USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume II > Part 23
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Since the death of her husband Mrs. McDon- ald has continued to reside at the family resi- dence on Darwin avenue, where so many pleasant memories still cling and where she is constantly surrounded by the love and care of children and friends. She has many pleasant recollections of her early life here, and these she delights to recall, dwelling with infinite detail on the growth of the city, the social life and church activities of years long gone, and on the childhood of her children. She is exceedingly proud of her rela- tionship to John Redmond, the Irish home-rule leader, and speaks often of this illustrious mem- ber of her father's side of the family. To those
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who have been privileged to know this remarkable woman intimately and well she is all things beau- tiful and true, being a friend in the deepest sense of the word, a comforter in times of trouble and a shield in times of sorrow. She is of the type that builded better than they knew when the city was yet young, and on whose firm foundations of home the reputation of Los Angeles today, as a city of homes, is founded.
ROBERT SHARP. A resident of Los An- geles since 1873, and during all that time closely associated with the commercial and social life of the city, Robert Sharp is rightly considered one of the prominent pioneers of the Angel City. His business interests have always prospered and his prosperity has been the result of careful applica- tion to the details of his affairs. As natural with one whose faith in the future growth of the city has always been certain, he has invested in real estate in the city and county, the wisdom of his judgment having been such that his holdings have steadily increased in value. The welfare of his community has always been of first importance to this capable man and he has ever stood stanchly for the questions of municipal welfare, progress and general uplift, with his great influence con- stantly on the side of the right.
Although the greater part of his life has been passed in California, Robert Sharp is a native of England, born at Stratford, Essex county, Jan- uary 31, 1852. He is the son of Robert and Diana (Graham) Sharp. who were both descend- ed from the landed gentry of England. The son received his early education in the private schools of Essex, attending there until he was thirteen or fourteen years of age. There was at that time, however, great interest in England in the reports that were coming from California, residents of almost every district having come to the Pacific coast as the result of the gold rush, and an appre- ciable number having returned with a fortune, while yet others reported golden opportunities in other fields than the mines. Accordingly, in 1869 Robert Sharp, then a youth of seventeen years, made the long journey to join an uncle, coming di- rectly to Sacramento, where he remained for three years, engaging in the carpet business with this relative. Later he went to San Francisco, where he was in the same business for a short time, and
was then sent to Los Angeles by the D. N. & E. Walter Co., to assist the local branch of this firm, conducted by Aaron Smith. This was in 1873, and instead of remaining for a short time, the city so pleased Mr. Sharp that he asked for and received a permanent transfer, and remained with the firm here through all its changing partner- ships up to 1879.
It was in 1880 that Mr. Sharp engaged in his first independent business venture in Los An- geles, at that time going into the furniture busi- ness with John Bloeser under the firm name of Sharp & Bloeser. Here he prospered, but later sold his interests and opened the Pioneer Steam Carpet Cleaning Works, on Seventh and Los An- geles streets, remaining in that line until 1891, when he entered the undertaking business under the firm name of Peck, Sharp & Neitzke. At the end of a year and a half this partnership was dis- solved, and Mr. Sharp engaged in the same busi- ness for himself under the name of the Robert Sharp Company. In 1898 he took his son, Joseph William, into partnership and since that time the establishment has done business under the name of Robert Sharp & Son. The enterprise has been a prosperous one from the very start, and in 1908 Mr. Sharp erected a handsome brick structure on Flower street, which has been their location since.
Although he has been actively engaged in busi- ness continuously, there has never been a time when Mr. Sharp has not had time for the atten- tion to civic duties that are certain to devolve upon all capable and worthy citizens. He is a Republican and is always keenly alive to the wel- fare of his party in all its phases. Social and fraternal orders and their affairs have also claimed his interest and support, he being a prominent member of a number of representative organiza- tions, in all of which he is deservedly popular and influential. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, being grand knight of Santa Monica Council No. 920; past master workman of Los Angeles Lodge, A. O. U. W .; past commander of the Knights of the Maccabees and past grand pres- ident of the Sons of St. George, besides which he is a member of the Los Angeles County Pioneer Society, the Fraternal Brotherhood, the Municipal League and the Chamber of Commerce.
