USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume II > Part 53
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It is also a well known fact that Senator Works is an acknowledged authority on matters of legal practice. He is the author of a work on Indiana Pleading and Practice that has been in use for over thirty years and is now in its third edition.
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He has also written many other articles of great legal merit which are accepted as authoritative. Among these may be mentioned Courts and Their Jurisdiction; Water and Water Rights, both of which are published in book form, and numerous magazine articles.
The marriage of Senator Works took place in Vevay, Ind., November 8, 1868, uniting him with Miss Alice Banta. Mrs. Works is the daughter of John W. and Martha Banta, and is a native of Indiana. She has borne her husband six chil- dren, of whom Judge Lewis Reed Works is prob- ably the most noteworthy. Both Senator and Mrs. Works are popular with a wide circle of personal friends in Los Angeles and the surrounding coun- try, and also in San Francisco and San Diego. They are prominent members of the Christian Science church and for a time Senator Works was first reader in one of the larger churches of the city.
HON. HENRY G. WEYSE. The name of Weyse is connected with the early history of Los Angeles, the founder of the family in this city having been Julius Guenther Weyse, a native of the city of Schleiz, Reuss, Germany, and a de- scendant of an old Saxon family whose history is traced back to the year 1532. His father, Privy Counselor George Guenther Weyse, was an emi- nent jurist and acted as privy counsel to the Count, besides representing his principality in all the ne- gotiations during and occasioned by the Napo- leonic wars. The pressure of professional cares and anxieties proved too great a strain for him, and overwork caused his death.
The natural gifts of Julius G. Weyse were trained and broadened by his thorough education, covering almost fifteen years in colleges and uni- versities in his native land. Through this train- ing under the best educators of Germany he ac- quired a ripeness of thought as unusual as it was interesting. A gift of poetic imagery had been one of his endowments, and in the expression of beautiful thoughts in appropriate verse he won the applause of his teachers. During youth he had no intention of leaving his home land, but the part he took in the popular movement for the re- establishment of the German empire rendered his continuance there unsafe, and so he crossed the ocean to America about 1836. After visiting va-
rious cities in the east, and being made a Mason in Cincinnati, he engaged in educational work at Jefferson City, Mo. Meanwhile his thoughts ever turned fondly toward his native shores, and in 1846 he returned, in time to take part in the revolution of two years later. Again the cause to which he was attached met with defeat and again he was obliged to leave the country.
With others, in October of 1850 Julius G. Weyse engaged the barque McDowd, which rounded Cape Horn and anchored in San Fran- cisco in March, 1851. For a time he mined in Tuolumne county, later engaged in the newspaper business in San Francisco. As early as 1852 he came as far south as San Bernardino, and four years later he settled in Los Angeles, where he bought twenty acres (now the corner of San Pedro and Eighth streets). This property was set out to vineyard, and on it he made his home until he died in 1863. Much of his time during his last years was given to developing the grape in- dustry in Southern California, and he was par- ticularly interested in the founding and develop- ing of Anaheim. He was also an organizer of the Los Angeles Vineyard Company. While in Missouri he served as captain of a company in the state militia.
The marriage of Julius G. Weyse united him with Caroline A. Lange, who was born at Apen- rade, Schleswig-Holstein, and came to San Fran- cisco in 1855. Her death occurred at the Los Angeles homestead in 1887. Three sons were born of this union, the eldest of whom, Otto Guenther, a merchant, died in San Francisco in 1893. The second son, Rudolph Guenther, was born in Los Angeles in 1860, and for years has been a business man of this city. October 25, 1890, he married Ada Frances Barrows, a daugh- ter of H. D. Barrows by his marriage to Mrs. Mary Alice Workman. The third son, Henry Guenther Weyse, was born at the Los Angeles homestead in 1863, and, with his brothers, was sent to Gera, Germany, to be educated. After- ward he entered Harvard College, from which he was graduated in 1888, with the degree of LL.B. Since then he has been engaged in the practice of law at Los Angeles, having his office in the Temple block, while he makes his home at Santa Monica by the sea. October 2, 1888, he was united in marriage with Alice Wolfskill Barrows, daughter of H. D. Barrows by his marriage to Juanita Wolfskill, daughter of that well-known
Thos Pascoe
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pioneer, William Wolfskill, one of the very first Americans to settle in Los Angeles, hav- ing arrived here in February, 1831. Mrs. Alice Weyse passed away November 6, 1903, leaving a daughter, Mary Alice. On October 19, 1908, Mr. Weyse married Ysabel Wolfskill, the daughter of Louis Wolfskill, the youngest son of William Wolfskill. Of this marriage three chil- dren were born, Ysabel Wolfskill, Heinrich Guen- ther and Dettmar Guenther.
