USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume II > Part 6
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Mr. Perry was, perhaps, associated with more companies as president and director than any other one man of Los Angeles, his many business in- terests constantly calling upon him for the benefit of his experience. In banking circles he was eminently prominent in Southern California, serv- ing as a director in the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Los Angeles, with which institution he became connected at an early date in its history, contributing materially to its substantial growth and prosperity. He was a stockholder in the American National Bank of this city, and likewise identified with the Nevada Bank and the Union Trust Company of San Francisco. Besides being president of the W. H. Perry Lumber & Mill Company, he was president of the Pioneer Lum- ber & Mill Company ; president and director of the Southern California Pipe & Clay Company ; while he formerly served as president of the Cosmopolis Mill & Trading Company of Grays Harbor, Wash. He was a stockholder in the Charles Nelson Shipping Company of San Fran- cisco, which has large timber, mill and railroad interests in Humboldt county ; in the Vallejo & Napa Electric Railroad; the Gas Consumers' Association and the National Electric Company, both of San Francisco; the Bard Oil & Asphalt Company ; the Olinda Crude Oil Company ; the Western Union Oil Company of Santa Barbara ; and was formerly in the Reed Oil Company of Kern county. He was one of the original stock- holders in the Home Telephone Company of Los Angeles. Although so constantly occupied, every enterprise with which he was connected has profited largely by his unusual business ability and wide experience. He was largely interested in real estate in Los Angeles, his faith in the perma- nent prosperity and growth of this city being unbounded and surely justified in the light of his career.
The home life of Mr. Perry was not the least of a successful career, for it is one thing to found a fortune and another to establish a home and rear a family that shall add honor to the name. In 1858 he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth M. Dalton, the daughter of a pioneer of Los Angeles, and herself one of the cour- ageous, self-sacrificing women who faced the hardships of the frontier life. Side by side they walked together when the road was rough, youth, courage and confidence promising them something that the future held for them. After a happy married life of nearly a half century the bond was broken by the death of Mr. Perry, October 30, 1906. Six children blessed their union, of whom one son and two daughters are living: Charles Frederick is located in Los Angeles ; Mary Barker became the wife of C. Modini Wood; and Florence, the wife of E. P. Johnson, Jr., both being residents of Los Angeles, and with their mother are prominent in the select social circles of the city. The eldest daughter, Mrs. Wood, is one of the most accomplished musicians of Los Angeles, having received her education in Milan, under the tuition of Anton Sangiovanni, one of the most noted instructors of that city. She made her debut in Milan and during her engagement there made a favorable impression on the musical world. Mr. and Mrs. Perry had ten grandchildren, in whose lives their own youth was renewed. Mrs. Wood's children are named in order of birth as follows: Elizabeth Marie, Florence Perry, William Perry and Mona Chap- man; those of Mrs. Johnson, Katherine, Robert, Margaret, Eleanor, Edward P. and Benjamin.
The characteristic traits of Mr. Perry which helped bring about his financial success also made their impress upon his personality. By inheritance he was endowed with many of the qualities which make a successful frontiersman-pers( al fear- lessness, a cheerful optimism in the face of re- verses, a spirit of conscious ability and per- severance-and these have proven potent factors in his career. In the early days of the state he was foremost among the citizens in preserving good government and peace, it being necessary to guard the families from the lawless Mexican ele- ment. Many times he had occasion to wish him- self out of the country, but with the persistence characteristic of his entire career he remained a helpful element in the troublons times and with the passing years mounted to a position of pros-
Very Respectfully Mr J. Edgar
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perity in a manner well worthy of emulation by the younger generation. He had taken time to ally himself with the Masonic organization, being a member of the blue lodge, chapter and con- mandery, and was a thirty-second degree, Scot- tish Rite Mason. When he arrived in Los An- geles, now a little more than a half century since, he was penniless, friendless and alone. The journey had been a hardship, having worn out his shoes by constant walking and his only clothes were in rags, and he was thus left without suf- ficient clothing in which to make application for work; he therefore sought the only way open to him by going to a clothier and asking him for a suit of clothes on credit. He was trusted, and he let that lesson sink deep into his life, giving to others the faith that was given to him, and ex- tending a helping hand to many who would have sunk to utter failure and insignificance but for the help which he gave at the time most needed. The position given Mr. Perry was not his alone as a man of business ability, but as a liberal and loyal citizen, an honorable man and a stanch friend. His death October 30, 1906, removed one of California's great and honored pioneers.
