USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume II > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59
Aside from his business interests Mr. Wack- erbarth has been more than ordinarily active in social and fraternal circles. He is a charter mem- ber and one of the organizers of the Southern California Engineers and Architects Association, also a member and one of the founders of the Southern California chapter of the American Institute of Architects, was elected treasurer in 1897 and has served continuously ever since. He is a member of the Los Angeles County Pioneer Society, and was elected secretary in 1912 and is one of its directors. He is also a member of the National Geographic Society. In Masonic circles Mr. Wackerbarth is very prominent ; he was made a Mason in Pentalpha Lodge No. 202, F. & A. M., on January 26, 1886; he later be- came one of the fifteen original founders of Westgate Lodge No. 335, F. & A. M. On Novem- ber 10, 1898, he was elected the first secretary and has since been re-elected at each consecutive election, serving from the organization of the lodge. He was elected high priest of Signet Chapter No. 57, R. A. M., and served during 1893-94, and is at present (1915) one of the three trustees. He received the order of high priesthood in April, 1893; was elected thrice illus- trious master and served during the years 1889 to 1896, and officiated as secretary from 1897. He was elected grand master of the Grand Coun- cil, R. & S. M., of the state of California in April, 1899; was created a Knight Templar and a Knight of Malta May 12, 1887. For sixteen years he was deputy grand lecturer of the Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons of California and is also a member of the Masonic Research Society of the United States of America. He is
Thes. Thompson
83
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
also a member of Acacia Chapter No. 21, O. E. S., and one of its trustees, in which chapter Mrs. Wackerbarth is also on old and esteemed mem- ber and was an officer of said chapter during the year 1888.
THOMAS THOMPSON. The fortunate destiny of Los Angeles has been assured largely by reason of the ability and industry of the people from other sections who have been led to establish homes in the growing city near the sunset sea. In the migration to Southern Cali- fornia and to Los Angeles the sons and daugh- ters of Canada have taken no insignificant part. Their deep religious convictions, their clear perceptions of right and wrong, their progres- sive spirit and activity in public affairs have added a notable element of material strength to a cosmopolitan city and have aided in lay- ing the foundation of its policies broad and deep and strong. The mere accident of birth in a country lying north of the Great Lakes has not detracted from their patriotic devotion to the United States and particularly to the Pacific coast country, the upbuilding of which their own efforts have so materially advanced. Of the Canadian-born citizens of Los Angeles, not the least conspicuous for years was the late Thomas Thompson, a native of the city of Kingston, and a member of an honored old Canadian family. During early life he lived in Canada and in Detroit, Mich., where he received a common-school education. Between the date of his birth, August 15, 1828, and that of his death, January 9, 1911, there was an era of practical, successful business enterprise, to a large degree associated with Los Angeles, where he became a resident in 1861. In all probability no citizen witnessed the advance- ment of this city with more pride than he and few were more capable contributors thereto. An intelligent observer of its remarkable growth, he watched with interest the rearing of its great business blocks and the replacing of its critde cottages with modern bungalows or city man- sions. To the last he continued to be interested in transpiring events and well informed in re- gard to local progress.
The marriage of Thomas Thompson and Ellen Hill was solemnized in Detroit, Mich., when Mr. Thompson was a young man of
twenty-four and his bride four years his ju- nior. Five children came to bless the union, but only two survive, namely : Richard, of Los Angeles, and Mrs. Laura Young, of Alaska. A granddaughter, Miss Nita Wilson, ministered to the comfort of Mrs. Thompson until her death. From the age of twenty-four years Mr. Thompson had lived in California, coming around the Horn in a sailing vessel that cast anchor in San Francisco harbor. The year after his arrival his young wife joined him, making the trip via the isthmus and being one of the first passengers to cross on the new railroad. After three years in San Francisco they came to Wil- mington, where Gen. P. Banning, founder of the town and an old friend of Mr. Thomp- son, gave him the position of foreman at the government post. In the war days Wilmington was an important post, where supplies from the north were sent, to be shipped thence into the interior.
