Frank Frakes Explained

Frank Frakes (1860-1933) was a pioneer rancher in the Antelope Valley in Southern California.^[1]

Early life

Born in Adel, Iowa, Frank Frakes moved to California in 1875 to join his uncle Samuel H. T. Frakes (1834-1911).^[2] Samuel Frakes had moved to California from Iowa in 1849 and finally settled in the Antelope Valley with his wife Almeda Mudgett Frakes (1838-1934) and son William Franklin Frakes, living first in Del Sur, California and then finally Elizabeth Lake (Los Angeles County, California).^[3]

Antelope Valley

Uncle and nephew eventually homesteaded on the shores of Elizabeth Lake (Los Angeles County, California).^[4] The Frakes family also donated land to found the Elizabeth Lake school.^[5] In addition to running his ranch with a herd of cattle,^[6] Frank Frakes owned a store and served as Post Master of Elizabeth Lake, California in the 1880s and 1890s.^[7]

Political life

Frakes served as Judge of Elections in Antelope Valley.^[8]

He received national press attention in 1911, both for distance traveled and for his sense of humor, during his interview for jury duty for the trial for the McNamara brothers who had bombed the Los Angeles Times building in 1910.^[9]

Personal life

Frank Frakes married Mary Jane Humphreys (1866-1950) and had several children including Samuel Franklin Frakes, James A. Frakes, Frank B. Frakes (father of geologist Lawrence A. Frakes, the namesake of Mount Frakes in Antarctica), George H. Frakes, Samantha May Frakes, Bertha Frakes (Bittick), and Nellie Almeda Frakes. ^[10]

In 1903, at the age of 43, he won the wrestling championship of the Antelope Valley.^[11]

Legacy

After Frank Frakes' death, his ranch eventually became the Edgewater Park Club while the land of Samuel H. T. Frakes became the Lake Elizabeth Golf and Ranch Club.^[12] The Powerhouse Fire of 2013 destroyed the ranch house of Frank Frakes as well as his almond and fruit tree orchard.^[13]

Notes and References

1. Norma Gurba, Legendary Locals of the Antelope Valley (Arcadia Publishing, 2013), p. 11.
2. Nellie F. Thompson, "Authentic Early History of Antelope Valley," in The Heritage Quest: Seven Communities Oral History Project (Los Angeles, 1982); see also the Obituary of Frank Frakes in The Antelope Valley Ledger Gazette, March 2, 1933.
3. Gurba, Legendary Locals of the Antelope Valley, p. 11 and the obituary of Almeda Frakes in the South Antelope Valley Press, February 22, 1934.
4. Thompson, "Authentic Early History of Antelope Valley."
5. Thompson, "Authentic Early History of Antelope Valley"; Gurba, Legendary Locals of the Antelope Valley, p. 11.
6. Glen and Dorene Settle, Antelope Valley Pioneers (Kern County Historical Society, 1984), p. 87 and California Brand Book (Bureau of Livestock Identification, 1926), p. 41.
7. Thompson, "Authentic Early History of Antelope Valley;" http://www.lakeelizabethwater.com/id6/History%20File/Lk.%20Eliz.%20Rch.%20Chatter%20July%201968.pdf.
8. Los Angeles Herald, Oct. 29, 1902, pp. 4-5; see digital copy at http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH18900531.2.36.6.
9. Oakland Tribune, Oct. 27, 1911, and The Oklahoma Farmer and Laborer 3, no. 30 (Nov. 3, 1911), p. 1 on how his "laugh infected the courtroom." The San Francisco Call, November 8, 1911, described him as a "happy-go-lucky rancher."
10. Gurba, Legendary Locals of the Antelope Valley, p. 12 (Nellie Frakes' picture is also on the book cover).
11. See Obituary of Frank Frakes in The Antelope Valley Ledger Gazette, March 2, 1933.
12. See the images and remembrances collected by the Lake Elizabeth Mutual Water Company at http://www.lakeelizabethwater.com/id90/Oldies/Edgewater/Edgewater%20Park.JPG, http://www.lakeelizabethwater.com/id90.htm and http://www.lakeelizabethwater.com/id6/History%20File/Lake%20Eliz.%20Rch.%20Club%201964%20events.pdf. See also the overview of the Lake Elizabeth Golf and Ranch Club preserved at http://www.oocities.org/golflakeelizabeth
13. See Ranch Chatter (Newsletter of the Lake Elizabeth Ranch Club), vol. 3, no. 4 of October 15, 1969 on the Frakes orchards at http://www.lakeelizabethwater.com/id6/History%20File/3%5B4Lk%20Eliz.%20Rch.%20Chatter%20Oct%201969.pdf. For further on the destruction of the Powerhouse Fire, see article at the Santa Clarita Valley TV website at: http://www.scvhistory.com/pico/lw2396d.htm.