USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs : also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I > Part 66
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ing now in use that was built in the Spanish era of our city's history.
THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. VIBIANA
The cornerstone of the Cathedral of St. Vibiana was laid by the Right Rev. Bishop Amat, Oc- tober 3, 1869. "There was," says the Star, "an immense concourse of citizens present, both ladies and gentlemen, all desirous to witness the inter- esting ceremonies. It was the largest assemblage drawn together here and must have amounted to nearly 3,000 persons. The cathedral is to be cruciform, 116 feet wide, 266 feet long, the tran- sept or cross 168 feet. The estimated cost $100,- 000."
The first site chosen for the cathedral and the place where the cornerstone was laid October 3, 1869, was on the west side of Main street be- tween Fifth and Sixth, extending through to Spring street. This location was well out of town then. In 1871 the site was changed to the pres- ent location of the cathedral, east side of Main, just south of Second street. The edifice was opened for service Palm Sunday, April 9, 1876, but the formal dedication took place April 30, and was conducted by Bishop Alemany.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES
The first Protestant sermon ever preached in Los Angeles was delivered by a Methodist min- ister, Rev. J. W. Brier. The place of service was the adobe residence of J. G. Nichols, which stood on the present site of the Bullard block, and the time a Sunday in June, 1850. Mr. Brier was one of the belated immigrants of 1849, who reached Salt Lake City too late in the season to cross the Sierra Nevadas before the snowfall. A party of these numbering 500 under the leadership of Jef- ferson Hunt, a Mormon, started by the then al- most unknown southern route to Los Angeles. After traveling together for several weeks, a number of the immigrants became dissatisfied, and leaving the main body undertook to reach the settlements on the sea coast by crossing the desert in the neighborhood of Death Valley. Mr. Brier was of this party. Many of these unfor- tunates perished on the desert. After almost in- credible hardships and suffering Mr. Brier, with his wife and three children, reached Los Angeles
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in February, 1850, by way of the Soledad canon. He remained here for several months and then went north.
Early in 1853 Rev. Adam Bland was sent by the California Conference to Los Angeles as a missionary. His field was Southern California. He rented or leased for a church a frame build- ing which had formerly been used for a saloon. This building stood on the present site of the Merced theatre or Abbot block. Here he held legular services twice every Sunday from 1853 to 1855, when he was made presiding elder. Mrs. Bland taught a girls' school in the building in 1853, which was known as the Methodist Chapel. The other pastors who either assisted him while in charge of the church or succeeded him were Revs. J. Dunlap, J. McHenry Colwell and W. R. Peck. In October, 1857, Elijah Mearchant took charge, succeeding Rev. A. L. S. Bateman.
In the Weekly Star of March 1, 1855, I find this item: "Rev. Mr. Colwell informs us that a contract has been made with Messrs. Loyd & Sons to build a brick church in this city next summer. The size is to be 40x24 feet. The ma- terials are to be of the best and the style the most modern. The property is to belong to the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. The entire cost is pro- vided for except $500." The church was not built. After 1858 the field seems to have been abandoned. There is no record of any other Methodist minister being stationed here until 1866, when Rev. C. Gillet came as a missionary. He was succeeded by A. P. Hernden in 1867. Rev. A. P. Coplin had charge in 1868 and Rev. A. M. Hough in 1869-70.