The first marriage of Mr. Sharp occurred in Los Angeles, June 8, 1874, with Miss Catherine Caulfield as the bride, the Rev. Father Peter and late Bishop Verdaguer officiating. Mrs. Sharp
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was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Caul- field, well known residents of Los Angeles. She bore her husband five sons as follows: Joseph William, now associated with his father in busi- ness, and married to Florence Ganahl; Harry C., a civil engineer with the Southern Pacific; Frank R., married to Nellie Craigh; Edwin J., in the office of city engineer; and Fred L., also as- sociated with his father in business. Mrs. Sharp was a woman of charming personality and beauti- ful character, and her death, which occurred November 12, 1902, was a distinct loss to her family and friends. Five years later, in October, 1907, Mr. Sharp married Mrs. Anna Hamilton, who now presides over his household. The family attend the Roman Catholic church at Santa Monica.
ROBERT BROWN YOUNG. Born in Que- bec, Huntingdon county, Canada, April 1, 1851, Robert Brown Young early determined to seek his fortune in the more thickly populated and progressive country to the south. His parents, Alexander and Mary Ann (Dowler) Young, gave their son as good an education as the schools of the province afforded. After reaching man's estate the son felt that his native city did not offer sufficient scope for the full development of his indomitable energies, and having determined to follow the profession of architecture for a live- lihood, he began looking about for a larger field for his endeavor. This search led him, in 1877, to Denver, Colo., where he finished his education in construction and architectural drawing. Not being thoroughly satisfied with conditions in Den- ver he later determined to come to California, first locating in San Francisco, but two months later he came to Los Angeles, in the fall of 1878, just about the time the first real building boom began to make itself manifest. He immediately opened up offices for himself as an architect and general contractor.
Los Angeles at that time was a thriving little city of about ten thousand and there were only two other architects here. Mr. Young, being full of energy and ambition, succeeded in securing his full share of the business in his line. Within a short time demands for plans and architectural drawings were coming in far faster than he could handle them, and he was obliged to give up his work in contracting entirely and confine his atten-
tion to architectural work. At one time during this period of building "boom" he had eighty- seven buildings under construction at one time.
From these early beginnings the business of this "neighbour from the North" grew steadily and surely toward the pinnacle of success. Today there are monuments to his skill and industry scat- tered all over Southern California, and not a few in Arizona. Among some of the prominent buildings of an earlier time with which his name is associated are the Westminster, Hollenbeck and Rosslyn hotels and Burbank theatre; while among those of more recent date may be men- tioned the Lankershim block and the Lankershim hotel, Blackstone's dry goods store, Barker Broth- ers' building, the Seminole, Engstrum, Young and Westonia apartment hotels; the Kissel Kar and Mitchell garages; and the new Orpheum theatre, of which he was the resident architect. He also designed the new Yuma county court house, at Yuma, Ariz., and has built a great many Cath- olic churches and schools in the diocese of Los Angeles and Monterey. The State Reform School at Whittier is also of his handiwork, as is also the Masonic Temple at Corona; St. An- drew's church at Pasadena and the Reynolds' de- partment store at Riverside.
The marriage of Mr. Young occurred in 1880, uniting him with Miss Mary C. Wilson of Den- ver. Two children were born to them, Frank Wilson Young and Mary Elizabeth Young Moore. The son was taken into partnership with his father a number of years ago, and since the death of the latter has continued the business under the firm name of R. B. Young & Son.
The death of Robert B. Young occurred on January 29, 1914, after an illness of several months, leaving a widow and two children who still reside in Los Angeles.
REV. D. W. HANNA, A. M. One of the pio- neer educators of Los Angeles, and at the present time deaconate pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Rev. D. W. Hanna has been for many years a prominent figure in educational and re- ligious circles in the city, and for many years was a leader in the former field of endeavor. He first came to Los Angeles in 1884 from Napa, Napa county, Cal., where he had been engaged in educa-
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tional work for three years previously, and has since that time resided here, being for some years at the head of the only private school for young ladies in the city. Now that he and his charming and cultured wife are growing old, the love and friendship and devotion of the many splendid women who twenty-five and thirty years ago were students at Hanna College form one of the bright- est spots in their lives, while their annual wedding anniversary day, which is the day chosen by the former students of the college for the paying of their especial tribute, is a gala occasion indeed.