The abilities of Mr. Weyse were recognized in his election, in 1894, as representative of the sev- entieth legislative district in the state legislative assembly, where he served during the session of 1895. Since then he has given his attention un- reservedly to professional work, in which, through his thorough knowledge of the German language, he is especially qualified to render satisfactory service in behalf of clients of that nationality ; while at the same time his splendid English edu- cation and comprehensive study of the law enable him to master the intricacies of all cases that are submitted to his judgment and placed under his control. From "Die Weyse," a genealogical work compiled by Archivant Dr. Schmidt, printed at Schleiz, Germany, in March, 1913, we quote :
"We now consider the vocations of the mem- bers of the Weyse family. They are character- ized by the fact of the social and cultural height on which the family has stood since the second half of the sixteenth century ; that its male mem- bers from the ancestor Zacharias down to the present time have almost all had a university edu- cation ; so, for instance, the ancestors of the now living Henry Guenther Weyse, of the branch Los Angeles, back to the said ancestor, have without exception been jurists, making ten generations of lawyers without a break."
THOMAS PASCOE. A man well and favorably known in Los Angeles during the thirty years of his business career in this city is Thomas Pascoe, whose occupation of hotel proprietor during the early days of the growth of the city gave him ample opportunity to ex- tend the hospitality of the town to guests from other states, as well as to establish for himself a permanent place in their esteem and friend- ship. Though now retired from active business life in this line, he still makes his home in Los
Angeles, and takes an interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare and progress of the city.
The native land of Mr. Pascoe is England, where he was born at Cornwall, March 10, 1847, the son of George and Isabelle Pascoe. For about eighteen years he lived a quiet life in his native surroundings, attending school and learning the lessons of industry and integrity which he has since put into daily practice. He then obtained a position as steward in the British navy and for seven years was the head of his department on some of the largest Eng- lish men-of-war. In the meantime he visited many of the important ports of the world and had numerous experiences of an extremely in- teresting nature. During the Fenian troubles in Ireland in 1865-66 the vessel on which he was employed was stationed at various points along the Irish coast, and for some time he cruised in the Mediterranean. In 1870, when the clash between the monarchial and papal powers in Italy reached a climax, the man-of- war on which he was stationed waited at Naples, ready to extend the protection of the British government to the pope; in case he should decide to seek safety elsewhere a castle on the island of Malta would have been placed at his disposal. Mr. Pascoe then went to Athens, Greece, where he witnessed the execu- tion of twelve notorious brigands, and he was present when the great Suez canal was opened by no less person than Napoleon III. of France, in November, 1869. In the course of his service as chief steward Mr. Pascoe was called upon to cater to many distinguished statesmen, military officials, ambassadors, and frequently royalty itself, and thus his training was excep- tional. At the close of seven years spent in her majesty's service he returned to England and embarked upon an independent career.
In company with a brother, George Pascoe, our subject came to the United States when he was twenty-five years of age, and, after passing a short time in New York City, went to Mon- tana, where he and his brother were appointed deputy United States marshals and assigned to duty in the penitentiary at Deer Lodge. He resigned this office and in partnership with his brother. George, engaged in the raising of sheep. In 1875 he went to Colorado Springs. where he opened the well-known Pascoe's
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Hotel and Restaurant, which he conducted suc- cessfully for several years, there making the excellent reputation as a hotel keeper that he has since maintained. In 1881 he came to Cali- fornia, locating in Mendocino county, where he bought out the Grand Hotel at Ukiah and con- ducted the same for one year. Selling out his interests in Ukiah, he removed to Pleasanton, Cal., where he leased the Rose Hotel and con- ducted it for a year and a half.
