USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume II > Part 16
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Patriotism would be expected as an heredi- tary characteristic of one whose ancestors were identified with the new world almost from the first attempts of colonization. The paternal ancestors of Abbot Kinney came to America in 1634 and his maternal progenitors in 1636, the former being Nonconformists who sought freedom in their forms of worship as well as in their religious beliefs. Successive generations have inherited the sturdy mental attributes of the original immigrants and have risen to high standing in New England and New York. One branch of the family was established in New Jersey and at Brookside, that state, Abbot Kinney was born in 1850. Excellent advantages were bestowed upon him and these he appreciated to the utmost, developing thereby a well-rounded mentality, facility in the art of writing and a thorough knowledge of several languages. For several years it was his privilege to live in the home of his uncle, United States Senator James Dixon, of Washington, D. C., and there he be- came acquainted with the families of Lincoln,
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Grant, Sherman and other men of world-wide fame. From Washington he was sent to Heidelberg, Germany, to prosecute his studies in the great university and afterward he had the advantage of study in Paris. Upon leav- ing school he made a walking tour of the continent and thereby gained an insight into the habits of the people most valuable in acquiring a cosmopolitan knowledge of the world.
Thorough acquaintance with the French language acquired during his Parisian experi- ences enabled Mr. Kinney to translate for President Grant a history of the Civil war written by the Comte de Paris. Fond of literature and proficient as a translator, he found this task a most delightful one. His next enterprise was radically different, yet no less interesting to him. As a member of the tobacco house of Kinney Bros., of New York City, he engaged as a buyer in the south for the firm and later went abroad for the same purpose. During 1875, while buying famous Turkish brands, he witnessed the massacre of the Bulgarians and was the last foreigner to leave Salonica, Macedonia, before the gen- eral slaughter took place in that old city. Upon relinquishing his work as a buyer in 1877 he entered upon a three years' tour of the world. During one year of that period he acted as commissioner to ameliorate the condition of an Egyptian province, whose peo- ple were suffering from small-pox and famine. After leaving Egypt he toured in other lands and made a special study of their government and industrial condition. In the progress of his tour around the world he came to South- ern California and for the first time viewed the beauties of nature, the charming mountain scenery and the unrivalled climatic attractions of this part of the world. The magic of the land laid its lure upon him. Such was the pleasure he derived from the contemplation of the picturesque environment that he deter- mined to establish a home in this little known region. At that time (1880) Los Angeles had scarcely eleven thousand souls and the sur- rounding country was sparsely settled, but no lack of population, no dullness of industrial conditions, no grimness of outlying deserts could lessen the charm that fascinated this widely-traveled stranger. Capitulating to the
charm of the place, he bought five hundred acres near Sierra Madre and planted two hun- dred acres in citrus fruits, later acquiring other citrus properties, chief among which stands the Kinneloa ranch at Pasadena, an estate most alluring in its charm of scenery and environment.
Appointed to serve as commissioner with Helen Hunt Jackson in 1883, Mr. Kinney re- ported upon the needs of the Indians of Southern California and largely to this report was due the abandoning of the reservation plan, the lands instead being allotted in sev- eralty to heads of Indian families, with time limit, to insure the preparation of the red men for civilization. From 1884 until 1887 Mr. Kinney acted as chairman of the state board of forestry and had charge of the first surveys for forest reservations. In June, 1897, Governor Budd appointed him a member of the Yosemite commission, of which he was chosen presiding officer. Through the period of his service he labored to secure better roads in the valley, more adequate stage service, the paying of the old indebtedness against the park, the reduction of charges at the park hotels and the forbidding of all herding of stock on the land. Believing the Yosemite to be one of the wonders of the world, Mr. Kinney has endeavored to arouse the people of the state to a greater appreciation of the beauties of this noted park, and to a large degree he has been successful.
