USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume II > Part 37
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EDWARD L. WATKINS. The name of Ed- ward L. Watkins swells the roll call of men who build for all time, and whose interests are of such a practical and essential nature that their succes- sors must needs follow closely in their footsteps or lag behind in the march of progress. The su- perstructure of his life was founded upon the resources of a great new state, and for more than forty years he has aided in the development and upbuilding of the natural industries of South- ern California, giving freely of his ability, his time and his strength toward the upbuilding of his state and community. His interests have been wide and varied, although his principal occupation has been in real estate enterprises and in the culti- vation of various fruits, and the wine industry. In this latter field he is regarded as an expert, and has visited practically every winery of importance throughout the state as an expert, giving advice and assistance in the upbuilding of this great in- dustry, collecting information generally, and in many ways giving assistance to the industry. He has watched the growth and development of the
San Gabriel valley from the time when it was a wide stretch of untilled wild land, and on many occasions he hunted rabbits and quail where the city of Pasadena now stands. Later he assisted with the development of that city, and it was he who planted the famous pepper trees which now grace Marengo avenue, and which are regarded as the most magnificent line of pepper trees in the state. Practically ever since his coming to California Mr. Watkins has resided in Alhambra, making his home on a fine fifteen-acre orange grove, which he owns.
Mr. Watkins is a native of Georgia, having been born at Columbus May 25, 1848. When he was but a year old his parents removed to New Orleans, where his boyhood and youth were passed and where he received his education. Later he became associated in the cotton packing and commission house of F. J. Heron & Company, while at a still later period he became a pilot on the Mississippi river steamboats. After a few years spent thus Mr. Watkins moved to San An- tonio, Tex., where he made the acquaintance of a man from California, who gave such glowing ac- counts of the conditions on the coast that Mr. Watkins determined to make the journey across the plains to the Golden West. The trip was made on an emigrant steam train from St. Louis, six weeks being required to reach San Francisco, where they arrived in 1873. Mr. Watkins brought with him personal letters of introduction to Governor Downey, Benjamin D. Wilson. General Banning, Matthew Keller, Myer New- mark and others who were former intimate friends of Mr. Watkins' uncle, Joseph L. Brent of Alhambra. After a brief stay in the Bay city he came south, locating at what is now Alhambra, where he was associated with Mr. Wil- son, one of the large land owners of that period. Later his uncle, the late J. L. Brent, gave him a tract of forty acres at Wilmington, and in part- nership with Mr. Wilson and Mr. Brent he en- gaged thereon in the raising of deciduous fruits. The tract was fenced and improved, and their orchard was the first planted in that vicinity. In addition to a variety of fruit trees they also en- gaged in raising watermelons, and other like products for the local markets, meeting with much success. A portion of this property is still owned by Mr. Watkins. Mr. Wilson owned extensive acreage in the district where Alhambra and Pasa- dena now stand, about half of the present city of
Thor B Brown.
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Pasadena having at one time belonged to him. Later Mr. Watkins came to be closely associated with the management of the vast Wilson estate, a position of great responsibility, involving as it did the control of a vast area of land and the conduct of extensive interests of a varied nature. It was here that he first came in touch with the winery interests and learned the details of the making of wines of many kinds. He had charge of the Lake Vineyard orchard, and later took charge, under J. De Barth Shorb, of all the Wil- son interests. The Golden Gate Fruit Company at Ramona was founded by him, his interests in this enterprise having been recently turned over to his son, E. F. Watkins.
As a tribute to his well-known ability as a manager of large interests, on a sane and econom- ical basis, Mr. Watkins was appointed by ex-Gov. Henry T. Gage as assistant manager of the State Asylum at Patton, which position he filled with great success for four years.
The marriage of Mr. Watkins was solemnized in 1882, uniting him with Miss Mary M. Stone, who died in 1901. Of this union were born four children, two sons and two daughters, all of whom are well and favorably known throughout Los Angeles county, and especially in Alhambra and San Gabriel, where their lives have been largely passed. They are Edward F., Maria Brent, now Mrs. North ; William H., and Mary F. The eld- est son, Edward F., is especially prominent in the affairs of his home city, being interested in the winery industry, and also in real estate generally, and in fruit growing especially. He has taken over his father's interests in the Golden Gate Fruit Company at Ramona, and is a director of the Alhambra National Bank.