Rev. Mr. Hanna was born at Steubenville, Ohio, September 20, 1836. His father was Thompson Hanna, proprietor of a printing paper manufacturing plant at Steubenville, and his mother was Catherine W. Steelman, both natives of Washington county, Pa. They were married in Pittsburg and resided there for a number of years before removing to the little Ohio town which they afterward made their home and where the mother died at the age of fifty-five years. There were twelve children born of this union, of whom the Rev. Mr. Hanna was the seventh. They are all deceased now except Mr. Hanna and one brother, John, who resides on a ranch near Anaheim, Orange county, and is eighty-four years of age.
The boyhood days of Mr. Hanna were passed at Steubenville, where he received a common school education. Later he was sent to Canons- burg, Pa., where he attended Jefferson College, now Washington and Jefferson College, grad- uating in 1855 from the ancient classical course.
Following the completion of his education, young Mr. Hanna returned to his native town and helped his father in the paper business. This was a prosperous enterprise until the opening of the Civil war, when the conditions of the coun- try changed and the Hannas were caught in the first severe pressure. Their business had been largely with Southern concerns and transacted on credit, and not only was their trade ruined, but their accounts were not collectable and failure was the result. Young Hanna immediately turned to teaching as a suitable occupation, his first posi- tion being superintendent of public schools at Middletown, Ohio; later he assumed charge of a young ladies' seminary at Monroe, Mich., and in 1881 came to California.
For three years after coming to the coast Mr. Hanna taught at Napa, and in 1884 came to Los Angeles. During all his life he had been strongly inclined toward the clergy and had studied the- ology while teaching. He was ordained a min- ister in the Presbyterian church at Napa in 1882. and for a time considered giving up his educa- tional work for the ministry, but the demand for his services in the former field on his arrival in Los Angeles determined him to continue in that work for a time at least. For a few months he taught in the Ellis Villa College, and in 1885 he opened the Los Angeles College for Young La- dies, better known as Hanna College, at that time the only institution in the city which provided exclusively for the higher education of young women. This was located at the corner of Fifth and Olive streets, where the Auditorium Hotel now stands, and afterwards moved to the corner of Eighth and Hope streets, where the building now known as the Abbottsford Inn was built for his school. For eight years Mr. Hanna was presi- dent of the faculty and the leading spirit of the college. During this time another distinguished citizen who gave his ability to the school was Prof. J. M. Guinn, who was president of the board of trustees from the beginning of the college until its close. Until 1892 the college prospered and was a popular young ladies' school, where many of the most exclusive families sent their daughters to be educated and finished for their work in life. At the time of the dedication of the new building there were three hundred and fifty students, and Mrs. Hanna declares that every one of them grasped the rope which low- ered the great corner stone into its place. These girls are now among the prominent women in Los Angeles and they have never forgotten their deep debt to this splendid man and his equally splendid wife.
In 1892 a great sorrow came to Mr. Hanna in the death of his daughter, Lucy, a girl of rare charm and possessed of unusual teaching ability and power in school work. Her death proved such a severe blow to Mr. Hanna that his health was broken and he was obliged to give up his teach- ing work and go into retirement for several years. In 1895 he took charge of the Hollenbeck Home for Old Ladies, in Los Angeles, as superintend- ent and chaplain, in which work he remained until 1906. Again failing health compelled him to seek rest and seclusion for a period of two
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years, when he answered the call to become visiting pastor of the Immanuel Presbyterian Church at Tenth and Figueroa streets, which position he has since filled. He is now deaconate pastor of this church, making his home at the Hotel Ivins, near the church edifice.
During his entire lifetime Mr. Hanna has been a consistent and devoted member of his chosen church, where he is an influential member. He is a member of the Presbytery and stands close in the confidence of all church councils. He is a man of deeply spiritual nature and his greatest happiness has ever been gained by doing good for others. His companion in all his work and his assistant and co-worker in all his efforts has been his wife. They were married at Morristown, Ohio, in April, 1858. Mrs. Hanna was formerly Miss Margaret E. Lippincott, born in St. Clairs- ville, Ohio. Like her husband, Mrs. Hanna is well educated, and she was closely associated with him in his educational work, being especially in- terested in the college which he founded and built up in Los Angeles. She bore her husband two children, a son and a daughter, Lucy, now de- ceased, and Fred L., manager of the freight and passenger offices of the Santa Fe at Oakland. He is happily married, but has no children.
