A Look Back -- Jerry Person

Jerry Person

There was a time in our city’s early history when a group of

individuals belonged to an organization that was acceptable at the time

but today would seem unthinkable.

The organization was the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and yes, there

were members even here in Huntington Beach.

Were it not for one man’s stubbornness and determination to drive the

Klan’s influence out of city politics, who knows what our city would be

like today.

This man was Eddy Stevens.

It was on a hot day in Orange County that a son was born to James and

Mary Stevens on Sept. 10, 1875.

But it was not Orange County, California that young Eddy was born in,

but in the Midwestern state of Indiana.

One month after little Eddy was born, tragedy struck and he was left

motherless. Eddy and his older sister went to live with an aunt until

Eddy was 5.

In 1880 James and his two children moved to Decatur, Ill., where

Eddy’s father renewed a friendship with a childhood sweetheart. Love

blossomed and these two were wed giving Eddy a real mother.

Eddy attended school in Decatur, but during the cold winter months was

sent to Eureka Springs, Ark. to receive his education.

In 1891 at the tender age of 16, Eddy volunteered in the Illinois

National Guard where he rose up to the rank of captain.

When war broke out with Spain in 1898, Eddy left the guard, joined the

army and was given the rank of second lieutenant.

He was assigned to Company E, 3rd Regiment of the U.S. Volunteer

Infantry and was sent to Cuba to fight the Spanish.

Eddy was made a first lieutenant while stationed in Santiago, Cuba and

before the war ended in late 1898, he had been assigned to Company L and

Company D.

After the war Eddy returned home to Illinois where he stayed until

1905.

In that year he came west to settle in San Francisco.

But the next year San Francisco was the scene of its great earthquake

of 1906 that reduced much of the city to

rubble.

Eddy became part of the army, where his job was to prevent looting.

Next he moved to San Diego and in 1909 married Margaret Saylor. They

then moved to Riverside.

It was in 1919 that Eddy came to Huntington Beach and for the next 40

years he called the town home.

In the 1920s the clan had several members here including some in city

government. This angered Eddy and he decided they had to go. In the

election of 1928 Eddy worked tirelessly to see three non-Klan members

elected to the council.

These three were Baylard Butcher, Samuel Bowen and James Conrad. Once

they were elected the Klan lost control of city hall politics.

After the election was over Eddy settled back into being a local

realtor and would only occasionally dabble into local politics.

In 1930 Eddy ran and won a seat on the City Council and worked hard to

develop our beach for tourists.

He believed that with development our beach would be the city’s

biggest asset.

In 1941 tragedy again struck when Margaret died.

Now, to old to fight in World War II, Eddy became an active member of

the home guard.

Alone, Eddy continued in his real estate business until he married

Lottie Green in 1945. They lived at 956 11th St.

Eddy was a charter member of Post 7368 of the VFW in Huntington Beach.

He was also a member of the William McKinley Camp Spanish American War

veterans in Long Beach.

Eddy passed away at the age of 84 on Oct. 21, 1959.

Huntington Beach has much to thank Eddy Stevens for.

He not only rid the city of the KKK influence but also helped guide

the development of our beach as a national tourist attraction.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.