USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume II > Part 48
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But each and ev'ry day the spoil Was recompense for hours of toil,
The book of Nature close did scan, And trusted it more than mere man.
In early youth, on prairie wild, The hunt his idle hours beguiled ; In later years, with steady hand, Slew grizzly, monarch of this land.
Like patriarchs in days of yore He left this for a fairer shore ; When slowly ebbed life's failing tide, His children, all at his bed-side.
Let those he left upon life's shore Heed now his counsel as before ;
His knowledge of life's problems great Fit to instruct at city's gate.
To ripe old age he had attained, His reputation still unstained ;
Indulgent father, husband kind, To dwell in peace he e'er designed.
The roll of drum and scream of fife Call him no more to martial strife ; No more he hears the bugle call, Nor sees a wounded comrade fall.
At foot of Puente's sloping hills He rests secure from all life's ills ; Unheeding taps and reville, Awaits the resurrection day.
Long had he lived beneath the sun; His life's work finished as begun ;
And may we all ere it be late, This fine example imitate.
I stand in fancy at his tomb ; Trees are in leaf and flowers abloom ; Among them feathered warblers sing, Or o'er them flit on jocund wing.
And as I gazing seaward stand, I mark below a smiling land ;
A rich and highly cultured plain, And just beyond Pacific main.
His memory shall long abide, And spread its branches far and wide, Like trees that by the rivers grow, And flourish still mid frost and snow.
Saratoga, Calif., Sept., 1914.
WALTER LINDLEY, M. D., LL.D. Even the most casual and incomplete enumeration of the organizations with which Dr. Lindley is associated and the enterprises to which he has contributed, would indicate the versatile attributes of his mind, he having been president of the Cali- fornia State Medical Society, vice-president of the National Conference on Charities and Cor- rection, delegate from the Pacific coast to the International Prison Congress of 1895 in Paris, founder, editor and publisher of the Southern California Practitioner, founder of the Los An- geles Orphans' Home and the Los Angeles Humane Society, president of the board of trus- tees of the Whittier State School, president of the California State Board of Medical Examiners, founder and medical director of the famous Cali- fornia Hospital, a promoter of the College of Medicine, University of Southern California, in which he was secretary of the faculty, then pro- fessor of obstetrics, and afterwards dean and professor of gynecology; member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the committee on publications and statistics ; a director of the Farmers & Merchants National Bank; trustee of the Throop Poly- technic Institute at Pasadena; and author (1888) of California of the South, now in its third edi- tion, and Shakespeare's Traducers : An Historical Sketch (1906), also the author of many valuable papers along professional or reformatory lines, including a widely known review of "The Evils of Institutional Childhood," given in Portland, Ore., before the National Conference of Charities and Correction.
Born at Monrovia, Ind., January 13, 1852, Dr. Lindley is a graduate of the Minneapolis high school, Keene's School of Anatomy in Phila- delphia and the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, N. Y. (1875). Prior to graduation he served as resident physician in the Eastern Dis-
SEO IN Bole
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trict Hospital of Brooklyn and in 1874 was ap- pointed ambulance surgeon by the Brooklyn board of health. Joining his parents in Los Angeles immediately after graduation, he began the prac- tice of his profession here and entered upon a career of remarkable eminence and interest. During 1877 he established a free dispensary on Requena street and this developed into the free dispensary of the medical college, where annually are treated without charge thousands of the deserving poor. In 1879-80 he served as health officer. Both in 1882 and again in 1887 he took post-graduate courses in New York City. Besides being president of the California State Medical Society in 1890, he was a charter member of the Southern California Medical Society and in 1882 officiated as president of the Los Angeles County Medical Society. Associated with twenty of the leading physicians of Los Angeles, he established the California Hospital Association in 1897 and erected in a most desirable location a modern structure, the investment representing a value of nearly $500,000. From the standpoint of business success as well as in the care of patients, the hospital is one of the most successful ventures of its kind in the entire country.