THOMAS BRUEN BROWN. No city in the entire country has been more fortunate than Los Angeles in attracting to its permanent citi- zenship men of high ideals and extraordinary mental endowments. Varied as have been their talents and their lines of occupative or profes- sional enterprise, they have been a unit in their devotion to civic growth, in their determina- tion to foster a permanent development along substantial centers. As an attribute of the late Thomas Bruen Brown sincere fondness for the city of his adoption stood out preeminently.
From his first visit to the then quiet Spanish town in 1872 and particularly from the time of his permanent location here in 1875, he was a factor in local upbuilding. Better schools and churches, a closer relationship between differ- ent commercial interests, a more united effort to promote the general welfare, these and other lines of progress received his careful consid- eration and the benefit of his trained, logical reasoning faculties. All who came within the radius of his personality were inspired by his patriotic influence. His optimistic spirit ex- erted an unconscious but powerful effect upon acquaintances, precisely as his legal tempera- ment and attainments increased his efficiency as a citizen. At the time of coming to the west he was a young man, on the sunny side of life's prime, broadened by training in the best insti- tutions of the east and by travel abroad, cul- tured in mind, forceful of intellect, a gifted representative of an old family of Washington, D. C., that had enjoyed social prominence from the time of the gracious Dolly Madison. His father, WV. V. H. Brown, M. D., was a physician of the capital city and he was born there Octo- ber 23, 1847. On the completion of his studies in Young's Academy he entered Princeton Uni- versity, where he took a complete course in the classics and later finished his law studies in Columbia University, still further preparing himself for professional work through the bene- ficial effects of travel in this country and Eu- rope.
As might be expected of one so thoroughly educated and capable, the professional career of Mr. Brown in Los Angeles was one of ris- ing importance and final preeminence. For two terms he rendered most efficient service as dis- trict attorney, but he gave private practice the preference over political offices and devoted himself closely to the interests of his clients, finding his chief recreation and most enjoyable diversion in the care of an orange grove of ten acres which he owned on Adams street. The Democratic party in Los Angeles regarded him as one of its leading members and consulted him in all plans for the party welfare. The principles of Masonry had in him an active sup- porter, whose philanthropies to the order were only second to those extended through the me- dium of the church. From early life he be- lieved in the uplifting influence of religion and
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this belief took visible form in the erection of St. John's Episcopal Church of Los Angeles, in which he was a charter member and a vestry- man. The denomination had been greatly bene- fited by his identification therewith, while he in turn recognized the benefit of spiritual influ- ences in the directing of his business affairs, in the guiding of his destiny from day to day and finally in the preparation for that eternal destiny of peace and rest, into which he entered February 10, 1893.
Among the many beautiful tributes paid to Mr. Brown's memory, the following by Joseph Lynch was most impressive :
"The community was greatly shocked yes- terday morning by the announcement of the sudden death of Hon. Thomas B. Brown. He had apparently been in the best of health and there was nothing to break the force of his untimely taking off. Mr. Brown was in many senses a public man and was well known in Southern California, though Los Angeles was the principal theater of his professional ener- gies. He served at one time as district attorney of his county and achieved a great reputation for his efficiency and integrity. His practice at the bar was large and distinctive.
"But it was not as a lawyer or public man that 'Tom' Brown was best known, and was of mark, and was loved, in Los Angeles and in what spot soever he may have made his abid- ing place for a space howsoever short. He was the gentlest and kindliest as well as the most manly of men. A great heart and a most lov- able nature had this most gracious representa- tive of nature's nobility. He was compli- mented yesterday by the moist eye of many a man not used to the melting mood, while the tender hearts of women distilled an unchecked tribute of tears. Many and many an Angeleno will be the sadder because the man will no longer gladden the daily ways of life in which he always dispensed sunshine. But who shall dare question the way of the All-wise?
"We can illy spare Tom Brown, cut off in the very prime of flower of manhood. With a unanimity rarely witnessed, this whole community will breathe a note of heartfelt threnody over the death of our lamented friend, gallant gentleman, stanch and never- relaxing friend, great heart and blameless citi- zen."
At the funeral services at St. John's Episcopal Church, the Rev. Mr. Judd said in part : "The deceased needs no extended eulogy, as his fine personal qualities and well known characteris- tics spoke for themselves and were widely known." With the impressive Masonic cere- monies, the remains were laid to rest in Rose- dale Cemetery, being escorted thither by a tre- mendous concourse.
