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M. L
G
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01148 4109
A HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA and an extended history of its Southern Coast Counties
by J. M. Guinn, A.M.
Illustrated Complete in two volumes
Volume II
Historic Record Company Los Angeles, Cal. 1907
1359856
BIOGRAPHICAL
VOLUME II.
INDEX.
A
C
F
Adams, Thomas G. . 1020
Adloff, Jacob. 975
Campbell, Eugene, M. D. I044
Alderson, Joshua H. 781
Armstrong, Alfred C. . 1052
Carson, John M. 533
Carter, Hon. Henry E. 976
Baker, Dona Arcadia
641 Carter, Marion D. 1009
Baker, Jolın H.
910 Chambers, Judge Joseph F. 732
Baldwin, James V
989 Chapman, Alfred B 1027
Bandini, Don Juan.
635 Chapman, Charles C. 683
Bandini, Juan B. 528 Chapman, Frank M 703
Bard, Cephas L. 1087 Clapp, William T. 724
Bard, Thomas R. 5II Clark, Eli P
Barker, Obadiah T. 967 Cline, John C.
527
Barlow, Walter J., M. D 735
Clough, Frank S
1038
Beckett, Wesley W., M. D. 571 Cochran, George I.
727
Benedict, Walter S.
1028
Cochran, Guy. M. D 1035
Bentz, John C. 882 Coutts, Cave J. 886
Beveridge, John L. 1102 Cowan, William K 687
Bicknell, John D
579 Croft, Thomas F. 1038
Bixby, Fred H
997 Crow, Prof. George R. 613
Gaylord, Robert H
1063
Gibson, James A.
548
Giddings, Joshua R.
8,36
Gilmore, Edward W
946
Glover, George W.
1055
Gottschalk, Ferdinand
840
Graham, James D.
741
Green, Albert P
1003
Green, Hon. P. M 551
Greene. Charles S.
540
Groenendyke. Edward H.
610
Guinn, James M.
1072
H
820 Haas, Walter F.
881
1098 Haddock, Charles G. IO26
942 Hafen, Conrad.
792
Hagan, Ralph, M. D
700
Hahn, Hon. Benjamin W
596
Hamburger, Asher
1085
Burks, Dana.
1096 Edgar, William F., M. D.
Burnham, David R.
795 Elliott, Dr. Thomas B.
Burnham, William P
1070 Ellis, H. Bert, M. D
Byrne, Callaghan
799 Emery, Grenville C.
Fairchild, John A. . 714
Ferguson, William .1076
Flint, Frank P. 547
Forman, Charles 659
Foshay, James A. 673
Foy, Samuel C.
777
Francisco, Andrew W
1067
Francisco, J. Bond.
568
Fredericks, Capt. Jolin D
1029
Frederickson, Judge William. 660
Fremont, John C.
677
Frey, Joseph W
868
G
Gammon, Ansel E
849
Garrison, Charles G.
1029
Garvey, Clayton H. 1053
Garvey, Richard
959
Bixby, John W
983 Crump, Edward S.
900
Bixby, Jotham
505
Blanchard, James H. 962
D
Bohrmann, Henry C. 1058
Bouton, Gen. Edward 755 Dalton, E. H 986
Bovard, George F., D. D
1091 Davis, Charles C.
588
Boynton, Frank P.
928 Davisson, John H., M. D
938
Bradley, Edward R., M. D
1078 De Groot, William E.
839
Bragdon, Charles C.
1031 Dennis, Mrs. Mary E. D
895
Braly, Jolın H. 579 Dodson, Arthur M 931
Brice, James L .. 068 Dodson, James H. 932
Briggs, Mrs. Anna
728 Dodson, Jolın F. 932
Briggs, Mrs. Mary A. 811 Dorsey. Stephen W 815
Brodrick, William J.
746 Dow. Herbert 1075
Brown, Charles C.
1051 Dozier, Melville
Brown, Harrington.
890 Dudley, T. Horace
Browning, Charles C., M. D
Bryant, Ernest A., M. D 765
Bryson, Frank.