As early as 1886 Dr. Lindley established the Southern California Practitioner, a medical jour- nal that has never missed an issue and that has risen to a position of great influence among physicians in the west. Politically a Republican, his appointment as a trustee of the Whittier State School by a Democratic governor was a tribute to his eminence as a philanthropist, and in the or- ganization of that school his work was of such permanence and power that the impress has re- mained through all the years of successful reform labors on the part of the institution. As physician and surgeon, as philanthropist and reformer, as a private citizen and friend, he is known and honored in the city and state that have benefited by his long identification with their highest de- velopment. His family consists of two daughters by his first marriage, namely: Mrs. Philip Kitchin and Mrs. Samuel F. Bothwell, both of Los Angeles ; and his present wife, formerly Mrs. Florence (Haynes) Hardie, with their two chil- dren, Dorothy and Francis Haynes Lindley.
GEORGE W. COLE. The early expe- riences of George W. Cole in California and Arizona were full of the romance and excite- ment of pioneer days in a country where hos- tile Indians and outlaws were plentiful, and law and order were practically unknown, save only as each man enforced his own rights by the power of might. Mr. Cole is a native of Texas, born in Burleson county, October 18, 1858, the son of George W. Cole, a native of Illinois and a pioneer of Texas. (An inter- esting account of the life of George W. Cole, Sr., will be found elsewhere in this volume.) In 1873 young George Cole, then a lad of but fifteen years, went with his father to Castle Dome, Ariz., where they engaged in mining. They had many interesting experiences with Indians and outlaws, Arizona being then the wildest part of the west, and not a few hair- raising escapes marked their stay in that re- gion. After a short time passed in California they again went into Arizona, in 1876, and later in the same year brought out the first silver ore from Arizona, packing it across the moun- tains on mule back, and taking it to Downey, where it was loaded on the train for shipment to San Francisco. The trip required two months and was attended by many hazards. On their return trip into Arizona they took provisions and supplies for the miners, and on their way in they suffered severe hardships from the attacks and depredations of the In- dians. The younger Mr. Cole then became engaged in the cattle business near Payson, in Central Arizona, and is one of the real pio- neers of the place, having been there when there was not a single residence in the town. He secured a contract from the government for supplying meat for the Indians and also did an extensive business with the miners. His cattle interests were principally in the Tonta Basin country, and he went through all the early Apache Indian raids and early Indian wars.
It was in 1894 that Mr. Cole returned to California and located at Whittier, where he engaged in the cattle business, buying for the Los Angeles markets. After three years spent in this business he purchased his present place of fourteen acres, which he has developed into a splendid, productive walnut grove. He planted the trees himself and has given them the great-
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est of care and attention, making a carefully scientific study of their needs and of the best methods of producing desired results. He has been an important factor in the development of the walnut industry, and has done much for the general development of the community along progressive and productive lines. He has been widely interested in real estate, and has been engaged in buying unimproved land, planting the same to oranges or walnuts, developing a productive grove, and then selling the prop- erty at a handsome profit. He at present owns, in addition to his home place, a valuable forty acres of oranges and lemons near Lindsay, Tu- lare county, all under a high state of cultivation. He also bought and sold two additional tracts of twenty acres each near Lindsay.
Mr. Cole is prominent in fraternal and benev- olent circles and is a member of the Whittier Elks and also of the United Workmen, in both of which orders he is deservedly popular. When Mr. Cole was a lad he attended the first school in the Los Nietos valley near where Downey now stands. This was held in a building con- structed of brush and thatched with willows, and forms a decided contrast to the splendid and handsome structures which house the edu- cational forces of that locality today.
The marriage of Mr. Cole took place in 1885, and united him with Miss Martha Gibson, a native of Utah. Of their marriage have been born four children, all well known in Los An- geles county. They are George G., who is in charge of his father's ranch at Lindsay, and who is also engaged in the grading business, having eighteen head of mules and doing a big business; Lester K., foreman of the Leffing- well ranch at La Habra; Ruth, the wife of Victor Racine, of Seattle, Wash .; and Donald, attending high school.