More than twenty-five years before his death Mr. Thompson established his home on East First street, Los Angeles, and there the balance of his life was passed. Until taken ill with the infirmities of age three months prior to his decease, he had never been sick a day in his life. In health and happiness he and his wife were spared to enjoy together the sixtieth an- niversary of their marriage, but shortly there- after his strength began to wane, and then came the sad bereavement to the one who through so many years had shared his joys and sorrows, his hardships and successes. The fu- neral was in charge of Hollenbeck Lodge No. 319, F. & A. M. For sixty years he had been an Odd Fellow and for forty years a member of the Masonic lodge. In his capacity of senior lodge man he had probably attended more fit- nerals of pioneers than any one in the state, sometimes being present at as many as five within one week. One by one he saw his old companions pass away, until finally he stood alone, like some old forest oak, a solitary sen- tinel on the highway of life, waiting for the last storm that will tear out the sturdy roots from the earth so long their home. For sixty years his life had its roots in California and he loved the land of his adoption with an affection second only to that which he cherished toward his wife and children. To such pioneers as he the state owes deathless gratitude.
84
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
DR. CEPHAS L. BARD. The family of Dr. Bard is said to be of Italian extraction, the head of the family in the latter part of the twelfth century having been Ugone de Barde, whose two sons on account of the exigencies of war fled from their castles in the Valley of Aosta and went, it is supposed to Scotland, where they be- came noted in the wars of England and Scotland, one of them being a signer for the safe conduct of William the Lion, granted by Richard Coeur de Leon in 1194. There were several branches of the Bard family in European countries, the an- cestry therefore being difficult to trace with certainty, but there is record of them among the persecuted Huguenots who escaped from France to England, whence they crossed the water to America, becoming pioneers in the set- tlement of the state of Pennsylvania. But even in the New World life in those early days was far from secure. The earliest ancestor in this country was Archibald Bard, who, before 1740, settled on "Carroll's Delight," not far from Fair- field in Adams (then known as York) county, Pa. His son Richard, the great-grandfather of Dr. Cephas L. Bard, was, with his wife and other members of the household, captured by members of the Delaware tribe of Indians in 1758 and held for some time, Richard Bard at last making his escape and returning later to ransom his wife after two years of captivity among the savages. After their escape he bought a plantation near Mercersburg, Pa., where he later became one of the leading citizens of that section of the state, participating in various of the Indian battles and in the Revolutionary war. Later he held the office of Justice of the Peace, and was a member of the Pennsylvania Convention of 1787 to which the Federal Constitution was submitted. His son Thomas was a captain in the War of 1812, and the latter's son, Robert M. Bard, the father of Dr. Cephas L. Bard, born in Chambersburg, Pa., in 1810, became a prominent attorney, served on the school board and as chief burgess of the borough, and at the time of his death was candi- date for congress.
Dr. Bard inherited his interest in medical sci- ence from his mother's side of the family, his maternal grandfather being Dr. P. W. Little, of Mercersburg, and his two uncles being Dr. B. Rush Little, who was at the time of his death professor of obstetrics in the Keokuk (Iowa) Medical College, and R. Parker Little, for a long
time connected with the Columbus Medical Col- lege. The maternal ancestors were also of Revo- lutionary fame, one of them having been a colonel on the staff of Lafayette during the war and re- ceiving special recognition from Washington for gallant service, other relatives on the maternal side having served as governor of Pennsylvania and as ambassador to France.
Dr. Cephas L. Bard, born at Chambersburg, April 7, 1843, the son of Robert McFarland and Elizabeth S. (Little) Bard, came therefore of distinguished forbears both in this country and across the water, and his elder brother, Hon. Thomas R. Bard, was at one time United States Senator from California. Dr. Bard received a classical education at Chambersburg Academy, but from early boyhood being desirous of adopt- ing the medical profession, he at once after grad- uation at the age of seventeen, entered the office of Dr. A. H. Senseny, a noted Pennsylvania physician, in order to prepare himself for his chosen career, following this preliminary study by a course at the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, which was interrupted, however, by the breaking out of the Civil war. Although but just past his nineteenth birthday, Dr. Bard enlisted in the Union army, in Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment of Penn- sylvania Volunteers, and took part in the battles of Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Antietam and the second battle of Bull Run, being mustered out with his regiment in May, 1863. He imme- diately resumed his medical studies, graduating from Jefferson Medical College with the degree of Doctor of Medicine and receiving an appoint- ment as assistant surgeon in the army. and thus again entered the war, his regiment participating in numerous engagements, Dr. Bard serving in this capacity until Lee's surrender, when he re- turned home to Chambersburg and practiced med- icine there until 1868, a part of which time he was county physician.
