VON BLON, John
VON BLON, John Litchfield (1870-1957)[SS#569-07-0756] Ohio-born adventurer and author of a dozen articles in Scientific American between 1902 and 1927. In the 1910 U.S. census he lived in Los Angeles with his wife, Katherine Thompson Von Blon (1881-1967)[SS#546-80-6664], a native Californian, ten years younger than he. They married on August 12, 1907.
Ten years later, in the 1920 census, Von Blon is listed as a publicity writer, married, and a lodger. His wife, Katherine, is not listed.
By 1930, Von Blon is 59, married to California-born Henrietta Boeckmann (b. 1891), 38, and has two children:
- Marie Adele Von Blon (1926- )
- John Philip Von Blon (1929-1950)
John Von Blon was assistant city editor of the Los Angeles Herald just after the turn of the century; he was a photographer for the Los Angeles Times in the 1920s. Von Blon was a member of a 1907 expedition in search of Nicoleño artifacts at San Nicolas Island, and he called it "one of the world's loneliest islands" and "a rocky waste in a turbulent sea."
John Von Blon died in Santa Barbara, California on July 28, 1957 at age 86.
» Von Blon, John L. Sea Elephants Preserved for Posterity in Scientific American 136(6) June 1, 1927
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In the News~
August 4, 1909 [LAT/SCat]: “The schooner Edith of San Clemente Island, with several members of the Out West Club, Mr. and Mrs. John von Blon, Mrs. Jennie Thompson, Arthur Dodge, Robert Yost, Jr., and others aboard, anchored in Avalon Bay for a few hours yesterday. The party left for San Clemente for two weeks’ camping and fishing.”
