USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume III > Part 34
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Manis RIrinpeter
Elizabeth Kleinpeter
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he made a study of the raising of hens, and find- ing that they would do best in small flocks, has planned his management accordingly, and in every respect has met with encouraging success in his new venture.
By his marriage with Miss Elizabeth Yott, a native of Canada, Mr. Robins is the father of two children, Theodore and Dorothy, both of whom are musicians, the former playing the clarionet and the latter the piano. Besides being a member of the Foresters, Mr. Robins is a mem- ber of the Knights of Columbus, of which he is past grand knight and was grand knight of the Long Beach Council and instituted the council at Monrovia. Mr. Robins is president of the board of the South Santa Anita school district, and is a member of the Poultry Federation of Southern California.
LOUIS KLEINPETER. Coming to the United States upon leaving the Jesuit schools of his native village in Alsace, Germany, when he was a lad of sixteen years, Louis Kleinpeter passed the remaining years of his life in America, engaging principally in the later part of his life in the buying and selling of real estate. For almost twenty years he was a resident of Los Angeles, and for the greater part of that time he was interested in real estate enterprises, in active partnership with his wife, and together they made a decided success of their undertakings. It was here that death found this worthy citizen, on June 9, 1912, and since his death Mrs. Kleinpeter has continued to manage the business and es- tate.
Mr. Kleinpeter was born in Strasburg, Al- sace, Germany, December 10, 1842, received his education in the Jesuit and public schools of his native province, and when he was six- teen years of age he came to the United States. For some time he traveled through the principal cities of the east and finally lo- cated in Chicago, where he was in the employ of an uncle who owned a candle factory. Re- maining with that relative until 1878, he then removed to Iowa and engaged in farming.
Mr. Kleinpeter was twice married, his first wife bearing him three children. Following her death he was united with Miss Elizabeth Kortenbusch, a native of Germany, their mar-
riage being solemnized in Chicago, September 30, 1876. Of their union was born one son, John L., now married to Emma Hutten, and the father of one son, Grant. It was shortly after his second marriage that Mr. Kleinpeter moved into Iowa, locating at Wesley, where he had large farming interests and was also extensively engaged in the creamery business. In all these enterprises Mrs. Kleinpeter was his partner, acting as his bookkeeper and the general business head of the family. Their investments, and in fact all their business ar- rangements, were conducted on an actual part- nership basis, and the keen business judgment and foresight of the wife were valuable assets to the household. Although they prospered on the Iowa farm both Mr. and Mrs. Klein- peter finally became anxious to locate in Cali- fornia, and accordingly, in 1894, they made the westward journey, arriving in Los Angeles in January. Here they at once became inter- ested in the real-estate business and continued it with success until the death of Mr. Klein- peter.
Quite apart from his large business interests Mr. Kleinpeter was well known throughout the city, having formed a host of personal friends during his long residence here. He was a devout member of the Roman Catholic church and attended St. Vibiana's Cathedral. In his political affiliations he was a Republi- can and a stanch supporter of the men and principles of that party. In his death the city lost one of her most loyal and devoted citi- zens, a man who stood squarely for the right, and who, by his honesty, his application and industry, had builded a record that is well worthy of remembrance by his family, his friends and by the city of his adoption.
WILLIAM LOWE. When William Lowe started his now flourishing dairy farm in Sawtelle, Cal., in 1905, there were but few houses and only one store where the town new stands. Mr. Lowe purchased nine acres of land on Kansas avenue and started in business with twenty cows, which number has now been increased to forty, with the addition of two fine blooded Jersey and Holstein bulls, and at his dairy, which is sanitary and mod- ern in every respect, he has built up a fine paying
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business, delivering milk to the town of Sawtelle and at the Soldiers' Home, as well as making and selling butter. Previous to his coming to Sawtelle, Mr. Lowe had been associated with his father on the home farm until he reached the age of thirty years, his father having been en- gaged in farming in Minnesota, where the son was born, and also in Iowa until the fall of the year 1884, when he removed to California and bought seventy-five acres of land on La Ballona ranch in Los Angeles county, of which he first set out five acres to an apple orchard and five acres to a vineyard, but these not proving successful, he farmed the land to barley. In 1910 the father sold his ranch and bought a small place at Palms, Cal., where he lived until the time of his death, which occurred in 1913.