At a meeting of the bar of Los Angeles Hon. S. M. White, H. T. Lee, A. W. Hutton, A. M. Stephens, H. K. S. O'Melveny, R. S. Chapman, and F. H. Howard were appointed as a com- mittee to draft appropriate resolutions upon the death of Thomas B. Brown. Copies of the resolutions were presented to the federal court and to various departments of the Superior court.
Surviving Mr. Brown are Mrs. Brown and their six children. Prior to their marriage in Los Angeles, June 4, 1879, Mrs. Brown was Miss Eleanor T. Patton. Her father, Col. George S. Patton, who led a Virginia regiment in the Civil war, was mortally wounded in the battle of Winchester; her brother, George S. Patton, Jr., mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work, is now a resident of Los Angeles; where also live all of her children except the eldest son, Lieut. George Patton Brown, of the United States navy. The only daughter, Mrs. Sidney I. Wailes, is well known in Los Angeles society. Three sons, Thomas B., Arvin H. and Eltinge T., are engaged in the real estate business, while the youngest son, Ho- bart G., is a graduate of the city schools.
ROBERT JOHN MOCKENHAUPT. Al- though a native of Germany, Robert John Mockenhaupt came to America when he was a small child, and in 1884 came to Los Angeles, where he resided until his death, September 12, 1913. During the thirty years of his residence here he made many warm friends, and was for years a well-known figure in the city. Born in Herdorf, Germany, June 6, 1842, he was the son of John E. and Barbara (Brül) Mockenhaupt, and was five years old when he removed to the United States with his parents. Settlement was first made in Missouri, and later the family located at St. Cloud, Minn., where the son attended the Sisters'
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school, and after completing the course there at- tended St. John's College, conducted by the Bene- dictine Fathers. Here he studied for the priest- hood, but before he had completed his course his healthı failed and he was obliged to give up his studies. However, his brother, who was also a student in the same course, continued his studies at St. John's and became a member of the Cath- olic priesthood, but is now deceased.
After leaving the monastery, young Mr. Mock- enhaupt taught school in Richmond and Chaska, Minn., until in 1872, when he opened a dry goods store in St. Cloud. This enterprise he continued to conduct very successfully until in 1884, when he disposed of his interests and came to California, arriving in Los Angeles October 31 of that same year. Soon after his arrival he purchased a house and lot on Hill street near the center of town, and one year later traded this property for seven acres of land at the northeast corner of Vermont and Vernon avenues, where he farmed for fif- teen years. At the end of that time he traded this property for a three story house and lot at the corner of Broadway and Avenue Twenty-four, where he lived in retirement until the time of his death. During the last ten years of his life he was engaged in the buying and selling of real estate, bonds, etc., and was very successful.
The marriage of Mr. Mockenhaupt occurred in St. Paul, Minn., May 30, 1882, uniting him with Miss Anna Mary Pendl, the daughter of Joseph and Attilla (Stagmaer) Pendl. She was a native of Minnesota, born in St. Cloud, September 11, 1863. She received her education in the Sis- ters' school (Catholic), where her husband had also been an attendant at an earlier period. Later she was a clerk in Mr. Mockenhaupt's dry goods store for two years before her marriage to the proprietor. She continued to help with the man- agement of the store after her marriage, and was always closely associated with her husband in all his undertakings. While he was engaged in farm- ing at Los Angeles she was actively interested in every phase of the enterprise, and carried her full share of the responsibility and labor. Since the farm was sold she has retired from active business interests and is enjoying the leisure that she has so well earned. She is the mother of six children, all of whom are well known in Los Angeles, where they at present make their home. They are : Carl B .; Attilla, the wife of J. W. Mountain, and the mother of one son, Robert John ; Peter, mar-
ried to Mabel Schoenfeld, and the father of one son, Arthur; Louis ; Alfonse; and Agatha.
Mr. Mockenhaupt was always keenly interested in the affairs of education and for a number of years, while at St. Cloud, he served as a member of the school board in his district. In politics he was a Democrat and a stanch party man, but was never actively associated with the affairs of his party. He was a devout Catholic and a member of the Sacred Heart Church in Los Angeles.