The first church built by the Methodist denom- ination in Los Angeles was on the west side of Broadway, between Third and Fourth streets. It was dedicated November 15, 1868. The follow- ing extract from the Weekly Star gives an ac- count of the dedication and cost of the building. "The services of dedication of the new Methodist Church in this city took place on Sunday morn- ing last, November 15. Rev. Dr. Thomas of San Francisco preached the dedicating sermon. Rev. A. Bland assisted on the occasion. There was a large attendance and a subscription of $750 was taken up, leaving as a debt on the congregation 25
$1,000. The lot and building cost $3,150, of which $1,400 have been paid." In 1875 a second church edifice was erected on the south 70 feet of the lot on which the first building was built. The second building cost $18,000. In 1887 it was enlarged and improved at an expense of $14,000. The conversion of Fort street, now changed to Broadway, to a business street necessitated the change of the church's location. The lot was sold in July, 1899, for $68,000. The last sermon was preached in it August 20, 1899. The con- gregation of the First Methodist Church, for- merly the Fort street, completed in 1900 a hand- some building on the northeast corner of Hill and Sixth streets.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES (SOUTH)
The first permanent organization of this de- nomination was effected in 1873. A lot was pur- chased on the east side of Spring street, between First and Second streets, where the Corfu block now stands. On this was erected the original Trinity Church, under the pastorate of the Rev. A. M. Campbell. This church was sold in 1884 and a larger lot purchased on Broadway, between Fifth and Sixth streets. On this, in 1885, a building costing about $40,000 was erected. This lot was sold in 1894 at a handsome profit and the present building on Grand avenue near Eighth street built.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
As pioneers in the missionary field of Los Angeles, the Methodists came first and the Presbyterians second. The Rev. James Woods held the first Presbyterian service in November, 1854, in a little carpenter shop that stood on part of the site now occupied by the Pico house. The first organization of a Presbyterian church was effected in March, 1855, with twelve members. The Rev. Woods held regular Sunday services in the old Court House, northwest corner of North Spring and Franklin streets, during the fall of 1854 and part of the year 1855. He organized a church and also a Sunday school. He was suc- ceeded by the Rev. T. N. Davis, who continued regular services until August, 1856, when he abandoned the field in disgust and returned to his home in the east.
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The editor of the Los Angeles Star, comment- ing on his departure and on the moral destitution of the city says: "The Protestant portion of the American population are now without the privi- lege of assembling together to worship God under direction of one of his ministers."
"The state of society here is truly deplorable." "To preach week after week to empty benches is certainly not encouraging, but if in addition to that a minister has to contend against a torrent of vice and immorality which obliterates all traces of the Christian Sabbath- to be compelled to endure blasphemous denuncia- tions of his Divine Master; to live where society is disorganized, religion scoffed at, where violence runs riot, and even life itself is unsafe-such a condition of affairs may suit some men, but it is not calculated for the peaceful labors of one who follows unobtrusively the footsteps of the meek and lowly Savior."
After the departure of the Rev. Davis in 1856, and the discontinuance of Methodist and Epis- copal services in the latter part of 1857 a season of spiritual darkness seems to have enshrouded Los Angeles. There was, as far as I can learn, no Protestant service in Los Angeles during the year 1858.
The next Presbyterian minister to locate in Los Angeles was the Rev. William E. Board- man. He and his wife arrived February 6, 1859. He preached his first sermon February 26, in School House No. 2, located on Bath street north of the Plaza. He reorganized the Sunday school.
It had become clearly evident to the few church-going people resident in the city that dif- ferent denominational church services could not be maintained in it. The question of uniting the representatives of the different Protestant churches into one organization was agitated. A call for all such was made. The Los Angeles Star of May 7, 1859, contains the following re- port of that meeting :
FIRST PROTESTANT SOCIETY
At a meeting held for the purpose of organiz- ing an Association for maintaining Protestant worship in the City of Los Angeles, the Rev. W. E. Boardman was called to the chair, and Will- iam H. Shore appointed Secretary-and the fol-
lowing preamble and Constitution were unani- mously adopted :
First Protestant Society of the City of Los An- geles, California
Desirous of securing for ourselves and others in our city, the privileges of Divine Worship ac- cording to the Protestant order; and in the ab- sence of a regularly organized Protestant Church, seeing the necessity for some other as- sociation which can authorize the collection and disbursement of money and the transaction of such other business as will necessarily arise, we, who hereunto affix our names, have agreed to unite in a society for the purpose of supporting Protestant Worship here, and do adopt for our organization and government the following :
CONSTITUTION
Article 1. Our style and title shall be "The First Protestant Society of the City of Los An- geles."
2nd. Our officers shall be, a Board of Trus- tees, five in number, three of whom shall con- stitute a quorum, to be elected annually, and re- port at the end of each year. One of their own number shall be selected by themselves to be the President of the society, and another as Secre- tary and Treasurer.
3rd. An annual meeting duly called and pub- licly notified by the Board, shall be held on the first Wednesday of May in each year, or if that day shall be allowed to pass without a meeting, then, as soon after as notice can be duly given, for the purpose of hearing the annual report of the Board and holding the annual election. Any vacancy occurring in the Board during the year may be filled ad interim by the selection of some one by the Board itself.
4th. Money may be collected for the society by such persons only as the Board shall appoint. And the Treasurer may pay out money for the society only upon the written order of the Board, signed by the President.