Aside from his religious and educational work, Mr. Hanna patented an article in 1871 known as vulcanized fiber, which is now used very largely in the manufacture of trunks and for electrical purposes where it is taking the place of gutta percha, and is also used for many other purposes. Although this article has proved of great com- mercial value, it was not handled on a financial basis and there have been no profits therefrom for Mr. Hanna, his satisfaction being derived from the fact that he has given the world a valuable article. His long years of service to humanity have left their stamp on the face and heart and life of this kindly man and have endeared him to a multitude of people in Los Angeles. It was six years ago that the former students of Hanna Col- lege conceived the idea of celebrating the wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Hanna as a reunion day, and since that time each recurring May has witnessed the gathering of as many of these wo- men as can so arrange, and the day is passed in happy reminiscences of a time long gone.
JOHN LOUIS PLUMMER. The life of the parents of John Louis Plummer reads like the pages of a story. His father, John C. Plummer, was a native of England, and a sea captain, who settled in the United States in 1832, and walked across the Isthmus of Tehauntepec in 1848 to the Pacific coast. After many years spent as captain of sailing vessels plying between San Francisco and the Orient, he retired from the sea and lived for a number of years in Los Angeles, where his death occurred in 1910. The wife of this pioneer resident of California was Mary Cecilia McGuire, who was born at the Hawaiian Islands, a highly educated woman and an advanced thinker for her day, one of the first to uphold woman's suffrage in California. On coming to Los Angeles in 1862, she took up government land, bought and sold real estate, and became the owner of one thousand acres in the Wilshire district, which property was retained by the family until it rose to great value.
The son, John Louis Plummer, was born on Powell street, San Francisco, March 31, 1856, and has been well acquainted with both San Fran- cisco and Los Angeles in the early days of the two west coast cities. For many years he farmed upon land in what is now the fashionable Wilshire district of Los Angeles, raising cattle, hogs, grain and garden truck where now some of the finest residences of the city stand. Valuable business property was also owned by the family in the downtown section of Los Angeles, which was sold later when it had greatly increased in value. Be- sides owning property in Hollywood, Mr. Plum- mer has in recent years subdivided the Plummer Ridgewood Park on Van Ness avenue, Los An- geles, an estate of ninety acres, into lots 60×170 feet, with streets one hundred feet wide, whereon thirty houses have been built, ranging in cost from $6,000 to $30,000, and has also laid out the Plum- mer Subdivision in Hollywood, of one hundred and sixty acres, all of which has been built up. Tiring of city life, and wishing to remove his family to the country, Mr. Plummer in 1914 bought sixty acres of land on Brand boulevard, three miles west of San Fernando, Cal., where he has set out an orchard and intends to improve the grounds, making the estate one of the show places of the valley. On this property he has erected four beautiful houses, one for himself, the other three for his children, and here in the pleasant valley Mr. Plummer now makes his home, with his sons about him.
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The wife of Mr. Plummer was, before mar- riage, Ellen Dalton, whose father was Henry Dalton, of England, a California pioneer and a large landowner in Los Angeles county. They are the parents of four sons, namely, John, Charles, Teddy and Tony, and have also four adopted children, Raymond, Henry, Inez and Eudora, who have taken the family name of Plummer.
IREBY BARROW. One of the early settlers in California was Ireby Barrow, of Illinois. Com- ing from the Middle West where farming is car- ried on extensively, Mr. Barrow brought with him a skill in that line which provided him with a means of livelihood until his death, August 22, 1905, at the age of seventy-seven years.
Born in the southern part of the state of Illinois, March 13, 1828, the son of John and Mary Bar- row, Ireby Barrow received a public school educa- tion in Jackson county, Ill., until about fifteen years of age. The twenty years thereafter were devoted to farming, in which he followed the occupation of his father. In Peoria, Ill., he mar- ried, February 4, 1854, Martha Brown, daughter of Samuel and Mary Ann Brown, and by this marriage had twelve children: Wilbert; Sarah Ann, the wife of Austin Bellerino; Cynthia, the wife of William Moffitt; Thomas; Ella, Mrs. Everett Thexter; Richard, Nancy and Edwin, who are deceased; Etta, Mrs. Clarence Keller; Elbert ; Clara May ; and Clemmy B., Mrs. Harry Budlong.