811
Bullard, Frank D., M. D 919
785 Durrell, George A
F
621 Hammon, Hon. Percy V
1019
773 Hancock, Major Henry 984
655 Hardwick, James J.
923
833 Harkness, Lamon V
648
B
Callender, Harry R. 742
Campbell, George W., M. D . 1007 Follansbee, Elizabeth A., M. D .. 875 Carpenter, Richard B. 1001 Forbes, James 905
599
INDEX.
IF rper \, Ovox - 855 Lawlei. Hon. Oscar.
595 Lee, Baker P.
. 1081 Pease, Niles 561
Harper R F/wrd]
670 Lee. Bradner W
. 627 Pease, Sherman .1041
Herre Goods G 760 Leeds, Hon. Walter R.
Hanss. João 809 Lelande, Henry J
951 Lewis, Charles
543 Lindley, Walter, M. D.
924 Pierce, Hon. Fred E.
1008
Mare . H
. 1028 Lips, Walter
666 Pierce, Judge H. A.
717
WHam M 068 Lopizich, John.
1071 Pitman, John S.
688
IhMe. Joseph M 937 Lowe, Thaddeus
Cla ne S
508 Lowe, Thaddeus S. C.
618 Ponet, Victor 1025
997 Porter, Andrew O.
617
Pottenger, Francis M., M. D. 707
Was Vincent 1 . 811
Hopkin , Ed W 863
Mc
Merton Ruft- L . 572
McAdam, James
691 Rendall, Stephen A 826
Howe. John . 913
McCartney, Hon. H. S. G.
829 Reynolds, David H 878
Hughes, Mr. Margaret
. 514 McCoy, Hon. Alexander.
790 Reynolds, Isaac J. 1052
Megle, Thomas 973
McDonald. Alexander B 1000 Richardson, A. Joseph 885
Hoe. John N 626
Than0. George II 722
McGarvin, D. C
1084 Robhins, A. S. 1066
J
Mckinlay, Samuel
816 Rowan, George D. 613
Jobs. Jungs A
858 MeLachlan, Hon. James.
566 Rowan, Robert A. 613
- 710
J. Stoldarf 5.57
Tolon. Rev Joseph H.
1030 Maier, Joseph
600 Marble, John M. C. 591
699 Markham, Hon. Henry H 585
J . J Pembroke
704 Marsh, Joseph E. 819
S
Sargent, Edwin W. 900
Savage, Hon. William H. 933
Scott, Joseph 607
Seabert, Franklin A 1056
Selph, Edgar E. 562
Sherriff, William J 862
F
920 Morehons. Clinton P 669
1067 Mott, Hon. T. D. 960
094 Mullen, Andrew
993
Sihley, Mrs. George W. 927
Silent, Charles 736
Skillen, Charles M 643
Slaughter, Frank R. 914
Slauson, Jonathan S. 679
Smith, Andrew J. 1021
Smith, Charles W. 603
Smither. Rev. Alexander C 1074
Nevin. William G. 985
Noffe, Ivory B. 1063
7,39
-24
O
822 O1 er, Byron L
830
Stein, Frederick W 1059
Stephens, Judge Albert L 762
Stewart, Gideon T 693
1083 Parter Miten D.
751 Stokes, Frank
1049
-75 Pallady, John
848 Story, Francis Q 651
52 Parker, Charles M
864 Story, Hampton L 804
Ryus, Harmon D
1069
J .gliin, Andrew
. 917 Marsh, Robert
8.25
Joughin, Andrew Jr
918 Merritt. Lewis J
1015
Jeglm. John T
919 Mesmer, Joseph
563
Metcalf, John
1005
K
Mills, Henry 941
850
558 Montgomery, Col. James E 1054
Shettler, Leon T.
803
Shettler, Reuben 749
Shorb, Andrew S., M. D. 782
T
780 Murphy, Claire W
770
608 Murphy, William W., M. D 1076
656
N
Vadein, Ge rge A .1099
Verdig. Mrs Emma R 1046
Nelion, James P. 948
Snyder, Hon. Meredith P. 647
Stanton, William 995
Stearns, Don Abel. 6.41
Steere, Robert 1016
854
025
1010
805 McNally, Andrew
778 Rowley. Quentin J 945
Rule, Ferd. K. 1089
Ryan, Andrew W. 1080
889 Ryder, Fred L. 906
Two. Mr. Carrie M.