HON. JOHN P. JONES. The historian in studying the eventful career of the late Senator Jones summarizes his life in four eras, each wholly separate from, yet interestingly inter- woven with the others. The first epoch embraces the period of childhood and youth; the second, that of identification with the gold-mining era of California, embracing public service of an in- tensely interesting nature ; the third, that of resi-
dence in Nevada and representation in the United States Senate uninterruptedly for thirty years; and lastly, that of residence in Southern Cali- fornia, where his memory will long be cherished by reason of his connection with the founding of Santa Monica, the building of the Los Angeles & Independence Railroad and many other enter- prises vitally associated with permanent com- munity upbuilding. It was given to him to live eighty-three years, and to the last he enjoyed life, whose brimming cup he drank to the dregs, yet found the last draught as stimulating as the first. Other men might lose interest in existence, but he never tired of the activities of the world, and even in his last year, with voice strong, eye bright and hearing clear, and with intellect perpetually flowing, he still loved the haunts of men, the enterprises of business and the world of com- merce more than he loved the fireside and the armchair. As time's umbra dipped to deeper darkness down the lane of age and the shadows of night fell upon him, he entered into eternity with the faith and hope and optimism of youth undimmed by the experiences of the long years.
Near the river Wye in the shire of Hereford stands the small hamlet of The Hay, which being close to the Welsh border, contains a population almost as markedly Welsh as English. It was in The Hay that Senator Jones was born January 27, 1829, and from there he was brought to America the following year by his parents, Thomas and Mary (Pugh) Jones, who settled in Cleveland, Ohio, then a village of only one thou- sand inhabitants. The boy was sent to the schools of that town as soon as old enough, attending the Cleveland high school and studying under the noted educator, Prof. Andrew I. Freese, after which he took up the serious responsibilities associated with the earning of a livelihood. The news of the discovery of gold in California came just as he was on the threshold of manhood, eager for adventure, unsettled as to future occu- pation and free to join the vast throng of Argo- nauts bound for the Golden State. Without the least delay, he made the necessary preparations and then took passage on the sailing vessel Eureka, making the trip around the Horn to San Francisco, where he landed during the latter part of 1849. For several years he led the life of a prospector and worked placer claims. Mean- while he investigated almost every portion of the northern part of California and finally settled in
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Trinity county. where he remained until 1867. His talents brought him into immediate promi- hence and he was chosen sheriff of that county, a position for which his fearless nature and im- partial mind well qualified him. From 1863 until 1867 he represented Shasta and Trinity counties in the senate of California and in 1867 was nomi- nated for lieutenant-governor of the state. but lost in the race.
An opportunity to act as superintendent of the Crown Point mines, in which he was financially interested, caused Mr. Jones to remove to Nevada. where for years he was one of the leading citizens of Virginia City. During the fall of 1872 he was chosen to represent Nevada in the United States Senate and for thirty consecutive years be filled that most responsible post. In many respects his history for that period is a history of Nevada itself. In the annals of the state are preserved the records of his senatorial service. With Senator Henry M. Teller of Colorado he made an unyielding stand for the white metal during that exciting period of our national history when "16 to 1" became the slogan of the Demo- cratic party and when the currency problem was the vital issue in politics. While in the Senate Mr. Jones made three fundamental speeches that attracted attention all over the country, namely : The Chinese or Race Question ; The Money Ques- tion, he being an advocate of bi-metalism; and his great speech on the tariff, Shall the Public Do Its Own Work? a speech concerning which President McKinley remarked several times to Mrs. Jones that he never traveled without carry- ing with him a copy of this address. In the year 1892 the important services rendered by Mr. Jones received further recognition by his appointment by President Harrison as a member of the Interna- tional Monetary Conference which met at Brus- sels, Belgium. Through the development of the Comstock lode Mr. Jones accumulated a large fortune and was able to enjoy leisure and a release from the exacting demands of great business re- sponsibilities and political leadership. Therefore he notified his constituents in 1903 that he would not be a candidate for re-election and he then came to Southern California, having been attract- ed by the charms of climate and the growing development of this portion of the country.
It must not be supposed that Senator Jones had been unfamiliar with the resources of South- ern California prior to his removal hither. Indeed,
for many years he had been a frequent visitor to the coast and had felt the allurement of scenery and climate. Nor had he been less impressed by opportunities offered from a business standpoint. Desiring to make investments in this region, he bought a large tract from Don Abel Stearns and on that property in 1875 he laid out and sold the first lots in Santa Monica. Associated with Robert S. Baker he undertook the original up- building of the now great summer resort. From that time he never lost interest in the city. and he and his son Roy were identified with the best growth of the place, planting most of the large trees in the city, donating to it the present beauti- ful park and contributing sagaciously to the permanent progress of the place. He also gave three hundred acres to the United States govern- ment for the building of the Soldiers' Home near Santa Monica, besides which he gave to the Uni- versity of California twenty-five acres in Santa Monica canyon to be used as an experimental station by the board of forestry. In one of the most picturesque spots on his large ranch he planted his countryseat, an estate known as Mira- mar. which for years was one of the show places on the coast. To develop its natural beauty the Senator had called upon the most skilled landscape gardeners of the west and the most capable archi- tects had been called upon to assist in plans for the mansion, which for years remained in the same ownership, but was finally sold, the Senator thereupon establishing his residence on West Adams street. Los Angeles.