A student of forestry for many years, Mr. Kinney was appointed chairman of the state board of forestry of California in 1884, and acted in this capacity for three years. It was during his term that the first surveys for forest reservations were made. Through his importunities with President Cleveland and Secretary Lamar he secured the first national forest reservation in California. For many years he was vice president of the American Forestry Association and with B. E. Fernow and H. T. Ensign and others, worked inde- fatigably to awaken the people to the realiza- tion of the great need of protecting the mountain water sheds to prevent floods and to preserve the water of the nation for irriga- tion, power and navigation. The first public forestry work of a practical nature done in the United States was accomplished by the Cali-
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fornia State Board of Forestry, and to meet the demand for an account of their accom- plishments the state forestry reports were republished in sections and in several editions.
While living in the east Mr. Kinney was identified with the Fifth Maryland National Guard, a training which well fitted him for the rank of major and inspector of rifle practice which he later filled in the National Guard of California. To stimulate interest and pride in the work of the National Guard Mr. Kinney offered trophies for the best military teams. In 1873 he was connected with the Third United States Cavalry in the Sioux Reserva- tion.
Love of literature is a leading trait of Mr. Kinney, whose advocacy of culture is so pro- nounced that for two years he maintained a reading room at the Soldiers' Home, besides which he established public libraries at Santa Monica, Pasadena and Venice. To place upon record his individual opinions concerning sub- jects of interest and importance he has written a number of books, chief among these being the Conquest of Death, Tasks by Twilight, Money, Under the Shadow of the Dragon, Protection vs. Free Trade, The Australian Ballot, Forestry, and Eucalyptus. On the last mentioned subject he is a recognized author- ity, and to him is due credit for starting the forestry stations in California for supplying trees to any who wished them, his purpose being to exploit the eucalyptus and conserve forestry in general. Now, after lying dor- mant for several years, this work is being ex- tended, having been taken up by the forest reserves. The range of subjects upon which Mr. Kinney has written is little less than remarkable and indicates the breadth of his mental vision, the depth of his mental attain- ments and his happy facility of expression. No subject was approached until it had been made a theme of long-continued study. In spite of incessant business and horticultural activities, he had found leisure to study in- telligently and profoundly varied subjects of vital importance to the progress of the coun- try. Yet he has been no bookworm, living no life apart from his books. On the contrary, he is thoroughly alive, in touch with every department of the world's progress and in sympathy with the great enterprises that are
revolutionizing the west. He believes in cul- ture and familiarity with literature as a means of development of a well-rounded char- acter, but not as the sole outlet of our mental energies.
In the work of Prof. O. C. Marsh in the west along the lines of paleontology he took a special interest, particularly in the wonder- ful discoveries of ancient animal life. Through research the ancestor of the horse, a one-toed animal, has been traced back to a small five- toed animal, and the horse of today still has remains of two of the lost toes in the splints of the fore legs.
In all of his work Mr. Kinney had the sym- pathy and co-operation of his talented wife, a woman of great intellectual force and deep civic loyalty. In all of his grave responsibili- ties she walked beside him and in the sun- light of success, as in the shadow of tem- porary defeats, she remained his confidante, caring for his health with infinite solicitude and fostering his optimistic spirit with an unceasing enthusiasm. A direct descendant of Mildred Washington (a niece of George Washington) and a daughter of Judge James D. Thornton, she inherited superior qualities and these in turn descended to her four living sons. Her death occurred at the family residence in Venice after an illness of only three days and at a time when she was offi- ciating chairman of the Venice Board of Edu- cation, besides planning for other organization work tending toward the local progress. Three years after the death of his first wife Mr. Kinney was married to Winifred Har- well, a daughter of J. Courtland Harwell, of the old Devonshire Harwell family, and Jeane McDonald, a direct descendant of Marshall McDonald, distinguished in the Napoleonic wars. Vice-President Marshall is a member of the same family. In his present happy home life Mr. Kinney enjoys the presence of two children, a little girl and boy.