The father of William Lowe, of Sawtelle, was Henry Lowe, a native of England, who came to this country at the age of sixteen and settled in Iowa. During the Civil war he served three years in an Iowa regiment, being engaged in the siege of Vicksburg and in several important battles of the war. He was the father of eight children liv- ing, namely, Simeon Jethro, Sarah, Louise, Emma (Mrs. Charles Kiggins), William, Robert, Arthur, and Agnes; three having died. The son William was born at St. Paul, Minn., November 10, 1870, and after being engaged in farm work with his father at their homes in Minnesota, Iowa and California, went into business for himself at his present Jersey dairy farm at Sawtelle. By his marriage with Miss Alma H. Frederick, a native of Michigan, he is the father of four children, Rua E., Melba R., Sarah F. and William Cody Lowe. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe are members of the Maccabees.
Mrs. Lowe's parents, Cody John and Sarah L. (Purdy) Frederick, came to California in April, 1893; the latter passed away near Venice in 1907 and the former still resides at his home place. There were but two children in this family, Mrs. Lowe and Ray, the latter now deceased.
GEORGE CHARNOCK. The owner of a two-hundred acre ranch near Palms, Cal., devoted to the raising of lima beans, is George Charnock, whose life has been spent in three different coun- tries, England, Canada and the United States, the last fifteen years being given up to the man- aging of his large ranch in California.
Of English parentage, Mr. Charnock was born in Lancastershire, England, December 18, 1835, the son of John and Anna Sophia (Pearce) Char- nock, who were natives respectively of Preston and Liverpool, England. The maternal grand- father had been a man of wealth, possessing lands and slaves in the West Indies, and Mr. Char- nock's father, who was engaged in mercantile pursuits and the hotel business, lost much money in the latter occupation, having conducted the Clifton Arms at Lytham, England, and a hotel at Preston, England, at both of which places he suf- fered heavy losses. Coming to America with his
family in 1843; in the hope of bettering his for- tunes in the new world, the father devoted him- self to farming for ten years in Canada, remov- ing thence to a farm not far from Madison, Wis., and later to Minnesota, where he took up govern- ment land and again was employed in farming. He was of a sturdy constitution, and lived to the age of eighty-six years, a firm upholder of the Republican party and of the Church of England, and the father of ten children. George Charnock was but a small boy when his family came to Canada from England, and after ten years of life there he removed with his family first to Wiscon- sin, then to Minnesota. He helped to survey the line of the Chicago and St. Paul Railroad through Wisconsin, and in Minnesota took up a claim in Brown county, but on account of Indian hostili- ties life in that unsettled locality was far from safe, so he returned to his father's farm in an- other county, purchasing the property and culti- vating it for a long time, at last selling out in 1882 to go to Nevada where his brother had already settled. Here the two brothers raised sheep in Antelope Valley, near Eureka, for three years, having a large flock numbering many thousand. This occupation he continued after removing to Arizona, but again found the Indians trouble- some in unsettled districts, and so decided to come to the Pacific coast, where for many years he has been successful in the raising of lima beans, un- discouraged by his first crop which sold at the low price of one and one-half cents per pound.
Like his father, Mr. Charnock's political inter- ests are with the Republican party, though his views are liberal in many matters of local inter- est and importance. On April 2, 1868, he was married to Miss Esther Irene Marcy, a native of Pennsylvania and the granddaughter of a captain in the Revolutionary war. Mr. and Mrs. Char-
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nock are the parents of two sons, Nathan Snow, who resides at Pasadena, Cal., and George Ban- croft Charnock, who assists his father in the management of the ranch at Palms.
DR. A. W. HILLER. Among the pioneer settlers of Humboldt county, Cal., were the par- ents of Dr. A. W. Hiller, the father having been born in France in 1832 and having been a resident of the state of California since the year 1852, where he became an extensive land owner and was well known both politically and fraternally until his death, which occurred in 1914.