WILLIAM FRANCIS EDGAR, M.D. The life history of Dr. Edgar is one of unusual interest. Full of incidents, stirring and adven- turous, it possesses that fascination which at- taches to all lives that present the spectacle of small beginnings and large achievements, and of success wrested from adverse circumstances. Through a career which began in 1823 and ended in 1897 he was a witness of much of the remarkable development of the United States, no part of which was more interesting to him than the Golden state, where the happiest years of his life were passed. A surgeon among sur- geons, few there are if any who saw more active service than did he during the twenty years passed on the frontiers of Oregon and California and in the Civil war.
On both sides of the family Dr. Edgar was descended from military antecedents, one grandfather being a captain of light artillery in the Revolutionary war, and the other a captain of infantry in the war of 1812. The martial spirit of the paternal grandfather was strongly implanted in his son, for at the age
of seventeen years William Hamilton Edgar enlisted from his native state, Virginia. After his honorable discharge from the service and when peace once more reigned, he settled for a time in Kentucky, but later went to Missouri. A man of unusual strength of character, honest and industrious, he impressed all with whom he came in contact, and none more so than his own children, who honored and revered him to the end of his days. The last years of his life were spent under California skies, and it was while living in San Bernardino in 1866 that he answered the final roll-call. In death he was not long separated from the wife of his youth, for two years later she, too, passed away. After the death of her husband she made her home with her son William in Drum Barracks, near Wilmington. Five children were originally comprised in the parental family, but all are now deceased. The only daughter died in infancy ; one of the sons, who was a soldier, died in Santa Fe in 1846; another, who was a lawyer by profession, died in Los Angeles in 1862; still another died in 1874 at the Edgar rancho at San Gorgonio, Cal .; the eldest child in the family and last survivor was William F.
William Francis Edgar was born on a farm in Jessamine county, Ky., in March, 1823. Nothing worthy of note occurred in his life until he was eight years old, when he became a pupil in the log schoolhouse about three miles from his father's home. The path was cut through a heavy dark forest, and this the child traveled over twice a day alone in pursuit of his early schooling. When the family located in Missouri he enjoyed better privileges, com- pleting his non-professional course in Bonne Femme College in Boone county. After the panic which swept over the country in 1837 the family removed to St. Joseph, and there he made his first step toward self-support. The thought paramount in his mind, however, was to secure the means with which to pursue his studies, for ere this he had made up his mind to become a physician. While working in a drug store as clerk he devoted every spare moment to the study of medicine and chemistry and in this way prepared himself both finan- cially and mentally to enter the medical depart- ment of the University of Louisville, from which in 1848 he graduated with high honors under Prof. Samuel Gross. At the beginning
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of the second session of his college career he, with two fellow students, was appointed as- sistant demonstrator of anatomy, an appoint- ment which he held until he entered the army. Life on the frontier in Missouri gave him an excellent opportunity to get an insight into army life and after making the acquaintance of several army surgeons the trend of his pro- fessional training had been decided. After taking his degree he presented himself before the army examining board in New York and out of scores of candidates he was one of four who successfully passed the rigid test.
