USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume III > Part 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61
In May, 1862, Mr. McNutt opened an office in Martinsville, Morgan county, Ind., and soon became prominent in the Sixth Judicial circuit of Indiana, which comprised the counties of Vigo, Sullivan, Clay, Putnam, Owen, Greene, Morgan and Monroe. In 1874 he was elected a member of the faculty of the law department of the University of Indiana, at Bloomington, and there he proved a valued factor in educational work, besides continuing an active practice. In October, 1877, he removed to Terre Haute, where he found a broader field of professional work. In 1879 he was retained by the county board of commissioners as their attorney and legal adviser in all matters pertaining to the erection of the new courthouse. He built up a large and important business in that section of his native state and gained a high reputation as a versatile and resourceful attorney. In 1890 he was elected to the bench of the superior court of Vigo county and served the term of four years, after which he resumed private practice. In 1872 he was a candidate for Con- gress on the Democratic ticket, but met defeat as the Republican party had an overwhelming majority in his district. He continued in prac- tice in Terre Haute until 1896, when he re- moved with his family to Los Angeles and established his home in this city.
On June 16, 1863, Judge McNutt was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Gordon Craig. She was born at Martinsville, Ind., and is a daugh- ter of Rev. Hiram T. and Malinda (Gordon) Craig, who passed the closing years of their lives in Martinsville, the father having been a distinguished member of the clergy of the Baptist church and held important charges in Indiana. Of this union three children were born, as follows: William Gordon, who died in 1864, aged four months; Beryl, who passed away in 1877, at the age of nine years; and Bonnie Eloise, who became the wife of Walter
726
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
C. Campbell and the mother of one son, Beryl Eloise. She died September 12, 1914.
After locating in Los Angeles it was the pur- pose of Judge McNutt to retire from active practice, but his talents were soon discovered and he was importuned to take up his calling in the city of his adoption. He formed a partner- ship with George H. Smith and Joseph E. Hannon, and this continued until his death, the firm being known as one of the strongest at the bar of Southern California. Every im- portant case in the courts with which he was connected received his close personal attention, and it was this strict attention to every detail that finally compelled him to retire from active participation with his office detail.
Ever a stanch advocate of Democratic prin- ciples, Judge McNutt gave loyal service to his party and was always prominent in its councils, both in Indiana and California. He was a con- sistent member of the Baptist Church, as is also his widow, and his life record was one on which rests no shadow of wrong or injustice. Loyalty and integrity characterized his every thought and action, and he commanded the con- fidence and esteem of all who knew him. No man could have a higher appreciation of the dignity and responsibility of his profession and none more closely observed the unwritten ethical code than did Judge McNutt. Pre- eminently a lawyer and jurist, such service, however, did not represent the limit of his activities. An unfailing but quiet humor radi- ated to others the sunshine of a brave and sensible spirit; travel and experience had broadened his mind, and a genuine, innate kind- liness showed itself in tactful dealings with others. Long will he be remembered as a gifted lawyer and a useful citizen.
FRANK M. DOUGLASS. A man who has devoted sixteen years of his life to the banking business, having in that time organized four banks and held the responsible positions of presi- dent and cashier, Frank M. Douglass is supremely fitted for the prominence in the banking world which he enjoys at present as vice-president of the Home Savings Bank in the city of Los An- geles.
The parents of Mr. Douglass were Joseph and Eliza (Hickman) Douglass, and he was born in Knox county, Mo., July 27, 1859. He was pri- marily educated in the public schools and later at- tended the State Normal school, Kirksville, Mo. After leaving school in 1875 he devoted the three years following to teaching school in Knox county. The lumber business in which his father was engaged drew him from the teaching pro- fession, and he was occupied in this line of work with his father at Kirksville until 1887, when he sold his interest in the company and came to Los Angeles. Here for three years he was engaged in the loan business, organizing later the Duarte- Monrovia Fruit Exchange of which he became the manager, with its office at Duarte. In 1898 he resigned and began his career as a banker with the organization of the First National Bank and the Covina Valley Savings Bank, both located at Covina, and in both of which Mr. Douglass held the position of cashier. Selling his interest and resigning as cashier in 1904, he came to Los An- geles, organizing here the Mercantile Trust and Savings Bank, of which he became president. Two years later he sold his interest here and or- ganized the National Bank of Commerce, in which he held the position of president until February, 1912, when it was consolidated with the Home Savings Bank and Mr. Douglass elected vice-president, besides which position he is also a director of the City National Bank of Long Beach.
