USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume III > Part 26
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Club, and the Los Angeles Country Club. He is also a member of the Yale Club, of New York City.
The marriage of Mr. Bergstrom took place in Redlands, Cal., May 9, 1902, the bride being Miss Nancy Cheney Kimberly, the daughter of J. A. Kimberly, of that city. She has borne her husband two children, a daughter and a son, both natives of Los Angeles. They are Alice Cheney Bergstrom, and George Edwin Bergstrom, Jr.
CHARLES BEACH BOOTHE. To men- tion the name of Mr. Boothe is to give merited recognition to an influential business man whose association with Los Angeles began in 1894 and ended only with the swift call of death. The power of a forceful personality could not be limited by the environment of city or county, but extended beyond the bounds of local issues, giving of its strength to the permanent upbuilding of a commonwealth. With characteristic keenness of perception, at the very outset of his association with the west Mr. Boothe discerned that irrigation formed its most vital problem. He made a study of the matter. In this study petty and trivial distinc- tions were not allowed to enter, but the needs of the entire west were considered from the standpoint of business man, patriot and philan- thropist. The reclamation of arid lands he be- lieved to be absolutely essential to the perma- nent prosperity of the west and he realized that such reclamation could be made possible only with the aid of water. Largely through his efforts, coupled with those of other far- seeing citizens, during the early part of the twentieth century the national irrigation act was passed by congress. The National Irriga- tion Association, recognizing his comprehensive information concerning enterprises at the basis of their society, chose him as their president in 1900 and retained him at the head of their organization during the balance of his life.
Descended from an old family of New Eng- land, members of whom had figured conspicu- ously in the Revolutionary war, Charles Beach Boothe was born at Stratford, Fairfield county, Conn., in 1851, the son of Stephen Sterling and Harriette (Beach) Boothe. He received his
education in the schools of his native town. At about twenty years of age he entered a large banking house in New York City, and from a position of unimportance and very small sal- ary his ability brought him into larger connec- tions and made him a trusted man in the great concern. Overwork, however, resulted in ill health and he was forced to seek a change of climate. The bank officials sent him to Cali- fornia, believing that an ocean voyage would recuperate his health, and following the regular route, he crossed the Isthmus of Panama and landed at San Francisco in 1874. He had with him a letter of introduction to Mr. Ralston, at that time a very prominent banker of San Fran- cisco, including an unlimited letter of credit from the bankers in New York for whom Mr. Boothe worked. He purchased a saddle horse, rode to Los Angeles, and thence to San Diego, and then for six months traveled along the coast in leisurely manner, thus not only regaining his strength, but accumulating an important fund of information regarding California. Return- ing later to Derby, Conn., he entered a retail dry goods business which he followed for nine years with successful returns.
On August 18, 1877, Mr. Boothe was married in Winona, Minn., to Miss Florence Youmans, daughter of Earl S. and Sarah (Wheeler) You- mans. Later the couple established a home in Winona, where Mr. Boothe founder the West- ern Indurated Fibre Company, manufacturers of the first wood fibre pails and tubs ever used in this country. In 1894 they moved to Los Angeles, Mr. Boothe establishing the Machin- ery Supply Company, with offices at No. 105 North Broadway. Added to this he served as vice president of the National Motor Car Con- pany and maintained a keen interest in the automobile business.
Mr. Boothe's death in April, 1913, came at the time when he had practically retired, with the exception of looking after his own investments. While returning with his wife from Pasadena in their electric coupe to the family residence at No. 1515 Garfield avenue, South Pasadena, he was stricken with blood pressure on the base of the brain. Within thirty minutes the end had come. In the full maturity of his powers and in the strength of his superior intellectual equipment, swiftly and suddenly came the call of death, and another pioneer of many busi-
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ness interests passed to a more pacific coast than any earth could provide.