5th. The condition of membership in the so- ciety is simply the signing of this constitution. And the duty of each member shall be, to aid in all suitable ways in securing the present maintenance and permanent establishment and successful progress of Protestant Worship in this city.
Adopted this fourth day of May, A. D. 1859. ISAAC S. K. OGIER, D. McLAREN,
WM. MCKEE, THOS. FOSTER,
A. J. KING,. WM. H. SHORE,
C. SIMS, N. A. POTTER,
CHARLES S. ADAMS,
J. R. GITCHELL.
WM. S. MORROW,
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The constitution having been signed by those present, the Society proceeded to nominate and elect their officers for the ensuing year, where- upon the Hon. I. S. K. Ogier, Hon. B. D. Wil- son, J. R. Gitchell, N. A. Potter and Wm. Mc- Kee, were unanimously chosen trustees. On mo- tion it was
Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be published in the newspapers of this city.
On motion, the Society adjourned.
W. E. BOARDMAN, Chairman. WM. H. SHORE, Secretary.
J. R. Gitchell, William McKee and H. D. Bar- rows were appointed collectors to obtain funds for the benefit of the society. The organization was composed of members of different Protestant denominations and of those who did not belong to any. The Rev. Boardman continued to preach for the society up to the time of his departure, April, 1862. The services were held at first in the school house and later in the court house.
A lot was secured at the southwest corner of Temple and New High streets, where the stone steps lead up to the court house, and the erection of a brick church begun. The work progressed slowly. When Mr. Boardman left, early in 1862, the walls were up and the roof on, but the build- ing was not fit for occupancy. After the de- parture of Mr. Boardman another season of "spiritual darkness" settled down on the city. The Civil war was in progress and sectional hatreds were bitter. During 1863 and 1864 there was no regular Protestant service.
In 1864 the unfinished church was advertised for sale on account of delinquent taxes. Nobody wanted a half built church when the sheriff was offering a rancho of 1,200 acres for $4 unpaid taxes.
The next Presbyterian minister to locate in Los Angeles was the Rev. W. C. Harding, who came in 1869. He abandoned the field in 1871. The Rev. F. A. White, LL.D., came in 1875. He was succeeded by the Rev. F. M. Cunningham, and he by the Rev. J. W. Ellis. Under the min- istry of Mr. Ellis in 1882-83 a church was erected on the southeast corner of Broadway and Second streets. The building and lot cost about $20,000. Services were held in it until March, 1895, when it was sold for $55,000. The congregation di-
vided into two organizations. The First Presby- terian and the Central Presbyterian. The First Presbyterian built a church on Figueroa and Twentieth streets. The Central Presbyterian se- cured a site on the east side of Hill street be- tween Second and Third street with a dwelling house upon it which they have enlarged and re- modeled and used for a church.
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCHES
The first Protestant Episcopal Church service held in Los Angeles was conducted by Dr. Mathew Carter. An item in the Weekly Star of May 9, 1857, states that "Dr. Carter announces that he has been licensed and authorized by the Right Rev. W. Ingraham Kip, Bishop of Cali- fornia, to act as lay reader for the Southern Dis- trict." He held regular service for a time in Mechanics' Institute hall, which was in a sheet- iron building near the corner of Court and North Spring streets. In October, 1857, St. Luke's parish was organized, and the following named gentlemen elected a board of trustees : Dr. T. J. White, Dr. Mathew Carter and William Shore. A building was rented on Main street, near Sec- ond, where services were held every Sunday, Dr. Carter officiating. Services seem to have been discontinued about the close of the year 1857, and the church was dissolved. On January 1, 1865, the Rev. Elias Birdsall, a missionary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, preached his first sermon in Odd Fellows' hall. Downey block. The Protestant society which had begun the erection of a church building in 1859 under the ministra- tion of Rev. William E. Boardman, a Presby- terian minister, as has been previously stated, offered the unfinished building to the Rev. Bird- sall for services. He assented to this on con- dition that it be transferred to the Episcopalians. Those who had contributed toward its erection consented, and the transfer was made. The edifice was completed and named St. Athanasius Church, and the Episcopalians continued to wor- ship in this building until Christmas, 1883; in the meantime the property was sold to the county for a court house site. A site for a new church was purchased on Olive street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, where a handsome building
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was erected. In 1884 the name of the organiza- tion was changed to St. Paul's Church, the name it still bears.