Having moved into the fine new building at the corner of Broadway and Eighth street, the Home Savings Bank now offers to its patrons a beautiful and commodious banking home, be- sides bringing its facilities nearer their residences by means of its six branches, one of which is a night and day bank, open from half-past eight in the morning until half-past ten at night.
While living in Kirksville Mr. Douglass mar- ried Miss Phoebe A. Montgomery, September 5, 1882, and four children have been born to them: Lela A., now the wife of Dr. F. C. Ferry of Los Angeles; J. M., note teller at the Home Savings Bank, Los Angeles; Mary E., a teacher in the State Normal School, Los Angeles; and Frank M., engaged in the real estate business in Tehama county, Cal.
In Masonry Mr. Douglass has attained the York Rite degree, and also belongs to the Shrine, while socially he is identified with the California
727
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Club, Los Angeles. In politics he is Republican in interests, and in his religious affiliations he is associated with the Methodist church.
EDWARD M. DURANT. The immense amount of work done by the Pacific Sewer Pipe Company, of which Edward M. Durant is presi- dent, is evidenced by the fact that six other plants were bought out by the company, all of which it is operating at the present time. The plants bought out by this firm are the California Clay Manufacturing Company, started in 1885 and located at Slauson and Mckinley avenues, Los Angeles ; the Pacific Clay Manufacturing Com- pany of Corona, Cal .; the Douglass Clay Products Company, which, starting in 1891, was in 1897 changed to the Los Angeles Stoneware and Sewer Pipe Company, at which time the factory was equipped for the manufacture of sewer pipes ; the Corona Pressed Brick and Terra Cotta Company, organized in July, 1903, with Nathan W. Stowell as president ; and the California Fireproof Con- struction Company, which was organized in 1902.
The man who is president of the great company that has taken over all these plants is the son of Edward G. and Caroline (Darling) Durant, and was born at Brooklyn, N. Y., in July, 1867. His parents moved to Racine, Wis., and there the son attended the grammar and high schools until six- teen years of age. Upon leaving school he was employed in the office of a furniture manufac- turing concern for two years, after which he was engaged with the Racine Cement and Pipe Com- pany as clerk for one year. Coming to Los An- geles in 1887, he began as clerk with the Pacific Clay Manufacturing Company, of which firm he later became superintendent. Ill health caused him to resign his position and to seek outdoor life upon his cattle ranch in Los Angeles county, where he remained until 1893, when he moved to Los Angeles and conducted the ranch while residing here. In 1906 he took over the Western Art Tile Works at Tropico, Cal. This he operated until 1909, when he sold out, and in 1910 he organized the Pacific Sewer Pipe Company, of which he has been the president and manager ever since.
Mr. Durant is a Republican in his political leanings, and as a member of the Jonathan Club he enjoys the association with many prominent
business men of this city. In May, 1893, he was married to Mary Case in Los Angeles, and they have three children: Harlan E., a graduate of the Polytechnic High School; Raymond C., a student at the school just mentioned; and Alice C., who attends St. Catherine's private school.
E. CLEM WILSON. The Wilson & Willard Company, of Los Angeles, was established in 1907 by E. C. Wilson and A. G. Willard for the purpose of manufacturing their own patents in oil . well tools and machinery. They manufacture the Wilson reamer, which is used for enlarging holes below the casing when drilling with standard cable tools in the making of oil wells, and have patented the Wilson casing elevators for oil wells, the Wilson casing spears, the Willard circulating heads, the Sweitzer ratchet rope sockets, the Wil- lard-Wilcox rotary device, the Wilson steel pit- man, the Wilson double-acting water well pumps and the Baker casing shoes. When the company started in business they employed only six men, while today they have sixty employes. In 1913 Mr. Wilson bought out his partner, Mr. Willard, and is today sole owner of the business with his brother, W. W. Wilson.