Seven years to the exact day prior to the death of Mr. Boothe his daughter, Helen, had been taken from the family circle by death. Surviving him are his widow and the following- named sons and daughters: Stephen Sterling, member of the undertaking firm of Sterling Boothe Company; Earle Y., president of the National Motor Car Company ; Mrs. A. G. Bo- hannon; I. Jay, Laurence W. and Harriette. All are residents of Los Angeles county excepting I. Jay, who is an orange rancher at Porterville. The youngest son and the younger daughter are at home. On the organization of the Los Angeles Country Club and the California Club Mr. Boothe became a member of each, and he was also prominent as a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree Mason. Gifted with re- markable powers of mind, devoted to the ad- vancement of his chosen community and be- lieving Southern California to be without a peer from the standpoint of climate and oppor- tunity, his citizenship was most efficient, his presence here most helpful, and it was regarded as a distinct loss to both South Pasadena and Los Angeles when the tide of a busy life re- ceded and he crossed the bar.
At the time of Mr. Boothe's passing away, the following resolutions were sent to Mrs. Boothe by the Sons of the Revolution, of which order he was an active member :
The Society Sons of the Revolution of the State of California has sustained no ordinary loss in the passing away of Charles Beach Boothe, who was no ordinary man, but one who left an impress upon the places, time and peo- ple, in which, when and among whom he moved.
Be It Resolved : That the Society Sons of the Revolution in the State of California, in the death of Charles Beach Boothe has sustained a loss that it will long feel, and we extend to the widow and family of our deceased member our sincerest sympathy in this, our mutual af- fliction.
Resolved: That a page in the Minute Book of the Society be inscribed to the Memory of Charles Beach Boothe and that this memorial be spread upon the records of the Society.
Resolved: That the Secretary is hereby in- structed to transmit a copy of this memorial, under the seal of the Society, to the family
of our departed friend, and that this memorial be printed in leaflet form and be distributed to the members of the Society.
EDWARD THOMAS HARDEN, ORRA EUGENE MONNETTE, ARTHUR BURNETT BENTON, Committee.
Attest : ROBERT LEROY BEARDSLEY,
Secretary.
The National Irrigation Association and the National Reclamation Association sent to Mrs. Boothe the following : MEMORIAL TO CHARLES B. BOOTHE
Late President of the National Irrigation As- sociation and National Reclamation Associa- tion.
"The hand that rounded Peter's Dome, And groined the aisles of Christian Rome, Wrought in a sad sincerity ; Himself from God he could not free, He builded better than he knew."
Words could not be written that would express more appropriately than the above quotation, the debt that this country owes to the pioneers in the National irrigation movement, whose work led to the enactment of the United States Reclamation Act. For years they were fight- ing on the skirmish line, far out in advance of a sustaining public sentiment. They were in- spired by a deathless vision of the green fields and running waters, the happy homes and thriv- ing communities that they were determined should some day take the place of the waste and desolation of the voicelsss deserts.
Not all of that "Old Guard" will live to see the full realization of their vision, but they have all seen in the east the dawning of the great con- structive era that will bring it to pass. Among those who have gone on ahead into the Great Beyond there was no more patriotic, unselfish, sincere and devoted soldier in the cause than Charles B. Boothe. He studied deeply the his- tory of irrigation in other ages and countries, particularly in China and the ancient civiliza- tions. His profound knowledge of the sub- ject, his faith in the future, his steadfastness of purpose and undeviating loyalty to principle gave him a position of leadership which was
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recognized by his election and re-election to the presidency of the National Irrigation Congress, and by his presidency of The National Irriga- tion Association from October, 1907, until Jan- uary, 1913, when that association became the National Reclamation Association, of which he continued to be president until he passed from this life.
No greater good can be done by any man for humanity than to set in motion self-perpetuat- ing forces which will continue through the gen- erations that are to come their influence for human advancement. Such was the character of the service of Charles B. Boothe to his fel- low men and to his country. It matters nothing that his name is not graven on them. The mon- uments to his memory are none the less the great reservoirs that harness the floods and conserve the waste waters, and the great aque- ducts and irrigation canals built by the National Government. The rippling of the waters as they flow through these canals, bringing with each recurring season a new life to fields and gar- dens and a new promise of reward for human labor, will continue through the centuries of the future to voice Nature's appreciation of his work with a prayer for rest and peace for his soul.
(The foregoing memorial was adopted by Resolution of the Executive Committee of the National Reclamation Association, May 31, 1913.)
WARREN B. REED, Vice President and Acting President. Attest : WALTER PARKER,
Secretary.
