USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume III > Part 30
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The marriage of Mr. Brauer in 1896 united him with Serena D. Gerdts, and they reside at No. 2129 West Twenty-first street, Los Angeles.
DR. JOHN P. GILMER. Prominent for the past ten years as a leading physician in Los An- geles, Dr. John P. Gilmer brought with him a long record of achievement and honorable ser- vice toward his fellow men that places him in the front rank in his profession. He served in the Spanish-American war as a volunteer nurse with- out pay, being with the Tenth United States Vol- unteer Infantry, this regiment being known as the "Immunes." He is an honorary member of the Society of Surgeons of the Confederate Army and Navy, and has served the United States gov- ernment in high places in a professional capacity. Since coming to Los Angeles he has assumed a prominent place in the general affairs of the city and county, and in 1913 was appointed as harbor commissioner. He is also especially in- fluential and well known throughout the Masonic circles of the city, in which he stands high in official service.
Dr. Gilmer is a native of Mississippi, having been born in Macon, Noxubee county, June 30, 1876, the son of John P. and Martha Epes (Oliver) Gilmer, both of prominent Southern families. The father was a native of Georgia, born February 26, 1846, and was educated in the private schools of that state. Later he entered the Confederate army and served with distinction throughout the Civil war. After the close of the war he practiced law at De Kalb, Miss., until his death in 1877.
The son attended public schools in Washing- ton, D. C., until he was thirteen, and then entered college, remaining until he was eighteen. He then took up the study of medicine at the Kentucky School of Medicine, at Louisville, Ky., graduating in 1899. He then engaged in the practice of his profession in Louisville until 1902, meeting with appreciable success. From 1900 until 1902 he was examining surgeon for the United States Pension Bureau at Louisville, and at that time went to Mexico City as medical director for the Equitable Life Assurance So- ciety. He continued in that capacity until 1905, when he was obliged, by the ill health of his son, to resign his position and seek a change of climate and conditions. Accordingly he came with his family to Los Angeles, where he has since been engaged in general practice, having met with much success.
Dr. Gilmer has always been interested in Ma- sonry, and is a member of the York Rite. He served as master of Arlington Lodge, F. & A. M., during 1910 and 1911, as high priest of Los Angeles Chapter, R. A. M., in 1912, and also as Chancellor Commander of Irving Lodge, K. P., in 1914. He is also a member of the Elks. In his political affiliations Dr. Gilmer is a Repub- lican and a strong party man. He has always taken an active part in the affairs of his party, giving his unqualified support to its men and measures because he believes firmly that they are right. He is a member of the Episcopal church, and together with his family attends the services of that denomination.
The marriage of Dr. Gilmer took place in Louisville, Ky., October 10, 1900, uniting him with Miss Margaret G. Goodloe, of that city. Of their union have been born two children, a son and a daughter, both of whom are attending the public schools of this city. They are John Le Barnes Gilmer, aged thirteen years, and Angelyn Morton Gilmer, aged ten. Both Dr. and Mrs. Gilmer have made many friends since coming to Los Angeles.
PAUL SCHUMACHER. A native of Vien- na, although of German descent, Paul Schu- macher was born in 1842, and his boyhood days were passed in his native city, where he received his education, which was very thorough. He came to the United States when he was a young man
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and was employed by the government as an anti- quarian and mineralogist. After several years of this work he became identified with Smithson- ian Institution in research work and archæology. On these subjects he is recognized as an author- ity and many books have been written along these lines by him. While in the service of the govern- ment he worked on the coast survey of Southern California, and at the time of his death was engaged in mining in Mexico, where he discov- ered and was manager of the San Antonio and San Pablo mines, and where his death occurred May 22, 1883. His marriage occurred in Los Angeles on March 16, 1880, uniting him with Miss Caroline Schumacher, and was solemnized in St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral, opposite Central park, which was then a new edifice. Mrs. Schu- macher still resides in Los Angeles, where she has many friends.
JOHN D. ROCHE. The son of a family that for generations has been active in politics, John D. Roche, register of the United States Land Office at Los Angeles, brings to that office an enthusiasm for Democratic interests and a vast amount of practical experience along political lines that cannot fail of success.