In June, 1884, Mr. Pascoe came to Los An- geles, and commenced his successful career as hotel proprietor in this city with the manage- ment of the Kimball mansion for the space of four months, after which he opened the Clifton House, at the corner of Temple and Fort streets, which was built especially for him, and was the first modern family hotel in the city. After three years of efficient management of the Clifton House he purchased the Lincoln Hotel, at Second and Hill streets, which he conducted with marked success for thirteen years, refitting the place and improving it in many ways. Selling this out, he organized the Fremont Hotel Company, and erected a fine hundred-room hotel on the southwest corner of Fourth and Olive streets, leasing it from the Fremont Hotel Company, in which he was a stockholder, and this he conducted under the name of the Fremont Hotel until 1912, when he sold the lease and furniture, and spent a year and a half in European travel, in February, 1914, selling the building and land of the Fre- mont Hotel to the lessee.
Though now retired from active business life along the lines formerly pursued by him, Mr. Pascoe continues his interest in the city of his adoption, and has been a director of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, a member of the police commission and for two years presi- dent of the Southern California Hotel Associa- tion. Fraternally he is a Mason, socially is identified with the Pioneer Society, and politi- cally he is a Republican. He holds the office of president of the board of trustees of the Unitarian Church in Los Angeles of which he is a member. By his marriage in Colorado Springs with Miss Jane Retallick, in August, 1877. he is the father of one son, Dr. Elmer Rose Pascoe, at present an officer of the Board of Health.
STODDARD JESS. With the extension of agricultural and commercial development by slow degrees from the limitations of the eighteenth century to the expanding civilization of later decades, the Jess family became trans- planted from the Atlantic shores to the middle west and thence to the Pacific coast, in each locality of residence leading the forces of progress in business and in public affairs. The apparent chance that takes the form of destiny in each life led the family from England to the rock-bound coast of Nova Scotia, where was reared John L. P. Jess, whose English inheritance of initiative and determination caused him to seek in the United States opportunities not offered in the rig- orous climate and isolated environment of his adopted home. At the time of his location in Wisconsin near Fox lake that region, later famous for charm of scenery and summer climate, had not begun to attract settlers and he was among the earliest to identify himself with its opportu- nities. From that locality his son, George, father of Stoddard Jess, started across the plains during the spring of 1850.
News concerning the discovery of gold had at- tracted a great throng of daring young adven- turers, whose "prairie schooners" from the north and east and south crept over unbeaten tracks of the unchartered wilderness like small but cease- less streams, to fill at last the great western coun- try with a cosmopolitan population of pioneers. To the young immigrant from Wisconsin, how- ever, disappointment in not finding the greatly desired gold and the homesick longing for the friends and scenes of Wisconsin proved stronger than any determination to assist in the upbuild- ing of the west and he returned to the old home, there to become later prominent in banking, po- litical and fraternal affairs. As representative of his district in the state legislature he promoted measures of general importance. Other offices were filled with equal fidelity. The Republican party had in him a stanch supporter. His mar- riage to Marian Theresa Judd united him with a pioneer family of New York state, where her father, Hon. Stoddard Judd, was a citizen of in- fluence, so progressive in spirit that he was in advance of his times in all matters relating to the public welfare. For several terms he served in the New York state legislature. Upon receiv- ing from President Polk an appointment as re-
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ceiver of the United States land office at Green Bay he moved to Wisconsin and there spent the balance of his life. As a member of the first and second constitutional conventions he aided in pre- paring the constitution of Wisconsin and later he served for several terms as senator and represen- tative from his district. In the annals of the state his name is written as that of a valuable citizen, progressive pioneer and efficient incumbent of public office, whose keenest interest lay in the ad- vancement of commonwealth and country.