McDonald, Frank
847 Rindge, Frederick H. 517
MeGue, Robert K.
721 Roeder, Louis 731
R
Il w Ernest . 945
McCaldin, William :
520 Pomeroy, A. E. 853
713 Lull, Linford C ..
1042 Perkins, Hon. D. T. 1 100
896 Perry, William H. 531
1032 Pierce, Clarence W., M. D 8.43
Tomon, John . 807 Loeb, Leon
. 600 Pellissier, Germain 979
P
519 Parker, Millard M 974
.1036 Milner. John
V
Strong, Frank R. 576
Stuart, Holloway : . 906
Summerfield, J. W. 1017
Summerland, Theodore 796
Summers, Mrs. Emma A
800
Summers, William H .. 857
Sutton, D. J. I041
Viole, Jules
Visscher, Louis G., M. D.
Widney, Joseph P. 952
Wilbur, Judge Curtis D. 835
Wills, John 909 Witmer, Henry C. 8.21 Wolfskill, Joseph W 969
914 Wood, John 1018
1043 Woodhead, Charles B 1065
1079 Workman, Elijah H. 990
Workman, William H.
537
Wright, Cyrus .1047
Thomas, G. Roscoe. 1055 Walker, Frank 871
Thompson, George F.
892 Ward, Ben E.
.10.45
Thorpe, Spencer R.
861 Warner, Adam D
903
Threlkeld, James B.
1035
Washburn, William J
1086
Toberman, Major James R 553 Waters, Russell J . 1093
Z
Townsend, Stephen 955 Weid, Otto 1048
Transue, Hon. J. P.
IOII Welch, William O.
766 Zahn, Johann C., M. D.
. . . . . 1061
Turner, Joseph S., M. D 956 Welsh, Joseph
U
Umsted, Jesse R. .1064
V
Vavra, A. Stephan
T
W
Y
Young, Rev. William S .. ..
. . .. . 878
895 Zobelein, George
812
INDEX.
Letham Bixby
JOTHAM BIXBY.
O you youths, western youths,
So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,
Plain I see you, western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,
Pioneers ! 0 Pioneers !
Have the elder races halted?
Do they drop and end their lesson, wearied, over there beyond the seas?
We take up the task eternal, and the burden, and the lesson,
Pioneers ! O Pioneers!
All the past we leave behind ;
We debouch upon a newer, mightier world, varied world;
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march, Pioneers ! O Pioneers!
We detachments steady throwing,
Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep,
Conquering, holding, daring, venturing, as we go, the unknown ways,
Pioneers ! O Pioneers!
We primeval forests felling,
We the rivers stemming, vexing we, and piercing deep the mines within;
We the surface broad surveying, and the virgin soil upheaving,
Pioneers ! O Pioneers!
Raise the mighty mother mistress,
Waving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress, (bend your heads all,)
Raise the fanged and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weaponed mistress,
Pioneers !
Pioneers !
See, my children, resolute children,
By those swarms upon our rear, we must never yield or falter,
Ages back in ghostly millions, frowning there behind us urging,
Pioneers ! O Pioneers !
*
*
All the pulses of the world.
Falling in, they beat for us, with the western move- ment beat ;
Holding single or together, steady moving, to the front, all for us,
Pioneers ! O Pioneers!
Lo! the darting bowling orb!
Lo! the brother orbs around! all the clustering suns and planets ;
All the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams, Pioneers ! O Pioneers!
Has the night descended?
Was the road of late so toilsome? did we stop dis- couraged, nodding on our way?
Yet a passing hour I yield you in your tracks to pause oblivious, Pioneers ! Pioneers !
Till with sound of trumpet,
Far, far off the day-break call-hark! how loud and clear I hear it wind; Swift! to the head of the army !- swift! spring to your places,
Pioneers ! O Pioneers !
