Profiles in OC Pioneers Who Were Klan Members: William French, Fullerton's First Deputy Police Officer


Hey, since the Fullerton Police Department is in the news because half-a-dozen of them beat to death a homeless man who suffered from schizophrenia, why not remind folks this week about the department's friendly past? Yes, Mitchie: Klan members were part of Fullerton's finest, and it started from the top in Marshall William French and beyond.

French makes the Fullerton history books because he was the first deputy hired by the city, to work as a night watchman for the city. He became marshal in 1912, a position he kept right up until the time the KKK infiltrated all aspects of Fullerton government and set up an operation even more powerful than much-more-maligned Anaheim.
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By the time French left the force sometimes in the 1920s, he was already working as the city recorder, further helping the Klan dominate the city. The last note I'll leave for this entry is that the Fullerton Police Department's own history of itself makes fun of the deplorable jail conditions that French kept Fullerton prisoners in–because nothing's more HILARIOUS than police officers fucking with the public! Just ask Kelly Thomas…

Tune in every Monday around 5 p.m. for the latest entry exposing Orange County city fathers who were Klan members!

Previous entries:

Rudolph Kroener, Co-Owner of Former Gas Station that's Now Orange's Filling Station
William E. Fanning, Brea Schools Pioneer, Namesake of Fanning Elementary
Jesse L. Hunter, San Juan Capistrano Innkeeper, Owner of Mexican Restaurant
John A. Leuzinger, Brea Mayor, Founder of Brea Electric
Newton E. Wray, SanTana Rancher, Failed City Council Candidate
Samuel F. Hilgenfeld, Buena Park Minister, Founder of Anaheim's Hilgenfeld Mortuary
Elmer E. Heidt, OC's First Scout Executive for Orange County Boy Scouts Council
James W. Newell, Fullerton-area Miner/Mason
Garland C. Ross, Santa Ana dentist, batted against Walter Johnson
Ferris F. Kelley, San Juan Capistrano Postmaster
Clyde Fairbairn, Longtime Olive resident/nice guy
Charles McClure, Brea's first police chief
John F. Pieper, Tustin feed-store owner, councilmember
William Starbuck, Fullerton school trustee, druggist
Hoyt Corbit, Yorba Linda pioneer, fan of Richard Nixon
Lucien Proud, La Habra mayor/school trustee
Albert Hetebrink, Fullerton rancher
Henry W. Head, Orange County godfather
Dr. Roy S. Horton and Marshall Keeler, Santa Ana Unified trustees
Sam Jernigan and Jesse Elliott, Orange County sheriffs
Herman Hiltscher, Fullerton bureacrat

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