USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs, Biographical, Volume III > Part 41
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The marriage of Mr. McLeod occurred Octo- ber 26, 1898, in Vancouver, B. C., with Miss Eva Ethel Largen. To them have been born four children, three sons and a daughter. They are Eva Ethel, John Munro, Jr., Alfred Wellington, and Norman L. McLeod.
CHARLES B. BERGIN. The firm known as the Los Angeles Soap Company is one of the oldest manufacturing companies in the city of Los Angeles, having been established the year previous to the beginning of the Civil war. Be-
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ginning in a small way, the company passed through the hands of several different owners, moving from its first location, on Second street between Main and Spring streets, to its present site, covering about three acres extending from East First to Banning, between Alameda and Vignes streets, a location which in early days was given up mostly to the cultivation of oranges and grapes and to vegetable gardens. The stranger at the present day would not realize that this locality, now alive with the sound of numer- ous factories, was forty years ago laid out in orange groves and grape vineyards, distinctive features of the early days of Los Angeles; any more than one would realize that gardens of oranges, pomegranates and other fruits sur- rounded by a typical adobe wall once encircled the city's old Spanish church which, as now seen, stands close to the busy street amid nu- merous places of business, the one reminder of its past surroundings being the little Mexican park or Plaza opposite.
The building of the Los Angeles Soap Com- pany which was completed in 1874 was not very extensive, comprising only one two-story struc- ture which was, however, sufficient to supply the demands of the trade at that time. It is said to be the first industry to use steam power in Los Angeles. Numerous additions were made as the business increased, until at present the plant is the leading one of its kind on the coast, both in regard to convenience for manufacturing and the amount of business carried on. Its goods are now known in practically every store and to thousands of householders between the Pacific ocean and the Mississippi river. The new fac- tory is built entirely of brick and is complete in every detail. As one enters the large, finely- appointed business office and passes through the several departments, the impression becomes deeper and more permanent that the establishment is modern in every detail that goes to make a great soap factory. So much work is done and the output is so large, that machinery to do it all is an absolute necessity. There are made here fifteen million pounds of soap of different kinds and grades in one year. This equals seven hun- dred and fifty carloads of twenty thousand pounds each, or close to three carloads a day. When full, the kettles all together contain thirty car- loads of soap. Three stamping machines are in use which turn out two hundred and fifty cakes a
minute. In the different departments of the fac- tory are employed upwards of one hundred peo- ple, and the rooms for all purposes are ample, each operative having plenty of elbow room with- out intrenching on his neighbor, a fact which greatly expedites the work. From twelve to fif- teen trucks are in use for the delivery of raw and manufactured goods. It is needless to speak of the quality of goods made in this factory or the perfect way in which they are packed. There are so many departments that it would require a book to tell all about them. There are color- ing materials for the different kinds of soap that cost their weight in silver; there are extracts and oils for perfuming and to give quality which cost as high as $250 per pound. In a word, nothing is wanting for the production of the finest soaps.
A large proportion of the material used by this concern is supplied by home people ; this, together with the wages paid to employes, amounts to no inconsiderable sum, all of which being paid in Southern California is an object lesson to our people, demonstrating the fact that the patroniz- ing of home industry keeps money at home and hence means home prosperity. The company purchase every kind of soap stock offered for sale in Southern California and consume for fuel twenty-five barrels of Los Angeles petroleum oil daily. They use five tons of paper every month, all of which is bought in their own city. The printing bills are over $500 per month, and they buy and pay cash for all tallow and other in- gredients that are offered for sale. It will there- fore be seen that they spend their money at home. By increasing their trade the trade in return increases its business.