ROBERT ARNOLD ROWAN. The distinc- tion of being the leading factor in large building enterprises in Los Angeles belongs to Mr. Rowan, whose earliest recollections are associated with this city, then a town of but a few thousand in- habitants, now transformed into a metropolis of beautiful homes and great business blocks largely through the optimistic efforts of such citizens as Mr. Rowan. The family of which he is a mem- ber and whose commercial talents he inherits has aided in the upbuilding of different portions of the United States, beginning with their initial settle- ment in New York state long before the develop-
ment of the middle west had been attempted. At Batavia in that state James Rowan was a pioneer merchant, while his wife, Rebecca, was the daughter of a large woolen manufacturer in Rensselaer county, of the same state. George Doddridge Rowan, son of James and Rebecca Rowan, was born at Corfu, N. Y., September 7, 1844, and died in Los Angeles September 2, 1902. A man of remarkable insight into business prob- lems and civic undertakings, he is remembered as one of the pioneer citizens who started Los An- geles on the path to its present greatness. When twenty years of age he had associated himself with a brother-in-law, E. B. Millar, in the whole- sale grocery business at Lansing, Mich., under the firm name of E. B. Millar & Co. During the early '70s the business was removed to Chicago, where Mr. Millar had charge of the great estab- lishment, Mr. Rowan meantime extending the trade to the west and even to the Orient, making his home at Yokohama, Japan, for more than a year. The house is still in existence and con- ducted under the same firm name, but he with- drew from the partnership in 1876, having de- cided to remove to Los Angeles in the hope that a change of climate might restore the health of his wife.
A grocery business on North Main street was the first undertaking of George D. Rowan in Los Angeles, but this store he sold in 1884 at the time of embarking in the commission business in San Francisco. After a year as a partner in the firm of Jennings & Rowan, commission merchants, in 1885 he returned to Los Angeles. During 1889 he transferred his residence to Pasadena, but four years later he returned to Los Angeles and here passed the remaining years of his useful exist- ence. Throughout a long period he was identified with realty affairs. As a judge of valuations he had few superiors. Back in the old days when Broadway was known as Fort street he selected it as the logical center of the city's commerce. Acting on that belief he acquired considerable property on the street and refused to part with a foot of it. Another of his early predictions was that Los Angeles would be built solid from the mountains to the sea. Among his early asso- ciates in landed affairs were Col. J. B. Lanker- shim, O. H. Churchill, I. N. Van Nuys and M. Y. Kellam, all men of great vision who, like himself, saw the sleepy little Spanish town develop into a world-famous metropolis. With all the fluctua-
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tions caused by alternate booms and depressions, such as form the invariable experiences of newly developed communities, his judgment remained calm and conservative, his optimism was un- changed and his faith in the future undiminished. He helped to lay the foundations of the present metropolis, and in the midst of changing condi- tions and a rapidly increasing population he is still remembered with respect as a gentleman of the old school, who placed honor above all other con- siderations and furnished to others the example of an honest character, true as steel to principles of integrity and fair-dealing. By his marriage to Miss Fannie F. Arnold, the daughter of a widely known pioneer manufacturer in Rensselaer county, N. Y., he became the father of eight children, namely : Robert Arnold, Frederick S., Earl Bruce, Paul, Ben G., Philip Doddridge, Fan- nie F. and Florence.
During the residence of the family in Chicago the birth of Robert Arnold Rowan occurred Au- gust 20, 1875, but from infancy he has lived in Southern California with the exception of the years 1894-97, when he engaged in business in New York City as a merchandise broker. Upon his return to Los Angeles he embarked in real estate operations and his subsequent career affords a remarkable instance of successful building en- terprises. After having been associated with oth- ers (notably with William May Garland) in 1901 he embarked in business alone. The R. A. Rowan Company was organized in 1905 with him- self as president and Philip Doddridge Rowan as treasurer. Since the organization of the con- cern it has been instrumental in the erection of a number of modern skyscrapers in Los Angeles. Operations have been continuous, one building being started before another had been completed. At times two or three buildings have been simul- taneously in course of construction in the center of the business district. Some of the more im- portant structures are the Alexandria hotel, the Security building, the Title Insurance building, the Merchants' National Bank building, Title Guarantee building and the Citizens. National Bank building, all fireproof, of most attractive style of architecture and offering many gratifying innovations in constructural work. The Alexan- dria Hotel Company is composed of A. C. Bilicke and R. A. Rowan, joint owners of one of the most modern and elegant hotels in the entire
country, a factor in attracting visitors from every part of the country to Los Angeles. While de- voting himself largely to the improvement of busi- ness property, Mr. Rowan also has opened up sev- eral important residence sections, among them Windsor Square, an exclusive and restricted dis- trict embracing two hundred acres. He has exten- sive property holdings and is a stockholder or di- rector in various business concerns.
