The Senate Subcommittee issued Report 426 on March 14, 1932, finding the charges of fraudulent patents were without merit. In September of the same year, Wheeler and three of his Citizens Land Association associates were indicted on 21 counts of conspiracy to use the mail to defraud in connection with the filing of homestead applications. Wheeler was convicted on one charge of mail fraud and sentenced to five years in prison. He died at McNeil Island Penitentiary in 1935 waiting for his case to be appealed to the Supreme Court.
- Acquisition information:
- Donated to the Palos Verdes Library District Local History Center.
- Processing information:
-
Initial housing and stabilization of materials by library volunteers into ephemera box labelled California Land Fraud. Final arrangement and description by Michele McKinnon Fricke and Monique Sugimoto October 2022.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged alphabetically into four series: Clippings, Correspondence, Government and Judicial Documents, and Publications; thereunder chronologically.
- Physical location:
- Local History Center
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-10-18 16:02:54 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the Local History Center for access information.
- Terms of access:
-
The collection is open for research use.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Name of item], W.H. Kindig Collection (Collection 050). Local History Center, Peninsula Center Library, Palos Verdes Library District, Rolling Hills Estates, CA.
- Location of this collection:
-
701 Silver Spur RoadRolling Hills Estates, CA 90274, US
- Contact:
- (310) 377-9584