Gibbel Family THE oldest mercantile establishment in the valley still operated under its original name by descendants of its founder is the Gibbel hardware store at the intersection of Florida avenue and State street in Hemet. The present operators are Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Handcock. Mrs. Handcock is the former Ruth Gibbel. It was the earthquake of Christmas morning, 1899, that put the late I. B. Gibbel in the hardware business. When the earthquake came, Mr. Gibbel was a clerk in Weber Bros, general merchandise store. The quake shook down the fire walls and otherwise damaged the store building, and so unnerved were two of the Weber brothers that they decided to leave California as soon as possible. A third brother moved to the coast. They told Mr. Gibbel that if he could raise $500 he could buy the business. By the time he had arranged to borrow the money from J. A. Brown, the Webers decided they had been too hasty in making their proposition and said they would let Mr. Gibbel have only the hardware stock for $500. He took it, but paid part down in hay and gave his note for the balance. The Weber brothers had erected the present Gibbel building only a few months before the earthquake. He moved the hardware stock to a smaller building a few doors east and was in business for himself. Later he moved the stock to a building on Harvard street where the Cornet store is now located and was there for two years until he bought from Mrs. H. T. Hewitt the building at the corner of Florida avenue and State street which has been the home of the Gibbel store the past 51 years. Mr. Gibbel came to Hemet with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Isaac M. Gibbel, from Auburn, Illinois, in 1891. Another son, Abram, and two daugh ters of I. M. Gibbel were already here. The father and Abram purchased 558 acres of farm land known as the Bill Styce place south of the present Ryan Field. I. M. Gibbel was a minister of the Dunkard (Church of the Brethren) church and soon after his arrival here he erected a church building on his farm and was the first minister to serve a small but enthusiastic congregation. Mr. and Mrs. I. M. Gibbel had six children: Susan (Mrs. J. D. Brubaker), Sarah (Mrs. P. A. Shearer), Abram, Fannie (Mrs. James M. Msster-son), Kettie and I. B. Gibbel. The father died here in 1312 and the mother passed away about 25 years ago after returning to Illinois. Children of I. B. Gibbel were Owen W. Gibbel, now deceased, and Mrs. Ruth Handcock. Owen had two sons, Robert and Richard. Owen served as mayor of Hemet several years. I. B. Gibbel was 16 years old when he arrived here in 1891 and it was January 3, 1900, that he entered business for himself. Mrs. Gibbel is the former Linnie Walmer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Walmer, who came here about 1888 and lived in the Anza district four years. Susan, the eldest of the I. M. Gibbel children, married J. D. Brubaker in Illinois and they came to Hemet with their family about 1896. They had six children, Owen, Lawrence, Fannie, Darus, Glen and Viola, all of whom are living. The sons have been prominent in the agricultural and business life of the valley. I. B. Gibbel was a successful merchant from the beginning. At the time of his death a few years ago, he had been president of the Farmers and Merchants bank for over 30 years and had extensive real estate holdings throughout the valley. Among the many interesting incidents of his mercantile career remembered by Mr. Gibbel were the circumstances surrounding the adding of bicycles to his hardware store stock. The late T. B. Foster was the man who convinced Mr. Gibbel that there was money to be made in bicycles. Mr. Foster agreed to put up the money for the purchase of a sample bicycle with the understanding that Mr. Gibbel was to pay him $1 for every bicycle sold by the store thereafter. It was the best investment Mr. Foster ever made. When the Gibbel family arrived from Illinois, the Hemet dam was under construction. Most of the valley had been cleared of sagebrush and was planted to grain. There were only three houses within what is now the city of Hemet. Out at Diamond valley there were a few small irrigated peach orchards. L. G. Butler had a pear orchard in what is now the Fruitvale district. A family named Lee had about 20 acres of fruit in what is now the Little Lake section and there were a few family fruit orchards around San Jacinto. John McCool had a flour mill near what is now the intersection of Harvard street and Latham avenue. The S. E. Yoder family, close friends of the Gibbels throughout the past half century came here from Iowa in 1893. Among persons still living here who were in the valley when the Gibbel family came are Mr. and Mrs. Lee Emerson, Mr. and Mrs. Clark McEuen, Mrs. John Yates, Tilla Hudson, Antonio and Pete Domenigoni, William Wall, Andrew J. Miranda, Mrs. Idella Searl, Miss Ada Hogue, Miss Ruth Pico and Gilbert Spence. Hemet News, 1960 https://facebook/arizona.jim.3
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 00:30:19 +0000
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