When Jotham Bixby, the subject of this sketch, just turned twenty-one, set sail from Boston, March 1, 1852, aboard the clipper Samuel Apple- ton, Captain Doane, bound for a voyage of one hundred and fifty days around the Horn for San Francisco, it was doubtless because a certain adventurous fire was still steadily burning in his veins unquenched from that which prompted his emigrant ancestor, Joseph of that name, to come over from England in the early years of discov- ery and clear a farm in the virgin forests of Massachusetts, and which, a little later, while this splendid mother of Colonies in the first flush of her early matronhood as a Commonwealthi was busily engaged in bringing forth, suckling, weaning and sending out to the frontier so many others of her sturdy offspring, impelled the sons and grandsons of that emigrant to themselves blithely and bravely cut loose from parental ties and as they became of age set their faces res- olutely in the direction of more room. Thus it happens that we find many apparently unrelated families of this name, which is rather an odd one. widely scattered over the continent, from New England, New York and Missouri to Indian Ter-
33
506
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
rite ry, California and Manitoba, all sprung from men who were pioneers of their own particular region and beyond doubt all tracing to a common origin in this single Puritan ancestor.
The branch of the family now in question set- tled in Maine toward the end of the eighteenth century on the banks of the Kennebec river, then an outpost of civilization. Here, in the second generation, one of the sons, Amasa, married Fanny Weston, granddaughter of Joseph Wes- ton, one of the most active and capable of the pioneer settlers who in the first year of the war of the Revolution volunteered as a woodsman guide to accompany the ill-fated expedition of Benedict Arnold through the pathless forests of Maine against Quebec, and lost his life in the patriotic discharge of that service.
Under this roof-tree were reared to maturity eight sons and two daughters, all of whom soon- er or later removed to California, and of whom Jotham and his older brother, Marcellus, who came out together around Cape Horn, are now, fifty-five years later, the only survivors.
These two brothers went at once to the mines, and for several years followed the washing of gold with varying but rather indifferent suc- cess. Here, through the exercise of that thrift and frugality which had been instilled into them in a home where principle and character and com- mon sense constituted the animating spirit rather than mere idle catchwords of daily life, they managed to save a few thousand dollars, which they first invested in a small mountain farm sup- plying produce to the mines.
Later on, having sold this, they invested in a flock of about one thousand sheep, which were then valued at about $6 a head. During the years of drought of 1863 and 1864 these flocks, which in the meantime had materially increased in numbers, were maintained with great diffi- culty by the partners on free government range in the foothills and mountains of San Luis Obispo county. li the crop of acorns in the latter year had not proved exceptionally abundant they would probably have lost everything, but through this previdential circumstance and their own untiring efforts, living with their sheep as did the pa- triarchs of old, they saved most of them.
About this time the half interest of Marcellus in the sheep business was bought by the firm
of Flint, Bixby & Co., composed of another brother, Llewellyn, who was the first of the fam- ily to come to California, and two cousins, Ben- jamin and Thomas Flint. This firm was already well established and doing business on an ex- tensive scale, and through them the new firm of J. Bixby & Co., then formed with Jotham Bixby as half owner and managing partner, was en- abled to buy lands in Southern California and abandon the at best uncertain practice of graz- ing on the free ranges.
As an indication of the wildness and inac- cessibility of Los Angeles county at this time, as late as 1866, it may be mentioned without im- propriety that one of the chief impelling motives which induced the elder brother to sell out his half interest to the wealthier firm, whose mem- bers indeed did not have to live here, was the fact that he dreaded to bring his family into so rough and distant a region, as it was then viewed even in the not over-thickly settled districts of Central California.
Rancho Los Cerritos was purchased by J. Bix- by & Co., in 1866, from John Temple, a well- known trader and land holder who had come to this coast also, as it happened, from Massachusetts long prior to the Mexican war, and who died in San Francisco soon after making this sale, his widow, who was a daughter of one of the old established Spanish families, thereupon re- moving with her daughter and son-in-law to Paris, never to return to the Pacific coast.
The great drought above referred to had all but exterminated the formerly extensive herds of cattle throughout Southern California, the country being of course entirely without trans- portation facilities, and as these cattle ranges were now lying idle and unproductive of any revenue to their owners they were held at what at the present day seems an absurdly low value. Los Cerritos, which contained twenty-seven thou- sand acres of the best grazing lands in the Los Angeles valley, embracing the present flourishing farming districts of Clearwater, Hynes and Llewellyn, and the townsites of Los Cerritos and Long Beach, was bought for $20,000, and paid for out of the first two clips of wool sold by the new owners.