Coming to California in that year, where his brother Senator Bard had preceded him, Dr. Bard settled at San Buenaventura, where he practically remained until the time of his death many years later. At the time of his going there the town was but a tiny village, and Dr. Bard was the first physician to locate there. Dur- ing the greater part of his residence there, Dr. Bard acted as county physician, coroner and health officer, and on numerous occasions was a
85
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
member of the Board of Pension Examiners, maintaining all the time a large private practice, at different times attending post-graduate courses in New York and Philadelphia. In his profes- sion he held the position of president of the Ventura County Medical Society, the Southern California Medical Society and the State Medical Society, and was a member of the American Med- ical Association and surgeon of the Southern Pa- cific Railroad from Saugus to Carpinteria and branches. Together with his brother, Senator Thomas R. Bard, he erected to the memory of their mother the Elizabeth Bard Memorial Hos- pital near Ventura, with a fine view of the val- ley, ocean and Channel Islands; and a week after its opening, in January, 1902, Dr. Bard himself was taken there as its first pa- tient, to undergo an operation from which he never recovered. His death occurred April 17, 1902, a bust of him being presented to the hospital by the Ventura Society of Pioneers, of which he was practically the founder, and reso- lutions on his death were passed by many organ- izations of which he was a member, including the Southern California Medical Society, the Medical Society of the State of California, the Ventura County Pioneer Society and the Grand Army of the Republic.
Dr. Bard was married October 25, 1871, to Clara Winter Gerberding, the daughter of Christian Otto and Mary ( Hempson) Gerberd- ing. They were the parents of two children, Mary Blanche Bard, residing at Chambersburg, Pa., and Albert Marius Bard, whose death oc- curred in Brussels, Belgium, in 1905. Dr. Bard was married the second time, in 1887, in Ven- tura county, to Mrs. Margaret Homan. She had three children, Nettie (married to Dr. L. F. Roudebush), Homan and Margaret. Mrs. Mar- garet Bard died October 14, 1914.
Besides his professional interests, to which he contributed much in the way of literature, Dr. Bard was a firm believer in patriotism, a student of the classics, a prolific writer and a Presby- terian, the belief of his fathers. Aside from his connection with many noted medical societies, he held membership in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion ; the Grand Army of the Republic, Cushing Post; Lodge No. 214, F. & A. M., at Ventura ; Chapter No. 50, R. A. M., and Al Ma- laikah Temple, N. M. S., of Los Angeles.
EDWARD AYERS. A pioneer of California, and one of the first settlers of the town of Tropico, Cal., Edward Ayers was born August 19, 1837, at Danville, Hendricks county, Ind., where he was brought up on a farm, receiving a country school education. When thirteen years of age he went to Indianapolis, Ind., where he learned the shoemaker's trade and followed it in that city until April 1, 1857, at which time he removed to New York. From that city he took the steamer for the Isthmus of Panama via Aspinwall, and after crossing the Isthmus by rail, took the steamer John L. Stevens on the Pacific side and sailed for San Francisco, reaching there after a tedious trip. San Francisco at that date had only sixty thousand people. Mr. Ayers soon left for Sacramento, Cal., where for two and one-half years he pursued his trade. The year 1859 found him in Yreka, Cal., where he remained a couple of years, there casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. When the gold excitement broke out in Idaho in 1861, Mr. Ayers removed to that state, and mined in the Clearwater Mountains near Lewiston, until 1862. Thence he went to The Dalles, Ore., where he resumed his trade of shoe- maker, saved his money and departed for Silver City, Idaho, where he opened a shoe store and conducted it about seven and one-half years. Re- turning to San Francisco in 1872, he set out from there for Portland, Ore., on the same steamer which had brought him from the Isthmus of Panama in 1857. During his residence in Port- land he worked at his trade, in 1883 coming to Southern California and settling on his ranch at Tropico, where he now makes his home.
