J. C. Hartley, 61, North Park Founder, Dies; Friends Praise His Activities

My 2nd great uncle, John "Jack" Charles Hartley (1876-1937), in an undated photo (Courtesy of HermitInTheValley on Ancestry).

On Saturday and Tuesday I presented the obituaries for Mary Hartley Read and Delia Hartley Stevens, who were my 2nd great aunts (sisters to my great grandfather George Henry Hartley).  Today I'll present their brother John Charles Hartley:

San Diego Union (San Diego, CA)
Saturday, November 6, 1937
page 1 and 2 

J. C. Hartley, 61, North Park Founder, Dies; Friends Praise His Activities 

J. C. Hartley, 61, founder of North Park and for many years prominent in business circles in that district, died yesterday at his home, 3827 Herman Ave., after a prolonged illness. 

Funeral services will be held Monday morning at 10 at Bonham Brothers mortuary, with the Rev. William Forshaw officiating.  Burial wil be in Glenn Abbey Memorial Park. 

Mr. Hartley was a native of Bremer county, Ia.  At the age of five and one-half years he came to San Diego with his parents.  He grew to manhood on his parents' ranch at Dehesa, in the upper Sweetwater valley.  In 1900 he went to Devil's Lake, N.D.  He returned to San Diego three years later because of the illness of his father, James M. Hartley, and took over management of his father's 40-acre lemon orchard. 

Forms Partnership
In 1905 he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, W. J. Stevens, under the firm name of Stevens & Hartley, and went into the real estate and insurance business in the downtown district.  In 1912 they moved the office to Thirtieth st. and University ave., and in 1912 Mr. Hartley put the North Park addition on the market, this being the site of his father's lemon orchard.  The tract fronted on University ave. and extended to Myrtle st. on the south and from Ray st. on the west to Thirty-second st. on the east. 

In 1927, Stevens & Hartley dissolved partnership and Mr. Hartley moved his business to its present address. 

He helped organize the North Park Business club and the North Park Lions club and was elected as the first president of each.  He also served on the board of freeholders in preparing the city charter. 

He was married Dec. 26, 1901, to Ella S. Dodge and is survived by her and by their three children, Marian Hartley Knowlden, E.J. and John M. Hartley.  He also is survived by his mother, Mary J. Hartley, 3827 Thirty-first st., three sisters and two brothers, all but one of whom reside in San Diego, and by five grandchildren.  The surviving brothers are Paul and George.  The sisters are Adelia Stevens, Mary Read and Maude MacDougal. 

J.M.(Jack) Dodge, father-in-law of Mr. Hartley, recalled recently San Diego's big days in the baseball world. 

"This grand old boy was one of the best baseball players San Diego could boast of," said Mr. Dodge. "When I first saw him he played for me at old Recreation park, then located about where the old St. Joseph hospital stood at Sixth and University aves.
Popular Ball Player
"Jack Hartley became a member of our San Diego team and played at the old May View ball grounds.  I was in partnership with George Carey, running the pack.  Of all the ball players that played at the old park Jack Hartley displayed the most ability with the bat.  Jack was called the "Home Run King" of the bunch, and he certainly could handle the hickory.  Jack played with us for some time.  He married my eldest daughter, Ella, in 1901 and then moved to Devils Lake, N. Dakota.  It was not long before the people of that locality recognized Jack's ability as a ball player and he signed to play with the Devil's Lake professional team as an outfielder.
"The young ball players of San Diego can testify as to his ability as a player, and he delighted in getting a bunch of the young boys, members of the high school teams, to tell them many things about the game that served to be of great genefit to them later on.  He loved to have these boys gathered about him.  He certainly was a father to all of them and he loved them all as if they were his own.  Two of Jack's sons--Gene and John Hartley--were members of the high school teams, and through the training they received from their capable father they became splendid players.  No one loved the game more than did Jack, and his ball playing here will be remembered by the oldtimers." 

"Word as Good as Bond"
Emil Klicka, bank executive, when informed of Mr. Hartley's death, said:
"In the North Park district, where Jack's word was as good as a government bond, we did some team-work in the upbuilding of North Park.  I soon learned to know him as a man of high integrity.  As a real estate man he did all he could to sell properties, but he always kept in mind a high sense of honor and ideals that made him a beloved citizen.  When I organized the old San Diego State bank, Jack became one of the directors.  Later he became a member of the advisory board of the Bank of America and retained that place up to the time of his death.  Residents in the North Park district have Jack Hartley to thank for many of the public blessings they enjoy now, because the growth of that section of the city came as a result of his leadership." 

"Had I been called upon to say farewell to Jack Hartley, I could truthfully have said, "in all the 50 years I have known you, I never knew of you doing a questionable act," said John F. Forward jr., former mayor. "Jack put through the title company properties representing many thousands of dollars.  It was a pleasure to handle his business.  He was an ideal son, husband and father." 

Mayne Voices Tribute
George Mayne, civic leader and hotel manager, was close to Mr. Hartley for many years.  "Jack was my kind of a man--dependable to the utmost and deeply devoted to his friends and every civic movement he supported," said Mayne.  "There are a few men we have to thank for outstanding achievement in the development of San Diego when it was a comparatively small town, and Jack Hartley may be numbered as one of that class."
Mayor Percy J. Benbough characterized Jack Hartley as "A friend of man and whose death is a distinct loss to San Diego." 

Mayor Benbough recounted some of Mr. Hartley's baseball days. "He played baseball on the square and he did business in the same way."  continued the mayor. "Young men entering upon affairs in the business world would profit well by practicing fairness and honesty in business as Jack Hartley did." F.W.

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