Résumé

Reporter and merchant, San Francisco, CA, c. 1886.

Architect, Los Angeles, CA, 1892.

Partner, Aiken and Benton, Architects, Los Angeles, CA, 1893-1896. In 1893, Aiken and Benton operated their office at 114 North Spring Street, in the Temple Block #2. (See Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1893, p. 856.)

Principal, William C. Aiken, Architect, Los Angeles, CA, 1897.

Architect, San Francisco, CA, 1898.

Architect, Vineland, CA, 1900.

Carpenter, Manhattan Beach, CA, 1920.

Relocation

William Cleveland Aiken lived a peripatetic life, moving restlessly around the State of CA and other parts of the Pacific Coast after 1880. He was born in Cleveland, OH, where he resided during his early years. In 1860, Aiken lived with his parents and older sister, Florence, in his paternal grandparents' house in Cleveland. His grandfather was Samuel C. Aiken (born c. 1792 in VT), a Presbyterian clergyman, his grandmother, Henrietta Aiken (born c. 1802 in NY) The grandparents had modest wealth, owning $6,000 worth of real estate and having other assets of about $3,000 in 1860. (In 1850, Samuel and Charles Aiken possessed property from Bolivar Road to Prospect Avenue in Cleveland.) (See Ancestry.com, Source Information: Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Tax Lists, 1819-1869 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors, accessed 02/06/2020.) They employed two domestic servants in 1860, Catherine Hougen (or Hongen, born c. 1839 in England) and Matilda Light (born c. 1844 in Germany). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1860; Census Place: Cleveland Ward 4, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Roll: M653_952; Page: 435; Family History Library Film: 803952, accessed 02/06/2020.)

Aiken, his parents and two siblings remained in Cleveland in 1870. The grandparents no longer lived with the family, but his parents still indicated it had assets of $6,000. They employed one household servant, Julia Krayer (born c. 1852 in Baden, Germany) (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1870; Census Place: Cleveland Ward 6, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Roll: M593_1190; Page: 167B; Family History Library Film: 552689, accessed 02/06/2020.)

The 1880 US Census located W.C. Aiken living with his mother, brother Charles and sister Florence in Oakland, CA. At the time, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, and had registered to vote on 09/25/1880. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4 - 2A; CSL Roll Number: 1; FHL Roll Number: 976447, accessed 02/06/2020.) His brother, Charles, and his mother probably moved to the Bay Area by 1880.

He and Charles worked as reporters in the mid-1880s. (See The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families, [Hartford, CT: Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company, 1899], pp. 1824-1825.)

Voter records of 1888 listed him as a student living in Vineland, CA. He registered to vote in Napa County on 06/02/1888. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4 - 2A; CSL Roll Number: 29; FHL Roll Number: 977081, accessed 02/06/2020.)

Aiken lived between 1892 and 1897 in the Los Angeles area, working as an architect. He lived in Room #12 of the Burdick Block in 1892, and had an address of 2807 Hoover Street in Los Angeles in 1896. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4 - 2A; CSL Roll Number: 21; FHL Roll Number: 976929, accessed 02/06/2020, and Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4 - 2A; CSL Roll Number: 22; FHL Roll Number: 976931, accessed 02/06/2020.)

According to San Francisco County voter registration records of 1898, William lived with his brother Charles at 2022 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco, CA. Charles continued to work as a reporter, while William was listed as an architect. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4 - 2A; CSL Roll Number: 116; FHL Roll Number: 977277, accessed 02/06/2020.)

By 1900, Aiken was again residing in Vineland, CA. He lived in a residence with his mother, sister and younger brother, and worked as an architect. The Aikens had a servant and boarder living with them, according to census form, Song Gau, their cook, (born c. 1863 in China) and Jung Wou, a watchmaker, (born 1886 in China). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: Vineland, Napa, California; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0087; FHL microfilm: 1240095, accessed 02/06/2020.)

The architect and his wife, Irene, resided in an apartment at 903 9th Avenue in Seattle, WA, in 1910.

