USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume II > Part 58
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ever arising concerning the titles to lands dis- posed of by him, as has been the case in many similar undertakings in this part of the country. The town of Hueneme and its wharf were built by him in 1871, he subsequently acquiring the ownership of the wharf from Colonel Scott, and building warehouses and improvements which brought about the importance of Hueneme as a shipping point, he being able to secure cheap transportation rates because of the returning lum- ber vessels from the ports below. With the wharf at Hueneme as an inspiration, other men were en- couraged to undertake similar enterprises along the coast no better protected than was Hueneme, among those established thus being the wharves at More's Landing, Gaviota, Santa Cruz Island and the wharf of the Los Angeles & Independence Railroad at Santa Monica. Mr. Bard's next work for Colonel Scott was the subdivision of the now famous Rancho El Rio de Santa Clara o la Colo- nia. He also had charge of and later sold the ranchos Simi and Las Posas, as well as the San Francisco ranch, which later he sold to Henry Newhall. For several years he was interested in the raising of sheep, at one time, with a partner, owning thirty-five thousand head, and though dur- ing the years of drought following 1875, many thousands were lost, the business continued and was, on the whole, a success.
Many official positions of local importance had been filled by Mr. Bard, he having been president of the Hueneme Wharf Company since its incep- tion, and an organizer and for many years presi- dent of the Bank of Ventura and the Hueneme Bank. One of the supervisors of Santa Barbara county, he was also a commissioner appointed to organize the county of Ventura, and lost no op- portunity to serve the section of the state where he lived, giving freely of both time and means for its advancement. Though meeting with oppo- sition and even being threatened with death while performing his duties as superintendent of the lands and wharf at Hueneme, Mr. Bard, knowing himself to be in the right on the disputed points, continued on his way undeterred by criticism and threats, and in time even those who had opposed him most learned to understand that he was in the right and became his firm supporters and friends.
In his political interests Mr. Bard upheld the Republican party, and his long and honorable ca- reer culminated in a term in the United States
Senate. In 1884 he was a delegate to the Repub- lican National Convention, and in 1892 had the distinction of being the only Republican elector from California sent to the electoral college. In 1900 he was elected to the United States Senate by the unanimous vote of the Republican members of the Legislature, and served his term with the utmost satisfaction to the people whom he repre- sented. He was especially well versed in all mat- ters connected with the Panama Canal project, having made a thorough study of the question before assuming his senatorial office, and was prominent in the consideration of amendments to the first Hay-Pauncefote treaty.
The marriage of Mr. Bard, which took place in 1876, united him with Miss Mary Gerberding, the daughter of C. O. Gerberding, a founder of the Evening Bulletin at San Francisco, of which city Mrs. Bard is a native daughter. They were the parents of eight children, namely: Robert ; Beryl B .; Mary L., the wife of Roger G. Ed- wards of Saticoy ; Thomas G .; Anna G .; Eliza- beth Parker; Richard; and Philip. All but one of the children are now living, the eldest, Robert, having died at the age of two years. There is also an adopted daughter, Miss Alethea Malden, an English lady. The home of the late Senator is one of the handsomest in this part of the state, covering fifty acres of ground, one-half of which is laid out in a fine park with trees, flowers and plants collected from many parts of the globe, floriculture having always been one of the great interests of Mr. Bard's life. He was a Mason, and held membership in Oxnard Lodge, F. & A. M., and in Oxnard Chapter, R. A. M., as well as Ventura Commandery, K. T. In his religious affiliations he was associated with the Presbyte- rian Church, of which he was a generous sup- porter. He was greatly interested in the work of the Y. M. C. A. and especially in the State Asso- ciation. With the death of Senator Bard the state of California has lost one of its most devoted citizens and a man well known throughout the country for his practical worth to California and her rapidly growing cities.
