A Look Back:

Andrew Jackson Teague was born in 1883 in the town of Success, Mo., in Texas County to W.H. Teague and his wife.

Andy had four brothers — James, Gilbert, Herbert and Roy — along with two sisters, Ala and Jonnie.

Andy became a successful teacher for years in his hometown, before deciding in 1913 to live in California.

He arrived in Santa Ana and went to work in the sales department of the Union Oil Company. That job brought him to Huntington Beach when the company made him an agent for the area in 1917. It was in that capacity that he became acquainted with his future partner.

Andy moved, along with his wife Essie and two children, Nema and Jack, into a home at 513 Delaware Ave. He continued for one more year with Union Oil before putting full time in at the Huntington Beach station.

But by 1936, Andy had moved his family out of Huntington Beach and back into Santa Ana to live at 517 Wisteria Place.

After World War II ended in 1945, Andy’s life began to fall apart as his finances dwindled and he became more and more dejected.

On Oct. 10, 1947, he drove his car toward Huntington Beach and parked it near Wright Road (Brookhurst) and Hamilton Avenue by the Santa Ana River.

He got out of his car carrying a 12-gauge shotgun and walked over to a clump of nearby bamboo, where he shot himself.

JERRY PERSON is the city’s historian and a longtime Huntington Beach resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box 7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.