A native of Indiana, Mr. Roche was born in Evansville, November 6, 1870, the son of John D. Roche, and comes of Irish-American stock which has bravely upheld Democracy in the state of Indiana through periods of political unrest. His education was received at the grammar and high schools of his native city and of Mount Vernon, Ind., until the age of seventeen, when he com- menced to make his own living, his first position being that of assistant postmaster in Mount Ver- non for four years. Becoming interested in news- paper work, Mr. Roche was engaged as printer's devil for the Mount Vernon Democrat, where he worked himself up to the position of editor, which he continued to hold until his resignation in 1907, when he came to Los Angeles. Here he established a general merchandise business in East Los Angeles which he sold out in 1910, taking the civil service examination prior to his appoint- ment as inspector of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works. This was followed in 1914 by his appointment by President Wilson to his present office of United States Land Register.
Mr. Roche's political life has been one of thor- ough practical training and able service to his party. Having been state senator for two Indiana counties, upon his arrival in Los Angeles he in- terested himself at once with the Democratic or- ganization here, and later held the positions of county committeeman at large, assistant secretary of the Jefferson Club and inspector for the Los Angeles board of public works, also serving as delegate to many conventions, where he was of great service to the Democratic cause. He is loyal in upholding the views of Secretary Lane with regard to the appreciation and better development of the needs and possibilities of the West whose affairs, says Secretary Lane in his report, "have not been given that consideration at the hands of the national government which they merit." The use of the land for the purposes to which it is best adapted; the prospecting for oil which may be used as an economical substitute for coal in the navy since it would do away with the build- ing of colliers, the support of coaling stations, etc .; the better operation of the homestead law regarding timber lands; the reclaiming of desert lands-these are some of the subjects raised by Secretary Lane which are of great interest to Register Roche in his new and important office.
By his marriage in Toledo, Ohio, October 24, 1895, to Miss Rose M. Harris, Mr. Roche is the father of five children, of whom the eldest is a graduate of the Los Angeles high school and the three next in age pupils in the Los Angeles public schools. The names of the children are : John D., Jr., Winston, Rosemary, Margaret May and Hen- rietta.
ARTHUR W. GRIER. The secretary of the Southern California Iron and Steel Company is Arthur W. Grier, who was born in Pittsburg, Pa., May 16, 1882, the son of Matthew W. and Sarah Grier, his father having been born in Wilkes- barre, Pa., June 18, 1859, and educated in Pitts- burg, where he later engaged as salesman for a large wholesale grocery company until the year 1907, when he removed to Los Angeles, in which city he is at present engaged in the same line of business.
The son, Arthur W. Grier, attended the gram- mar and high schools, graduating from the latter in the class of 1900, after which he engaged with
DEsemayer
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
the Carnegie Steel Company as stenographer, re- maining with this firm four years in that capacity, when he was promoted to the position of corre- spondent, which office he filled for a period of three years. Removing then to Los Angeles, Mr. Grier associated himself with the Southern Cali- fornia Iron and Steel Company, which was at that time known as the California Industrial Com- pany, and with them continued as stenographer from 1907 until 1909. In the last-mentioned year he was appointed assistant secretary and in 1913 was elected secretary and director of the com- pany.
The marriage of Mr. Grier took place in Pitts- burg, Pa., uniting him with Miss Irma Brashear, daughter of Francis L. Brashear and niece of Prof. John A. Brashear of Pittsburg. Mr. and Mrs. Grier are the parents of three children, namely: James Wilford, who attends the inter- mediate high school in Los Angeles, where he acts as concert director, being also an excep- tionally good violinist ; Sara Margaret and A. W. Grier, Jr., both of whom attend the public schools of the city. Politically Mr. Grier is allied with the Republican party, while fraternally he is a member of the Masons, and the church with which he is associated is the Christian Church.
EMIL J. EISENMAYER. The Globe Grain and Milling Company, of which Emil J. Eisen- mayer is second vice-president and assistant gen- eral manager, is a large firm in Los Angeles, Cal., which has made rapid growth from a small busi- ness employing but a few men to a great com- pany owning factories in several cities.