The first owner of this great business was A. M. Dodson, who later sold out and removed to San Pedro. During the first twelve years of its ex- istence the business had several different owners. in 1872 being owned by a Mr. Cobbler and later coming into the hands of C. W. Gibson, who sub- sequently became the first president of the Board of Trade of Los Angeles. Other owners were Mr. Shaw and Mr. Summers, the latter now a retired Los Angeles capitalist who in 1874 sold his half interest to W. V. Rinehart and John A. Forthmann, who about that time came from San Francisco to make his home in Los Angeles and is at present the senior partner of the firm. Mr. Rinehart, after a year or two, was appointed In- dian agent by the government which necessitated
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his absence from the state, which was the cause of his selling his interest in the soap company to W. B. Bergin, the negotiations of the sale being made by J. A. Forthmann, a friend of Mr. Ber- gin, since the latter was then residing and en- gaged in soap manufacture in San Francisco. Mr. Gibson also retiring from the company, the busi- ness came entirely into the hands of W. B. Bergin and J. A. Forthmann, under whose excellent man- agement it has made repid growth, in consequence also of the increase in the population and pros- perity of this part of the country. For a period of about seventeen years the company continued under the partnership of Mr. Bergin and Mr. Forthmann, until the year 1891, when Mr. Ber- gin, returning to Ireland, his native land, which he had not visited for forty years, was overtaken by a short illness which proved fatal. He was succeeded in the soap business in Los Angeles by his nephew, John J. Bergin.
In 1897 the business was incorporated under the laws of California. John J. Bergin, vice- president and secretary of the company, passed away January 25, 1912, at which time his brother, Charles B. Bergin, was elected to the same of- fices. The officers of the company are today, John A. Forthmann, president and treasurer ; Charles B. Bergin, vice-president and secretary ; A. C. Brode, second vice-president; Frank H. Merrill, general manager and superintendent; C. A. Meyer, assistant superintendent ; and Leo P. Bergin, assistant secretary.
The man who is vice-president and secretary of this great and prosperous concern, Charles B. Bergin, came to California in 1893, being a native of Jefferson, Texas, and the son of John A. and Mary E. Bergin. He attended the public schools until coming to Los Angeles, when he completed his education at St. Vincent's College, from which he was graduated in 1897. Since that time he has been with the Los Angeles Soap Company con- tinuously, having been employed in several dif- ferent departments of this concern. At one time he held the office of private secretary to his brother, John J. Bergin, who was then one of the owners of the company. In 1900 he was elected assistant secretary of the firm, which position he held until 1912, when, at his brother's death, he succeeded him as vice-president and secretary of the company. Having grown up with the busi- ness, with its interests at heart continually since boyhood, it is easy to see that Charles B. Bergin
brings to the offices he holds at present a fund of ability and understanding in the work which ren- ders him invaluable. Fraternally Mr. Bergin is connected with the Elks and the Knights of Co- lumbus, and socially he is a member of the Jona- than Club and the Los Angeles Athletic Club. He was married to Miss Louise Eager in Los Angeles, October 3, 1905.
ARTHUR BENEDICT MULLEN. Strik- ingly different in circumstance and environ- ment from the life of Andrew Mullen was that of his son, the late Arthur B. Mullen, for hardships and privations shadowed the early years of the one, while prosperity and educa- tional advantages brightened the youth of the other, yet both careers had much in common, displaying the same devotion to business, the same aptitude for affairs, the same promptness in decision and the same sagacity of judg- ment. The senior member of the Mullen- Bluett Clothing Company, having risen from poverty to financial independence through his own unaided energy and ability, was enabled to give to his children far better advantages than any it had been his privilege to enjoy, and of the son it may be said that he availed himself of these opportunities to the utmost, attending school at St. Vincent's until he had completed the regular course of study and had prepared for practical experience in the business world. Upon leaving school he en- tered the establishment on First and Spring streets and thereafter devoted his time and ability to the promotion of the business. Into his quiet, purposeful business career there entered nothing of the spectacular or unusual. There was a steady concentration of business hours upon business duties, but these did not exclude a leisure of identification with promi- nent organizations and commercial concerns.
Upon the organization of the Hibernian Bank Mr. Mullen became one of the original stockholders and a charter member of the board of directors. That substantial institu- tion of finance received much of his time and thought and oversight. During the twenty- four years of his residence in Los Angeles he was a member of St. Vincent's parish, a lead- er in its benefactions, a generous contributor to its maintenance and a munificent assistant
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in the support of hospitals and asylums under its charge. For many years he was a leading member of the Knights of Columbus. In the local lodge of Elks he enjoyed the widest popularity. After the death of his father in 1899 he succeeded to a post of greater respon- sibility in the Mullen-Bluett Clothing Com- pany and when the heirs of the Mullen estate bought out the interests of W. C. Bluett in 1903, one year prior to the death of Mr. Bluett, Arthur B. Mullen took charge of the business as general manager. From that time he con- ducted it in the interest of the family cor- poration. While still in the midst of large commercial enterprises, having won a name that stood for the highest integrity in the business world and having become a progres- sive figure in the onward march of civic ad- vancement, he was suddenly stricken at a banquet at the Alexandria December 9, 1911, and died at the Sisters' hospital on the morn- ing of the 10th, having failed to rally from the unconsciousness into which he had lapsed. From St. Vincent's Church, which for so long had been the recipient of his generosity and his sincere desire to promote the cause of re- ligion, the body was conveyed to Calvary cemetery and there interred. Thus suddenly passed from the midst of large business en- terprises a well-known citizen of Los Angeles, whose life had been intimately identified with civic development and whose excellent busi- ness qualifications added luster to the honored name of Mullen.
