USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume II > Part 39
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In February, 1850, Sacramento was already a town of six thousand people, mostly living in canvas houses and tents, although already many substantial buildings had been erected.
Finding former acquaintances, Mr. Hewes was accommodated with lodgings with them in an unfinished brick store building, and while wait- ing for an opening undertook to supply the eager, incoming miners with shovels and picks, which he auctioned at the boat landings. He thus learned the needs of the community, and was soon in a position, joining forces with a Mr. Huntoon from his old home, to open a general merchandise store in the brick building at the corner of J and Second streets. The rental paid was at the rate of $8,000 a year, but nevertheless the business proved very profitable, so much so that the partnership was soon dissolved, Huntoon purchasing a stock ranch and Mr. Hewes purchasing land on which he erected a large building designed for a hotel and stores. He also built another store building, and erected the houses he had sent from the East.
At the height of his prosperity, added to by conservative purchases of a speculative nature,
the city was destroyed by a conflagration in November, 1852, and this disaster, before means could be found to enable the heavier losers to recover from their losses, came the great flood of January, 1853. Not only was the city virtually destroyed, but the recurrence of the old troubles about land titles and active competition of other proposed townsites greatly depreciated Sacra- mento real estate.
Sacramento had been the scene of his tem- porary success, and Mr. Hewes had also taken a prominent place in its business, its religious and its educational affairs. He was the first to circu- late a subscription paper to obtain funds to build a meeting house for the Congregational Church organized by Rev. J. A. Benton. Up to the time of the erection of this church edifice there was but one church in the town, a small building sent out from Baltimore and erected by the Metho- dists. Not only did he obtain the funds for the church building, but he donated to the society a "Sunday School Library," which he had brought from the East with great pains, and this is thought to be the first library of this nature brought into California. It was conveyed across the Isthmus in canoe and on ox back and accom- panied Mr. Hewes on his journey.
At Acapulco he had purchased eggs, onions, and oranges, which on arrival at Sacramento he had sold at a huge profit. His arrival in Sacra- mento had been auspicious, and he had been pro- vided with sufficient means to at once enter into business. How different was his departure in July, 1853! His whole belongings were carried in a small hand bag, for before he left he con- verted his property into cash in order to discharge his liabilities.
San Francisco was known to him from fre- quent visits to that place, necessitated by former business engagements. Its rapid growth had ex- tended the city limits, but the sand hills and steep grades made the utilization of the city environs a great problem. Steps had been taken to establish a grade, and an eastern contractor. James Cun- ningham, had begun the work of tearing down the sand hills and filling the ravines. Mr. Hewes made his acquaintance, and feeling the same faith in the city's future which was entertained by Mr. Cunningham, readily adopted his suggestion to look for an opening in the line of developing city property. An opportunity was soon afforded to grade a fifty-vara lot. Having neither equipment
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nor capital, this work was done with the aid of a Chinaman and a wheelbarrow, and at a sufficient profit to enable other contracts of like nature to be accepted under more favorable circumstances. The acceptance by the city of his bid to grade Bush street, between Mason and Kearney streets, proved the beginning of his important work for the city. Unable to carry out his con- tract unless able to secure financial backing, he was much gratified to have his steadfast friend Cunningham offer not only a part of his equip- ment, then idle because of the enormous burdens imposed by the city, but financial aid. So suc- cessfully was this contract carried out that Mr. Cunningham proposed to Mr. Hewes that he pur- chase his entire outfit on terms mutually satis- factory. This equipment, sold at $42,500, was soon entirely paid for. The work of grading was taken up by Mr. Hewes in 1858 at the corner of Market and Third streets. At that time a sand hill over a hundred feet in height stood at that point. The "Steam Paddy Co.," under which name Mr. Hewes conducted his business, was for many years one of the well known institutions of San Francisco. The last important contract was that to grade a tract of seventeen acres, where later and until the great fire of 1906, stood the city and county buildings, and part of which had been utilized as a cemetery. This contract was completed in 1873. The comparison of a plan of the present city of San Francisco with a plan of 1858 shows how great a work was accom- plished. The water front below Montgomery street had been extended from that line to its present limits, and on the south Mission Bay was filled in. This great extension of the city, to- gether with the establishment of the new grades, won for Mr. Hewes the complimentary title "Maker of San Francisco."