The son of Philip H. and Emma E. Eisen- mayer, Mr. Eisenmayer was born in Summer- field, St. Clair county, Ill., March 8, 1871. Until the age of fifteen he attended the public schools, finishing his education with a year at McKendree College, Lebanon, Ill., and another year at a manual training school in St. Louis, Mo.
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From the time of the completion of his educa- tion, Mr. Eisenmayer devoted his life to the pur- suit of one calling, and it is by his persistence in one line that he has made himself a man thor- oughly equipped in every respect for the im- portant position he today holds with the Globe Grain and Milling Company of Los Angeles. To know a business thoroughly from start to finish,
to be acquainted with the work of the apprentice as well as conversant with the duties and respon- sibilities of high officials, is indeed to be fitted for a position of honor such as that held by Mr. Eisenmayer today. As a young apprentice in a millwright shop in St. Louis, where he was em- ployed the first year after leaving school, Mr. Eisenmayer may have dreamed of the high office to which he would later rise. For, returning to Summerfield, his old home, he devoted three years to learning the trade of practical miller, whereby he was enabled to engage as second miller with the Halstead Milling and Elevator Com- pany of Halstead, Kan., for nearly a year, sub- sequently assuming charge of the Newton Milling and Elevator Company for a period of four years. Mr. Eisenmayer went steadily forward in his chosen profession. Every step was an advance. Not content with supervising the interests of others, he removed to Sedalia, Mo., where he en- gaged in the flour mill business for himself under the name of The Eisenmayer Rolling Mills Com- pany, a business which he managed for five years, until he sold his interests in Sedalia and removed to Nevada, Mo., to take charge of the Nevada Milling Company for a year and a half.
In the early history of our country, credulous explorers from foreign lands, listening to the stories the Indians told of cities built of gold and of marvelous fountains of youth, spent their lives in fruitless search for these fabulous objects of their desire. Following the trail Mr. Eisenmayer came to California, establishing himself in the town of Colton, where he became manager of the Colton Grain and Milling Company, a branch of the Globe Grain and Milling Company of Los Angeles. In 1910 he came to Los Angeles as second vice-president and assistant general man- ager of the last-named company, which positions he holds today with this large firm which has incorporated with itself numerous other com- panies of a similar nature in neighboring cities.
The business relations of Mr. Eisenmayer are many and varied. Besides his connection with the Globe Grain and Milling Company, he is vice- president and director of the Nuevo Land Com- pany and director in the following corporations : the Imperial Land and Stock Company; Varney Bros. Company, Incorporated; the Imperial Val- ley Company; the Riverside Milling and Fuel Company; the First National Bank of Colton; and the Pacific Mineral Products Company.
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In his political interests Mr. Eisenmayer is allied with the Republican party; his religious affiliation is with the Methodist church. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks, while socially he holds membership in the Los Angeles Country Club, Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Family Club, and the Merchants Exchange at San Francisco.
RALPH ARNOLD. One of the early pio- neers of the state of Iowa, a man who became well known in political and scientific circles, was the father of Ralph Arnold, a consulting geologist and petroleum engineer of Los Angeles. Born in Marshalltown, Iowa, April 14, 1875, the son of Delos Arnold of New York state and Hannah Richardson (Mercer) Arnold of Ohio, Ralph Ar- nold came to California at the age of five years, when his parents made their home in Pasadena.
Though making his permanent home in Pasa- dena, Mr. Arnold spent a large portion of his childhood in travel, at an early age exhibiting much interest in scientific matters, a taste which was encouraged by his parents so that he has de- voted the greater part of his life to scientific sub- jects and holds a prominent place today among the scientific men of the country. As a result of his boyhood interests he has at present one of the finest collections of the birds and eggs of Cali- fornia extant in this state. His early education was received in the grammar schools of Pasa- dena, and this was followed by courses at the Pasadena high school and the Throop Polytechnic Institute, from which schools he was graduated in the years 1894 and 1896 respectively, after which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts at the Leland Stanford, Jr., University in 1899, and those of Master of Arts in 1900 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1902 at the same university.
