Watt Loren Moreland
Watt Loren Moreland
Twenty years would about cover the history of the automobile industry, and that period has been coincident with the active term of Watt L. Moreland's career. He is one of the older automobile men in the country, and his experience makes him familiar with every phase of the development of American automobiles. Mr. Moreland has been a resident of Los Aneles for over fifteen years and is general manager of the Moreland Motor Truck Company, one of the larger manufacturers of motor trucks on the Pacific Coast.
Mr. Moreland was born at Muncie, Indiana, February 11, 1879, a son of John B. and Alethea (Grice) Moreland. He attended grammar and high school there, and at the age of eighteen directed his energies in the machinist's trade. For three years he was with the Republic Iron and Steel Company, beginning at wages of fifty cents a day. Besides what his work brought him in the way of skill and experience he carried on and completed a course of mechanical engineering with the International Correspondence School.
His next service was as diemaker with the Toledo Machine and Tool Company at Toledo, Ohio. Three months later he removed to Cleveland and went to work for one of the pioneer concerns in the automobile industry, the Winton Carriage Company. He was in the assembling and testing department, and later was transferred to the New York branch, where he had charge of the mechanical department. From New York Mr. Moreland returned to his home state and at Kokomo became assistant in designing and building racing cars for the Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company. Those familiar with the automobile industry will recall that it was some of the racing cars put out by the Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company that took part and made such a splendid showing in the first endurance race in America.
As a vacation Mr. Moreland spent some time in Los Angeles in 1902 and became so fascinated with the country that he determined to remain. Soon afterward the Magnolia Automobile Company was organized by him, with plant at Riverside, for the manufacture of automobiles. He remained there a year and a half as general manager of the company. About that time the company became involved in some lawsuits over patents which obstructed their business, and Mr. Moreland accordingly returned to Los Angeles and for a time was identified with the Auto Vehicle Company, and later with other similar concerns. (transcriber's note: Durocar Co., in 1908; Moreland Co, Inc., 1909; Lee Car Co., San Diego branch manager, Cadillacs, 1909/10).
In April 1911, he established the Moreland Motor Truck Company, of which he is general manager, while the other executive officers are R. H. Raphael, president; C. J. Kubach, vice president, and J. L. Armer, secretary and treasurer. The Moreland Motor Truck Company manufactures a general line of trucks, which are now found employed in industries and with many individual owners all up and down the Pacific Coast, from South America to Canada, while many of them have been exported to Australia.
In May, 1902, at Riverside, California, Mr. Moreland married Miss Margaret Elkins. They have three children, Margaret, Harriet and Watt. Mr. Moreland is a republican, a member of the Jonathan and Los Angeles Athletic Clubs, the Gamut Club, the Los Aneles Press Club, and in business circles is also well known as president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and vice president of the California State Manufacturers' Association.
Source: McGroarty, John Stevens, Los Angeles, From the Mountains to the Sea, Vol. II, Chicago and New York: The American Historical Society, 1921, p100-1.
This man of vision is my 2nd great uncle. He was born 11 Feb 1879 in Salem, Delaware County, Indiana. His parents were John Brumbaugh Moreland and Aletha Antoinette Grice. Watt died 8 April 1859 in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California.
In the 1900 Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana US Federal Census Watt is 21 years old living with his parents working as a machinist. In the 1910 San Diego, San Diego County, California US Federal Census Watt is working as an engineer machinist for a car company. In the 1920 Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California US Federal Census, Watt is living on Buckingham Road and is listed as a manufacturer of trucks. In the 1930 US Federal Census, Watt is still living in Los Angeles listed as a manufacturer of trucks. In the 1940 Federal Census Watt and his wife Margaret are living in the same house and is still listed as president of a trucking company.
Thank you for reading.
Jenny R. Findsen
Join our community on Locals.com to gain full access to Genealogist Journal content, special promotions, and historical and genealogical conversation.
You can find the biweekly Genealogist Journal podcast here.