ELMER E. JONES. Great progress made by one man in the business world should lend in- spiration to others who are striving for the same magnificent result. The thought of what even the humblest can make of his life by faithful en- deavor and by making the most of his oppor- tunities is what the "lives of great men all remind us." From the commonplace life of a bricklayer in one of the eastern cities of the United States to the opulence of a man with a satisfactory in- come sounds indeed like a fairy tale, but that is what Elmer E. Jones, a prosperous oil operator of Southern California, has made of his life.
Less than fifteen years ago Mr. Jones, who then lived in Pittsburg, Pa., his native city, was engaged in the building contracting business.
Prior to that he had been with his father in the boating and coaling business on the Alleghany river, which he had taken up on leaving school at the age of eighteen, having been a pupil in the public schools and at the Calvert private school. Mr. Jones was born in 1863, the son of John and Margaret Jones, and though for a time he was employed in the same work with his father and was later in business in his home city, he wished to make more of his life. He had not a large amount of money, but getting together enough for the journey west, and taking his wife and chil- dren with him, in 1900 he came to Southern Cali- fornia, a glorious future shining before him just as surely as it lighted the hardships of daily life for the brave pioneers who had come west in search of gold many years before.
A year was spent investigating the oil situation, Mr. Jones thereafter making his headquarters at Bakersfield, Cal., in the center of the oil district of the Kern river. Here he operated in oil, at first risking much on promising property but com- ing steadily to the front in his chosen occupation so that he became the owner of forty-five per cent. of the stock in the Alcides Oil Company and the Producers' Refining Company, with a one- quarter interest in the Big Four Oil Company. He now found himself the owner of a great and increasing fortune. Mr. Jones has now sold the Jones Land and Oil Company to the Standard Oil Company, and since 1911 has been retired from active business, though still keeping interests in oil.
Fraternally associated with the Elks of Bakers- field, Mr. Jones is also a member of the Jona- than Club, the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Sierra Madre Club in Los Angeles, and the Union League Club of San Francisco. In po- litical interests he is allied with the Republicans ; in religious belief he is a Protestant. By his mar- riage in Pittsburg, Pa., in October, 1880, to Lillian Ireland, he had three sons, Walter E., aged twenty-nine years, who has charge of his father's ranch near Whittier; F. Harmar, aged twenty- seven, who is in business with the Standard Oil Company at Whittier ; and Charles C., who died in 1914 at the age of thirty-two years. Now that he has accumulated a competency Mr. Jones is glad to return sometimes to his home city in the east where he enjoys renewing old acquaintances and visiting his birthplace. At his home in La-
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guna, Cal., he entertains on a large scale, and the generous use of his several automobiles and the dinners and elaborate banquets given at his home and in the hotels of Los Angeles prove to his friends the genuine interest and enjoyment which Mr. Jones finds in their companionship.
ABRAM C. DENMAN, JR. The Southern Cal- ifornia Iron and Steel Company is the largest es- tablishment of its kind on the Pacific coast, em- ploying two hundred and thirty men and their business extending over California, Arizona, Ore- gon and the Hawaiian Islands. Since the year 1913, Abram C. Denman, Jr., has been associated with this company, in March of that year having been made its assistant treasurer, and in Septem- ber of the same year being elected vice-president and general manager. He is a man eminently fitted for the responsibilities thus laid upon him, having had practical experience as well as the superintendence in foundries and traction compa- nies both in California and the eastern states, be- fore assuming his duties in the Southern Califor- nia Iron and Steel Company.