While completing his education, Ralph Arnold filled the offices of assistant in mineralogy from 1898 to 1899 and assistant in geology from 1900 to 1903 at Stanford University, and physical di- rector and instructor in physics and chemistry at Hoitt's School, Menlo Park, Cal., from 1899 to 1900. He likewise held the government posi- tions of field assistant on the United States Geo- logical Survey from 1900 to 1903, Geologic Aid, 1903 to 1905, Paleontologist, 1905 to 1908, and Geologist, 1908 to 1909. He was in charge of
the investigations of the government in the oil fields of California 1905 to 1909. He resigned from the government service in 1909, since which time he has interested himself in most of the oil fields of South America and Mexico, as well as our own country. Throughout the time of his private practice Mr. Arnold has assisted in the making of plans for financing various important enterprises, in his professional capacity being of inestimable service to numerous oil companies and syndicates, and has been associated with the majority of the important oil deals of this state. One of his most important works since 1911 has been that of directing investigations into the pe- troleum resources of Venezuela, South America, for a group of American capitalists. He has acted as consulting geologist and engineer for nu- merous oil companies, and as director and profes- sional correspondent for others, also serving as consulting petroleum engineer for the United States Bureau of Mines and holding a temporary position with the United States Geological Sur- vey. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford, Jr., University, and has furthermore kept up his university connections by delivering special courses of lectures on the Geology of Petroleum at the University of Chi- cago in 1914, and at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1915.
In spite of his numerous and varied duties, Mr. Arnold continues his scientific researches and has written extensively on technical topics, in- cluding fossil remains and other subjects of geo- logical interest concerning California. He has also prepared in collaboration with Robert Anderson, George H. Eldridge and H. R. Johnson several Bulletins of the United States Geological Survey with reference to the oil industry in California. Independently, he has written a large number of articles for various scientific magazines concern- ing the geology, mineralogy, etc., of this state.
Mr. Arnold holds membership in numerous scientific societies both in this country and Eng- land, being a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the Paleontological Society of Amer- ica, the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science, the Geological Society (Lon- don), and the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain; and a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers (Committees on Petroleum and Mining Geology), the Mining and Metallurgical Society, the American Petroleum
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Society (Executive Committee), the California Academy of Sciences, the National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C., the Geological So- ciety of Washington (Secretary, 1907-1909), the Biological Society of Washington, the Seismo- logical Society of America (vice-president, 1915- 1916), the Cooper Ornithological Club, the Mala- cological Society of London and the Le Conte Geological Club. He was chairman of the Section of Petroleum, International Jury of Award, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, 1915.
The social affiliations of Mr. Arnold, as well as his professional connections, are numerous, he being a member of the Cosmos Club, Washing- ton, D. C., and a charter member of the Uni- versity Club of the same city until his resignation when he left Washington ; also a member of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and the Engineers' Club, San Francisco.
Mrs. Arnold was formerly Frankie Winninette Stokes, the daughter of Frank and Oraletta (Newell) Stokes, of South Pasadena, her mar- riage to Mr. Arnold occurring July 12, 1899.
