Isaac Wilson Lord (1836-1917) was a Batavia, IL boy who first came to California in the 1850s. What he did next depends on whether you believe his obituary or his ex-wife Mary. In the obit, Lord’s feats included cofounding the CA Republican Party, being the first man to cross the Great Plains alone, getting kidnapped by Shoshone tribesmen, etc. But Mary said Lord, under the alias of “George Wilson”, was convicted of grand larceny in 1858 and sent to San Quentin for a year or so. Evidence suggests that she was right. In any event, the couple tied the knot in 1860 and spent the ensuing decade in St. Paul, MN, where their first two kids were born. (Ads from 1870 had Lord selling quack cure-alls through the mail.) They moved to Los Angeles in 1872 and had two more children. Here Lord operated a furniture store and got into real estate: Lord Street was named in 1875-1876 on the Brooklyn Heights tract. His signature achievement, however, was founding the SGV town of Lordsburg in 1887. Only after his death did its citizens successfully consolidate it with La Verne. Although Lord wed second wife Julia in 1883, mere months after ending his rocky first marriage, he and Mary fought for years; her stories came out in 1899 when Lord was charged with colluding with swindler “Rebel George” Knowlton to bilk an associate out of thousands. She testified that Lord had set fire to his businesses in St. Paul and Los Angeles to collect the insurance money and that he was an all-around liar. Lord, who was then living with Julia and their daughter Lois in Rancho Cucamonga, evidently beat the rap. He moved back to L.A. in 1908.
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