USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume III > Part 15
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Mrs. Eichenhofer came to America when she was twenty-one and secured employment in the family of a Mr. Steir in Philadelphia. In the Fatherland-Mrs. Eichenhofer is almost pas- sionately proud of her German origin-she had received a common school education rather above the average accorded to a girl, and her unusual intelligence made this seem even more than in reality it was. She remained with this family for six years, learning the English lan- guage and the ways and manners of the Ameri- cans of the best type, and saving from her wages the treasured sum which was later to be the nucleus of her wealth. During this time she spent her one vacation in Atlantic City, where she immediately became popular among
the German residents of the city and won the especial admiration of young Frederick Eichen- hofer, then a prosperous and popular young butcher. This friendship ripened into love, and it was only a short time until the young people were betrothed.
They were still poor, however, and to their frugal German minds there could be no thought of marriage until there was also a way to pro- vide a home and comforts for the bride. Accord- ingly young Eichenhofer determined to come west where there were greater opportunities for the industrious young man, and in October, 1886, he came to Los Angeles, where he en- gaged in the butcher business. He had also been saving his earnings and when the bank account amounted to $250 he wrote to his be- trothed, asking her to join him in his new home. This she did, leaving Philadelphia February 15, 1887, and reaching Los Angeles six days later.
The marriage occurred March 1, and almost immediately Mrs. Eichenhofer purchased a rooming house of twenty-four rooms at No. 519 South Spring street which she conducted, while her husband gave his entire time and attention to his own business. The savings of both the young people were invested in the venture, and like all their subsequent financial investments the property was held by them jointly. This first undertaking prospered and they were able to make their payments with ease until the following May, when the "boom," which had been making Los Angeles a place of unusual activity, broke, and the financial situation became critical. For a time the situa- tion was serious for the young business woman, but already she had proved her sterling worth and had gained the confidence and good will of her landlord, who voluntarily extended the time for the payments until she was able to meet them. This was not long, and being thus helped over her first hard place she has since then made a steady and continuous growth in her undertakings with never a thought of failure.
Following the depression of the late '80s there came a period of steady growth and prosperity for the city, and Mrs. Eichenhofer prospered. In addition to the apartment house which she now owned she rented two new hotels, the St. Charles Hotel on North Main street
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which she conducted for a period of four years, and the St. Elmo at No. 343 North Main street, which she still leases and conducts. This latter venture was made in 1896 and has proved ex- ceedingly profitable.
At a still later date Mrs. Eichenhofer pur- chased, together with her husband, the hotel property at No. 229 North Hill street which she still owns. She purchased the Pickwick Apart- ments on South Grand avenue in 1908. Since then she has remodeled the lobby and it is now first class in every respect and is operated under her management.
A characteristic of Mrs. Eichenhofer's busi- ness management, and one to which she at- tributes much of her success in recent years, is her plan of employing only thoroughly trust- worthy and competent persons to look after her several properties. In the selection of such people she is particularly efficient, having a deep insight into human character and ability, and an ability to judge quickly and correctly of the efficiency of a prospective employe. Added to this is her many years of association in the hotel business, and her consequent ac- quaintance with local people who are familiar with and capable of handling such business.
A short time ago Mrs. Eichenhofer purchased a handsome residence on Manhattan place in the exclusive residence district and now makes her home there. She has decorated and fur- nished the house according to her own tastes, which are artistic in the extreme. She has spared no expense to make this residence a real home and an expression of her own personality, and has sent to distant places to secure some bit of drapery, picture, or piece of furniture that she expressly desired for some particular nook or corner. Throughout the furnishings are rich and in excellent taste and are a speaking tribute to the ability of the capable woman in a distinctive line-the art of house decoration and home building and furnishing. There are many patterns of exclusive design, which were ordered especially for Mrs. Eichenhofer, as for instance a dining set of old mahogany which came from Tobin, N. Y., and the furnishings of the breakfast room which are all in white enamel. The quiet, stately air of an old German residence pervades the home, giving it an atmos- phere of permanence and stability.
