USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume II > Part 10
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Aside from his professional prominence Judge Sepulveda has always been interested in political and social questions. He is a Demo- crat in his political affiliations, and during his former residence in California was a power in the political world. He has always been a prominent member of the Knights of Colum- bus, and was one of the organizers of Guada- lupe Council (Mexico), of which he is past grand knight. He is a member of the Catholic Church, and has always been active and influ- ential in the affairs of the church.
Los Angeles is indeed glad to welcome this one of her favorite sons again to her heart, and sincerely hopes that peace in the southern re- public will not again win him away from her.
JAMES MILLER GUINN. James Miller Guinn, of Los Angeles city, was born near Hous- ton, Shelby county, Ohio, November 27, 1834. His paternal and maternal ancestors removed from Scotland and settled in the north of Ire- land in the latter part of the seventeenth century. His father was born near Enniskillen, in county Fermanagh, and his mother, Eliza Miller, was born near Londonderry. His father came to America in 1819, and after ten years spent in the lumber business in the province of New Bruns-
wick he migrated to Ohio, in 1830, and located on a tract of land covered with a dense forest.
James M. Guinn spent his boyhood years in assisting his father to clear a farm. The facil- ities for obtaining an education in the backwoods of Ohio sixty years ago were very meager. Three months of each winter he attended school in a little log schoolhouse. By studying in the even- ing, after a hard day's work, he prepared him- self for teaching; and at the age of eighteen be- gan the career of a country pedagogue. For two years he alternated teaching with farming. Am- bitious to obtain a better education, he entered the preparatory department of Antioch College, of which institution Horace Mann, the eminent educator, was then president. In 1858 he en- tered Oberlin College. He was entirely depend- ent on his own resources for his college expenses. By teaching during vacations, by manual labor and the closest economy, he worked his way through college and graduated with honors.
On the breaking out of the Civil war, in 1861, he was among the very first to respond to Presi- dent Lincoln's call for volunteers, enlisting April 19, 1861, five days after the fall of Fort Sumter. He was a member of Company C, Seventh Regi- ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Later he en- listed in the same regiment for three years. This regiment was one of the first sent into West Vir- ginia. He served through the West Virginia campaign under McClellan and afterwards under Rosecrans. The Seventh Regiment joined the army of the Potomac in the fall of 1861, and took part in all the great battles in which that army was engaged up to and including the bat- tle of Gettysburg. In September, 1863, the regi- ment, as part of the Twelfth Army Corps, was sent to the west, and was engaged in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Ringgold. Its three years being ended, it was mustered out the 1st of June, 1864, in front of Atlanta.
In August, 1861, while the Seventh Regiment was guarding Carnifax Ferry, on the Gauley river, it was attacked by three thousand Confed- erates under Floyd and Wise. After a desperate resistance it was forced to retreat, leaving its dead and wounded on the field. On the retreat the company of which Mr. Guinn was a member fell into an ambush and nearly one-half of those who escaped from the battlefield were captured. Mr. Guinn, after a narrow escape from capture,
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traveled for five days in the mountains, subsist- ing on a few berries and leaves of wintergreen. He finally reached the Union forces at Gauley Bridge, almost starved. At the battle of Cedar Mountain his regiment lost sixty-six per cent. of those engaged-a percentage of loss nearly twice as great as that of the Light Brigade in its fa- mous charge at Balaklava. Of the twenty-three of Mr. Guinn's company who went into the battle only six came out unhurt, he being one of the fortunate six.
Of his military service, a history of the com- pany written by one of his comrades after the war, says: "Promoted to corporal November 1, 1862; took part in the battles of Cross Lanes, Winchester, Port Republic, Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Dumfries. * * On every march of the company till his dis- charge."
After his discharge he was commissioned by Governor Tod, of Ohio, captain in a new regi- ment that was forming, but, his health having been broken by hard service and exposure, he was compelled to decline the position.