The public life of Dr. Edgar began with his appointment as assistant surgeon in the United States army in the spring of 1849. At Jefferson Barracks he was assigned for duty first at Fort Leavenworth, but was later transferred to Oregon, traveling by steamer to old Fort Kearny. While en route Asiatic cholera broke out among the passengers, and both on board ship and on the well-trodden path to the gold fields the doctor tended many a sick and dis- couraged wayfarer, giving his services gratui- tously. Subsequently he was ordered to Van- couver, later to The Dalles, and while at the latter place, in the spring of 1851, orders from the government brought about changes which finally placed Dr. Edgar under command of Major Philip Kearny, with headquarters at Sonoma, Cal. There he was associated with men who years afterward became famous for their gallant services in the Civil war, notably Joseph Hooker and George Stoneman. From Sonoma Dr. Edgar was stationed successively for a short time at Fort Miller, the Yosemite valley, and toward the close of 1853, was ordered to Fort Reading, where now stands the town of Redding, Shasta county. The severe physical strain which he had been under during the past years had begun to tell on his con- stitution and made him an easy prey to the malarial tendencies by which he was surround- ed in camp. One chill December night, while suffering with malarial fever, he arose from his sick bed in answer to summons to attend a comrade who had met with a severe accident, and upon his return to his own quarters at day- break he was seized with vertigo and fell un- conscious, stricken with paralysis. At this time he was a young man of only thirty years. In response to orders from his commandant he
was relieved from duty and taken to the home of a friend in Tejon valley, where he received careful nursing, and by the last of March fol- lowing was able to walk. The three months' leave of absence which was granted him was spent for the most part in Kentucky and Mis- souri, and upon its expiration he reported for duty at Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis. Assigned to the Second United States Cavalry corps he there became associated with such men as Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston, William J. Hardee and George H. Thomas, who were later to shine with such brilliancy in the Civil conflict. After a brief stay in Texas, whither the command had been ordered, Dr. Edgar was sent to Fort Meyers, in Florida, where there was a scarcity of medical men. In the latter part of 1856 he was ordered to New York, and the year following he was once more at his post at Fort Miller, Cal., under command of Captain Ord.
The breaking out of the Civil war was re- sponsible for the events in the next epoch in the career of Dr. Edgar. In November, 1861, lie was ordered to report at Washington, being among the last of the regular troops to leave the Pacific coast. As surgeon with the rank of major he was assigned to General Buell's com- mand in Kentucky, reorganizing and taking charge of the general hospital at Louisville. Once more his health failed under the pressure of professional duties, exposure and fatiguing travel, and against his wishes he was retired from active service, being assigned to duty in the medical director's office in the department of the east, with headquarters in New York. It was in the latter city, March 8, 1866, in the Church of the Nativity, that he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Laura Kennifick, a lady of many excellent qualifications. Mem- ories of the delightful climate and sunny skies of California made Dr. Edgar a willing victim, when, after the close of war, he was once more ordered to this state, a pleasure which was en- hanced by the fact that his parents had located here to spend their remaining days. With the exception of a few years of private practice in Los Angeles, Dr. Edgar spent the remaining years of his professional career at Drum Bar- racks. In the meantime he had purchased a large ranch at San Gorgonio, San Bernardino county, which until 1874 was managed by his
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brother Francis Marion, but upon the death of the latter in that year he himself assumed charge of the property. Selling a portion of it in 1881, he finally disposed of the remainder, in 1886, selling it to the San Gorgonio Investment Company. Los Angeles never had a more true- hearted, devoted citizen than Dr. Edgar, his love for his adopted city expressing itself in endless ways. Besides being a member of the County Medical Society he was a member of the Southern California Historical Society, the Library Association of Los Angeles, the first agricultural society of this city and also its successor, the Sixth District Agricultural As- sociation, and the Main Street and Agricultural Park Railroad Company. Not only was he a member of the foregoing organizations, but in nearly all he served in some official capacity. being a director of the last named for more than fifteen years. The death of Dr. Edgar, August 23, 1897, closed a career filled with noble deeds and self-sacrificing devotion to his fellowmen, and was a complete fulfillment of the motto which he had adopted as his guide in early college days :
"Honor and shame from no condition rise ; Act well your part ; there all the honor lies."