The son of Abram Cross and Sarah Hedenberg (Littell) Denman, Abram C. Denman was born in Newark, N. J., December 26, 1875, and re- ceived his education in public and private schools, at the New York Military Academy, and from 1892 to 1895 at Cornell University. Upon the completion of his education, Mr. Denman re- turned to Newark, where he was engaged as apprentice in the foundry of the Benjamin Atha Illingworth Steel Company for a year and a half, after which he became salesman in the New York office of the same firm, which position he retained until 1900, the year of his coming to California, where he settled in the city of Redlands and in 1901 started the San Bernardino Traction Com- pany, of which he himself was both vice-presi- dent and general manager. This company built and operated forty miles of electric railway from Redlands to San Bernardino, and from Colton to Highland, a business which in 1910 Mr. Den- man sold out to H. E. Huntington in order that he might go into the orange growing and pack- ing industry. In March, 1913, he came to Los Angeles, here becoming assistant treasurer of the Southern California Iron and Steel Company, in September of that year being elected vice-presi-
dent and general manager of the same company, which offices he holds at the present time.
At first known as the California Industrial Company, this firm was organized November 25, 1901, its officers at that time being as follows : Frederick H. Rindge, president; J. S. Torrance, vice-president; Frank A. Garbutt, second vice- president; and Lyman Stewart, William R. Staats, W. L. Stewart and S. L. Merrill, directors, the last-mentioned being also secretary and man- ager of the company. The factory at that date occupied a space of two and one-half acres, and employed only four men, on January 20, 1908, the officers being changed, as follows : S. I. Mer- rill, president ; William L. Stewart, vice-president ; Frank Garbutt, second vice-president ; J. A. Pen- dleton, secretary ; and Lyman Stewart, J. S. Tor- rance, W. W. Douglas, William R. Staats, William L. Stewart, Frank Garbutt and S. I. Merrill as directors. On September 30, 1913, the name of the company became the Southern Cali- fornia Iron and Steel Company, which title it still retains, and the officers were again changed, these gentlemen filling the offices at the present time: W. L. Stewart, president ; Abram C. Den- man, Jr., vice-president and general manager ; S. K. Rindge, treasurer ; A. W. Grier, secretary ; and W. L. Stewart, Giles Kellogg, R. J. Keown, Abram C. Denman, Jr., S. K. Rindge, William R. Staats and A. W. Grier directors. In 1908 the company added a large nut and bolt works, which produced for them twenty-four tons of bolts the first month, and since that time they have in- stalled more buildings and machinery, so that at present they hold an important place among manufacturing industries on the western coast, in the production of nuts, bolts, line hardware, rein- forcing steel bars, and all kinds of steel and iron bars, flat, round and square. They are now just completing a $40,000 hearth furnace for the making of soft and high grade steel, and have also a large galvanizing plant, covering four and one-half acres of space, having been the first on the coast to install lifting magnets, and having the largest shears of any west coast company for cutting iron, the shears in use by this firm cutting bars five inches square. In June, 1910, they com- menced the manufacture of rolled bars, turning out, at that time, thirteen tons a day, while at this date their record is seventy-three tons per day, and they produce three hundred tons of
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nuts and bolts a month, and fifteen hundred tons of bars a month.
Mr. Denman, who fills the important offices of vice-president and manager of this great com- pany, which is located at Fourth and Mateo streets, Los Angeles, is also a member of numer- ous clubs and associations, among them being the California Club and Annandale Country Club, the Cornell University Club of Southern Califor- nia, the University Club at Redlands, and the Sons of the Revolution, the Colonial Wars and the War of 1812. In his political associations he is allied with the Republican party, and his re- ligious interests are with the Episcopal Church. The marriage of Mr. Denman with Miss Grace Davis was solemnized in Trinity Church, Newark, N. J., June 17, 1897, and they are the parents of three children, Frederick Halsey, Grachen and John Christopher, all of whom attend the public schools of Los Angeles.