EDMUND D. ROTH. More than a decade before Los Angeles had transformed its country- town environment into that of a prospective city and long before its scenic beauty and attractive climate had become known to every household in the east, the late Edmund D. Roth, a native of Niederbronn, Alsace, France, became a pioneer in the wholesale wool business at this point. Many of his countrymen had migrated to South- ern California and had engaged in the sheep in- dustry, so that the new business prospered from the first and his store became the city headquar- ters of wool-growers in every section tributary thereto. Throughout the entire early period of civic development his establishment added to the commercial prestige of Los Angeles and his coun- sel concerning the sale of wool was sought by countrymen who had learned the value of his ad- vice and the shrewdness of his foresight. Eventu- ally the development of new industries and the re- markable uplift given to horticultural enterprises limited the area available for the sheep industry, so that early in the twentieth century he closed out the wool business and engaged as manager of the Main street house of Kieffer & Co., with whom he continued in a position of the most con- fidential nature until his retirement from business in 1911. Throughout the forty years of his iden- tification with the business interests of the city he remained a factor of more than ordinary im- portance in their rapid increase to metropolitan proportions and their consequent connection with the general civic advancement.
It must not be presumed that intimate asso- ciation with the wool industry represented the limit of the activities of Mr. Roth, for in addition he was a Mason of the thirty-second degree and had taken a prominent part in the work of that organization. Furthermore, he was a
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contributor to many movements for the ma- terial benefit of Frenchmen in Southern Cali- fornia, perhaps the greatest of his philan- thropies having been his practical assistance in the founding of the French hospital, a worthy pioneer institution located on College and Castelar streets, Los Angeles, of which he officiated as the first president. In that office he laid the founda- tion of the policy of the hospital wisely and thor- oughly and the benefit of his executive manage- ment is apparent at the present time. Large in charities and generous of temperament, he gave liberally to measures he believed to be for the public good. Endowed with fine natural gifts that recompensed him for lack of educational advan- tages, instructed in habits of thrift during early life, endowed with strong will power and great te- nacity of purpose, and inured from youth to some useful labor, he gave to his adopted country a life so strong and true that he is well worthy to be remembered as a pioneer and upbuilder. After having maintained a conspicuous part in the com- mercial and social affairs of the city for forty years, in his sixty-fourth year he passed away at his residence, No. 2842 South Grand avenue, and thus Los Angeles lost another of her honored, capable citizens.
CHARLES HILDEBRAND. The romance of the early days of Mormonism in Utah is retold in the life story of the late Charles Hildebrand, who for many years was a resident of Alhambra, having located there more than thirty-five years ago, when the site of that beautiful little suburb of Los Angeles was little more than a barren waste. Mr. Hildebrand was a native of Debach, Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland, and came to the United States in 1863 with a party of colonists brought out by the Mormon church. Three years previously Miss Wilhelmina Staheli, a native of Amersweil, Switzerland, had come to America under similar circumstances. These two located at Santa Clara, Utah, under the direction of the Mormon missionaries, and there they met and were married in 1867. Although they remained as inmates of the colony until 1879 they were not happy, being very much displeased with the local conditions, and their refusal to unite with the Mormon church made it exceedingly difficult for them to get on with the existing state of affairs.
Accordingly, in the year mentioned. 1879, they determined to come to California, and with the assistance of armed guards succeeded in making the perilous journey overland with wagons. They were obliged to pass within forty miles of the site of the famous Mountain Meadow massacre of 1857, but they themselves met with no serious happenings. The trip was exceedingly difficult, however, and none felt the inconvenience of trav- eling in a wagon more keenly than Mrs. Hilde- brand and her five small children. Arriving in Southern California they spent some time in driving about over the country looking for a suitable location for their future home. In the end they decided upon a spot that is now prac- tically the heart of Alhambra, and purchased some twelve acres on what is now Wilson avenue. There were only three houses in the vicinity at that time, and Mr. Hildebrand erected a tiny three-room cottage for his family and imme- diately commenced to improve his little ranch. Shortly afterward he purchased an additional tract of five acres which he planted to oranges, the original tract having been planted to grapes, and an appreciable quantity of wine being made from this tiny vineyard.