JULIUS BROMBACHER. The native home of Julius Brombacher, a prominent Los Angeles manufacturer, was the Canton of Basel, Switzer- land, where he was born May 23, 1861, the son of Fred Brombacher. He attended the trade schools of his country until ten years of age, when his family removed to Baden, Germany, where he continued his education in the public schools until fourteen years old, when he returned to his native canton and for three years devoted himself to learning the house-smith trade. For two months he then worked at this trade in Neufchatel, Switz- erland, then going to Paris, France, where he fol- lowed the same occupation for nine months. His next employment was at Karlsruhe, Germany, where for two months he worked at his chosen trade, then coming to the United States and settling in Philadelphia, Pa., where he found em- ployment with the Pennsylvania Iron Works, being in charge of that company's globe marine gas engine department for ten years. Los An- geles was the next city that attracted the attention of Mr. Brombacher, and coming west he engaged with Smith, Booth & Usher of Los Angeles as expert on engines for a year. At the end of that time he went into business independently, devot-
ing himself entirely to the ornamental iron busi- ness, starting with but two assistants where he now has thirty men in his employ. His business is that of general structural and ornamental brass, and bronze work and machine work, and the or- namental iron work on the following buildings was manufactured by his company, the Brom- bacher Iron Works, Los Angeles : Bank fixtures at the Bank of Hemet, Cal .; brass grillwork at the Bank of Southern California; elevator cabs at the postoffice in Seattle; elevator cabs and en- closures in the postoffice in the Scripps building, San Diego ; Marquise and elevator enclosure work in the Auditorium hotel, Los Angeles; elevator work and stair rail in the Baltimore hotel, the Hoffman-Meyer building and the Zobel build- ing, all in Los Angeles ; cast iron stairs, entrances and window frames on the New State Bank, San Pedro, Cal .; entrance doors at the International Bank, Los Angeles; ornamental iron and bronze work on the San Pedro lighthouse; stair work on the First National Bank, Glendale, Cal. ; orna- mental and structural work on the Elks buildings at Redlands and Long Beach, Cal .; the same on three engine houses of Los Angeles; jail work at Williams, Ariz., and various contracts in the Cali- fornia towns of San Pedro, Blythe, Banning, Glendale, Orange, Redlands, San Diego, Santa Ana, Beaumont, Indio, Hemet and El Centro, as well as many others ; the steel work on the Ripley job at Venice, Cal., at the school at Sixty-first and Figueroa streets, Los Angeles, the Arenz theatre and apartments, Pico and Lake streets, Los Angeles, the Overland garage, Olive street, Los Angeles, and the steel and ornamental iron work on a number of apartments. In addition to the above he furnished the bronze work and fix- tures in the Riverside post office, erecting two thousand transmission towers between Bishop and San Bernardino.
The marriage of Mr. Brombacher with Miss Emily Balderman was solemnized in Philadelphia, January 1, 1890, and they are the parents of one son, C. Fred, who attended the grammar and Poly- technic high schools and is now assistant man- ager of his father's business. Mr. Brombacher is a member of the Builders' Exchange, Chatur- ber of Commerce and Merchants and Manufac- turers Association, the German Hospital Asso- ciation the Turn Verein, as well as of the Rotary Club, and fraternally he is a Mason. His political interests are with the Republican party.
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
EARL M. CHAMPION. The Southern Cali- fornia Hardwood and Manufacturing Company, located at No. 1430 South Alameda street, and No. 1200 East Eighth street, Los Angeles, was organized in 1902 as the H. Raphael Company, and incorporated a year later as the Southern California Hardwood and Lumber Manufactur- ing Company. In 1905 the name was changed to its present form, and today from five hundred to six hundred men are employed in the business where at the commencement but fifty were em- ployed. The site of the original factory occupied a space of 280x600 feet in proportions, on Kohler street, between Eighth and Ninth. In 1913 the company bought out the Hughes Manufacturing and Lumber Company, which covered eleven acres, and is now running both factories, being the largest firm of its kind in the United States. They do a general hardwood business, manufac- turing fixtures for banks, offices and department stores as well as all kinds of church and school furniture. Their representatives are in all the principal cities on the coast, and in the city of Los Angeles they have show case and furniture display rooms at Nos. 310 to 314 South Los An- geles street, and display rooms for their wall and concealed beds at Nos. 620 South Main street and 1811 South Main street. A large amount of interior finishing in office buildings has been done by this company, among them being the Federal building, the I. W. Hellman building, and the Kerckhoff, Hollingsworth, Haas, Story and Van Nuys buildings, as well as the Grant hotel at San Diego, Cal., and the Barbara Worth hotel at El Centro. Interior fixtures have also been supplied by them for Bullock's original store; Harris & Frank; the Central Department Store, a $45,000 job which they completed in seventeen days; one floor in the new J. W. Robinson store building; and six floors in the big department store of the Meier & Frank Company, of Portland, Ore. The company has furnished wall beds to nearly all the high-class apartment houses in Los Angeles, having the agency for the Murphy door bed, the most up-to-date bed on the market. Some of their branch houses are the Independent Sash and Door Company at San Diego, and the T. J. Cos- ton Company at Phoenix, Ariz. The company does a business of $150,000 a month, their pay- roll, which in 1903 was only $600 a week, today being $8000 per week.
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