In 1864 he came to California (by way of Panama) for the benefit of his health. After teaching school three months in Alameda county he joined the gold rush to Idaho, packing his blankets on his back and footing it from Uma- tilla, Ore., to Boise Basin, a distance of three hundred miles. For three years he followed gold mining with varying success, sometimes striking it rich and again dead broke. His health failing him again, from the effects of his army service, he returned to California in 1867; and in 1868 went east and took treatment for a number of months in Dr. Jackson's famous water cure, at Danville, N. Y. He returned to California in 1869, and in October of that year came to Los Angeles county. He found employment as prin- cipal of the schools of Anaheim-a position he filled for twelve consecutive years. He reached the town with $10; by investing his savings from his salary in land, at the end of twelve years he sold his landed possessions for $15,000. During the greater portion of the time he was employed in the Anaheim schools he was a member of the county board of education. He helped to or- ganize the first teachers' institute (October 31, 1870) ever organized in the county. In 1874 he married Miss Dapsileia Marquis, an assist- ant teacher, daughter of the Rev. John Marquis.
To them three children have been born: Mabel Elisabeth, Edna Marquis and Howard James. The Marquis family is of Huguenot ancestry. The progenitors of the family in America left France after the revocation of the edict of Nan- tes, and settled in the north of Ireland. From there, in 1720, they emigrated to America, locat- ing in Pennsylvania.
In 1881 Mr. Guinn was appointed superin- tendent of the city schools of Los Angeles. He filled the position of school superintendent for two years. He then engaged in merchandising, which he followed for three years. Selling out, he engaged in the real estate and loan business, safely passing through the boom. He filled the position of deputy county assessor several years.
Politically he has always been a stanch Re- publican. He was secretary of a Republican club before he was old enough to vote, and, ar- riving at the voting age, he cast his first vote for John C. Fremont, in 1856, and has had the priv- ilege of voting for every Republican nominee for president since. In 1873, when the county was overwhelmingly Democratic, he was the Repub- lican nominee for the assembly and came within fifty-two votes of being elected. In 1875 he was the nominee of the anti-monopoly wing of the Republican party for state superintendent of pub- lic instruction. For the sake of party harmony he withdrew just before the election in favor of the late Prof. Ezra Carr, who was triumphantly elected. He served a number of years on the Republican county central committee, being sec- retary from 1884 to 1886.
Mr. Guinn took an active part in the organ- ization of the Historical Society of Southern Cali- fornia in 1883, and has filled every office in the gift of the society. He has contributed a num- ber of valuable historical papers to magazines and newspapers and has edited the Historical So- ciety's Annual for the past twenty years. While engaged in the profession of teaching he was a frequent contributor to educational periodicals and ranked high as a lecturer on educational subjects before teachers' institutes and asso- ciations. He is a charter member of Stanton Post No. 55, G. A. R .; also a past post com- mander. He has filled the position of post adju- tant continuously for twenty-three years. When the Society of Pioneers of Los Angeles County was organized in 1897 he was one of the com- mittee of three selected to draft a form of organ-
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ization and a constitution and by-laws. He filled the office of secretary and also that of a member of the board of directors for ten years.
In 1904 Mr. Guinn was nominated for member of the city board of education by the Non-partisan committee of one hundred. The Non-partisans were elected by a majority of three thousand over their Republican opponents, although at the county election in November the Republicans carried the city by a majority of over twelve thousand. He served continuously for ten years and a half-one year as its president. During his entire service on the board, with the excep- tion of the year he was its president, he was a member of the building committee, a committee whose duty it is to pass on the purchase of school sites and let contracts for building, serving eight years as its chairman. He was also a member of the finance committee for seven years. During his service on these committees seven million dollars were expended in the purchase of sites and the erection of buildings.
Mr. Guinn was elected a member of the board of governors of the Museum of History, Science and Art in February, 1910, and still holds the position. He took an active part in the organiza- tion of the museum and in making collections for its historical department.
In 1908 he was appointed assistant adjutant general of the Department of California and Ne- vada, Grand Army of the Republic, and served one year. He is a member of the American His- torical Association of Washington, D. C., an association that includes in its membership all the leading historians of the United States. When he joined it in 1893 he had the honor of being the only member in Southern California. He filled the position of president of the Pacific Branch of the Association during the year 1912.