In the meantime the great project of uniting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by a transconti- nental railway had been accomplished. The build- ing of such a road had been "the greatest want of the present age," as Mr. Hewes advertised on his billheads, and in the press, from a period ante- dating the actual commencement of the work. Although not a railroad man, Mr. Hewes' co- operation was sought by the promoters of the Central Pacific, who saw what great benefit his experience and his equipment would be to them. Wisely or not, Mr. Hewes did not become con- nected with the enterprise, but on completion of
the road in 1869 it was his thought which pro- vided a proper symbolical ceremony at the driv- ing of the last spike. It was he who furnished the golden spike, the "Last Spike," the laurel tie, and it was he who vainly sought to have Nevada furnish silver rails to be the last laid. It was also he who planned the connection between the rail- road company's wires and the Western Union wires, by which the taps of the silver hammer driving the golden spike home were transmitted to San Francisco, each stroke being repeated auto- matically by the great bell in the Fire Depart- ment Station in Portsmouth Square, and also giving the signal at the Fort at the Golden Gate, where cannon were discharged, thus signalling to all the city the accomplishment of the long hoped and looked for event, through railroad communication.
That year Mr. Hewes visited the East for the first time in twenty years. He again visited the East on his way to Vienna in 1870. At Vienna he underwent a severe but successful operation, which checked and eventually cured a disease which he had come to look upon as destined to a not far distant fatal termination. He was not able to return to America until February, 1872. In the time spent abroad awaiting the decision of the surgeons as to the success of the operation he visited the art centers of Europe and the battle- fields of the Franco-German war. On his return to California his first step was to arrange the affairs of a wholesale business in which he had invested much capital and given the use of his name, and to finish the last of his great grading contracts. He then bought a controlling interest in the Seattle Coal & Power Co., a promising coal mining property in Washington Territory, but which was deprived of profitable operation through disadvantageous position for the ship- ment of its product.
A residence of several months at the property, during which he carried out a well conceived plan to transport the coal at low cost by rail and boat, so that the cars into which the coal was loaded at the mine were unloaded at the Seattle docks, placed the property in a position which enabled it to be sold to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, at a price which reimbursed the share- holders for all expenses. It was not, however, Mr. Hewes' original desire to so soon part with this promising property, but opposition to some
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of his plans by other interests caused him to sell out and demand an equal price to all share- holders.
Another large business proposition which was destined not to come to fulfillment, unfortunately for the future welfare of San Francisco, and which, if it had been accomplished, might have prevented the great disaster of 1906, was the project of bringing water from Lake Tahoe. The Lake Tahoe and San Francisco Water Company was granted the right, to lay pipes in San Fran- cisco, but through failure to secure certain au- thorization from the Legislature this project was abandoned. It was a far-sighted and practical proposition and would undoubtedly have been car- ried to a successful culmination.
On June 30, 1875, Mr. Hewes married Mrs. Matilda C. (French) Gray, whom he had met in San Francisco in 1865. Mrs. Hewes was of distinguished Virginian an- cestry, but had resided for many years in Brook- lyn, N. Y., prior to her removal to San Francisco to look after property interests. She died January 3, 1887, at Tustin, Cat. She was of a most engaging disposition and attractive person- ality, and as her tastes coincided with those of Mr. Hewes, it was but natural that a visit to the old world should follow this union. This visit was prolonged by the desire to find a residence where the climate would prove beneficial to Mrs. Hewes' delicate health. During this time Mr. Hewes revisited many places and friends and made his first journey up the Nile and to Pales- tine, and collected many objects of art, especially the smaller pieces of statuary which are now exhibited in the Museum at Leland Stanford University.