Mrs. Eichenhofer was born at Biberach by
Heilbronn, Wurtemberg, Germany. Her father was Joseph Meisenhelder, a musician by pro- fession, a teacher and a leader of the local band and orchestra in the village of Biberach. Her mother was Mary Anna Pfau, born in Kirch- hausen, Germany. Herr Meisenhelder was a man in moderate circumstances but of good family and much respected in his community. There were two daughters in the family, Rosa, now Mrs. Eichenhofer, and Magdaline, the wife of John Schmidt of Rochester, N. Y. The first wife of Herr Meisenhelder died when her two daughters were still young and the father married again, there being two children by the second wife, Joseph, who is employed in a piano factory in Heilbronn, Germany, and Marie, now Frau Zahner, who lives at present in the old home in Biberach, where the father died, July 20, 1911, at the age of seventy-eight years. Mrs. Eichenhofer made a trip to Germany in the summer of that year and was so fortunate as to arrive in time to see her father before he passed on, reaching Biberach just four days before his death.
The girlhood of Mrs. Eichenhofer was passed first in her native village and later in Mann- heim on the Rhine, where she resided with an aunt, Maria Chancenbach, a sister of her step- mother, from the time she was fifteen until she reached the age of twenty-one years. She attended the common schools, where she did well in her studies and became a communicant in the Catholic church. It was through the kindness of this aunt with whom so much of her time had been passed that the ambitious young girl was given the opportunity to gratify her desire to come to America. Supplied with funds enough to make the long journey and with letters to kind friends in Philadelphia, she set sail for the land of promise, where her ability and painstaking application to business have won her such a marked degree of success.
Frederick Eichenhofer, like his clever wife, was a native of Germany and a descendant of an old German family. He was born in Grätzen, Wurtemberg, Germany, February 2, 1854. His father was Michael Eichenhofer, a well-to-do farmer of that region, while an uncle was a distinguished judge in the German courts. His mother was Margaret Preisendanz, also a native of Germany. For a number of years before his death, which occurred at his
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Los Angeles home, April 21, 1909, Mr. Eichen- hofer managed the Enderlin ranch near the city, giving about six years to this undertaking. Just before his death the property was disposed of at a satisfactory profit and he gave up farm- ing
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Eichenhofer numbers three children, two sons and a daugh- ter, all residents of Los Angeles, where they are popular members of their social circle. Walter, the eldest son, is a law student, while Clarence is also studying law, being at the same time an employe of the Harper & Reynolds wholesale hardware company. The daughter, Margaret Rosa, is an accomplished musician and is pursuing her studies on the piano under the best masters that the city affords. The family circle at Manhattan place is unbroken save for the loss of the father, and Mrs. Eichen- hofer is exceedingly proud of her talented chil- dren, especially of the daughter, who has in- herited the musical ability of her own talented father.
JOHN McCLURE. A resident of Los An- geles from 1875 until his death on April 9, 1915, marked a period of special importance in the life of John McClure (who was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in March, 1852) by the fact of his being the pioneer in the growing of wine grapes without irrigation in Los Angeles county.
The early part of Mr. McClure's career was passed in his native county, where he enjoyed the advantage of other youths of his age and position. He reached his majority in Antrim and then made up his mind that opportunity for advancement was to be found in the New World and accord- ingly embarked for America. His first stopping place was New York City, from there going to Paterson, N. J., and while a resident of that city became a close friend of Major Hinchcliffe. Two years spent in the east convinced him that the western section of the country afforded greater opportunities for a willing worker and in 1875 we find him in Los Angeles, where he at once secured employment with the dry goods firm of Dillon & Kenealy. A little later he became a partner in a company composed of his employ- ers and himself, under the name of Dillon, Kenealy & McClure, to reclaim one hundred and
sixty acres of government land that had been taken up by them in Tuni canyon, near Roscoe, and upon which they decided to plant a vineyard. Under the direct management of Mr. McClure this arid land was cleared and set to grapes, the tract being given the name of Roscoe Vineyard, and was the first vineyard to be developed without irrigation, an undertaking due entirely to the care- ful study and practical application of Mr. Mc- Clure. This venture proved successful and brought good returns to the projectors. Some time later Mr. McClure bought the Ramona Winery at Shorb station and conducted it for many years. In 1900 he bought some foothill land near Burbank, cleared it and set out a three hun- dred acre vineyard, built a modern winery and maintained the business successfully for several years.