DR. CHARLES EDWARD KUSTER. A pioneer physician of Los Angeles, Dr. Kuster is a native of Germany, where he was born March 27, 1842. When he was seven years old he came with his family to the United States, and his boy-
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hood days were passed in Indianapolis, Ind., state of California. Since the age of seventeen where his early education was received. Even while a youth, desiring to become a physician, he attended the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, and Rush Medical College at Chicago also, grad- uating from the latter in 1865, taking post-gradu- ate courses in England, France, Germany, Austria and Scotland, and acquiring thereby a thorough knowledge of medicine in foreign lands. The breaking out of the Civil war, although interrupt- ing his medical studies, gave Dr. Kuster oppor- tunity for practice of his profession on the field of battle ; for, having enlisted in 1864 for the one hundred days' service, in the Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and having carried a gun with his com- pany for six weeks, he was examined and ap- pointed surgeon of the regiment, although he had not then received his medical diploma. After serving his one hundred days he returned to col- lege, and after having graduated there, joined the army once more, where he served as surgeon un- til the end of the war. At the close of the war he began the practice of his profession at Terre Haute, Ind., continuing in the same work until his removal to Los Angeles in 1885, while in In- diana serving on the board of health of Terre Haute, and also as examining surgeon for the pension board, being appointed to the latter office by President Arthur. On coming to Los Angeles Dr. Kuster continued the practice of medicine un- til his retirement in 1907.
The marriage of Dr. Kuster united him with Miss Emma Eshman, who is now deceased, and they became the parents of a son, Edward Ger- hard Kuster, who was born in Terre Haute, August 15, 1878, and was educated at the Hoehere Burger Schule, Berlin, Germany, the Los Angeles high school and the University of California, in the last mentioned institution receiving the de- grees of A. M. and B. L. He was admitted to the practice of law by the Supreme Court of Califor- nia and to the United States Courts, since which time he has been engaged in his profession in Los Angeles, where he is also a member of several prominent clubs.
DAVID WEIR HUNTER. A native of Scot- land, where he was born in Ayrshire, June 18, 1840, David W. Hunter is nevertheless to be classed among the most prominent pioneers of the
years Mr. Hunter has lived in the western con- tinent, for several years attending school in Lon- don, Canada, and beginning with the year 1867, when he set out for the western part of the United States, his life and experiences took on the exciting and somewhat romantic nature of the rough and adventurous life of the western states in those days. Sailing from New York for the Isthmus of Panama, he crossed by the Nicaragua route to the Pacific coast, sailing up the west coast to San Francisco on the steamer Moses Taylor. With a party of friends he took a steamer for Sacramento, in the days before the railroad was built and when all freight was carried east over the mountains by oxen and mules. In the spring Mr. Hunter set out across the country for the mines in the Bitter Root Mountains of Montana, by way of Salt Lake City, but encountered trouble with the then hostile and dangerous Indians, and never reached his destination. After remaining for a time at Austin, Nev., where he was taken seriously ill, he commenced a return journey to California, but, on the way, coming across a con- struction gang engaged in building the Central Pacific Railroad on the big bend of the Truckee river, Mr. Hunter secured employment with them in the construction of the road, and for over twelve years continued his connection with the railroad service, having become brakeman, later conductor on the road for a period of several years, and still later was ticket and freight agent at Wadsworth, Nev., continuing in the railroad's service about sixteen years in all. In reviewing the traveling experiences of Mr. Hunter in those early days of the development of the West, it is surprising to note the contrast in the modes of travel employed then and now. In those days the long sea journey from New York to the Isthmus of Panama was tedious and inconvenient, the Isthmus itself was to be crossed only by means of mules or very crude railroad service ; uncom- fortable and unattractive boats of small propor- tions carried the tourists up the California coast to San Francisco; and even the overland travel of those days across the plains from the eastern states was tedious and trying, and made in trains of ox-wagons which were frequently waylaid by hostile Indians or overtaken by drought and con- sequent disease. But at present this journey West is made in palatial trains which are the epitome
Jaws Rowan
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of comfort and ease, and from which the traveler may look out upon the desert country he passes, and regard the travel of early days merely as in- teresting history.