When Mr. Ayers arrived in Los Angeles the town had a population of eleven thousand, and Glendale was one vast field of barley, being one thousand acres belonging to the San Rafael rancho. A large orchard, devoted to the cultiva- tion of peaches, oranges and lemons, had heen set out, and Mr. Ayers deciding to buy land and engage in fruit raising, purchased twelve and one- half acres on April 25, 1883, at $80 per acre, which was the second tract in the town to be sold and the first to be improved with streets, sidewalks, etc. Here Mr. Ayers' wife planted three hundred and fifty pear trees, the same of apricots, one hundred and sixty prune trees, as well as apples, peaches and quinces. After rais- ing fruit for some time Mr. Ayers took up the trees, planting in their stead a vineyard on ac-
86
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
count of the low price of fruit. Later this prop- erty was divided and put on the market under the name of the Ayers tract, of which all but thirteen lots have been sold. Mr. Ayers built there three houses, which are still in his possession, the family living in one and renting the others. Dur- ing all these years Mrs. Ayers has taken entire charge of the subdividing and the fruit raising while her husband has been employed at his trade in Los Angeles, she being a fine business woman, and, after the usual ups and downs, has come out successfully. Her husband has made a record at his trade of shoemaker, having worked at that for sixty-five years. Their marriage took place in San Francisco, September 14, 1881, Mrs. Ayers having formerly been Mrs. Mary (Mactiney) Heintz, a native of New York City. They be- came the parents of two children: Mrs. Lena Melrose, the first native daughter born in Tropi- co, is the mother of one son, Clifford M. She is a pianist and vocalist of note, having studied under the best talent in Los Angeles. Edward Ezra Ayers was formerly agent for the National Cash Register Company in Sidney, Australia, and for seven years followed the sea, having been around the world and passed through many interesting experiences. Mrs. Ayers is a prominent and active member of the Thursday Morning Club. Mr. Ayers is the possessor of a cabinet of hundreds of varieties of quartz and petrified woods, the most valuable collection of the kind in Southern Cali- fornia, the mineral specimens having been brought from as far distant countries as Alaska and South Africa, for in the collection of the exhibit Mr. Ayers spent a period of fifty-one years in travel in all parts of the world. Throughout his long life he has always given his influence in political questions on the side of the Republican party. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, having joined when a young man.
O. J. WIGDAL. As president of the Home Savings Bank, Los Angeles, O. J. Wigdal brings to that important office the experience of many years in banking life, in which line of work he has held the positions successively of clerk, as- sistant cashier and cashier. He is the son of John and Sylvia Wigdal, who were born in Nor- way, that land whence in the early days sallied forth the intrepid Vikings, bringing terror to the
coasts of many a south-land which naturally looked good to these hardy invaders from their haunts of ice and snow. The old Norse or North- men are said upon good authority to have orig- inated in the mountain fastnesses of the Scan- dinavian Peninsula, and by scientists are desig- nated as the fair haired, blue eyed and long- skulled race. Having great strength and virility, as their countries became over-populated they swarmed out, as it were, to other lands whose shores were washed by the North Sea and the Atlantic. Thus, they invaded and settled in northern France in a district which has ever since been known as Normandy, whence came Duke William, who crossed the Channel and be- came William the Conqueror of England. It was the Vikings who likewise made trips, or "Viking- Tog", to Iceland, settled there and from thence sailed to the coasts of Greenland and adjacent islands, visiting Labrador and explored the north Atlantic coast as far south as New England, and drew maps of that part of the New World (which, by the way, are still in existence) almost five hundred years before the discovery of Amer- ica by Columbus.
It is from this sturdy northern race that the subject of this sketch has descended. The father, John Wigdal, was reared in and attended the parochial schools of his native land until four- teen. He then went to sea, no doubt following an instinct inherited from his seafaring ancestors, and like them, too, finally came to America. It was in the year 1850 that he immigrated to the United States and settled near Madison, Wis., where he engaged in farming until the time of his death in 1899.