In 1874 Mr. Barrow with his family came to Los Angeles, where he purchased sixty acres of land in the section of the city north of the Wil- shire district, and here he devoted the remainder of his life to farming. The Los Angeles of those days was not at all like the city we see today. The city proper was small, with unpaved streets, and comprised only a small downtown district which is now the older and less desirable quarter. In the outskirts, where Mr. Barrow's property lay, acres of golden poppies (which in the eastern states are planted in gardens but in the west grow untended in country fields ) covered the land which is in recent years being converted into a beautiful residence district. For cities change rapidly in the west, and streets and lawns and costly dwellings are now taking the place of the home- stead of the pioneer. Where in the early days of
the city's growth Mr. Barrow patiently tilled the soil, where, soon after his arrival, a disastrous fire destroyed his home, causing a loss of all he possessed and bringing severe hardships to the whole family, modern residences are every day springing up, and the art of the present day brings to these homes every comfort and con- venience imaginable ; and on a street not far dis- tant Mr. Barrow's widow now makes her home, in the city which she and her husband watched grow from small beginnings to its present beanti- ful appearance, and where she retains seven lots of the old homestead tract.
Mr. Barrow was a quiet, home-loving man, and was affiliated with but one fraternal order, the Masons, which he had joined in early life.
CARL C. HOECHLIN. The town of Holly- wood, Cal., one of the most beautiful suburbs of Los Angeles, has grown up rapidly around the old estates which formed the nucleus of the little city, so that now the place would hardly recall the fact that farms of the early settlers once stood upon sites which are now in the heart of the residential section. Such a history has been that of the estate in South Hollywood once owned by Carl C. Hoechlin. From Switzerland, across a whole continent and ocean, a country famed more than anything else for the beauty of its mountain scenery, Mr. Hoechlin came to Southern Califor- nia and purchased a farm of ten acres among the foothills of this new country which has a beauty equal in its own way to that of many foreign and more lauded lands. In a country of moun- tains that are frosted with snow all winter and tinted by the sunset to the color of a gold of ophir rose, even a native of Switzerland must feel more or less at home.
Born in Basel, Switzerland, November 26, 1839, Mr. Hoechlin received his education in the public schools of his native land which now ranks among the highest with regard to the educational advan- tages it affords the younger generation. In 1866 Mr. Hoechlin left home, coming to the United States, and for sixteen years he remained in Providence, R. I., engaged with the firm of Corey Bros., jewelers, most of that time. In 1882 he came to Los Angeles, and for two years was em- ployed at Verdugo, not far from the city. De-
Victor Dol
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termining to purchase land for a home in this vicinity, he invested in ten acres in what is now South Hollywood, and farmed there continuously until his death, which occurred July 8, 1906. The little city grew rapidly, changing from farm land to a thriving town of handsome homes, and Mr. Hoechlin's farm property has recently been sold by his heirs to the Jesuits for college purposes.
Mr. Hoechlin was a Democrat in his political affiliations, and his religious interests were with the Roman Catholic church. He was married in Providence, R. I., to Louise Mand, daughter of Philip and Catherine Mand, and was the father of four children, Emma M., Louise M., Ottillie C. and Carl Philip.
VICTOR DOL. As one of the pioneer restaurant men of Los Angeles Victor Dol was for many years a well-known figure on the city streets and an important factor in the commercial and municipal life of the Angel City. He came first to California in 1876, in that year opening the Commercial restaurant in the Downey block, where for more than twenty years he continued in busi- ness with considerable success. His dining room was exceedingly popular with business men throughout the city, his service was first class in every respect. and his patronage was large. As a natural result his profits were also large, and Mr. Dol invested con- stantly in real estate, using such wisdom and sagacity that his investments showed great increase in valuation, even when there was no especial fluctuation in the realty market : and when there was a real boom the profits on his real estate transactions were very ap- preciable. When he disposed of one piece of property his unvarying plan was to immedi- ately invest in another, and so down through the years he doubled his original investments many times. Several years ago he retired from active business and thereafter, until the time of his death, May 13, 1911, he lived in quiet enjoyment of his well-earned rest at his home in Venice.
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