The son of Andrew P. and Josephine Wilson, E. C. Wilson was born in Darke county, Ohio, in July, 1870. Removing with his parents to Colo- rado Springs, Colo., he attended the public schools of that city, later removing to Parsons, Kans., where he studied in the public schools until he reached the age of sixteen years, when lie came to Los Angeles and continued his education at the high school in this city. At the age of eighteen he entered business life as clerk in the Brown & Foster Hardware Company, and after remaining with them for three years took a business course for a year at the Woodbury Business College. He then bought a one-third interest in the firm, and was elected its treasurer. After two years he sold out and attended Stanford University, when he returned to Los Angeles and engaged as book- keeper and salesman with the Baker Iron Works, later being put in charge of the oil well tool de- partment. After continuing in that capacity until 1904, he then removed to Bakersfield, Cal., to become manager of the Bakersfield Iron Works, superintending all their supply stores until the year 1909. During that time he had organized the
728
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Wilson & Willard Company, of which in 1909 he became president.
Mr. Wilson is a member of the Los Angeles Country Club and the Sierra Madre Club of Los Angeles, and of the Bakersfield Club in that city. Politically he is a Republican, and his religious associations are with the Presbyterian Church. His marriage with Eva Pearl Thurston was solemnized in Bakersfield on April 17, 1906, and they are the parents of one child, Adelaide Wilson.
CHARLES SUMNER KENT. One of the many great industries that have developed in Los Angeles through the stupendous growth of the city in particular, and of the state generally, is represented by The California-Arizona Con- struction Company, which institution has ab- sorbed the great business which grew up in the southwest under the name and management of The Barber Asphalt Paving Company, the men responsible for the birth of the newer organiza- tion being former employes of the eastern com- pany. As the moving spirit of this aggregation of splendid men may be named Charles Sumner Kent, who as prime mover in the organization of this company and holder of a controlling interest in its affairs, may be rightly called the "father of the infant industry." This is made especially true by the fact that Mr. Kent is also president of the company and closely identified with its growth and general affairs. Before the forma- tion of the new organization he had been for many . years associated with this line of work on the coast through his connection with The Barber Asphalt Paving Company, and so is pre-emi- nently fitted to conduct a great independent en- terprise and steer its affairs into the harbor of success.
Mr. Kent is a native of New York state, having been born at Buffalo, February 26, 1873, the son of William and Susan Kent. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, born at Crawford, in 1843, and educated there. In 1863 he enlisted in the Northern army to fight for the Union, serving his country until 1865, when he was honorably discharged. He then returned to Buf- falo, where he became associated with the George A. Prince Organ Company as foreman, his father having a like position in one of the many de- partments at the same time. They continued in
this connection until 1880, when they succeeded the former company and thereafter conducted the business as the Kent Organ Company ( father and son being partners in the undertaking). In 1892 they sold their business and William Kent came to Los Angeles to make his home, retiring from ac- tive business at that time. He died in Utica, N. Y., February 25, 1913. Charles Sumner Kent spent his youth in Buffalo, where he received his carly education in the public schools, graduating from the high school when he was nineteen years of age. Later he studied architecture, com- pleting his course by six months of study and travel in Europe. On his return to Buffalo he accepted a position as timekeeper for The Barber Asphalt Paving Company, being later advanced to the position of superintendent of western New York and Canada, and in 1905 became district manager of the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada, and in 1906, a year later, was made manager of the entire Pacific coast west of the Rocky Mountains and as far north as British Columbia. The success of this vast ter- ritory under the able management of Mr. Kent became an established fact and his familiarity with the business details made it an easy step for him to engage in the same line of enterprise for himself. Accordingly, on July 30, 1914, Mr. Kent, together with two other well known local men, L. L. Chandler and C. W. Sparks, both old employes of The Barber Asphalt Paving Com- pany, bought out all the business and equipment of that company in Southern California and Arizona, and formed the California-Arizona Construction Company, with C. S. Kent as presi- dent, L. L. Chandler as vice-president and gen- eral manager, and C. W. Sparks as secretary- treasurer.