ARTHUR B. BENTON. For many the path of life in early years gives no indication of the avenues into which later activities will turn their steps. Destiny but slowly calls them into their own. Such was the experience of Arthur B. Benton, the eminent architect whom Los Angeles is proud to number among her distinguished citi- zens and whose creative abilities, as expressed in much of the greatest architecture of Southern California, have brought to him a national reputa- tion. In him the fine heritage of a colonial an- cestry, loyal to the welfare of a new country, bat- tling in defense of her institutions and contribut- ing to the common good both in times of war and peace, finds expression in those rare mental and professional attainments that mark the genius of the man and the spirit of his workmanship. The talent that on the one hand has been developed into architectural originality and skill, in another form inspires him with a love for poetry and the arts of music and painting, the whole blending into a well-rounded character symmetrical of spirit and ardent of action. The early years of agricultural enterprise were not without their wholesome effect in the development of both brain and brawn, but at the age of thirty he relinquished permanently all identification with farming pursuits, in order to develop a talent for drawing and designing. Subsequent personal history indicates that change
to have been the turning point of his career. A native of Peoria, Ill., born in 1858, to Ira Eddy and Caroline A. (Chandler) Benton, he had been graduated from the Peoria high school in 1877 and from that time until 1888 had engaged in farming in Iowa and Kansas, meanwhile in 1883 being united in marriage with Harriet P. Von Schilling, whose faith in his genius had not a little influence in bringing about the change from agriculture to architecture.
Throughout two years of service as a drafts- man in the office of the chief engineer of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad at Topeka, Kans., Mr. Benton pursued his studies in the School of Art and Design in that city, from which he was graduated in 1890. He then became a draftsman in the office of the chief engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad at Omaha, but in 1891 resigned the position and removed to Los Angeles, where he formed a partnership with W. C. Aiken for the practice of architecture. In 1896 he pur- chased the interest of Mr. Aiken and since has continued alone. To enumerate his designs would be to present a list of many of the most noteworthy buildings, public and private, to be found in Southern California. Although possess- ing taste in every line of architecture his talent for the planning of institutional buildings is most marked. In that respect he perhaps has few su- periors in the entire country. It is said that the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A., together with the Mary Andrews Clark Memorial home, are not sur- passed by any buildings of their kind, not only for outward symmetry and attractiveness, but also for interior convenience and artistic beauty. Tour- ists who have traveled throughout the world often express the opinion that there is no more charm- ing hotel anywhere than the Mission Inn of River- side, and the architecture of this noted building expresses the originality of Mr. Benton, as well as his ability to design a structure in perfect keep- ing with its attractive environment and with the style of architecture typical of Southern Cali- fornia.
A partial list of the buildings designed by Mr. Benton follows: Arlington hotel in Santa Bar- bara; San Marcos hotel in Chandler, Ariz .; County Club house at Montecito; Arrowhead ho- tel near San Bernardino; Friday Morning Club house in Los Angeles; Women's Club houses in Covina, Long Beach and Redlands; Episcopal churches in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Covina,
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Duarte, Upland, Montecito, Oxnard and Hue- neme; the parish building of the Pro-Cathedral in Los Angeles ; the elegant country home of Anita Baldwin-McClaughry at Santa Anita; the dwell- ings of John T. Gaffey at San Pedro, Lieut-Gov. Wallace near Glendale, E. J. Brent, Waller Chans- lor, A. L. Cheney (in Los Angeles), Rev. Charles Hibbard, Alexander Drake and M. E. Tolerton (in Pasadena); also the resi- dence of George B. Linnard at Riverside; the hospital for the University of California in Los Angeles; the buildings for the Harvard and Thacher schools; and many other structures each ideal of its type and substantial in design. That he maintains an intense devotion to all lines of effort associated with his chosen profession ap- pears in his membership in the American Insti- tute of Architects, whose Southern California chapter he assisted in founding and three times served as president; the Engineers & Architects Association of Southern California, in which he has been honored with the presidency, besides serving for years as a director ; the Southern Cali- fornia Academy of Science, of which he is presi- dent and a director ; the Landsmark Club, which he assisted in founding ; the Southwest Archeolog- ical Society and the National Geographic Society. Along the line of investments he serves as a di- rector in the West Coast Apartment Company. That he might evince his practical interest in Los Angeles he became a member of the Chamber of Commerce. For years he has been connected with the Episcopal Church and has contributed in a most practical manner to religious work in the community. Indication of his social nature appears in his association with the Santa Barbara Club, the University Club of Redlands, the Jona- than, Athletic, and Union League Clubs of Los Angeles, while his heritage of colonial ancestry gives him membership in the Society of the Sons of the Revolution and the California Society of Colonial Wars, in which he is a life member and past governor. Politics with him has been sub- sidiary to good citizenship, but he keeps posted concerning national issues and gives allegiance to Republican principles.
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