At Madison, O. J. Wigdal (the subject herein) was born, December 12, 1860. He was educated in the grammar and high schools of Albert Lea, Minn., and having completed his education at the age of twenty-two, he held the office of as- sistant postmaster in Albert Lea for a period of three years, and that of assistant cashier of the First National Bank of that city until 1887. In that year he came west to Los Angeles, where he was employed for twelve years as clerk in the Los Angeles National Bank, rising to the office of assistant cashier, which he continued to hold for three years. Resigning from this position, Mr. Wigdal organized the Home Savings Bank, of which he became cashier, and was in 1911 elected president. When
87
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
organized, the bank had a paid-up capital of $100,000, which has today increased to $1,000,000, ten times the original amount. The Home Savings Bank has recently moved into its new quarters on Broadway at Eighth street, in which direction the business of the city is rapidly spreading. Thus situated it is in a location which for many years to come will be the center of the business life of Los Angeles. Its banking facilities are now of the very best, and its safety deposit equipment the most complete on the coast. Here in its handsome new home, where to the solidity of steel, stone and cement is added the beauty of marble and mahogany, the Home Sav- ings Bank cordially invites the public to become its guests and patrons. That the convenience of the bank may be brought nearer the homes of its cus- tomers, six branches have been established in the city, one of which is a night and day bank.
Mr. Wigdal is a Mason, a member of the High- land Park Lodge, and also a member of the Cali- fornia Club. In the political world he is identified with the interests of the Republican party. His religious connection is with the Methodist church. Mr. Wigdal was married at Albert Lea, Minn., October 6, 1887, to Miss Emma T. Halvorsen, an Iowa girl whose name also suggests Norwegian ancestry. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wigdal: Richard J., who follows his father's line of business interests and is assistant cashier of the State Bank of Owensmouth, Cal .; and Mabel S., who makes her home with her parents.
HON. NEWTON W. THOMPSON came to Los Angeles when a young man of twenty years, since which time he has resided continuously in this county, principally in Alhambra, and during the past thirty years has rendered many inval- uable services to his city and his state. He was formerly a Republican, but with the growth of the Progressive ideas his sympathies went with the new movement and since the organization of the Progressive party he has carried their stand- ard to victory on several notable occasions. From 1905 to 1907 he represented the Sixty-ninth dis- trict in the State Assembly; in 1909 he was elected a state senator, re-elected in 1913, and was president pro tem. of the Forty-first session. His
record at the state capital is clean and full of evidence of a keen and vigorous mind and of loyal devotion to his district and his constituency and to the principles of Progressive legislation.
Senator Thompson is a native of New York, born in Pulaski, September 16, 1865, the son of Newton M. and Ada A. (Warner) Thompson. Born in Erie county, N. Y., in 1836, the father passed his early years in his native county, where he received his education, and where for a time he engaged in farming. Later he removed to Pulaski, N. Y., where he engaged in the hardware business until the time of his death in 1883. The present honored citizen of Southern California spent his boyhood days in his native village, at- tending the public schools and later the Pulaski Academy, from which he graduated in 1883. He then taught school for a year, and at the end of that time responded to the lure of the west and came to California, Los Angeles being his ob- jective point. For a year he worked on a ranch at Florence, near the city, and then became clerk in the township justice court in Los Angeles, re- maining in this capacity until 1886. He then en- gaged in the title business with Baxter and Dunn as partners until 1890, when he disposed of his interest in the business and the name was changed to the Los Angeles Abstract Company, Mr. Thompson becoming a searcher of titles. In 1893 this company sold its interests to the Title Insur- ance & Trust Company, and Mr. Thompson's ser- vices were retained by this company in his former capacity until 1902, since which time he has oc- cupied the position of manager of the title de- partment.
The interest of Senator Thompson in municipal affairs has always been very keen and he has contributed much toward the general welfare of the city and community. For five years he was president of the board of town trustees of Al- hambra. In his views on governmental affairs he is a keen student of conditions and of men, and his constant effort has been to render a service that will be not only acceptable to his constituency and a credit to his party, but which will serve the best and broadest interests of his state and build for the future on a firm foundation of justice and right. In this he has been eminently successful, the people testifying to this by his re-elections to higher offices of responsibility and trust.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.