During the ten years that Mr. Kent was man- ager of the western business of The Barber As- phalt Paving Company they laid more than two thousand miles of pavement west of the Rockies, this representing a vast expenditure of money and the employment of many men. The Califor- nia-Arizona Construction Company have now un- der contract more than half a million dollars worth of work, although still in their earliest in- fancy. Mr. Kent is a loyal believer in the future greatness of Los Angeles, and declares that as rosy as are the prophesies for the future, he firmly believes that the Los Angeles of tomorrow is as much underestimated today as the city has
W A Polkinghome
731
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
ever been in the past, and that the growth of the coming decade will leave even the most sanguine far in the rear with the marvelous strides forward that will be made. It is needless to say that one of the most eager workers for the general wel- fare of the city is this same adopted son, whose faith in the coming grandeur of his home city is causing him to lay the foundations for a mighty enterprise in such a manner that he will be able to take advantage of the golden opportunities which he is certain Los Angeles holds for those who trust her and are true. Mr. Kent has also made many warm personal friends during his residence here, and is widely known in many ex- clusive circles. He is a member of several prom- inent clubs, including the California Club, Los Angeles Athletic Club, and the Gamut Club, of Los Angeles, and the Union League of San Francisco. In his political faith he is a stanch Republican, and an earnest believer in the policies and principles of that party.
The marriage of Mr. Kent was solemnized in December, 1904, in Buffalo, N. Y., uniting him with Miss Josephine MacPherson, of that city.
WILLIAM ANTHONY POLKINGHORN. Although a resident of Los Angeles city and county for only six years, the influence exerted by William Anthony Polkinghorn during that time on the commercial life in this vicinity is of such a nature that it has left a permanent mark which will make his name one long remembered with the greatest admiration and respect. He was associated with some of the largest real estate transactions that occurred during the period between 1900 and 1906, being especially interested in subdivision enterprises. His name is accordingly linked with the history of some of the most prominent tracts about Los An- geles, especially in the vicinity of Ocean Park, Santa Monica and Venice, where, in connec- tion with other well-known realty dealers, he bought, subdivided, and sold a number of tracts of extensive acreage, almost all of which are now thickly settled.
Mr. Polkinghorn came to Los Angeles from Leadville, Colo., where he had lived a num- ber of years and was recognized as one of the leading men of the community. He was a native of Dodgeville, Wis., where he was born
November 27, 1851. His father was a farmer, and the boyhood of the future magnate was spent in the country, his education being re- ceived in the common schools in his district. The conditions of his home country did not offer opportunities wide enough for the grow- ing ambitions of the lad, however, and when young Polkinghorn was nineteen years of age he determined to seek his fortune in the min- ing districts of Colorado. Accordingly he lo- cated at Leadville, and for the succeeding seven years worked in the mines in that vicin- ity. At the end of that time he opened a gen- eral merchandise house in Leadville, doing both a wholesale and retail business. This was in the hey-day in the existence of the mining town, and under the skillful management of the energetic and clever young proprietor the business flour- ished, and from a comparatively small beginning a large and prosperous establishment was built up.
Although he met with such success in his merchandising venture this undertaking did not absorb the entire attention of Mr. Polkinghorn. He became identified with the mining interests of the district, and here again he prospered, his years of intimate knowledge of the mines them- selves, acquired while he was actively engaged in mining, now serving him in good stead, and his advice and judgment were sought by men of means. He thus became associated with some of the most prominent men of Colorado, among whom may be mentioned Andrew Dyatt and G. H. F. Myers. Business of a general nature also claimed the co-operation and support of the prosperous merchant, and his interests were ex- tended over a wide range of activities. He was a director and heavy stockholder in the Ameri- can National Bank of Leadville and was a prominent member of the Masons there.
For a number of years before finally taking up his residence in Los Angeles, Mr. Polking- horn, together with his family, had spent his winters here, passing most of his time in the Angel City, but visiting also the various other resorts and winter hotels. The great oppor- tunities offered for profitable investments ap- pealed to him from the first, and with each succeeding visit he became more and more im- bued with the idea of disposing of his Lead- ville holdings and making his home in Los An- geles. This he accordingly did in 1900, first locating at Ocean Park, where he immediately
732
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
began laying his plans for real estate opera- tions on a large scale. He bought extensive acreage and laid out subdivision tracts which were improved and put on the market at rea- sonable figures, and so met with instant appre- ciation by the small householder-or rather the man who wished to become a householder. His most prominent subdivisions in the beach dis- trict are Venice tracts, No. 1 and No. 2; Venice of America tract; and the Seagirt tract, also at Venice. These tracts are now almost entirely sold and improved.