From this time dates an era of steady progress. The close of the Civil war sent hitherward many
507
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
homeseekers out of both disbanded armies, farm- ing settlements were started in some of the choice alluvial lands of the San Gabriel and other ir- rigible valleys of the county, and many of the larger grants which had hitherto been used for grazing alone were opened for settlement, their owners being tempted to part with portions of their holdings through advancing values. The first sales from Los Cerritos were made along the northern boundary contiguous to the colony of Downey. Then followed fourteen hundred acres to the Wilmington Colony, and later in 1884 six thousand acres off the north to the California Co-operative Colony, and four thou- sand acres on the ocean side called the American Colony tract. Here is now situated the city of Long Beach, whose growth has appeared as a marvel of these latter years of improved electric transportation, but is, after all, only the natural outcome of her peculiarly favored situation up- on gently sloping hills fronting the most at- tractive of sea beaches, while, moreover, she is no doubt destined to reap high benefits from im- provements now in progress in the harbor of San Pedro, a large part of which lies within her cor- porate borders. More recent sales from this rancho embrace one of seven thousand acres to Senator Clark, of Montana, and one of one thou- sand acres to Mr. Skinner and others, of Florida, all of which make up one of the richest and most productive bodies of farming land in the New River district. Mr. Bixby still retains personally some thirty-five hundred acres of the rancho surrounding the original adobe ranch house, built and first occupied by Mr. Temple, and where he made his own home for so many years, and to this he devotes much of his time in per- sonal direction of operations in dairy farming, and the growing of barley and alfalfa, never hav- ing lost a primary interest in the live stock and farming business.
Other extensive properties were acquired by him and by the firm in which he was half-owner and managing partner, from time to time since coming to Los Cerritos. Some of these con- sist of sixteen thousand acres of Los Palos Ver- des rancho, situated on the coast between Red- ondo and San Pedro, six thousand acres of farm- ing lands in Los Alamitos rancho near the Beet Sugar factory, seven thousand acres of the rancho
Santiago de Santa Ana lying between Santiago creek and the Santa Ana river in Orange county, a little foothill orange ranch in Temescal cañon, Riverside county, certain landed and livestock interests in Arizona, various holdings in the cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles, and in other localities.
Mr. Bixby was elected president of the first bank established in Long Beach, and still remains at the head of that institution now called the National Bank of Long Beach, the growth of which has been steady and rapid while practicing a policy of conservatism and security in loans and investments. He is one of the stockholders, though not a controlling owner, in the Long Beach Hotel Company, and other enterprises which have been started with a view to develop- ing the resources of the town in which the latter years of his life have been cast, and in the growth and prosperity of which he has always taken a lively interest. Mr. Bixby has never been in any strict sense a speculator, all of the properties which he now owns having been purchased with a view to permanence of invest- ment. It was his good fortune to come early to a favored region and to acquire large interests here; to him was also given the clear head and sober judgment to manage these interests some- times through seasons of prosperity and again of perplexity and discouragement, but always with skill and a good measure of that success which comes alone from correct perception and appreciation in the use of figures as applied to receipts and disbursements in business. Califor- nians, indeed, of that day and training were more generally actuated, it may be, by the principle known as "live and let live," than those schooled in an environment of more exacting commercial competition. In this prevailing spirit of fair dealing among Californians, which, of course, like most rules, was not without its exceptions, it is believed that the student of social condi- tions may find an item of real compensation for many of the hardships and drawbacks of a life so far removed from the great metropolitan cen- ters of social and industrial activity. At all events to those who know Jotham Bixby best it is not necessary to enlarge upon this side of his character as a business man.