The marriage of Senator Jones with Miss Georgina Frances Sullivan was solemnized on January 1, 1875. Mrs. Jones was the daughter of Hon. Eugene L. Sullivan, who came to Cali- fornia in 1849 from New York City, and who served as state senator and collector of the port at San Francisco, where he died in the year 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Jones became the parents of three
children, namely: Alice, the wife of Frederick MacMonnies, a noted American sculptor in Paris. France : Marion, the wife of Robert David Far- quhar. a well-known architect of Los Angeles ; and Georgina Frances, the wife of Robert K. Walton, a New York attorney, but at the present time residing in Santa Monica. Senator Jones was a member of the Odd Fellow's Lodge. His death occurred October 27, 1912, after an illness of three months. Prior to his last illness he had been remarkable for his physical vigor. His last
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birthday anniversary had been celebrated at Mira- mar on Ocean avenue, where he had as guests his son, who had been associated with him in many business enterprises, and other relatives and intimate friends. It was then believed that he might enjoy many years of continued health and usefulness, but in less than twelve months his vigorous mind had passed from the community and the splendid personality had been removed from a region in which he had been a vital force.
JOHN CASTERA. A native of California and a resident of Los Angeles since 1874, having removed to this city when he was a lad of but six years, and having spent his time here since, John Castera is today one of the prominent and influential men of the city, occupying an enviable position in financial circles. He has been variously engaged in business, having started life as a clerk at the age of fifteen, and being now engaged in the banking business, being vice-president and director of the International Savings and Ex- change Bank, and also manager of their splendid ten-story building at the corner of Temple and Spring streets, the ground floor of which con- tains their banking quarters.
Mr. Castera was born in San Francisco October 31, 1868, the son of Charles and Julia ( Boulin) Castera. His father was a native of France, born in Pau, Province of Basses-Pyrenees, in 1847. He was educated in the public schools of France and later learned the trade of wigmaker and followed that occupation for many years. When he was twenty-one years of age he determined to come to America, San Francisco being his ob-
jective point, and the trip being made by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Arriving at the Bay City, he at once engaged in the manufacture of wigs and was a prominent figure in the city for some years, being especially well known among the members of the theatrical profession. In 1872 he went to Pioche, Nev., and conducted a hair- dressing parlor and barber shop for two years, and from there came to Los Angeles, where he engaged in the same business, his location being in the old Temple block. Later he went into the furniture business on the corner of Commercial and Los Angeles streets, remaining thus until 1904, when he retired from active business, al- though he still makes his home in Los Angeles.
The mother was born at Valparaiso, Chile, and was brought to San Francisco, Cal., from Chile in 1849. In that city she was reared, and there her marriage occurred. Her parents were Pierre and Trinidad (Fernandez) Boulin; the former was born at Basses-Pyrenees, France, and the latter in Valparaiso, Chile, where she grew up and was married. She was of Spanish blood. Pierre Boulin was a carpenter and joiner by trade, in Valparaiso, Chile. Upon making up his mind to immigrate to California, he built a sectional house which he loaded on a sailing vessel and with his family embarked for San Francisco, where they landed safely after a six months' voyage. There Mr. Boulin set up his house in what is now Pacific street on the San Francisco water front. This was one of the first, if not the first, frame house ever erected in San Francisco. The Boulin family occupied the rear rooms and rented the front room, which brought in $20 per day in gold.