Stoddard Jess was born at Fox Lake, Wis., December 3, 1856, and in 1876 was graduated from the University of Wisconsin. For a year he held a clerkship in the First National Bank of Fox Lake. During 1877 he became cashier in the banking house of George Jess & Co., of Waupun, Wis., one of the strongest institutions of the lo- cality. Soon he became a factor in community progress and public life. In addition to serving for several terms as a member of the city council he held the office of mayor for two years. The failing health of his father caused them to close out their banking interests in Wisconsin and transfer their home to Southern California, where, a few months after his arrival in Pomona, Mr. Jess organized and became cashier of the First National Bank. As far back as 1885 Po- mona was in its infancy. Settlers were few. The work of development had scarcely begun. Im- mediately he became a large factor in community advancement. Not only did he serve as the first treasurer of the city, but he also helped to or- ganize the Pomona Board of Trade and for two years served as its president. From 1902 to 1904 he was president of the board of library trustees of Pomona, resigning the position at the time of his removal to Los Angeles. Meanwhile in 1898 acting upon the advice of his physicians he re- signed the bank cashiership and gave up all active work. A period of travel and rest enabled him to regain his health, which had been impaired by too arduous devotion to business and public affairs.
From the time of his removal to Los Angeles in 1904 Mr. Jess has held the office of vice-president of the First National Bank, besides which he is now a director of the Los Angeles Trust & Sav- ings Bank and for two terms was president of the Los Angeles Clearing House Association. An authority in the banking business, his service as president of the California State Bankers' Asso- ciation was of inestimable value to the financial
interests of the entire state, while his addresses and articles dealing with banks and banking have carried weight as indicating the results of a long and active experience in the field of finance. The First National Bank has benefited by his official connection with the concern. One of its most popular systems, that of uniting the work of paying and receiving tellers, was inaugurated by Mr. Jess himself and resulted from a close study he gave the matter of reducing the work of book- keeping for clerks and minimizing the tedium of waiting for customers. Under his direction the bank was divided into a number of alphabetical sections, at which the tellers either receive or pay out money as desired. Long waits by customers are thus eliminated. Closer relations are estab- lished between the bank and the depositors. The general expedition of business is fostered by the change. The popularity of the change was indi- cated by the fact that within a few years a number of large banks throughout the country had adopted the plan devised by Mr. Jess, among these being the Continental and Commercial Bank of Chicago, the Seattle National Bank, the First National Bank of Denver, the United States National Bank of Denver and the Irving National Bank of New York.
The marriage of Mr. Jess was solemnized at Monroe, Wis., January 15, 1879, and united him with Miss Carrie Helen Chenowith. Two children were born of the union : Jennie C., deceased, and George Benjamin. Reared in the faith of the Republican party, Mr. Jess has been a lifelong adherent of its principles. Local organizations that have his name enrolled upon the membership lists are the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the Knights Templar and Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in Masonry, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, Union League, Los Angeles Ath- letic Club, Jonathan and California Clubs. As chairman of the consolidation committee he was instrumental in bringing about the consolidation of Los Angeles with San Pedro, thus giving to the city its own harbor. Upon the conclusion of that work he was chosen president of the harbor commission of Los Angeles, which had charge of the work of building the harbor, an enterprise costing more than $3,500,000 including local and federal expenditures. During the early stages of the harbor work he directed the affairs of the commission and when the movement had been placed upon a permanent foundation he resigned
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therefrom in order to devote himself to business affairs. Of his services in the initial harbor work it may be said that it would be difficult to over- estimate them, nor has he been less helpful in other measures for civic advancement, and his clear brain, keen intellect and forceful mentality have been important factors in the progress of Los Angeles during a most important decade of its history.