A personage of interest and position, whose history took on brilliance through contact with statesmen and literateurs in Washing- ton and Paris and received added interest through the advantage of travel and broad culture, Mr. Kinney has found the greatest chapter of his life to be connected with South- ern California and the most valuable page
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of that chapter identifies him with Venice as its creator. From a plan that had its in- ception in his mind to a resort visited by thousands, his has been the master mind, his the creative touch, his the keen eye for scenic beauty at this meeting place of land and water under a sun-kissed sky. Catastrophes of fire and flood have not daunted his changeless faith in the future of the Venice of America. Here he makes his home and here he has, as far as possible, centered his activities, work- ing with a tireless energy scarcely to be ex- pected of a man of large wealth, but repre- senting his earnest desire to promote the wel- fare of the town to the extent of his ability. Far removed from the scenes of his youth, he is giving of manhood's ripened experience and sagacious judgment to the permanent progress of a region endeared to him by long associations and by the recognized charm of its manifold attractions.
CASPARE BEHRENDT. It is given to few to enjoy a continuous identification of more than sixty years with one town, but such was the rec- ord of the late Caspare Behrendt, whose passing, November 19, 1913, removed from Los Angeles a pioneer of 1852, an Indian trader in the then sleepy Spanish pueblo, a leader among the He- brews, one ever faithful to the traditions and dogmas of his race, and honored by people of every nationality by reason of his patriotic spirit and kindly charities. Although a native of Ger- many, educated wholly in that country, familiar with its language and history, he became typically American in thought, aspirations and tempera- ment, and above all else he became a true Cali- fornian, loyal to the commonwealth of his adop- tion and a believer in its great future. When he 'came to the United States he was a lad in his teens, without means, a stranger in a strange land, but with a rich capital of hope and health and determination. The discovery of gold brought him to the west and a desire to investi- gate conditions throughout California induced him to visit Los Angeles, whose attractive environ- ment and ideal climate caused him to become a permanent citizen. Few Germans were living here at the time, nor had the place as yet at- tracted many of his own race. The Spanish and
Mexican population predominated and in a short time he had made friends with them. Thereafter he counted among his warmest supporters the na- tives of the city. Other notable pioneers, among them Solomon Lazard, George Workman and Harris Newmark, were attracted to him by reason of his fine character and superior intelligence. Into his store on Commercial street near Main there came people of every class and nationality then resident in Los Angeles. His fair dealings brought him their confidence and for years he ranked among the most popular and successful business men of the city.
When the Mexicans arose to drive out Maxi- milian and the French Mr. Behrendt was won over to the support of the patriots and furnished them with munitions of war. However, his activities aroused the suspicions of the French and they determined to take him prisoner. Only the timely warning by a native that troops were approaching enabled him to escape. Although in constant dan- ger for some time thereafter he did not cease his efforts to assist the Mexicans in their endeavor to overthrow the empire. When conditions had quieted down and it became safe for him to re- turn to Los Angeles he established himself in the grain business, which for the following years brought him a fair profit. Of an active tempera- ment, fond of commercial pursuits and disliking the tedium of retirement from public enterprises, he did not relinquish his business connections un- til about 1898, when the infirmities of age forced him to turn his interests into the hands of others. About five years before his death he became blind. With the loss of vision and the failure of his health, life ceased to hold a deep fascination for him and he entered tranquilly into the rest of eter- nity. For forty-two years it had been his priv- ilege to enjoy the devoted companionship of a capable wife, who now survives him, together with their daughter, Mrs. John Kahn, and the only son, Sam Behrendt. Mrs. Behrendt, for- merly Hulda Cohn, is a daughter of Abraham and Rosalie (Newmark) Cohn, and a native of Prussia, Germany, where the family wielded con- siderable influence among those of their own race. Among the leading members of the family who came to the United States is her brother, Kaspare Cohn, who rose from poverty to affluence and is now numbered among the capitalists of Los An- geles, prior to 1885 a partner in the firm of H. Newmark and later the founder of the firm of K.
Holbrook
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Cohn & Co., also a stockholder in the Azusa Ice Company, San Joaquin Light and Power Corpora- tion, Coalinga Water and Electric Company, Cali- fornia Commercial Company, Southern California Gas Company and Southern California Ice Com- pany.