In 1883, after his long experience with the rail- road companies, Mr. Hunter settled in the South- ern California city of Los Angeles, then pos- sessing a population of only fourteen thousand, and since that time has been closely associated with the growth and development of the City of the Angels, from its rough and crude state when it had hardly wakened from its old Spanish and Mexican indolence, its adobes and bullfights, its pomegranates and Spanish churches, to the pres- ent condition of prosperity brought about by the energetic and industrious Yankee element. Here for some years Mr. Hunter was engaged in buy- ing and selling real estate in a small way, and was likewise engaged for several years in the liquor business. He invested in fruit lands near Ocean- side, in San Diego county, further down the coast of Southern California, and besides his home on South Vermont avenue, Los Angeles, he is also the owner of valuable property at Ninth and Main streets, in the same city, from which older district the tide of residents has moved steadily westward. Having retired from active business life and sold out his business some years ago, Mr. Hunter now resides at his Vermont avenue home with his wife and one daughter, Flora N. Hunter, who was born during the residence of the family in Nevada.
GEORGE D. ROWAN. A native of New York state, George D. Rowan was born near Corfu, in 1843. He was brought up on a farm and educated principally in the public schools. At the age of nineteen he entered Hamilton College, New York, remaining there nearly three years, later going to Lansing, Mich., where he conducted a wholesale grocery business with his brother- in-law, E. B. Millar, under the firm name of E. B. Millar & Co. Some eight years later the firm moved to Chicago and engaged in the importing of teas, coffees and spices. This house is still in existence and is one of the foremost in Chi- cago at the present time.
Mr. Rowan was married in 1873 to Miss Fan- nie F. Arnold of Sand Lake, N. Y. Shortly after his marriage Mr. Rowan spent a year in Japan
looking after the interests of the business. After his return to Chicago he remained with the firm three or four years, when he came to California, in 1876. Mr. Rowan was one of the most promi- nent real estate men in this city during his life time and one of the earliest members of the Chamber of Commerce. Owing to poor health he retired from active business about ten years prior to his death, which occurred in 1901.
Los Angeles has had many citizens of whom she is justly proud, who have aided in her develop- ment and advancement, giving of their best ener- gies to the progress and welfare of the city, and among these none holds a higher place than George D. Rowan.
FRANK WALKER. The industrial calendar of Los Angeles contains the name of no citizen whose abilities have resulted in more lasting good to the city than that of Frank Walker, who, since early manhood, has found an outlet for his un- usual adaptability in several avenues of activity throughout the west, aside from his chosen occu- pation of building. He is the son of Francis and Elizabeth (Hudson) Walker, who were hardy pioneers of Canada and who reared six boys to years of usefulness, Frank Walker being the youngest of the family and the only one in Cali- fornia. Born on March 29, 1843, within eighteen miles of Niagara Falls, Mr. Walker is a native of the town of Kincardine, Canada West, where he spent his childhood and young manhood, but the greater portion of his life since he was twenty years of age has been passed in business activities west of or in the Rocky mountain districts.
The year 1864 witnessed the arrival of Mr. Walker in California, the journey west being ac- complished via Panama, on the steamer Ocean Queen to Aspinwall, and aboard the Golden Age to San Francisco, arriving in the latter city May 7, twenty-four days after leaving New York City. Soon after coming to this state he went to Eu- reka, Humboldt county, and engaged in lumber- ing for a time, afterwards going to the Big Bend mining district in British Columbia, near the lead- waters of the Columbia river. Filled with the desire to see more of the country, he later went to Idaho, where he helped to build the first mill on the famous Poor Man mining claim at Silver City, and afterward had charge of mills on the
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Carson river in Nevada for about three years. In 1870 he returned to San Francisco and engaged in building and contracting, three years later changing his location to Santa Barbara, where he erected some of the first brick blocks in that town. Among the buildings he erected in Santa Barbara may be mentioned the Odd Fellows' building, the city hall, the Stearns building, and many private residences. He also constructed the first street railway in Santa Barbara, that from the wharf to the Arlington hotel. Journeying to Old Mex- ico in 1879 in search of more prolific fields, Mr. Walker engaged in mining in San Antonio and also built and operated a mill for the San An- tonio Mining and Milling Company. Not con- tent, however, with Mexico as a permanent abid- ing place, he removed to Tombstone, Ariz., a year later, where he became prominent in the up- building of this then wild mining center, building the first water works in the town, furnishing plans for and taking charge of the construction of the court house, one of the finest in the territory, and the city hall. He erected numerous business houses and furnished the architectural plans for several other buildings, both public and private.