HENRY SAYRE ORME, M. D. A study of the genealogical records of the Orme family re- veals the possession of those forceful character- istics that enabled Dr. Orme to become a power- ful factor in the making of medical and Masonic history in the west. Tradition indicates that from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century the family flourished in Wiltshire, England, where October 10, 1657, was born Archibald Orme, whose son, John, born January 1, 1691, became the founder of the name in America. Imbued with a spirit of missionary zeal and a desire to devote his educa- tion for the Presbyterian ministry to such uplift- ing opportunities as the new world afforded, he was ordained and in 1720 received into the synod of that faith in Philadelphia. Immediately after the ordination to the ministry he married Ruth Edmonston and settled in Montgomery county, Md., where he lived a godly life of self-sacrificing Christian service. Of his thirteen children the fifth, Archibald, born June 1, 1730, took up land occupying the present site of Georgetown, D. C.,
and there carried on the business of a tobacco planter. At the opening of the Revolutionary war he left his lands, relinquished his business inter- ests and offered his services to the patriots in the cause of independence, serving with such valor that he was raised to the rank of colonel. On the close of the war he resumed the occupation of a tobacco planter and continued in the business until his death, which occurred May 10, 1810. By his marriage to Eliza Johns six children were born, the third of whom, John, was born in Mont- gomery county, Md., September 21, 1763, and during early life moved to McIntosh county, Ga., where he developed a large rice plantation.
The marriage of John Orme June 10, 1785, united him with Sarah McAllister, the ninth child of Col. Richard McAllister, of Pennsylvania, a Revolutionary officer of much renown. One of the ten children of John and Sarah Orme was named Richard McAllister in honor of his gallant Revolutionary ancestor and he for years lived at Milledgeville, Ga., where for more than one-half century he was editor of the Southern Recorder, a leading paper of Georgia. With the profession of newspaper man he combined the occupation of a planter and in each achieved more than ordinary success. July 25. 1825, he married Jeane Mon- cure Paine, one of whose great-uncles was the celebrated jurist, George Hay, of Virginia. While the Old Dominion was her native commonwealth the family was of northern ancestry, her father, Roois Paine, having been a son of Samuel Paine, of Boston, Mass. There were nine sons and daughters in the family of Richard McAllister Orme, and of these the fourth, Henry Sayre Orme, was born at Milledgeville, Ga., March 25, 1837, and died at Los Angeles, Cal., November 29, 1912, at the age of seventy-five years. Be- tween the dates of birth and of death there was an era of intellectual and professional activity that bore him out of obscurity into a prominence that extended throughout much of the west. The training for a career of such influence was re- ceived in part at Oglethorpe University, from which in 1858 he received the degree of A. B. From early boyhood it had been his ambition to enter the medical profession. To secure the edu- cation necessary for such a career he attended a course of medical lectures in the University of Virginia and then matriculated in the University of New York, where he completed his studies,
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receiving the degree of M. D. in 1861 from that institution.
The first practical professional experience gained by Dr. Orme was in the battlefield and in army hospitals. He had entered the Confederate service as a private and had been wounded in the battle of Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862. Upon re- covering from his wounds he became a surgeon with the Fourth Georgia Regiment and later acted as assistant surgeon at one of the large hospitals in Atlanta. From the position of assistant he was promoted to be head surgeon and after the close of the war he continued in Atlanta for private practice. During July of 1868 he came to Los Angeles, and, satisfied that the then small town had a future of promise, he opened an office for the practice of his profession, bought property and otherwise identified himself with his new location. The Los Angeles of the later '60s bore little resemblance to the present western metropo- lis with its one-half million of inhabitants. A few thousand then included all the men, women and children, and perhaps also counted some of the patient burros that took the place of the rail- roads and automobiles of the twentieth century. The stores were one-story frame or adobe build- ings. The Spanish language was in the ascen- dancy, being used even by many Americans. So sparsely settled was the country and so few the physicians, that the young doctor from Georgia built up a practice extending from the Tehachapi mountains as far south as San Diego. Neces- sarily the physical strain was great, opportunities for rest and recreation few, and the demands upon time and energies incessant, but always at the call for help the doctor was ready with horse and saddlebags to respond to the appeal, no matter how long the distance might be or how much his wearied frame might call for repose. With the upbuilding of the city he limited his time to office practice and maintained a suite in the Byrne building.