Besides the historical portion of Los Angeles and Environs he has written a History of Los Angeles County, A History of California, which includes an extended history of the Southern coast counties and a history of Southern Cali- fornia.
WILLIAM H. WORKMAN. The family represented by William H. Workman boasts an ancestry which has given to its descendants sturdy qualities of manhood and insured the success of their careers. The paternal grandfather, Thomas
Workman, was a native of England and a promi- nent yeoman of Westmoreland county; the ma- ternal grandfather, John Hook, inheriting from German ancestry a strong character, was born in Fincastle, Va., and served under General Wash- ington in the Revolutionary war. His wife was Elizabeth Cook, a relative of the distinguished traveler of that name. As early as 1819 the Hook family located in Missouri, which was then the frontier, where the Indians preyed upon the settlers and constantly threatened their lives and property. It required courage to face these dan- gers and ability to establish a home in the midst of the wilderness. David Workman, the father of William H., married Nancy Hook, and born of this union were three sons, of whom the eldest, Thomas H., was killed by the explosion of the steamer Ada Hancock, in Wilmington Harbor, April 27, 1863. The second son, Elijah H., set- tled at Los Angeles, while the third, William H., is the subject of this review.
Mr. Workman was born in New Franklin, Howard county, Mo., in 1839, and accompanied his parents to California, the family crossing the plains with ox-teams in 1854, taking six months to make the trip. This was the third trip of the father, who had just returned east to bring his wife and children to the Pacific coast. He came first in 1849 to seek his fortune in the mines; returned home, and in 1852 came back to the state and again in 1854. His brother William came as a trapper from Santa Fe with John Rowland, and while on a visit to his brother he conceived the idea from him to bring his sons to this state and enable them to start in life and make a home in California, and make "men of his boys," this sug- gestion coming from his brother. Their first loca- tion upon arrival in the state was in Los Angeles, making the trip through the mining section of northern California, whence they came by boat to this city.
Previous to his location in the West, William H. Workman had attended the public schools in Boonville, Mo., where he obtained an elementary education, after which he pursued a course at K. T. Kemper's Collegiate Institute, and later learned the printer's trade with the Boonville Observer. Following his settlement in Los Angeles he fol- lowed his trade in the office of the Southern Californian, which was published by Butts & Wheeler, on the corner of Court and Spring streets, in a corrugated iron building brought
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from England by Henry Dalton, the owner of the Azusa ranch. Later he worked in the office of the Los Angeles Star, located on Spring street opposite the Temple block. After a brief time spent in this position he clerked for a time, then accepted the offer of employment to carry mes- sages on horseback between Los Angeles and San Bernardino for the Banning Transportation Com- pany. These were the early days of the state and the very beginning of a civilization which should one day place California on a par with all other states of the Union ; but at that time the country was sparsely settled, hardships were the lot of the many and only the far-sighted pioneer could look to a future beyond his primitive surround- ings. In the early years of his manhood Mr. Workman engaged with his brother, Elijah H., in the establishment and management of a har- ness and saddlery business, and from a modest beginning this grew into a lucrative and important enterprise which continued successfully for twenty-one years.
In the meantime, in 1867, Mr. Workman mar- ried Miss Maria E. Boyle, the only child of Andrew Boyle, the first settler of Boyle Heights. His old brick house, built in 1858, was for many years a historical landmark in that section of the city. Recently remodeled and enlarged it now serves as the beautiful home of his grandson, William H. Workman, Jr. Although at this time Mr. Workman was identified with real estate transactions in Los Angeles, his interests naturally became centered in Boyle Heights, and through his efforts was effected much of the improvement of this section of the city. To induce settlement Mr. Workman and associates built a carline (the second line in the city ) on Aliso street and Pleas- ant avenue ; in 1886 he built the First street line and afterwards was instrumental in building one on Fourth street, extending through Boyle Heights and on Cummings, and though at first it was operated by mule teams once every hour it afforded ample transportation. A later enter- prise required an expenditure of $30,000 as a bonus on the part of Mr. Workman to assist the traction company to connect Los Angeles with the south side of Boyle Heights through on Fourth street, he having to secure the right of way, which with the cutting down of the street took two years. In numerous other ways he also sought to improve the locality, in conjunction with Mrs. Hollenbeck, Mr. Workman donating two-
thirds of the land for that which is now known as Hollenbeck park, the two later giving it to the city.