John Castera, the subject of this sketch, passed his boyhood days in the village of Los Angeles, attending the public schools and later the high schools, and at the age of fifteen he accepted a position as clerk with the John Sainsevian Coal and Wood Company, remaining with this firm until he was seventeen. He then engaged with George Le Mesnager & Co., pioneer vineyardists and wine manufacturers, as clerk and bookkeeper for five years. About this time Mr. Castera's father, in partnership with L. Cordier, under the firm name of Cordier & Castera, opened up a wholesale liquor house at the corner of Ord and San Fernando streets in Los Angeles and John Castera was engaged as its manager. Mr. Cordier sold out to his partner in 1892, at which time John Castera became an equal partner in the busi- ness under the firm name of Castera & Son, and continued to conduct same until 1905, when the business was sold and John Castera went into the banking business exclusively. In 1904 he was one of the organizers of the International Sav- ings and Exchange Bank, of which he became vice-president and director. They started in busi- ness with $25,000, having purchased the charter of the Union Savings Bank of Riverside, Cal., and moved their business to Los Angeles, chang- ing the name to that by which they are still known. Today this bank has a paid-up capital of $300,000, and is housed in its own handsome building, which was erected in 1907, and of which Mr. Castera
Jan Canning
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is the manager. In financial circles of the city and also of the state the standing of the institution is one of which the promoters may well be proud.
Mr. Castera is well known through many circles of the city, having taken a great interest in public questions of all characters, and being especially in- terested in fraternal circles. He is a prominent member of Ramona Parlor, N. S. G. W .; is treasurer of the French Benevolent Society, and president of the Ligue Francaise, both well known local orders. He is past grand chief ranger, Foresters of America, for the state of California, which exalted station was attained only after twenty years of membership and consistent work. As such officer he has visited lodges of the order in every section of the state.
The marriage of Mr. Castera occurred in Los Angeles January 31, 1894, uniting him with Miss Margaret Barber. Mr. and Mrs. Castera have become the parents of two children, the elder of whom, Julia Mary, is a graduate of the local high schools, while the younger, Vesta, is still attend- ing public school.
DANIEL CUNNINGHAM. The record of the life of the late Daniel Cunningham reads like a page from romance. His earliest memories were of Ireland, where he was born in a humble home in county Down. Into those youthful years there came no promise of progress or pros- perity with continued residence in the land of his nativity, but America offered an open door of opportunity and hither he came, poor and friendless, with no capital except such as was represented by a sturdy physique and a pair of willing hands. Of education he had little or none, yet such was his quickness of observation and such his retentiveness of memory that he acquired a fund of information more valuable than that possessed by many college graduates. With him to the new world he brought a deep relig- ious spirit and an earnest devotion to the doc- trines of the Roman Catholic Church, whose philanthropies he supported generously even in his days of poverty and with increasing con- tributions as toil brought its reward of finan- cial prosperity.
The first start secured by the young Irish lad was in the Montana mines near the city of
Butte, where he worked with some discour- agements but eventual success for a consid- erable period. It was not his desire, however, to spend his entire life in a mining country and accordingly he availed himself of an oppor- tunity to proceed to California, then in the in- fancy of its development and as yet without a railroad. In time his abilities attracted the attention of men of large estates and he was chosen to manage their interests, which he did with invariable success, developing their lands and improving the value of their properties. For years he acted as manager of the Warner ranch extending from Los Angeles to San Diego county and forming the estate of the late Governor Downey of California. Eventually it became necessary for him to resign from these responsibilities in order to devote his attention to his own large interests, the material success of which returned a merited tribute to the in- dustry and forceful energies of the one-time Irish lad. With increasing prosperity he re- tained his simplicity of spirit and generosity of soul. A rugged honesty was one of his lead- ing characteristics. A sturdy pioneer of the Catholic faith in the west, he assisted in the founding of orphan asylums and hospitals and gave to charitable enterprises with a liberality never limited by a narrow or selfish spirit. Love for his native land showed in his long identi- fication with the Ancient Order of Hibernians and also in his selection of a young Irish girl, Miss Margaret McElroy, for his wife. From the time of his marriage during the '80s until his death, October 7, 1911, he had the cheerful counsel and affectionate ministrations of a wife blessed with the sturdy traits of the Celtic race. Six children came to bless their union, namely : Mary T., Rose V. (Mrs. Frank Mur- ray ), Daniel J., Elizabeth F., Hugh P. and James M. After the death of her husband Mrs. Cun- ningham bought the beautiful family residence at No. 2045 West Washington street, Los An- geles, and is there surrounded with the comforts that appeal to one of artistic and cultured tastes.
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