A recent search by volunteer researcher
Allan Ochs at the San Luis Obispo County Museum, conducted on behalf
of Joseph Motz of Indiana, elicited some previously unknown tidbits
about former residents of the Biddle House.
Elizabeth Motz Biddle was born in
Evansville, Indiana on October 13, 1862. Michael Motz was her father.
She came to San Luis Obispo in 1879 with her parents and two uncles.
Elizabeth married John Biddle in 1885. He died in 1891.
According to the Morning Tribune, February 27, 1915, “On the death of Biddle she managed the affairs of
the Biddle estate in such manner as to increase its value by
many thousands, and it was but a short time ago that the
affairs of the rich estate were wound up when the decree of
distribution was ordered.”
A few years after his death, she married Charles Smith, with
whom she had a son, David Smith. She died of heart disease on
February 27, 1915, after a short illness.
Allan Ochs,
Volunteer Researcher for the San Luis Obispo County Historical
Society, adds this:
According to a May 30, 1986 Tribune article on the Biddle House, plans
for the house were drawn up in July, 1893, and the house was completed
about three years later. Mrs. Biddle died in 1915 at the house which
was then occupied by her children until the 1960's.
One paragraph in the article reads, "John Biddle met Elizabeth Motz in
SLO, where they were married. They moved to a little white house on
Pismo Street between Nipomo and Beach streets which they bought from
Mr. Motz."
The above is the
only mention in the article about Michael Motz.
The 1906 city
directory lists three Biddles living at the Biddle House: John F.,
Minnie, and Philip. The same directory lists Michael Motz living at 797
Pismo St. Other Motz listed include Eliza, George, a clerk at the
Sauer grocery store, and Clara, living at 1303 Garden St.
The 1914 city
directory lists four Biddles living at the Biddle House: In addition
to the above there is Mrs. Elizabeth Biddle-Smith. Elizabeth was
married for a short time to a Charles Smith, whom she met on the east
coast.
Under Motz in the
same directory, there is listed again Michael Motz at 797 Pismo St.
Other Motz include George L. Mott, manager of the Sauer grocery
store, and a Clara Motz, widow of George (an earlier George?) both
living at 1303 Garden St.
There is no further
mention of Michael Motz in later phone books and directories.
Michael is
apparently not buried in SLO.
A newspaper article
from 1900 says that Michael Motz was the brother of Henry Motz who
owned considerable property in SLO.
Under "Smith" in the Oddfellows Cemetery index, Elizabeth's birth
and death dates are noted as October 13,1862, to February 26, 1915. I
found Elizabeth's obituary in the February 27, 1915 Tribune.