With the passing years Mr. Workman had also assumed a place of importance in the public af- fairs of Los Angeles and was called upon to fill many offices of trust and responsibility. As a Democrat in his political affiliations he occupied a prominent place in the councils of his party, and in 1873 was nominated for the legislature. Being anti-monopoly he was defeated in the elec- tion that followed. As a member of the city council for several terms he was instrumental in bringing about needed reforms, and in 1887 and 1888 served acceptably as mayor of the city, giving an earnest and conscientious fulfillment of duty which won for him the commendation of all parties. This being in the year of the great boom when property ran to such incalculable heights in value, Mr. Workman's strict adherence to his official duties and the consequent neglect of his personal interests is all the more commendable. In 1900 he was elected city treasurer by a major- ity of one hundred and thirty votes and again proved his efficiency in official position ; two years later he was enthusiastically re-elected by a ma- jority of three thousand votes, and upon the expiration of his term was elected a third time by twenty-three hundred majority. This being the year of the Republican landslide shows more fully the esteem in which he is held by the citi- zens of Los Angeles.
Mr. Workman was one of the stanch advocates of the scheme for bonding the city for $2,000,000 in order to secure funds for the purchase of a water plant, and with the city attorney, W. B. Mathews, went east to float the bonds, but on ac- count of the low rate of interest-three and three- fourths per cent-encountered many difficulties in disposing of them. They finally succeeded, how- ever, in New York City, and this movement proved very advantageous in the growth and de- velopment of Los Angeles. After retiring from the office of city treasurer he assisted in organiz- ing the American Savings Bank, of which he was president until 1908.
As a charter member and first vice-president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Mr .. Workman has always maintained a prominent place in the advancement of this organization. Fraternally he is a Mason, having been made a
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member in 1860 and holds membership in the Los Angeles Lodge and Chapter.
Mr. Workman has been versatile in his talents and accomplishments. He has made his own way since the early years of boyhood and has won his way step by step to a position of honor among the representative citizens of Southern California. He has established a home and reared a family of children of whom any parent might well be proud. His children, three sons and four daughters, Boyle, Mary, Elizabeth, William H., Jr., Char- lotte, Gertrude and Thomas E., appreciate fully their father's standing as a prominent citizen of their native city. The family home at No. 357 South Boyle avenue is in the center of a well- kept lawn, spacious grounds, and there their friends are always welcome and the stranger given the warm hand of fellowship. Mrs. Work- man presides over the home with a quiet dignity and has reared their children to ways of useful- ness.
Mr. Workman is a pioneer and is justly proud of his connection with the Pioneer Association of Los Angeles County and the Historical Society of Southern California, the former of which he was instrumental in organizing. He has served as its president three terms and has always taken a deep interest in the preservation of early histor- ical data. He recalls the days when a vineyard occupied the ground now a part of the railroad terminals of the city; in the early '70s he was a member of the board of education and assisted in having the first high school building erected in the city, where the present courthouse stands, since which time he has taken a never-failing in- terest in the advancement of educational stand- ards. He has contributed liberally toward all movements calculated for the growth of the city, having given lots for the building of five different churches regardless of denomination, and sup- ports all charitable enterprises with equal liberal- ity. To young and old he is "Uncle Billy." To celebrate his fiftieth anniversary as a citizen of Los Angeles he banqueted five hundred pioneers and served them with a Mexican menu from which to select their favorite dish, in memory of the early customs of Southern California. The event marked an epoch in the history of our beautiful southern city. Mr. Workman has truly won a place of exceptional prominence in the citizenship of Los Angeles, where he has been actively associated in business for many years.
It has been said of him by those who know him best that he is generous to a fault, possesses the confidence of the people, and no man in Los An- geles stands higher in the estimation of the repre- sentative men. He has not been entirely free from reverses, but at the same time has ably managed his affairs and those entrusted to him ; conscientiously discharged the duties of the office to which he had been elected, often to the detri- ment of his personal affairs. In the evening of his days he can look back upon a life well spent and forward without fear to whatever future awaits him, for he has lived in all conscience for and toward the right.