The birth of the son, Dr. A. W. Hiller, took place in Eureka, Cal., September 15, 1879, he being one of a family of six children, namely : Philip Alexander, Theodore Ferdinand, Henry George, Charles, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert W., the subject of this sketch. Dr. Hiller re- ceived his early education at the grammar and high schools in San Jose, Cal., after which he came to Los Angeles and attended the medical department of the University of Southern Cali- fornia, where he was graduated in 1909. He then became an interne at the Los Angeles County Hospital, in which office he remained until 1910, when he went to Clifton, Ariz., and there prac- ticed medicine for two years, returning at the ex- piration of that time to Los Angeles, where he commenced his practice in the year 1913. He received the office of assistant police surgeon in Los Angeles, which position he still holds, in ad- dition to his private medical practice, in which he makes a specialty of surgery.
The marriage of Dr. Hiller in Los Angeles to Mrs. Kathryn Asche was solemnized in March, 1912. In his political interests Dr. Hiller is a member of the Republican party. He also holds membership in the County Medical Society of Los Angeles county.
GEORGE HILLER. No more loyal citizens are to be found among the people of California than those of foreign birth, and this truth is well illustrated by one of the early settlers of the county of Humboldt, Georger Hiller by name, a native of France, where he was born in the province of Alsace-Lorraine on January 1, 1832,
receiving his early education in the schools of the province. With an elder brother and sister, he came to America in the latter part of the year 1846 at the age of fourteen years. Arriving in New York City, they went at once to Buffalo, N. Y., where Mr. Hiller became apprenticed to the shoemaker's trade, continuing his apprentice- ship for three years and following the trade inde- pendently for a year thereafter. In the autumn of 1852 he came to California, where his brother had preceded him, and for the twelve years suc- ceeding was engaged in mining in Shasta county, Cal. Visiting in Humboldt county in 1859, he purchased a tract of land from John C. Conners which comprised one hundred and twenty acres, for which he paid the price of $2500, this estate being now his home site, and adjoining the city of Alton, it having become a very valuable piece of property. In the early days it had but few im- provements, a shack serving as residence, and the greater part of the land being in an uncultivated state, but later Mr. Hiller added to the original purchase, so that the estate now comprises two hundred and forty acres, most of which lies in the Van Dusen valley. Aside from this, he owned three hundred and sixty acres of land near Ar- cata, Cal., one hundred and twelve acres beyond the Eel river which he leased, and fourteen hun- dred acres of fine land for stock raising on the South Fork, all of which property is excellent farming land and is under a high state of culti- vation.
Politically, Mr. Hiller was a Democrat, active in the interests of his party, though never hav- ing sought office. He was well known fraternally, being a Mason of the Eel River Lodge No. 147, which he joined at the age of twenty-three years, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Eel River Lodge No. 210, being at one time the only living charter member of this lodge. In November, 1864, Mr. Hiller was united in marriage with Charlotte C. Joerrs, a native of Hanover, Germany, where she was born in 1838, the year of her coming to America being 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Hiller were the parents of six sons, namely : Philip Alexander, who lives on the home ranch near Alton, and owns a fine grain and stock farm; Theodore Ferdinand, a bookkeeper in San Francisco; Henry George, who also lives on the ranch ; Charles, a machinist by trade, who makes his home with his mother; Benjamin Franklin,
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of Ferndale, Cal., and Albert W., a physician of Los Angeles.
Mr. Hiller and his wife were well known and highly respected residents of Humboldt county, where they were actively interested in the progress of that section of the state from its early days. Mrs. Hiller holds membership in the Rohnerville Chapter No. 76, O. E. S., having passed all the chairs, and is also a member of the Rebekahs, in which society she has served as treasurer of the local lodge for several years. Mr. Hiller, by his persevering industry, met with success financially, his splendid ranches in Hum- boldt county standing as monuments to his en deavors. His death occurred June 27, 1914.
THROOP COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY Founded in 1891 by Amos G. Throop, this insti- tution, located in Pasadena, Cal., was the first school of manual arts west of Chicago, being known as "Throop Polytechnic Institute." In 1910 it became devoted exclusively to higher edu- cation, in 1913 becoming known as Throop Col- lege of Technology, the new title well defining the scope of the work of the institution, indicating the transition of the school from a polytechnic academy to a college of technology. Its former buildings having been leased to the city of Pasa- dena for use as a polytechnic high school, Throop is now established in its new quarters, which in their architecture follow the Spanish style of the old missions along the California coast, the ma- terial being reinforced concrete, and the great live oak trees, among which the buildings stand, adding to the California aspect of the establish- ment.