The marriage of Mr. Rowan and Miss Laura Schwarz was solemnized in Los Angeles Febru- ary 28, 1903. They are the parents of four chil- dren: Lorraine, Robert A., Jr., George D. and Louis S. Among all classes Mr. Rowan enjoys a popularity that attests to his fine qualities of mind and heart. Besides belonging to many com- mercial and civic organizations he is president of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, member of the Los Angeles Realty Board, and identified with the California, Jonathan, Los Angeles Country, San Gabriel Valley and Pasadena Country Clubs. Each of these societies contributes in its own way to social pleasures or commercial advancement and he has been one of the most enterprising supporters of their projects. Along every line of progress his influence has been felt, but par- ticularly in the real estate and building business, whose rapid and scientific yet practical develop- ment during recent years has astonished the entire world. Daring as have been his business ventures, they have been founded on an almost unerring judgment and their splendid results are appar- ent in the rapid development of Los Angeles and its tributary territory. Through a residence in Southern California that is practically lifelong he has come to be known as one of its most en- thusiastic advocates, as a tireless worker in the interests of the country and as a most optimistic believer in its continued growth.
J. H. De La MONTE. Coming to California alone when he was a lad of but sixteen years and forging his own way through the succeeding years, meeting with the customary ups and downs of the self-made man, but in the end winning more than the customary meed of success, J. H. De La Monte is today one of the very successful prac- ticing attorneys of Los Angeles, making a spe- cialty of criminal law practice. He has been
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variously occupied during the years that have intervened between the time that he first came to the coast, landing at San Francisco, and the present time. For many years he served the city of Los Angeles as constable, first in the capacity of deputy, and later being elected and twice re-elected for periods of four years each. During his service in this capacity he pursued his studies of the law and was eventually ad- mitted to the bar of the state, and is now enjoying a large and lucrative practice in this city.
Mr. De La Monte is a native of Minnesota, having been born in Minneapolis June 29, 1866, the son of Jacques B. and Olive (Wicks) De La Monte. His father was a native of France, but removed to Canada with his parents when he was a small child and was there reared and educated. Later he removed to the United States, locating near Minneapolis, where he engaged in farming until his death, in 1873. At this time the son was but seven years of age, and he was sent to the care of an uncle who was the government Indian agent on the Brule Indian reservation, on the Missouri river, where he studied under his uncle's tuition. He then went to Chicago and for a year worked at various occupations, meet- ing with a modicum of success. Later he came to California in an effort to benefit his con- dition, San Francisco being his destination. There he secured employment with the B. F. Wellington Seed Company as clerk, remaining with this firm for two years, during which time he attended night school. He then came to Los Angeles and engaged with the Germain Fruit Company as clerk in their fruit department for a short time, later traveling for the same company for eighteen months. Following this he was employed in a general store at Templeton, San Luis Obispo county, for five months, after which he returned to Los Angeles and accepted a position with the Pullman Car Company as conductor, running be- tween this place and San Francisco for two years. At the end of that time he engaged in the real estate business in Los Angeles for a year, with offices at No. 121 South Broadway, and was then made deputy constable. After acting in this capacity for three years he was made chief deputy constable, filling the office for four years. He then went to Kern county and engaged as a driller in the oil fields for two years, and on his return to Los Angeles was elected constable for a term of four years, and re-
elected for the succeeding term. It was during this time that he studied law with such zeal that he was admitted to the bar in 1907, and in 1910 he opened offices for the practice of his profes- sion, in which he is making a decided success.
Mr. De La Monte has a wide circle of friends and fraternal associates throughout the city and county. He is a member of the Masons, belonging to East Gate Lodge, F. & A. M., Signet Chapter, R. A. M., and Golden West Commandery, K. T. Socially he is connected with a number of the best social clubs, promi- nent among which may be mentioned the Union League Club. In his political views Mr. De La Monte is a stanch Republican and has always given his support to the men and measures of that party. In his religious convictions he has a leaning towards Christian Science.