JOHN T. GAFFEY. Though a native of the British Isles, Mr. Gaffey has since the age of seven years been a resident of California and has associated himself through marriage with one of the old Spanish families of the state. Born in Galway, Ireland, November 1, 1860, John T. Gaf- fey was the son of Thomas and Ann Gaffey, and with his mother in 1867 made the journey to California via the Isthmus of Panama, and set- tled in San Francisco. There the boy attended the grammar and high schools, in 1876 continu- ing his education at a private school in Santa Cruz, Cal., for three years, when he entered the business world as owner and editor of the Santa Cruz Herald, a paper which he sold out in the year 1881 to assume the duties of under sheriff for a year. He then, in 1882, removed to Los Angeles, where he was engaged as deputy clerk in the Supreme Court until 1886, and then elected on the State Board of Equalization representing the fourth district. In this capacity he served until 1890, when he was elected a member of the school board, resigning this in 1893 to become a member of the City Council for a year. After his resignation in this office he was appointed collector of customs of the district of Los Angeles by Presi- dent Cleveland, after three and one-half years spent in the duties of this office resigning to re- tire from public life. Mining in Sonora and Lower California, Mexico, next claimed his atten- tion until 1900, when he removed to Beaumont, Tex., where for a year and a half he was inter- ested in the oil industry, returning, however, to Mexico and engaging in mining there until 1904, when he removed to San Pedro, Cal. From the year 1904 until 1906 he acted as editor of the Los Angeles Herald, newspaper work having been the first occupation undertaken by him at the close of his school life. Since 1906 Mr. Gaffey has assisted in the organization of the Pacific
Wharf and Storage Company in which he is at present a director, an office which he also holds in the First National Bank of Los Angeles, the San Pedro Brick Company, the Harbor City Sav- ings Bank, the San Pedro Fertilizer Company and the Outer Harbor Dock and Wharf Com- pany, he being also president of the Arcadia de Baker Estate Company, a three million dollar corporation. Among social clubs he has been for thirty years a member of the Bohemian Club at San Francisco, and is a charter member and one of the five organizers of the California Club. In political interests a Democrat, he is in his relig- ious associations a member of the Catholic Church.
The marriage of Mr. Gaffey was solemnized in Los Angeles, in June, 1886, uniting him with Miss Arcadia Bandini, a granddaughter of Don Juan Bandini, one of the early settlers of Los An- geles. Mr. and Mrs. Gaffey are the parents of two children, William Tracy, who attends the Santa Clara College, and Margaret, now Mrs. C. M. Ward of Los Angeles.
WILLIAM MULHOLLAND. The comple- tion of the famous Los Angeles aqueduct, which brings into the Angel City the sparkling waters of Owens river, marks a distinctive era in the his- tory of the city. This is the greatest aqueduct in the world today, and its construction has at- tracted the attention of the world, and famous engineers from many lands have journeyed here to view it and to make careful study of this great engineering feat. Scarcely less interesting than the aqueduct itself to the ordinary citizen and far, far more so to his brother engineers, is the man whose master-mind designed this great work, superintended its construction, and whose skill and untiring devotion to his duty have at last brought the great undertaking to a successful com- pletion. This man is William Mulholland. The people of Los Angeles are keenly alive to the value of his services, and he is regarded almost in the light of a public benefactor. So far as he him- self is concerned, however, he wears his laurels with becoming modesty, and accepts the honor that has been accorded him as due the work itself and its completion, rather than as a personal tribute to his skill and ability.
Mr. Mulholland is a native of Ireland, having
7.2. Shires.
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been born at Belfast, September 11, 1855, the son of Hugh and Ellen ( Deakers) Mulholland, both of Irish parentage. He received his education in the public schools and later in the Christian Broth- ers' school, both in Dublin. Later he came to the United States and located at Pittsburgh, Pa., com- ing on to California in 1877. In 1886 he was ap- pointed superintendent and chief engineer of the City Water Company, this being at the time a private corporation. Mr. Mulholland remained with this company until their interests were taken over by the city of Los Angeles in 1902, at which time he was appointed chief engineer. Later, with the undertaking of the Los Angeles aque- duct, he became the chief engineer of that project also. Since that time he has devoted his splendid skill and energy to the accomplishment of this stupendous undertaking and in the construction of this great waterway has made for himself a name that is known and honored wherever the knowledge of engineering feats is understood and appreciated.
During his residence in Southern California Mr. Mulholland has made a careful study of the con- ditions of the country and has in that time de- signed and constructed many of the great irriga- tion systems that are making the southland the garden spot of the earth. His work is known for its careful attention to detail, its painstaking attention to matters of importance, whether small or great.
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