Led by climatic as well as business considera- tions to cast his lot with the people of Los An- geles, he became identified with this city in 1885 and engaged in building and general contracting until 1892, meeting with fair success, and at the end of that time removed to San Francisco, where he remained five years. Returning to Los An- geles, where he has since been located, he looked after his previously acquired interests here and continued in the general contracting and building business. Mr. Walker has erected many resi- dences and flats in different parts of the city, though his activities have by no means been con- fined to this one line of business. He patented the solar heater, a device used so extensively in Southern California, and which has proved such a convenience and comfort to so many families, besides which he has developed several other val- uable patents. Besides building the first street railroad in Santa Barbara he also built the first street railroad in Pasadena, and had the first large contract of paving in Los Angeles.
Mr. Walker has one son, Frank H., whose birth occurred in Santa Barbara. He received his edu- cation in Stanford University, and is now living in Alhambra. He was formerly private secretary to the president and general manager of the
Frisco Road, with headquarters in St. Louis, Mo. Up to 1895 Mr. Walker showed commendable activity in the Republican party, in the principles and issues of which he then had great faith, but undergoing a change in his political views, he later affiliated with the Democrats, by which party he was elected to the city council in 1900 as repre- sentative of the Third ward, taking his oath of office in January of that year. He has also been chairman of the zanja committee, a member of the land committee, and of the water supply commit- tee. Of late years Mr. Walker has affiliated with no political party, preferring to be independent in politics. He is a member of the Elks, Chamber of Commerce, the Los Angeles Pioneers, and holds demits from other fraternal orders. Personally he is a man of sound commercial astuteness, irre- proachable integrity, esteemed by all who know him, and occupies a prominent place as a citizen. While in the council he opposed and was the means of preventing the street railway corpora- tion from getting the celebrated freight-carrying franchise, which would have allowed freight cars to run on some of the principal streets of the city.
WALLACE L. HARDISON. A "trail blazer" in the oil fields of California, Wallace L. Hardison had an early conception of the vast possibilities and the magnificent opportunities offered by the opening up of this industry in California, and for more than twenty-five years he was one of the leading figures in the development of the various fields of the southwest. To his efforts are due the founding of several of the largest oil organiza- tions on the coast, and his fame as an oil expert is world-wide. He was for some time in the Peruvian fields in the capacity of an investigating expert, and his reports on the various fields of both east and west were generally accepted as au- thoritative. He was pre-eminent as an organizer and even under adverse financial conditions was able to accomplish more than the ordinary man usually has to his credit under the most favorable circumstances. For a number of years after com- ing to California to make his permanent home, in 1883, he resided in Santa Paula, where his first venture in the state was made, although he op- erated throughout the entire southern district.
In later years, however, Mr. Hardison came further south, and purchased the famous old
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historic adobe in South Pasadena, where Fre- mont and Pico signed the treaty that ceded Cali- fornia to the United States. It was once the resi- dence of Gen. George Stoneman, one of the early governors of California, and later served as a residence and studio for a noted painter of In- dians. Another event that occurred in the old house was the birth of a daughter of Rajah E. Sorabje, an East Indian prince who made that his home for several years. When Mr. Hardison pur- chased the property he expended large sums of money in repairs, owing to the fact that tourists had carried away many articles as souvenirs. The adobe bricks of which the house is built are char- acteristic of the early days of California and are from twelve to eighteen inches long. The house stands in the midst of a fairyland of flowers, in- cluding Old Mission and Castilian roses planted more than a half century ago, also an extremely large pepper tree at the entrance to the grounds, supposed to have been planted by a Spaniard in the eighteenth century. Another point of interest is an old cross erected upon a stump near the house, marking the spot where, in 1770, Governor Portola smoked the pipe of peace with the old Indian Chief Hahamovic. An old tablet carved by William Clifford, an Englishman of South Pasadena, is placed above a fireplace that is made of cobblestones taken from the Arroyo Seco that runs through the property and bears this inscrip- tion : "Bienvenedos Saeis En Esta Antiqua Casa", meaning "Welcome Thou to This Old Home." This home was the especial pride of Mr. Hardi- son, and its historic associations appealed both to his pride of possession and also to his love for the beautiful romantic story of the early days of the Golden West, which he loved so dearly, and for which he has done so much in the way of the development of her great natural industrial wealth. This adobe was his home at the time of his death on April 10, 1909.