The return to California was soon followed by the removal to Southern California. The un- usually favorable climate found at Tustin in the Santa Ana Valley, which prolonged Mrs. Hewes' life for six years, caused them to establish a resi- dence at that place, and during that time both Mr. and Mrs. Hewes interested themselves greatly in the advancement of that town and in the es- tablishment there of a Presbyterian church .*
In 1887 Mr. Hewes purchased eight hundred acres at El Modena, near Tustin, and converted this tract from a sheep ranch into a raisin ranch. Six hundred acres were planted to grapes, and the owner had the satisfaction of seeing those vines come to maturity and to begin the shipping of his product. But in 1887, a year in which his shipments aggregated thirteen thousand boxes of cured raisins, the whole county and adjacent grape districts were visited by a disease which completely destroyed the vines and the raisin in- dustry. Obliged to commence anew, undaunted, although the value of his property had dropped from a valuation of several hundred dollars an acre to but $20 or $30, its value for growing hay and grain, Mr. Hewes immediately set about restoring the ranch by planting citrus fruit. Today the entire tract is planted to oranges and lemons with the exception of a few acres of wal- nuts and olives, the remnants of a once large but unprofitable orchard of those trees.
This is the famous Hewes ranch. At the north- eastern corner rises the artificially constructed mound, known as Hewes Park, "the beauty spot of the county." This hill of many acres extent was originally a rough knoll, partly of lime rock. At an expense of perhaps a hundred thousand dol- lars, under the able direction of that skillful land- scape engineer, R. G. Frazer, also known by his success with the Busch Gardens at Pasadena, this rude knoll has been converted into a lovely ter- raced park, with rare trees, shrubs, and flowers. In 1915 it was extended to the north and west. Hewes Park needs no description for the people of the Santa Ana Valley, and visitors to Los An- geles and other places make this spot one of the Meccas of their pilgrimage. From its summit on a clear day may be seen Catalina Island, and to the north and east rise the Sierra Madre and Sierra Santa Ana mountains, with Baldy mountain snow crowned in the distance.
After Mrs. Hewes death, Mr. Hewes divided his time between San Francisco and Los An- geles, in both of which places he had large prop- erty interests.
On the 11th of June, 1889, he married Miss Anna M. Lathrop, the sister of Mrs. Jane E. Stanford (wife of Senator Leland Stanford), and again visited the old world. Visits to Egypt, Palestine, Greece and other parts of the Orient, as well as western Europe, enabled Mr. Hewes to again gratify his love of art. This visit coincided
*Mr. Hewes was one of the guarantors of the Pacific, and served as trustee and treasurer of the First Presbyterian Church of San Francisco. He had always taken an active part in those churches with which he was connected, and has given freely of his time and money to religious uses. A brother and nephew, Rev. Charles W. Hewes and Rev. Granville S. Abbott, were well known Baptist clergymen. Both at different times accom- panied Mr. Hewes on his visits to the Holy Land. A volume of Mr. Abbott's sermons, edited by Rev. James Chapman, is now in press at the entire charge of Mr. Hewes.
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with the golden wedding of Mr. Gladstone, whose whose special mission on earth seemed to be to career had been followed by Mr. Hewes with beautify and bring into productiveness the bare and waste places." great interest, and whose character he much ad- mired. Other distinguished men were met dur- ing this tour.
Mrs. Hewes died at San Francisco, August 3, 1892. In 1887, Mr. Hewes determined to make Los Angeles his residence. A few years later he removed to his ranch, and in 1907 remodelled his ranch house, producing the typically California home which has been so greatly admired. Mr. Hewes was at the ranch at the time of the earth- quake and fire of 1906 which destroyed so great a part of San Francisco. His building at the cor- ner of Market and Sixth streets was destroyed. A telegram, characteristic of the man, assured his anxious relatives of his safety. It read: "Safe ; destroyed today; build tomorrow." Immediate plans were made for the rebuilding, and these were carried through in face of the great financial distress which disturbed the entire country, and the great cost of labor and supplies. At a cost of over a half million dollars the David Hewes build- ing of fifteen stories arose from the ashes. The architects were the Reid Brothers, designers of the Call building which withstood the catastrophe. The building is considered the best and strongest steel building in San Francisco, having special features, including extra heavily built-up columns, top and bottom bracketed wind bracing, and other features which make it practically earthquake- proof. The International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers voted this the best and strongest steel building in the city.