During the years that Mr. McClure was build- ing up a substantial fortune he gave of his time and means to all projects brought to his notice that had for their object the development of the Southland and bringing greater prosperity to the citizens. He was prominent in the councils of the Democratic party, though he never would ac- cept office, having several times refused to be- come a candidate for the office of supervisor ten- dered him by his friends. He was a member of the Los Angeles Pioneer Society, of East Gate Lodge No. 290, F. & A. M., the Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations that appealed to him as necessary to further the fame of Los Angeles.
Mr. McClure invested his savings in real estate and became well to do, and just before his death had begun the erection of eight bungalows on his North Broadway property which have been com- pleted by his widow into a modern "bungalow court."
Mr. McClure was united in marriage with Miss Nellie Quayle, a native of Michigan, on July 8, 1891, and they have the following children : Mona E., John Q., Edmund H., Robert G. and Marcus A., who with the widow are left to mourn his death. His burial was held under the auspices of East Gate Lodge of Masons and interment was made in Evergreen Cemetery. Thus ended a career of forty years of successful endeavor in the city of his adoption, and his passing was mourned by his friends, who were legion. Mrs. McClure is active in civic affairs in this city, a member of the Wednesday Morning Club, for
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the past ten years a member of the Parent- Teachers Association and for two years president of Gates Street Association, a branch of the former, and is an active member of the Second Presbyterian Church.
CHESTER W. BROWN. Associated with the oil industry of the coast for many years, and with a vast amount of interesting experience in the gold fields of South America, Chester W. Brown, for the past five years manager of the field department of the Union Oil Company, with headquarters in Los Angeles, has made for him- self a place among the men who have made, and are still making, the great oil industry of the state one of its greatest financial institutions that is indeed enviable. He has been associated with the oil interests since he was a lad of sixteen years, having become interested in this line shortly after coming to California, when the industry was in its infancy. He has watched it grow from a few scattered fields, which were little more than pros- pects, to its splendid proportions of today, and is proud of the fact that so long ago he foretold the future greatness of the California fields.
Mr. Brown is a native of Maine, having been born in Washburn, Aroostook county, October 29, 1868. When about eighteen he came to Cali- fornia with his mother, Mrs. Ida Brown, a brother Fred, and a sister, now Mrs. S. C. Graham, of Los Angeles. The family located at Santa Paula, and it was there that Mr. Brown first became interested in the oil industry. From the first he was unusually successful in his undertakings and exhibited a marked aptitude for the details of the work involved, progressing rapidly in any phase of the work that he undertook. It was about this time that rumors of exceptionally good pros- pects of oil were current regarding the fields of South America, and for the purpose of ascertain- ing the truth regarding these rumors Mr. Brown and an uncle, Wallace L. Hardison, went to Peru in 1894. They did not find sufficient encourage- ment along the line of exploitation to justify them in taking hold of anything that they found, and consequently both men turned their attention to the better developed field of gold mining. They located and purchased a rich property, incor- porating under the name of the Inca Mining Com- pany of Peru, with headquarters at Bradford, Pa.
Chester W. Brown was made manager of this property, and for several years he resided in Arequipa, Peru, the life there being filled with many adventures and hazards, with an air of constant excitement. The large mining in- terests which he represented called for much diplomacy in their relation with the Peruvian government, and this matter was one that rested almost entirely on the shoulders of the young general manager. To better discharge the various duties devolving upon him he learned to speak the Spanish language, becoming very fluent there- in, and he also soon acquired a knowledge of the political and industrial conditions of the country that placed him in the front rank of Americans in that part of the world. The transportation of gold from the mine above Arequipa, in the high- est ranges of the Andes mountains, to a point of shipment was always a dangerous and respon- sible task, and in charge of this work for several years was Mr. Brown's brother, Fred Brown, now residing in Santa Paula.