In this state the need of technical education is exceptional, eastern institutions being too re- mote and those of the north as yet undeveloped, so that it devolves upon Throop College to fill the growing need of education in electrical en- gineering, hydraulic engineering and allied sci- ences. As the only college of technology this side of the Mississippi, it endeavors to accomplish for educational interests in the West what the Massachusetts Institute of Technology does for the eastern coast. With Dr. Norman Bridge, physician, teacher and business man of Los An- geles, as the president of its board, and James A. B. Scherer, Ph.D., LL.D., president of the
college, it is bringing to students in the West the educational advantages which heretofore have been confined to the eastern states.
The selective process which gleans from the graduates of high schools, desirous of admis- sion to the college, those endowed with qualities of determination and industry, establishes for the institution a promising class of young people in its freshmen, and the fact that many of the stu- dents work their way through the college course speaks well for their purposeful character. The constant growth of Throop, evidenced by its in- creasing enrollment, proves the high esteem in which it is held by those desirous of the advan- tages of higher education. Admitting as students only high school graduates of high standing, the college confers the degree of Bachelor of Science at the end of the four years' course, and awards scholarship prizes for travel both in the United States and abroad. Students come from the north- ern part of the state as well as the southern, and also from the east.
The health of the students is made a matter of scientific care at Throop College, under the supervision of Dr. Andrew J. Smith of the Uni- versity of Michigan, who is an accredited Doctor of Medicine, as well as an able supervisor of ath- letics ; all students being accorded thorough physi- cal examination and a recommendation of out- door exercise in accordance with their individual needs, a sound body being rightly regarded as the foundation for a sound mind and consequent suc- cess in a prescribed course of studies as well as in all future undertakings of life.
Through a co-operative arrangement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Ar- thur A. Noyes devotes the months of February and March to work at Throop College, as Pro- fessor of general chemistry and research asso- ciate, and a new course in chemical engineering has been prepared under his direction. Among the well known members of the board of trus- tees of the college, until her resignation in 1913, was Mrs. Clara B. Burdette, wife of the late lecturer, preacher and writer, Dr. Robert J. Bur- dette, the association of Mrs. Burdette with the board having been of sixteen years' duration. Teachers and students from the high schools fre- quently visit the college in large numbers, attend- ing especially the annual engineering and labora- tory exhibit, the schools being thus in close re- lationship with the college, while the extension
Boardman Reed.
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courses effectively serve to unite the interests of the city of Pasadena with the institution.
BOARDMAN REED. There is no nobler calling among men than that of healing the ills of humanity, and there is no profession which enables a man to come closer to the hearts of his patrons than does a physician to his patients. If he is a true physician he is as much a healer of minds as he is of bodies, and often, without the patient being aware of the fact, he is treated for a sore and diseased mind quite as much as for a sore and diseased body, the true doctor studying one with the other. Such an one as this was Dr. Boardman Reed, who for many years was closely identified with the work of the medical profession in the great eastern cities, having for many seasons an office in Atlantic City, where he spent a part of each year, and also being one of the best known physicians in Philadelphia, where he was connected with a number of prominent in- stitutions. He also is particularly well known among the profession as a writer of rare ability on professional topics, and as a lecturer of more than ordinary interest. Some nine years ago Dr. Reed gave up his practice in the east and came to California to make his home. Almost immediately he purchased a home in Alhambra, where he now resides, having located here on June 13, 1906. This place, "The Evergreens," is a part of a twenty-acre tract set to orange trees, and is one of the show places of the San Gabriel valley. It is beautifully improved, being set to palms, trees and flowers of many kinds ; and here the noted healer of human ills is passing his declining years.