Not only was Dr. Orme an organizer and early president of the Los Angeles County Medical Society, but in addition he was honored with the presidency of the California State Medical As- sociation, and was an active member of the Amer- ican Climatological Association, the American Public Health Association and the American Medical Association. For a long period he gave most efficient service as president of the state board of health. During a service of some years
as county physician he was an earnest advocate of the establishment of a county hospital and county poor farm, being indeed in advance of his times in such progressive measures. After the establishment of the medical department in the University of Southern California he filled the chair of hygiene. It would indeed be difficult to enumerate the services which he rendered to the profession in the city of his adoption. Suffice it to say that he stood at its head for his day and generation.
In 1874 Dr. Orme married Mary C. Van de Graaff (nee Travis), who was born in Alabama, but has lived in Los Angeles since December of 1867. The only son of this union, Hal McAllister Orme, was born March 4, 1879, and has been a lifelong resident of his native city. Fraternally Dr. Orme was one of the most widely known Masons in the west and had held many of the leading offices within the gift of the Masons of California. Made a Mason September 29, 1859, and a charter member of California Lodge No. 278, F. & A. M., he had served as eminent com- mander of Coeur de Leon Commandery, K. T., during the first six years of its existence, had been honored with the highest Masonic office in the state, that of grand master of the grand lodge of California, and had been elected grand com- mander of the grand commandery of California. In addition he had officiated as grand high priest of the grand chapter, Royal Arch Masons of Cali- fornia ; master of the blue lodge of Southern Cali- fornia; high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter; and was a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason in addition to being a K. C. C. H., which makes a bearer eligible to the thirty-third and highest degree. For many years he devoted much of his time and means to the Masonic Order, in which he became widely known. The substantial nature of his intellectual qualities, coupled with his deep devotion to the order and his masterly work in all of the degrees, made his name a synonym for the wise direction of such interests and rendered understandable even by a stranger his great influence over his co-workers in the body. Having been identified with the organiza- tion through more than four decades of western advancement he had gained a fund of informa- tion on the history of Masonry in California that made of his mind a veritable storehouse and gave to his executive leadership the prestige sus- tained by important decisions of the past. His
John Dricknell.
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passing was the occasion of tributes of apprecia- tion from Masons of every degree throughout the entire west, as well as from his professional co- laborers and from that large circle intimately allied with him through his professional services in their families and through their grasp of his kindly spirit and the humanitarian principles that animated his long career as physician in Los Angeles.
JUDGE JOHN D. BICKNELL. From the time of his arrival in Los Angeles in 1872, when the city had but eight thousand inhabitants, until his death, July 7, 1911, the career of John D. Bicknell was in many respects a history of the city itself, for although he endeavored to limit his energies to the profession of the law, he was by nature so broad of mind, so versatile of talents, and so patriotic in citizenship that any movement for civic well-being appealed to him. Intensely vigorous both in mind and in body, for years he displayed a prodigious activ- ity that made him a power to be reckoned with, primarily in his own profession and in enter- prises involving questions of the law, but ul- timately in every department of progress and in every domain of municipal, educational and commercial development. With all of his in- timate identifications with western progress, he was so innately reticent and unassuming that praise was displeasing to him, and even a just recognition of his progressive spirit and prac- tical type of citizenship was not acceptable to him. In every legal, political, moral and social question the "ego" was effaced with uncon- scious but positive firmness and his personality was hidden behind the problem under consider- ation ; yet he was not merely a lawyer, and the conventional term "able attorney" by no means conveys an adequate idea of his services or his character.
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