Mr. Hardison was a native of Maine, having been born at Caribou, Aroostook county, in 1851. He was educated in the public schools and in the Houlton (Me.) Academy. His first trip to Cali- fornia was made in 1869, when he crossed the plains in a "prairie schooner" and for a year was employed in Humboldt county. At the end of that time he returned to the east and became in- terested in the oil industry in Pennsylvania, where his brothers, James and Harvey, were suc- cessful oil operators at that time. In the year
1880, in the Garfield campaign, Mr. Hardison re- ceived the nomination for the Pennsylvania legis- ture, in the Bradford district, embracing Mckean county, and was elected by a large majority, prin- cipally on the strength of his personal popularity. His record in the legislature is a good one and there is no doubt but that political preferment might have been his had he cared to devote his time to such interests. Such was not the case, however, and in 1888 he determined to come to California to remain. He became associated with Lyman Stewart, and together they explored the oil fields of this section, putting to practical ac- count the vast store of knowledge gained in the Pennsylvania fields. The leading company in the southern district at that time was the Pacific Coast Oil Company, which had done considerable work in development, and was then operating in the Pico canyon, near Newhall, and a start had been made in the Puente field. The Hardison & Stewart Oil Company was soon organized and their first work was done near the ground of the Pacific Coast Oil Company, and a little later operations were begun at Santa Paula, in Ventura county. This work was very successful and within a short time they were branching out for larger operations. The Sespe Oil Company was next organized under the management of Mr. Hardison and wells were successfully developed in the Sespe canyon, in the year 1885. Some years earlier the Mission Transfer Company had been organized for the purpose of oil development, and during this same year (1885) the Hardison & Stewart Oil Company and the Sespe Oil Company absorbed the first mentioned organization. In 1886 the Torrey Canyon Oil Company was organ- ized and development work commenced in the canyon bearing that name. The growing im- portance of the oil industry in this section was attracting men of splendid abilities and demand- ing the most thoroughly modern methods of handling and development. As a result the Union Oil Company was incorporated, absorbing the properties of the Hardison & Stewart Company, the Sespe Company, the Mission Transfer Com- pany, and the Torrey Canyon Company, Mr. Hardison being a moving spirit in all these enter- prises. The Union Oil Company is today the largest oil company in the state, with a pipe line to tidewater and water transportation to their great refinery near San Francisco. The first steamer ever built to carry crude petroleum was
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named by the directors the "W. L. Hardison," and belonged to the Mission Transfer Company. It was burned many years ago at the wharf at Ventura.
Associated with Mr. Hardison in the Union Oil Company were many men of local and even na- tional prominence, among whom may be men- tioned Lyman Stewart, the late Thomas R. Bard, former United States Senator from California, Dan McFarland, and others of equal prominence. This was in 1891, and later Mr. Hardison and Mr. Stewart organized the United Petroleum Company, which controls the stock of the Union Oil Company. The development of the Cali- fornia oil fields had attracted world-wide attention and the name of Hardison was closely associated therewith, and was almost equally well known wherever men were following the fortunes of this great industry. As a natural consequence Mr. Hardison received an offer from an English syn- dicate to go to Peru and investigate the oil fields of that country. This commission he accepted, making the trip in 1895, his report being of great value, and exceptionally clear and comprehensive. Another interest had claimed the attention of Mr. Hardison while on this trip also, he having heard of a fabulously rich gold mine in the heart of the Andes mountains. He secured options and spent much time investigating and developing this mine, which proved to be all that rumor had accredited. The work was dangerous and diffi- cult, but Mr. Hardison pushed it to a successful conclusion, as was his custom, and today a ten- stamp mill is in operation on the property, a great deal of tunneling has been done, and it is claimed that $5,000,000 worth of ore is uncovered. He retained large interests in this property until the time of his death, and always felt an especial interest in this venture.
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