It was during one of his infrequent trips home that Mr. Brown was married to Miss Helen H. Louis, of Los Angeles, who returned with him to his South American mine and thereafter shared his perilous life until his final return to the land of his nativity. This occurred some five or six years ago, when Mr. Brown resigned his position as general manager of the Inca Mining Company, and with his family came back to Los Angeles, where he has since made his home. Immediately he turned his attention to his first love, the oil industry, and was soon made field manager of the Union Oil Company.
Although the years spent in South America were full of interest and neither Mr. nor Mrs. Brown regret them, they are both glad to be again in the United States, especially for the welfare of their children, of whom there are four, a son and three daughters. Of these the two eldest, James and Elizabeth, were born in Arequipa, Peru, while the youngest, Freda and Ruth, are natives of Los Angeles.
In the field of his chosen work Mr. Brown is more than ordinarily efficient. He knows the oil business in every detail, and added to this is a knowledge of men and conditions which is un- usually thorough. He is also possessed of a marked executive ability which enables him to discharge a great amount of work with a com- paratively small expenditure of energy.
Johnstone Jours
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GEN. JOHNSTONE JONES. The blood of patriots, statesmen, pioneers, warriors and Revolutionary officers flows in the veins of Gen. Johnstone Jones, himself at the age of sixteen a gallant soldier of the Confederacy and during the Spanish-American war the colonel of a cavalry regiment of twelve troops raised by him within a month after the declaration of war. The family genealogy is traced to Cadwallader Jones, who came from Wales to Virginia in 1623 at the age of twenty-two; and through him the line de- scends to Peter Jones, who in advance of civilization had a trade established with the Indians at Peter's Point (now City Point), Va., and commanded Fort Henry in 1675; Cadwallader Jones, who was governor of the Bahamas in 1689-92; Peter Jones, who founded Petersburg, Pa., in 1734, and Major Cadwalla- der Jones of Virginia, who in 1777 at the age of twenty-two was commissioned captain of Martha Washington Light Horse under George Washington and later was made an officer on the staff of General Lafayette. Dur- ing the Revolution one hundred genuine To- ledo swords were presented by the king of Spain to General Washington, who in turn distributed them among his general officers and they presented them to their most gallant officers of the line and staff. One of these blades was given by Lafayette to Major Cad- wallader Jones about 1780. Since then in each war of the United States the sword has been worn by a lineal descendant of the original wearer and in each instance the soldier has been of the same name as his heroic ancestor. The first to wear it was the Major's son, Lieut. Cadwallader Jones, of Halifax county, N. C., who enlisted in the United States marine service and at the open- ing of the war of 1812 engaged as an officer in the naval battle between the Leopard and the Chesapeake. The next to wear the sword was the Lieutenant's son, Col. Cadwallader Jones, formerly of Columbia, S. C., whose mother, Rebecca Edwards Jones, was a grand- daughter of Gen. Allen Jones, of North Caro- lina.
While the name of Gen. Allen Jones is re- membered chiefly through the fact that the illustrious John Paul Jones, whose friend and patron he had been from early life, adopted
his family name in recognition of his kind- ness, he is worthy of being remembered for other reasons. During the Revolution he was a leader of the colony of North Carolina and served as chairman of the committee of safety, also was a member of the colonial congress. The head of this branch of the family was Robin Jones of Wales, one of whose descendants, Robin Jones of Essex county, Va., served as attorney-general of the Old Dominion. Through this branch rela- tionship is had with the Polks of North Caro- lina and Tennessee, Gen. W. R. Davie, of Revolutionary fame, and the families of Epps, Daniels, Eaton and Cobb in Virginia and the Carolinas.