The marriage of Mr. De La Monte and Miss Mary Belle Thomas was solemnized in Los An- geles April 19, 1892. Of their union has been born one child, Alice Kathryn.
SAMUEL JAMES CHAPMAN. The de- scendants of the progenitor of this branch of the Chapman family in America are to be found in nearly every state in the Union, and Southern California claims some of them who are num- bered among her representative citizens. One of these, S. J. Chapman, of the well known real estate firm of Chas. C. and S. J. Chapman Com- pany, is recognized as one of the upbuilders of Los Angeles. He was born in Macomb, McDon- ough county, Ill., October 22, 1862, the eighth of a family of ten children born to his parents, Sid- ney Smith and Rebecca Jane (Clarke) Chapman. Receiving his education in the public schools of his home town, he went to Chicago in early manhood and there he eventually became asso- ciated with his older brothers in business. He made his first trip to California in 1896, finally locating permanently in Los Angeles in 1904, and with his brothers F. M. and C. C. Chapman es- tablished a real estate and investment firm that began the development of a tract of land in the Wilshire district, which is one of the highest class residential sections of the city. To the success of this enterprise Mr. Chapman has given his per- sonal attention for a decade.
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The first representative of the Chapman fam- ily to settle in America (about 1650) was Ben- jamin Chapman, one of three sons of Benjamin, Sr., who lived in England. The others were James and John. Leaving their father in Eng- land, Benjamin went to France, James to Ire- land and John to Scotland. Their father died at an advanced age, leaving a fortune to his sons, who eventually returned to their old home, but before Benjamin returned from France he learned that the entire estate had been confiscated by the English government. He then came to America and landed in South Carolina. Soon afterwards James came from Ireland and some years later John came to the United States, stopping near Salem, Mass., and was there dur- ing the period of the persecution of witchcraft. John became the father of thirteen children, of whom Isaac, the great-grandfather of Samuel James, had five sons and three daughters, viz .: Uriah, Elenius (who died in New York), Daniel, Isaac and Jacob Kimble (twins), Roxy, Olive and Rebecca. Isaac, Sr., moved from Massachusetts to Cattaraugus county, N. Y., and there his sons Uriah (who died in that county ) and Daniel mar- ried. The former had a son Elenius.
Daniel, Isaac and Jacob K. Chapman moved to Ohio, where the latter, a ship carpenter by trade, married Julia Griffith, in 1825 or 1826, farmed until 1832 or 1833, then with his carpet-sack on his back he started on foot and alone through the thick forests of Ohio and Indiana on a trip look- ing for a new location for a home. He stopped a few days at Fort Dearborn, now Chicago, then proceeded to Jackson county, Mo., where he re- mained about six weeks, when he returned over the same route, reaching his home in the fall, having traveled fourteen hundred miles. In the spring of 1838 he started with his fam- ily for Illinois, but stopped in Indiana until 1839, when he again took up the journey, arriving in Hancock county, Ill., in 1840 or 1841. Here the wife died in 1845. The following year he went to Wisconsin and in 1847 to Ohio, where he remained until 1854, when he went to Macomb, Ill. One year later we again find him in Wiscon- sin, and in 1868 in Claridon, Ohio, where he died January 15, 1870. His children were Sidney S., Franklin, Albert B., Corydon C., Willard D. (who was killed in battle during the Civil war), Orson, Barbara and Sarah.
Sidney Smith Chapman was born near Am- herst, Ohio, November 12, 1827, and when ten years old was taken by his parents to Illinois. His educational advantages were limited, he having passed most of his early life at hard work on the frontier. In August, 1845, when eighteen years old, he went to Macomb, Ill., where he remained until November 3, 1868, when he went to Ver- mont, same state, and in 1872 to Chicago, where he engaged in contracting and building after the great fire of 1871. During his lifetime he worked at nearly all trades and was a man of ingenious mind. He was united in marriage March 30, 1848, with Rebecca Jane Clarke, who was born in Ken- tucky November 20, 1829, a daughter of David and Eliza Swink (Russell) Clarke, pioneers of Illinois, the former born September 28, 1799, and the latter July 3, 1805, both in Kentucky. Mrs. Clarke died September 18, 1875, and Mr. Clarke died in the spring of 1884.
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