In such a brief sketch as this necessarily must be, it is possible to touch upon but a few of the salient points of Mr. Hewes' career. Mention of his connection with Mills College, the principal in- stitution on the Pacific Coast devoted solely to the education of young women, must not be omitted. For many years, in fact from the foundation of the original school, and especially from the time it passed under the control of Dr. and Mrs. Mills, Mr. Hewes has been a steadfast and generous friend. Indeed Mrs. Mills is quoted by Clara K. Wittenmeyer, in "The Susan Lincoln Mills Mem- ory Book." as saying, "I cannot say enough in praise of this good friend. He has been constant and helpful always." There may be also read these words, "There have been men in all times
The beautiful chime of ten bells, to house which the beautiful campanile at Mills College was presented by Mr. and Mrs. Frank M. Smith, was the gift of Mr. Hewes, and daily proclaim their message of Faith, Hope, Peace, and Joy.
It is not unfitting to here mention the interest which Mr. Hewes has always manifested, not only in his immediate kinspeople, but in the his- tory of his ancestors, more or less remote. His mother's family, the Tapleys, were long asso- ciated with Lynnfield, Danvers, and Salem, Mass., and originally came from Devonshire, England, where the family had intermarried with the famil- ies of Rawleigh, Gilbert, and others bearing his- toric names. As showing his regard for such matters mention is made of the restoration of the family homestead at Lynnfield and of the Tapley tomb, marking the intersection of the three roads at the "Corners," and now in the perpetual care of the town. His search for genealogical ma- terial finally culminated in the publication of a large volume* privately printed as a memorial to his parents.
The paternal line of ancestry of Mr. Hewes is traced to Lt. Joshua Hewes, prominent in his day and generation, who removed from London to Boston in 1633, and whose descendants were long identified with New England. Of kindred blood and from the same English locality, were the ancestors of Joseph Hewes, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. George Robert Twelve Hewes, centenarian, and at his death sole survivor of the Boston Tea Party, is another well known historic character.
But perhaps one of the most interesting points brought out by the investigation undertaken in behalf of Mr. Hewes was the discovery of Dr G. W. Beale of interesting matters in connection with the parentage of the mother of George Washington. She was Mary Ball, daughter of Capt. Joseph and Mary Ball, and married Augus- tine Washington. Her mother became the wife of Capt. Richard Hewes, who died in 1713, and who was a prominent business man of Northum- berland county, Va. An interesting account of
*Lt. Joshua Hewes, a New England Pioneer, etc., by Eben Putnam. 8 vo., p. 656, New York, 1913. Joshua Hewes was brought up by his uncle, Joshua Foote of London, merchant, a double cousin of Sir Thomas Foote, Lord Mayor of London.
L. E. Bahymer.
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these finds of Dr. Beale may be found in an ar- ticle entitled "A Chance Discovery," contributed by Bonnie Glessner to the West Coast Magazine for September, 1913.
Mrs. Mary Hewes' will is of sufficient interest to insert in this place :
"In the name of God Amen, the Seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord God, one thousand, seven hundred and twenty, I, Mary Hewes, of St. Stephen's parish, Northumber- land county, widdow, being sick and weak in body, but of sound and perfect memory, thanks be to Almighty God for the same, and calling to mind the uncertain state of this transitory life and that the flesh must yield unto Death, when it shall please God to call, Do make and ordain this my last will and testament.
First, I give and bequeath my soul (to God) that gave it me, and my body to the earth to be buried in Decent Christian burial at the discretion of my executors in these presents nom- inated, and as touching such Worldly estate, which it hath pleased God to bestow upon me, I give, devise and dispose of in the following manner and forme :
Imprimis, 1 give and devise unto my Daughter Mary Ball, one young likely negro woman to be purchased for her out of my Estate by my Executors and to be delivered unto her the said Mary Ball, at the age of Eighteen years, but my will is that if the said Mary Ball should dye without issue lawfully be- gotten of her body that the said negro woman with her increase shall return to my loving son, John Johnson, to him, his heirs and assigns forever.
Item. I give and bequeath unto my said Danghter, Mary Ball, two gold rings and one being a large hoop and the other a stoned ring.
Item. 1 give unto my said Daughter, Mary Ball, one young mare and her increase, which said mare I formerly gave her by word of month.