JOHN FREDERICK HOLBROOK. An- other of the honored pioneers of California and of Los Angeles is John Frederick Holbrook. now retired, but for many years one of the most active and progressive of local business men, and the organizer of the J. F. Holbrook Com- pany, manufacturers of corrugated steel tanks and roofing, and for an extended period the head of the company. Previous to that time he had been engaged in the manufacture of water pipe and in the construction of water systems. having built the water works for what is now Pasadena in an early day, and since that time having performed the same service for various other Southern California municipalities.
Mr. Holbrook is a native of Indiana, having been born in Adams county, July 21, 1846, the son of Nicholas and Mary Holbrook, both de- ceased many years ago. He received his educa- tion in the public schools of Fort Wayne, Ind., remaining in school until about sixteen years of age, when he was apprenticed for three years to learn the trade of sheet metal and tin work. After completing his trade he went to Pittsburg, in 1865, and for a number of years followed his trade in Cleveland, Detroit, Chi- cago, and Denver, Colo. It was in September, 1868, that he came to California, crossing the plains and going directly to San Francisco, locating after a short time at San Jose. Later he went to Sacramento, where he remained until 1873, at which time he came to Los An- geles, where he has since made his home. He came to this city under contract to lay fifteen miles of water pipe for the Cerro Gordo mines, the undertaking requiring one year. He also engaged in the manufacture of water pipe at Alameda and Marchessault streets. After a year at this location he removed to Alameda and Ducommun streets, remaining there until in 1877, when he again changed his location, moving this time to Market street, where the company is still in business.
Mr. Holbrook built the first water works for the Indiana Colony (now Pasadena), and since that time he has constructed the water works for Pomona, Alhambra and Glendale. During this time he was also in the well-casing busi- ness. In 1900 he sold his pipe plant and engaged in the manufacture of steel tanks and roofing, making a specialty of oil tanks for the oil fields. This business is still conducted under his name, but is owned and managed by his son, who took over the interests on the retirement of his father.
During his long residence in the city Mr. Holbrook has been closely connected with its municipal affairs and has been a prominent factor in the upbuilding of the city. He is in- dependent in politics, and gives his support to men and measures which he deems best fitted for the accomplishment of the greatest good for the general welfare. He served as a member of the city council from 1886 to 1888.
The marriage of Mr. Holbrook took place in this city January 1, 1874, uniting him with Miss Laura Commons, the daughter of Dr. Albert Commons, the family being one of the early pioneer families to locate in this vicinity. Of the four children of this union two are deceased. Those living are Frederick W., now conduct- ing the business which his father established, and Elizabeth, the wife of George W. Nowlin, of this city. Both Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook are well known throughout the city, and have many warm friends. Mr. Holbrook is enjoying a well-deserved rest from many years of fruitful endeavor. He is a member of several of the exclusive social clubs, and for many years has been a prominent member of the Recreation Gun Club and the Los Angeles Pioneers Society.
SAMUEL LESTER PAGE. A man of abil- ity and integrity, enterprising and practical, Sam- uel Lester Page, for twenty-four years road su- pervisor of his district, is one of the early pio- neers of California, having crossed the plains in 1860. Since that time he has made his home in this state, living at various places for ten years, and then coming to Alhambra, since which time he has lived either there or in the vicinity of Pasadena. At present Mr. Page makes his home in Alhambra, where he has a comfortable place,
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and where he is recognized as a man of superior ability and worth. He is now past eighty years of age, but is still hale and hearty, being himself very proud of his strength and agility at this time of life. He has lived very keenly throughout all his life time, working hard and earnestly, and living soberly and cleanly, and to these facts he attributes his splendid constitution. He is as in- terested in local affairs of importance today as he was forty years ago, and is well posted on all mat- ters of local import and ready to take his part in municipal questions. He is very proud of his record as road supervisor and gives the most careful attention to the roads of his district, which are among the best in the county.
