From the Abilene Reporter-News, Sept. 20, 1964.
It's just a few days into the new year and the Lonestar State yields yet another interestingly named public official, Judge Elzo Francis Been of Eastland County. A practicing attorney for over fifty years, Been migrated to Texas at a young age and after being admitted to the state bar built up a substantial law practice in Eastland. A holder of several local offices in the 1910s and 20s, Been was elected as Judge for Texas' 88th Judicial district in 1924, and over two decades later briefly served as Eastland County Attorney.
The son of Zachariah Huston and Julia Ann (Ownby) Been, Elzo Francis Been was born in Greenwood, Arkansas on November 9, 1883. Relocating to Texas at an early age, Been attended school in the town of Gorman and began his college education at Howard Payne College in Brownwood, Texas. Been earned his bachelor of laws degree from the Cumberland University Law School in the class of 1913 and in the following year married Fannie Pearl Cannon (1888-1979). The couple was wed for fifty-five years and their union would see the births of two children, Truett Elzo (1915-2003) and Ruby Nell (1920-2011).
Following his admittance to the Texas bar, Elzo Been briefly practiced law in the town of Rising Sun, residing there from 1913-14. in 1915 he moved to Eastland County, where he would reside for the remainder of his life. After building up his law practice in that county he began to dabble in local politics, serving as a deputy tax collector and county clerk, holding the latter office from 1915-17. Been would later advance to the post of Eastland County Attorney, and from 1923 to 1924 was an assistant county attorney.
In 1924 Elzo Been was elected as Judge for Texas' 88th Judicial District and served eight years on the bench. He retired from the bench in 1932, citing a distaste for the office, as well as noting that he "worried too much about other people's problems--whether or not I had made the right decision in a case."
After leaving the bench Been continued with his law practice and built up a large farm in Long Branch, where he would raise cattle. He returned to political life in 1950 when he agreed to serve as Eastland County Attorney for a term of one year, filling a vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Nathan E. Gresham. Been retired from that post in December 1951 and returned to private practice. He died in Elgin, Texas on September 24, 1970, at age 86 and was survived by his wife Fannie, and two children. Following her death in 1979, Fannie Been was interred alongside her husband at the Murray Memorial Cemetery in Carbon, Texas.
From the Ventura Daily Star, August 29, 1930.
From Texas, we journey to California and Elzo Lubbert Van Dellen. A native of Holland, Van Dellen was long a resident of California, where he was a high school principal and a prominent Rotary Club figure. He earns placement here on the site due to his unsuccessful candidacy for Congress in 1924 and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1952 from California. Born in the Netherlands in 1880, Elzo Lubbert Van Dellen was the son of the Rev Lubbert (1842-1919) and Grietje (Krijthe) Van Dellen (1845-1904). There is some confusion regarding Van Dellen's middle name. Period sources, such as the 1902 Cap and Gown Yearbook and the 1911 Northwestern University Undergraduate Study, denote it as Lubberts, while modern sources, such as Ancestry.com, mention it as Ludwig. All in all, very confusing!
Removing the United States with his family in 1890, the Van Dellen family first resided in Chicago, Illinois. His early education was gained in Chicago public schools, and in 1904 earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Denver, Colorado. He later pursued a law degree from Northwestern University in Illinois, graduating in 1911. Van Dellen later furthered his education at Stanford University in California, graduating in 1918.
Elzo L. Van Dellen married in Colorado on June 16, 1906, to Jessica Van Gunten (1879-1966). The couple had three children, Elzo, Daniel, and Katherine.
Having settled in California in the 1910s, Van Dellen served as principal of the Yreka Union High School for an indeterminate period and in 1919 was named principal of the Salinas High School. He continued in that role until about 1930, and during his tenure made his first venture into politics, announcing his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 8th district. Hoping to unseat incumbent Republican Arthur M. Free in the 1924 primary, Van Dellen lost out at the polls in August, with Free besting him by over 4,000 votes. Arthur Monroe Free went on to win the general election and was elected to three further terms in Congress before his defeat in 1932.
From the Bakersfield Californian, August 27, 1924.
While his congressional aspirations were dashed, Van Dellen's public profile continued to rise through the 1930s. In 1930 he was named head of the city and district schools in Ventura and in 1939 was an unsuccessful candidate for the Ventura city council. In 1943 he served as president of the Ventura County Planning Commission, and gained further distinction in area fraternal groups, serving as president of the Rotary Club of Ventura and from 1942-43 was president of Rotary International District No. 106. Van Dellan was also a Mason, a past Exalted Ruler of the Ventura Elks Lodge, and a member of the Channel Club of Santa Barbara.
From the Hanford Morning News, April 11, 1943.
Elzo L. Van Dellen resigned as Ventura school superintendent in 1936 and later practiced law in Ventura. In 1952 he was named as an alternate delegate to that year's Republican National Convention held in Chicago. In 1966 he suffered the death of his wife of sixty years, Jessica, and died the following year in Ojai, California on March 7, 1967. Both were interred at the Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura.
From the Salinas Californian, March 9, 1967.
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