Item. I give and bequeath unto my said Daughter, Mary Ball, sufficient furniture for the bed her father, Joseph Ball, left her, vizt: One snit of good curtains and fallens, one Rugg, one Quilt, one pair Blankets.
Item. I give and bequeath unto my said Daughter, Mary Ball, two Diaper Table cloths, marked M. B. with inck, and one dozen of Diaper napkins, two towels, six plates, two pew- ter dishes, two basins, one large Iron pott, one Frying pann, one old trunk.
Item. 1 give and bequeath unto my Said Daughter, Mary Ball, one good young Paceing horse, together with a good silk plush side saddle to be purchased by my Executors out of my Estate.
Item. 1 give and bequeath unto my Daughter, Elizabeth Bonum, one suit of white and black callico, being part of my own wearing apparel.
Item. All the rest of my wearing apparel I give and be- queath unto my said Daughter, Mary Ball, and I do hereby appoint her (to) be under Tuttiledge and government of Capt. George Eskridge during her minority.
Item. My will is, and I do hereby oblige my Executors to pay to the proprietor or his agent for the securing of my said Danghter, Mary Ball, her land Twelve pounds if so much (be) due.
Item. All the rest of my estate, real and personal, whatsoever and wheresoever, I give and devise unto my son, John Johnson, and to his heirs lawfully to be begotten of his body, and for default of such Issue I devise the same unto Mary Ball and her heirs, lawfully to be begotten of her body, and for default of such issue I give and Devise the said Estate unto my daughter, Elizabeth Bonum, her heirs and assigns forever.
Item. I do hereby appoint my said son, John Johnson, and my trusty and well beloved friend Geor. Eskridge, Executors of my last will and Testament and also revoke and Disannul all other former wills or Testaments by me heretofore made or caused to be made either by word or writing, ratifying and confirming this to be my last will and Testament and no other. In witness whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and seal the Day and Date at first above written.
The mark and seal of Mary | | | Hewes. Sig. (Scal)
Signed, sealed and Published and Declared by Mary Hewes to be her last Will and Testament in presence of us.
The mark of Robert X Bradley.
The mark of Ralph X Smithurst.
David Stranghan."
LYNDEN ELLSWORTH BEHYMER. "BEE." In these refining and idealistic influences and agencies which make the city of Los Angeles one of the acknowledged music centers of the world and a city of metropolitan culture and con- comitant facilities, the coming of Lynden Ells- worth Behymer to make his home here was sig- nificant, and the city and the Southwest owe him a debt of gratitude for his untiring and unselfish efforts in providing entertainments of the highest order in musical, dramatic and kindred lines, for it has been a one-man work.
In the musical world at home and abroad, "Bee," as he is known to his intimates, is con- sidered "a force," these intimates numbering the men and women in the artistic world who "do things," and it may be said consistently that his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances.
Impresario Behymer has been a resident of Los Angeles for almost thirty years, and for the greater part of that time he has given freely of his time and ability for the upbuilding of the musical and dramatic life of the city. Unceasingly he has worked to quicken and mature the true artistic spirit in our metropolis, and aid in its establishment on a firm foundation. Gradually he became so closely associated with these interests that he gave up all other lines of endeavor, and for a number of years has given his entire time and attention to the managerial side of the musical and artistic profession and has come to be recog- nized at home and abroad as one of the leading impresarios of the present day.
It is a well known and universally acknowledged fact that Los Angeles, as a music center, far out- ranks all other cities of the West and that she has more than her share of "first performances," the great artists of the world including this city in their itinerary quite as naturally as they do New York, Boston and Chicago, and they feel that their careers are not well rounded until they have appeared here at least once. That they, with equal naturalness, look to Impresario Behymer as the representative of Los Angeles and the Pacific coast in this connection, is also well known, and is the direct result of his many years of faithful endeavor to "put musical Los Angeles on the map." In this effort he has made and lost several fortunes, but the "call" has been suf- ficiently clear to refuse alluring offers from other Western, and even some of the larger Eastern
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cities, and to keep his hand steadily at the wheel through the dark days as well as through fair weather, and today his splendid service to the Southland,-for all of California and Arizona has been benefited and enriched by his labor,-has come into its own reward.
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