Mr. Page is a native of Pennsylvania, born on a farm near Williamsport, January 25, 1834. In 1851 his father went to Michigan, but after six years returned to Pennsylvania. He was not content with the conditions there, however, and after a short time returned to his former location in Michigan, where he was engaged in farming. About this time young Samuel determined to start out alone to seek his fortune, and traveled west to Nebraska, where for six months he was employed in the building of a saw mill. In 1858 he went to Washington, Iowa, where for two years he was variously employed. The lure of the west was claiming many of the young men of that period and in May, 1860, Mr. Page joined a com- pany of twenty wagons coming across the plains. They made their start from St. Joseph, Mo., and after three months arrived in Contra Costa county. For two years Mr. Page worked for wages near Martinez, then took charge of the ranch of Shattuck & Hilligas, where the city of Berkeley now stands. Later he engaged in the wood and coal business in Oakland for him- self, then removed to San Francisco, where he was engaged in teaming until 1870, when he came to Southern California, locating at Alhambra on January 27 of that year. He was soon made foreman of the Benjamin Halliday ranch, on which now stands the famous Hotel Raymond, in Pasadena. It was he who planted the large pepper trees that now adorn this property, they being set out in 1870. After a year he sold this property for Mr. Halliday, the purchaser being H. D. Bacon, who retained the services of the efficient foreman for another year. At the end of that time Mr. Page resigned this position and
engaged in farming for himself at Monk Hill, north of Pasadena, and later was employed in hauling oranges to Los Angeles for Wilson & Shorb. He had retained an interest in Alhambra during all this time and eventually he returned there and opened a livery business which he con- ducted for many years with the greatest success. His work as road supervisor for the Alhambra district has been efficient and faithful and the residents of that district are loyal in their sup- port of Mr. Page. He has continued to invest in real estate and has been exceptionally successful in this line, making splendid profits from his in- vestments, and at this time owning valuable prop- erty in Alhambra and Pasadena.
In his personal contact with men Mr. Page has been very successful, being what is known as a "good mixer" and so making many warm friends from all classes of people. He is a prominent Mason, and a member of Pentalpha Lodge No. 202, Los Angeles. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge, of Alhambra.
The marriage of Mr. Page was solemnized in 1887, at Pasadena, his bride being Miss Virginia E. Wilson, of Mississippi, a grand-niece of B. D. Wilson, of Alhambra. Of their union were born three children, all well and favorably known in Alhambra and Los Angeles county, where they have been reared and educated. They are Jennie, now the wife of J. D. Fryer ; Effie, now Mrs. Mc- Sherry ; and Lee Lester, who is married to Miss Viola Lipsie. There are two grandchildren in the family, and of these Mr. Page is exceedingly fond and proud.
The long years of public service that Mr. Page has rendered have placed him in unusually close contact with the pulse of the community and given him a knowledge of the men who have given of their best to make this part of the San Gabriel valley one of the garden spots of the earth. He is very popular among all classes of people, and it is a well known fact that in the discharge of his duty as a public servant he sees but one end, and that is faithful and efficient service and the accomplishment of the ultimate end of his en- deavor; all that stands in the way of this must give way and be set aside. He has always taken a keen interest in whatever stands for the im- provement of his district and in this he contends that there is nothing more vitally important than good roads.
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HENRY HAMMEL. The life of this Los Angeles pioneer began in Hesse-Darmstadt, in the south of Germany, September 19, 1834, and closed September 3, 1890, after an identification of al- most forty years with the upbuilding of Cali- fornia. He came to America when thirteen years of age to join his elder brother, who had pre- ceded him by some years. No special gifts of for- tune made pleasant his early days. The chief en- dowments bestowed upon him by nature were a sturdy physique capable of great endurance and a keen mind ambitious to acquire knowledge. Mental alertness and excellent health enabled him to rise out of poverty into financial independence and to establish himself among the leading hotel men and ranchers of his adopted community. Coming around the Horn, he arrived in Cali- fornia in 1851, and shortly after found a humble position in a San Francisco hotel. Three years later he left that city and came to Los Angeles, where from a subordinate position in the Bella Union hotel lie advanced to the proprietorship of the well-known hostelry. During the latter part of the '60s the Bella Union was the leading hotel of Los Angeles. Thither came the prosperous ranchers from the back country, the tourists from other lands and the merchants from inland towns, so that the landlord gained a large circle of friends among the leaders in every line of enterprise. Men who figured in local history regarded him not merely as a courteous landlord, but also as a kindly and cherished friend.
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