Dr. Reed is a native of New York state, hav- ing been born at Scottsville, April 30, 1842, the son of William N. and Hylinda L. (Harmon) Reed. When he was a lad his parents removed to Lancaster, Wis., where he passed his boy- hood, receiving his early education in the public schools there. Later he attended college at Beaver Dam, Wis., but left his studies to an- swer the call of President Lincoln for volun- teers, during the early period of the Civil war. He was first a member of the Second Wiscon- sin Volunteer Infantry, and was afterward made a captain in the Fiftieth Wisconsin Infantry.
He was wounded at the battle of Gainesville, Va., August 28, 1862, but was not finally dis- charged until June, 1866, his last service having been among the Sioux Indians in North Dakota. On account of this latter service Dr. Reed has been elected a member of the Society of Indian Wars. After the close of the war, and his final discharge from the service of his country, he returned to his studies, entering Beloit (Wis.) College and remaining from 1866 to 1867, and then transferring to the University of Pennsyl- vania, studying in the department of Fine Arts during 1867-68. He was 'always a splendid student and made a remarkable record in his classes. During his freshman year at Beloit he received the Lewis prize for the greatest ad- vancement in his studies for the year made by any student in that institution, and in his junior year in college he won the prize for the best essay on metaphysics.
After leaving college, for several years Dr. Reed was an editorial writer for the Philadel- phia Press and the Philadelphia Times, but abandoned this career to take up the study of medicine, graduating from the medical depart- ment of the University of Pennsylvania in March, 1878. In addition to his regular course he took two courses at the Philadelphia Lying- In Charity, one before and one after his gradua- tion, and served for several months as assistant to Dr. R. G. Curtin, at the Medical Dispensary of the University Hospital. Later he assisted Dr. Charles T. Hunter at the surgical dispen- sary of the Pennsylvania Hospital in Phila- delphia. Early in the summer of 1878 Dr. Reed opened an office in Atlantic City, N. J., con- tinuing to practice there every season up to and including 1897. While there he served as attending physician to the Mercer Memorial House for Invalid Women, and later as consult- ing physician for the Jewish Seaside Home. He was president of the Atlantic City Board of Health from 1882 until 1885, and for one year was president of the Atlantic City Medical So- ciety. By numerous writings upon the effect of the sea air and climate of Atlantic City upon the sick, Dr. Reed did much to acquaint the medical profession, as well as the lay public, with the advantages of that locality as a health resort. He was regarded as one of the most prominent anl influential men of the city and a leader in the medical world.
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Practicing in Atlantic City for only a part of each year, Dr. Reed made an enviable record for himself at other points in the east and south. During the winter of 1892-93 he practiced in Thomasville, Ga., and in the fall of 1896 he resumed his practice in Philadelphia, remain- ing until he came to California in January, 1906. On several occasions Dr. Reed spent many months abroad studying along the line of his chosen work, the last time giving his time to work in Berlin, under Professor Ewald and Dr. Boas. Dr. Reed was one of the original mem- bers of the American Climatological Associa- tion and a pioneer in this special line of investi- gation and writing. He is also an honorary member of the French Society of Electro- therapy. He was a member of the Union League Club, the Penn Club of Philadelphia, the Loyal Legion of the United States, also the Academy of Medicine. For many years he has been a contributor to the best medical journals of the day, and has been associated with some of the best-known medical institutions, as investiga- tor, instructor and practitioner. He was professor of hygiene, climatology and diseases of the gastro-intestinal tract, at the Temple University in Philadelphia, from 1901 to 1904, and physician in chief to the Samaritan Hos- pital of Philadelphia, during about the same period. From 1904 to 1906 he was attending physician to the American Oncologic Hospital, also of Philadelphia. He is the author of a work including lectures to general practitioners on diseases of the stomach and intestines, pub- lished by Treat & Co., New York, in 1904, the third edition appearing in 1911.
The marriage of Dr. Reed occurred in Phila- delphia in 1871, uniting him with Miss Gertrude R. Philips, of that city. Of their union have been born two children, Harmon P. and Helen F. K. Since coming to Southern California in 1906 Dr. Reed has assumed his rightful place in the new home community, and is recognized as a man of power and influence in the com- munity. He is keenly interested in the general welfare of the beautiful little city where he has elected to make his home, and takes an active part in all that pertains to the upbuilding and progress of the best interests of the vicinity. Besides serving on the board of the public library at Alhambra, he is also interested in the business and general commercial activities of
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