In 1862 at San Juan, San Benito county (then
508
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
in the county of Monterey), Jotham Bixby mar- ried Margaret Winslow Hathaway, daughter of Rev. George W. Hathaway of Skowhegan, Me. This marriage followed an engagement made some time before on a visit by Mr. Bixby to his old home, and for this purpose this handsome young woman came out alone under the protec- tion of acquaintances, on the long steamer trip by way of the Isthmus. An older sister was at the time married to Llewellyn Bixby, who was to become her future husband's partner, and they were living in San Juan. Here the young couple made their first home, and their oldest son, George Hathaway, was born. Later at Los Cer- ritos and Los Angeles six more children were born, of whom two, their daughter Fanny Wes- ton and their son Jotham Winslow, are now liv- ing. Both these sons are married and there are now six grandchildren of whom one is the son of their son Harry Llewellyn, who died in 1902.
Larger fortunes than Mr. Bixby's are not un- common among those who have combined the exceptional opportunity of early residence in Cal- ifornia, good judgment in investing and close study in the handling of their affairs, but in this case at least the best legacy which will be left by the pioneer father to his offspring, when in the days to come, let us hope still many long years distant, his soul goes faring forth out of an out- worn tenement, to join those of his own forbears, will be a name unsullied by personal misconduct, cowardice or any meanness. More than this, on the positive side to those who really know him will be revealed a depth of kindness and con- siderateness toward others but thinly veiled un- der habits of reserve and unostentation border- ing on diffidence.
How are the strong, simple men of that gen- eration to be replaced under these more artificial and tense conditions of American society? The answer comes through an appreciation of the spirit of the virile verses of the poet Whitman, which have been prefixed to this article.
Hail and all hail our fearless, able, generous pioneers! For the good of the Republic may the fine example and stirring memories of your adventurous lives prove a beacon guide alike to leaders and to hosts of many a stalwart genera- tion of Americans yet unborn!
CLAUDE S. HOLMAN. To her noble, self- sacrificing pioneers, no less than to her enterpris- ing business men of later days, Southern Califor- nia owes her remarkable progress. To their zeal and energy will prosperity be indebted, and among the names worthy of perpetnation in the future is that of Woodford C. Holman, a pioneer of 1849. A native of the south, he was born in Woodford county, Ky., March 18, 1824. To him more than to the average boys with whom he associated came the privilege of obtaining good school training, first receiving instruction in a private school, and following this by a course in a private academy. The same year that John C. Fremont, the famous pathfinder, set out to find the Pacific coast, also found Mr. Holman making his way across the plains with ox-teams. He ar- rived in Oregon after a most perilous trip, during which he had many narrow escapes from the Indian's tomahawk, as well as suffering from the encroachments of wild animals. His destina- tion, MeMinnville, Ore., was finally reached and there he settled down content with his surround- ings in the west until the news of the finding of gold in California made all other places pale in comparison. Coming to the state during the same year he stopped for a time in San Francisco, but finally made his way to the mines, where it proved a rich harvest was awaiting him. During the ten years which he spent in the mines he also carried on a merchandise business in San Fran- cisco, both of which avennes were productive of large incomes and made him a wealthy man. His association with Los Angeles dates from the year 1870, at which time he purchased large tracts of real estate in what later became the corporate limits of the city. In addition to carrying on general farming he also gave considerable at- tention to horticulture, setting out groves of lemons, oranges and deciduous fruits, besides shrubs of various kinds. Selling a part of his ranch he removed into the city of Los Angeles in 1890, and from that time until his death, May 24, 1898, was unable to attend to any business on account of ill health.
A man of unusual ability and versatility, Mra Holman was perhaps even better known as an author and lecturer than in the commercial world. His early pioneer experiences in the west and ex- tensive travels in the old world furnished him
Fromage R Bard
511
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
with valuable material from which to draw, and whatever came from his pen or lips had the sound ring of truth and substantiality. His subjects on the lecture platform were almost always in the line of agriculture, gold-mining or early Califor- nia history, on any or all of which subjects he was perhaps as well able to speak authoritatively as any who ever came to the west, not excepting his great contemporary, John C. Fremont. Among other books of which he is the author we mention but one "The Old Pioneer," which is not only interesting in the extreme, but claims the added merit of being instructive as well. Personally Mr. Holman was a man of unimpeach- able character, great force and energy, and. all who were privileged to know him felt that they were in the presence of a pure, God-fearing man. His earth life came to a close in McMinnville, Ore., May 24, 1898, while on a visit to his brother, Daniel Holman.
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