The Los Angeles operations in which Mr. Polkinghorn was associated are of even greater extent. Here he became associated with J. Frank Bowen in subdivision work, and together with him handled all the so-called Bowen tracts. Among these are the Vernon and Hooper tracts No. 1 and No. 2; Bowen's Vernon and Comp- ton Avenue tracts; Bowen's Main Street and Moneta Avenue tract; Bowen and Chamber- lain's Royal tract; Moneta Avenue and Fig- ueroa Street tracts, No. 1 and No. 2; Winton & McCloud's Figueroa Street tract, No. 5; Bowen's Pleasant View Terrace tract; and Boyle Heights tract.
The death of Mr. Polkinghorn occurred at his Santa Monica residence, August 21, 1906, and since that time his widow has continued to manage his vast estate with great success and has herself handled a number of smaller sub- division properties very satisfactorily.
In all his undertakings of a business nature in this vicinity Mr. Polkinghorn was associated with the leading business men, and his standing was always of the highest, both commercially and financially. He was known to possess a far-sighted wisdom that was practically certain to lead to ultimate success, and his associates learned to trust his judgment, knowing that his word was unimpeachable and that business in- tegrity and honor were unalterable tenets of his faith, and never faltered.
Mr. Polkinghorn was married to Miss Ida M. Turner, of Pekin, Ill., in 1887. Five children were born to them, three sons and two daughters. Of these, Florence Annie passed away in infancy ; Louisa, also deceased, attended the Santa Monica high school, from which she graduated with dis- tinction, ranking high in her studies and being a universal favorite alike with teachers and stu- dents. The sons, William, John and George, are
all well known in Los Angeles and vicinity, where they are regarded as worthy sons of their splendid father.
ADOLPH KARL BRAUER. The owner of two stores in Los Angeles, and a man who has been wonderfully successful in his line of busi- ness, so that he is regarded as one of the leading merchant tailors of Los Angeles, is Adolph Karl Brauer, the president of A. K. Brauer & Co., Tailors to Men Who Know, and owner and op- erator of the two stores of the company, located at Nos. 5271/2 to 529 South Spring street and Nos. 345 to 347 South Spring street. A native of Weissenfels, Saxony, Germany, Mr. Brauer was born June 11, 1869, the son of Adolph and Hen- rietta R. (Schueler) Brauer, and received his early schooling in the public schools of Germany, completing his education in Somerville, Tenn., in which city he made his entrance into business life, his first employment being in a general merchan- dise store in Somerville. Thence Mr. Brauer re- moved to Peoria, Ill., in 1883, where he was en- gaged as a salesman in a ready-to-wear clothing store until 1888, in which year he came to Los An- geles, where he was employed in the same line of business until 1895, when he became traveling salesman for Haker, Gerdts & Co., a wholesale millinery company of Los Angeles. In 1897 he went into partnership with Henry G. Krohn, under the firm name of Brauer & Krohn, the partners later acquiring an additional store and conducting the two places in the same line of business. A larger establishment was opened in 1901 at Nos. 128 to 130 South Spring street, the firm occupying the entire building as factory and salesroom, and maintaining the other two stores as well, and in 1905 they took yet another salesroom, this one situated at Nos. 459 to 461 South Spring street. In 1910 Mr. Brauer bought out Mr. Krohn's interest, and conducted the business for a short time alone, under the name of A. K. Brauer, the next year consolidating it into two stores, retaining the place at the corner of Fifth and Spring streets. About that time the business was incorporated and received its present name of A. K. Brauer & Co., Tailors to Men Who Know. On February 1, 1913, the store at Fifth and Spring streets was moved to 5271/2-529 South Spring street, the present location.
733
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Aside from his business interests, Mr. Brauer is connected with many clubs and associations of both social and civic importance, he being a mem- ber of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants and Manufacturers Associa- tion, of which last he was for two terms a di- rector, a trustee of the Public Welfare Fund, and a member of the Municipal League, the Turn- verein Germania and the Jonathan, Los Angeles Athletic, Tuna, City and Cazedores Gun Clubs, his fraternal affiliations being with the Al Malai- kah Temple of the Mystic Shrine, the thirty- second degree Scottish Rite Masons, the Knights Templars and the Golden West Commandery No. 43.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.