The mother of Johnstone Jones was Annie Isabella Iredell, daughter of Hon. James Ire- dell, attorney-general and afterward governor of North Carolina, and a member of the United States senate at a time when Webster, Clay and Calhoun were giving fame to that body through their masterly intellects. The Governor's father, Judge James Iredell, was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1751, a son of Francis and Margaret (McCulloch) Iredell, of Belfast, and a grandson of Rev. Francis Ire- dell, of Dublin. At the age of sixteen he was appointed by the British crown collector of the port of Edenton, N. C., and came to America, where in 1790 he was appointed as- sociate justice of the supreme court by Presi- dent Washington, being the youngest judge ever appointed to the supreme bench. His distinguished public service came to an end with his death at the age of forty-six. At one time he was nominated by his party for the presidency of the United States. His family name was originally Ireton and was changed at the restoration in order to escape the fury of the royalists. Rev. Francis Iredell was a descendant of General Ireton, who married a sister of Oliver Cromwell and commanded his army. The head of the McCulloch (or Mc- Cullough) branch was Sir Cullo O'Neil, first laird of Myrton, Scotland, and standard bearer to King Robert de Bruce. He died in 1831 and his son, Sir Godfrey, assumed the sur- name of McCullo.
The wife of Governor James Iredell of North Carolina was Frances, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Treadwell, of Long Island, a skilled
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physician, who traced his lineage to John Alden and Priscilla Mullen, the hero and heroine of Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Standish." Among the ancestors along this line was Bishop Samuel Seabury, great-great- grandson of John Alden, and the first Prot- estant Episcopal bishop in the United States. From such ancestors descended Johnstone Jones, who was born in Hillsboro, Orange county, N. C., September 26, 1848, and re- ceived the name of his ancestor, Governor Gabriel Johnstone, the first colonial governor of North Carolina. In early youth he was a pupil in the Hillsboro Military Academy and the South Carolina Military Academy at Co- lumbia. At the age of sixteen, in November, 1864, he enlisted as a member of White's Bat- talion, South Carolina Cadets, in Brigadier- General Stephen Elliott's brigade of Hardee's army, and remained at the front until the close of the war. After a period of clerkship in the store of W. L. Roddy of Rock Hill, S. C., he took up the study of law under Wil- liam K. Ruffin, son of Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin, at Hillsboro, N. C. In January, 1868, he was appointed deputy clerk of the supreme court of North Carolina, serving under Wil- liam H. Bagley, clerk (father of Ensign Bag- ley, who was killed in the war with Spain, and also of the wife of Josephus Daniels, the secretary of the navy), and under Chief Jus- tive Richmond Pearson, the grandfather of Richmond Pearson Hobson.
Admitted to the bar at the age of twenty, the following year Mr. Jones went to Balti- more to practice law, but returned south in 1872 and for two years was editor of the Daily Observer at Charlotte, N. C. In 1874 he was elected secretary of the state senate and in 1875 served as secretary of the constitutional convention of North Carolina. During 1876- 77 he edited the Daily News at Raleigh, N. C. January 8, 1877, he was appointed adjutant- general of North Carolina (with the rank of brigadier-general) by Governor Zebulon B. Vance, afterward United States senator. Gov- ernor Thomas J. Jarvis appointed him to the same position in 1881, also Governor Alfred M. Scales in 1885, his third term expiring in January, 1889. Meantime, while living at Asheville, N. C., in 1884 he had been elected a representative from County Buncombe in the
state legislature and had served as chairman of the committee on military affairs and a member of various committees, including the judiciary. While in attendance upon the con- vention of militia officers held in New York City in January, 1879, he served as one of the committee of three that drafted the constitu- tion and by-laws of the National Guard Asso- ciation of the United States. Afterward he served as vice-president of the association (having succeeded General Beauregard) until he re- moved to California.
At Charlotte, N. C., in June, 1873, General Jones married Elizabeth Waters Miller, daugh- ter of Thomas C. Miller, a prominent attorney in North Carolina, and a descendant of Gen. James Moore, a brigadier-general in the army of George Washington. On account of the ill-health of his wife General Jones came to California in August, 1889, and opened an office at San Diego in partnership with James E. Wadham, since mayor of that city, and there in September, 1890, he was nominated for district attorney. In November he was elected by a majority of eighteen and was the only Democrat elected in the county that year. After filling the office for two years he was again nominated and again ran ahead of his ticket, receiving more votes than Cleve- land and Stevenson, but he suffered defeat owing to the fact that there was a Populist nominee who divided the Democratic vote and gave the Republicans an easy victory. From March to November, 1893, he was in partnership with James L. Copeland, ex-dis- trict attorney, and Frank W. Goodbody, ex- deputy district attorney.
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