From time to time, as the family grew older, or increased in number, additions were made to the home, but the original structure still stands as the central basis of the home. The acreage has been subdivided and sold in city lots, until now the grounds comprise only an acre and a half. There are on this small plot many beautiful trees that were set out soon after the family took up their residence in Alhambra, and many of the original grape vines have been twined into arbors that still grace the gardens. This land was bought from J. De Barth Shorb, and was a part of the great Shorh estate.
Since the death of Mr. Hildebrand, which oc- curred in 1907, the widow has continued to make her home in Alhambra, where she has many warm friends. She became the mother of a large family of children, all but five of whom were born in Alhambra, and all received their education there, growing to manhood and womanhood within the walls of the quaint old house that is now so dear to the mother. Eight of these children are now living, well and favor- ably known in Alhambra. They are Rachel, now the wife of Henry Fishback; Emma, the wife of Dion Romandy; Matilda, the wife of Frank
John Burns
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Hilton; Julia, the wife of Fred Patton ; Dora, the wife of Milton Curtain; Caroline, the wife of Lewis Opid; Alice, the wife of Edward Rhodes, and Charles, the one living son.
During the years of Mr. Hildebrand's lifetime he took an interest in all that concerned the welfare of his community. He was a man to whom close application to business was as much a part of his natural bent as was his love for the soil, and so the things of his little ranch were of far greater importance to him than were any outside interests. The property which in the beginning cost him a very small sum became very valuable as the years went by, and in sub- dividing and selling this he realized an appre- ciable profit. He had an abiding faith in the future of the locality and the passing of the years is proving that he was right.
JOHN BURNS. An identification of thir- ty-five years with real-estate interests pertain- ing to Los Angeles afforded Mr. Burns an op- portunity to accumulate a comfortable fortune and to perform his part as a loyal citizen in the upbuilding of the community which had made possible his own financial independence. Descended from a long line of English ances- try and a son of William and Sophia (Hough- ton) Burns, he was born in Manchester, Eng- land, June 24, 1842, and at the age of ten years was brought to the United States by his parents, who settled in the east. After having received a common-school education he learned the trade of machinist, which made possible the earning of a livelihood through- out his young manhood. When scarcely nine- teen years of age he enlisted in the Union army May 11, 1861, and was assigned to the Second Massachusetts Infantry, which he ac- companied to the front and in which he ren- dered a most fearless, loyal service. During the battle of Gettysburg in July, 1863, he re- ceived a very serious wound in the shoulder and this incapacitated him for further service, so that he was given an honorable discharge October 27, 1863. Had it not been for the wound he would have remained in active ser-
vice throughout the entire war. For years he suffered severely from the effects of the wound and indeed never fully recovered from the injury.
In 1867 Miss Annie Spencer, of Springfield, Mass., became the wife of John Burns, whom her death a few years later left bereaved, with a small son as a solace in his loneliness, but at the age of five years the boy, too, passed away, leaving him again all alone, with the exception of his brothers and sisters. The brothers, Frank and William, are now resid- ing in Brooklyn, N. Y. One sister, Mrs. Sophia Saunders, lives in South Manchester, Conn .; the other sister, Miss Almira Burns, cared for her brother, John, with the most devoted kindliness during his last illness and since his death has remained a resident of Los Angeles. Failing health brought him in 1878 to Los Angeles, where he was benefited physi- cally by the genial climate and where also through realty investments he became well-to- do. For years he was an active member of the Bartlett-Logan Post, G. A. R., also a member of the Union League Club, Pentalpha Lodge, F. & A. M., as well as the Knights Templar and Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. At his death, which occurred February 22, 1913, at his home, No. 1225 Vermont avenue, he was mourned by relatives and friends and also by the many who had been in times past the recipients of his unostentatious but generous charities. The body was laid to rest in Rose- dale cemetery, in the beloved city of his adop- tion. Tributes of regard came from the or- ganizations of which he had been an esteemed and influential member and among them we quote from the resolutions passed by Acacia Chapter No. 21, Order of the Eastern Star : "Notwithstanding a long and busy life he was active physically and mentally to a degree that is unusual in one of his years. His genial disposition and earnest desire to be helpful to his fellowmen endeared him to all with whom he came in contact. Pure in character, unassuming in manner and happy in heart, his life brought sunshine to those about him. With fortitude undaunted he met the king of terrors and passed into the silent land, leaving as a consolation to his family and friends the invaluable legacy of a well- spent life and a name above reproach."
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