Aiken was listed in the 1920 Federal Census as a carpenter living at 221 19th Street in Manhattan Beach, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T625_118; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 542, accessed 02/06/2020.) By 1928, he lived at 1018 Magnolia Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1900-1968, accessed 02/05/2020.)

The 1930 Federal Census listed him as a widower living at the Commonwealth Hotel Apartments, Los Angeles, CA.

Parents

His parents--Charles Grant Aiken (born 09/30/1821 in Utica, NY-d. 08/05/1879 in Windham, VT) and Julia Antoinette "Nettie" Cleveland (born 01/25/1830-d. 11/23/1903 in San Francisco, CA)--both came from New York State. She married Charles G. Aiken on 10/01/1851 in Cleveland, OH. Charles's occupation was listed as "gentleman" in the 1860 US Census. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1860; Census Place: Cleveland Ward 4, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Roll: M653_952; Page: 435; Family History Library Film: 803952, accessed 02/06/2020.) The 1870 US Census also did not indicate an occupation for Charles, saying only he was "at home." This may have meant that he physically could not work. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1870; Census Place: Cleveland Ward 6, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Roll: M593_1190; Page: 167B; Family History Library Film: 552689, accessed 02/06/2020.)

During her life, Julia lived in Saratoga, NY, and Cleveland, OH, before moving West to Oakland, CA, by 1880. She dwelled in Berkeley between 1883 and 1895.

There were five children in the family, only three of whom lived to adulthood. Of the children three were girls--Julia Cleveland (born 10/24/1852-d. 09/12/1854 in Cleveland, OH), Florence Carnahan Aiken (born 08/08/1855 in Cleveland, OH), and Henrietta Day Aiken (born 07/26/1857 in Cleveland, OH-d. 08/17/1858 in Cleveland, OH). There were two boys: William Cleveland Aiken and Charles Sedgwick Aiken (born 02/06/1863 in Cleveland, OH). Charles resided in San Francisco between 1883 and 1897, at least. (See The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families, [Hartford, CT: Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company, 1899], pp. 1824-1825.)

Spouse

He wed Irene Kennedy Burton (born c. 1877 in Big Cane, LA-d. 11/11/1927 in Los Angeles, CA) on 08/22/1905 in Portland, OR. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Genealogical Forum of Oregon; Portland, OR, USA; Multnomah, Co., Oregon Marriage Index, accessed 02/06/2020.) (The 1910 US Census reported Irene as having been born c. 1867 in Louisiana.) The Alexandria, LA, Weekly Town Talk reported that Irene was "...the only daughter of Mrs. Clara Kennedy of Evergreen [LA], Avoyelles parish, and a sister of Mr. N. Kennedy, employed on the Town Talk [newspaper]." (See "Marriages," Alexandria Weekly Town Talk, 09/16/1905, p. 3.) She had resided in Los Angeles, CA, since 1892. (See "Died," Alexandria Weekly Town Talk, 11/26/1927, p. 3.)

Irene Aiken was active in the United Daughters of the Confedracy, Washington Chapter, in 1911. This chapter had its annual convention in Tacoma in 1911 and lobbied the Regents of the University of Washington to have a portrait of Robert E. Lee hung with other respected American leaders on the UW Campus. (See "Want R.E. Lee's Portrait Hung," Tacoma Daily Ledger, 10/20/1911, p. 5.)

Biographical Notes

Aiken was listed as an alternate officer in the registry of the Sons of the Revolution of the State of California in 1897. (See Register of Members of the Society of Sons of the Revolution in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with the Constitution and By-Laws, [Boston: Sons of the Revolution, 1897], p. 18.) Arthur Burnett Benton, Aiken's partner, was the California Chapter's Secretary in that year. This was a social club of established professional men, an excellent potential source for commissions for Aiken and Benton.

At age 39 in 1898, voter records indicated that William C. Aiken stood 5-feet, 11-and-1/2-inches tall, had hazel eyes, brown hair and a dark Caucasian complexion. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4 - 2A; CSL Roll Number: 116; FHL Roll Number: 977277, accessed 02/06/2020.)

William Cleveland Aiken registered as a Republican for the election of 1928. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1900-1968, accessed 02/05/2020.)