JAMES J. MELLUS. One of the prominent business men of Los Angeles, James J. Mellus is the son of Francis Mellus, who has been iden- tified with the business interests of California from an early date. Born in Salem, Mass., June 11, 1838, Mr. Mellus's father came around the Horn to California in the sailing vessel of that name under command of Captain Arthur, and arrived in Santa Barbara, but Mr. Mellus con- tinued on to San Francisco, where he became the representative for a large eastern firm dealing in hides and tallow. Francis Mellus bought ma- terial for this company along the coast of Cali- fornia, taking the goods by sailboat to San Diego, where they dried them, and when sufficient had been collected to fill a ship, which usually took a couple of years' time, Mr. Mellus sent the goods east. After eleven years of that work he came to Los Angeles, where he entered the general merchandise business with David W. Alexander, under the firm name of Alexander & Mellus, and upon the discontinuance of this partnership Mr. Mellus was representative for the Wells Fargo Express Company until his death in 1863.
The son, James J. Mellus, was also born in Salem, Mass., and after an early visit to Los Angeles, returned to Massachusetts, where he attended grammar and high schools until the age of fourteen years, whereupon he came once more to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Arrived in Los Angeles, he entered the general commission business, in hides, wool, grain and oranges, in which business he still continues, be- ing also president of the Universal Nut Lock
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Company, whose product is manufactured by Hubbard & Company, of Pittsburg, Pa.
The marriage of Mr. Mellus with Miss Whiting, of Syracuse, N. Y., took place Septem- ber 9, 1875, and they are the parents of two chil- dren : Grace, now the widow of Lieutenant Com- mander Samuel Brown Thomas, the son of Ad- miral Charles Thomas, deceased; and Katharine, both living at home with their parents. Mr. Mel- lus holds membership in several of the important clubs of Los Angeles, among them being the Cali- fornia, Los Angeles Country and Annandale Country Clubs. Politically, he is a Democrat.
AUGUST WACKERBARTH. A pioneer architect of Los Angeles, Angust Wackerbarth was born in the village of Grossenglis, Kur- hessen (now Province Hesse-Nassau), Germany, on May 8, 1859, a son of Henry and Martha Elisabeth (Trau) Wackerbarth. The former, a councilman of Grossenglis and a farmer by occu- pation, died November 11, 1865. His widow (who was his second wife) again married in 1870, becoming the wife of Ludwig Rininsland, and they later moved to the city of Cassel, where she passed away November 11, 1879.
August Wackerbarth attended the village schools in his native place and later the higher grade schools in the city of Cassel. Choosing a technical profession he attended the technical school at Holzminden, Brunswick, and the poly- technic institute at Langensalza, Province of Saxony, graduating from the latter institution in the spring of 1876. After his graduation he trav- eled extensively in Europe for the purpose of be- coming more familiar with the great architectural achievements in various periods of history, and thereby gained proficiency as an architect. He traveled through Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, England and other countries before coming to the United States.
It was in 1878 that Mr. Wackerbarth came to the United States, landing in New York on July 2. He went first to Independence, Iowa, and later to Chicago, where he remained until 1882, when he came to Los Angeles, arriving Novem- ber 22 of that year. Almost immediately he found work at his profession and was employed with various firms up to 1889, at which time he opened an office for himself and has since fol-
lowed his profession with success. When Mr. Wackerbarth arrived in Los Angeles there were but four architects in the city.
The marriage of Mr. Wackerbarth occurred at Monte Vista (now Sunland) Cal., June 6, 1887, uniting him with Miss Lottie Adams, who was born at Bray, near Windsor, England, and came to California in 1883 with an uncle. Three children have been born of this union: Augusta Esther is the wife of Donald Fragner of this city, and they have two children, Esther Angusta and Carrol; Henry O. is a graduate of the Los Angeles Law School and of Georgetown Uni- versity at Washington, D. C., and is now prac- ticing law in Los Angeles ; and George A. is the youngest.
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