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES
The first Congregational minister to locate in Los Angeles was the Rev. Alexander Parker, a Scotchman by birth and a graduate of Oberlin College and Theological Seminary. He had served in the Union army as a member of the famous student company of Oberlin College-a company whose membership was largely made up of theological students.
He preached his first sermon here July 7, 1866, in the court house. A church was organized July 21, 1867, with six members. A lot was purchased on New High street, north of Tem- ple, where the Beaudry stone wall now stands and a movement begun to raise funds to build a church. The effort was successful. The fol- lowing extract from the Los Angeles Star gives an account of the dedication of the church :
"On Sunday morning last (June 28, 1868), the new Congregational Church was opened for divine service at 11 A. M.
"The Rev. E. C. Bissell, pastor of Green Street Church, San Francisco, delivered the dedicatory sermon. At the close of the sermon the Rev. Alexander Parker came forward and gave an account of his stewardship in his exertions to raise this house for the worship of God. The total cost was about $3,000, of which $1,000 was obtained from San Francisco; $1.000 partly as a loan and partly as a gift from churches in the Atlantic states, and collections of small amounts at home, leaving at present a debt of about $400 on the building, which, though complete, is not yet quite furnished. The house is small, but very neatly arranged; the pews are ample and comfortable, and the building is lofty and well ventilated. Its dimensions are 30x50 feet ; it will seat 175 to 200 persons."
Rev. Parker resigned in August, 1868. He was succeeded by the Rev. Isaac W. Atherton, who reorganized the church November 29, 1868. Services were held in the little church on New High street until 1883. when, on May 3d of that year, the church on the corner of Hill and Third streets was completed and dedicated. The build- ing lot and organ cost about $25,000. In May, 1888, this building was sold to the Central Baptist Church, and a lot purchased on the southwest cor- ner of Hill and Sixth streets. On this a building
was erected in 1889. The cost of the lot, church building and furnishing amounted to about $72,- 000, to which was added a fine organ, at a cost of about $5,000. This church property was sold in 1902 for $77,000, and a new site purchased on Hope street near the corner of Ninth, where a beautiful brick and stone church costing $100,000 was completed in July, 1903.
BAPTIST CHURCHES.
The first sermon preached by a Baptist minister in Los Angeles was delivered by Rev. Freeman in 1853.
The first regular church services held in this city by a Baptist minister were conducted by the Rev. Fryer in school house No. 1, which stood on the northwest corner of Spring and Second streets. The Rev. Fryer held services every Sunday dur- ing the year 1860. He seems to have aban- doned the field in the early part of 1861. I find no record of any services by a minister of that church between 1861 and 1874.
The First Baptist Church of Los Angeles was organized September 6, 1874, by Rev. William Hobbs. There were but eight members in the or- ganization. The services were held in the old court house. Dr. Hobbs severed his connection with the church in June, 1857. For fifteen months the church was without a pastor. In September, 1876, Rev. Winfield Scott took charge of it. He was succeeded in 1878 by the Rev. I. N. Parker, and he by Rev. Henry Angel, who died in 1879.
The church meetings were transferred from the court house to a hall owned by Dr. Zahn, on Spring street between Fourth and Fifth streets. From there it moved to Good Templars' hall on North Main street. The ordinance of baptism was administered either in the river or in the baptistery of the Christian Church on Temple street.
For two years after the death of Dr. Angel the church remained without a regular minister. In 1881 Rev. P. W. Dorsey took charge of it. A lot was secured on the northeast corner of Broad- way and Sixth streets, and in March, 1884, a church building was completed and dedicated. The building and lots cost about $25,000. In the summer of 1897 the lot and building were sold for $45,000, and with the addition of $5,000 raised by subscription a larger and more com- modious building was erected on Flower street, between Seventh and Eighth streets.
CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
The first sermon preached by a member of the Christian denomination was delivered by Rev. G. W. Linton in August, 1874, in the court room of the old court house. In October and Novem- ber of that year inquiries were made in the city
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for persons who had been connected with the church in other places. Twenty-three were found. Of these fifteen signified their willing- ness to unite in forming a church. On the 26th of February, 1875, the first church was organ- ized. Rev. W. J. A. Smith was the first preach- er. He conducted church services from 1875 to 1877. He was succeeded by Rev. John C. Hay, who served as pastor from 1877 to 1881. The Rev. B. F. Coulter filled the pulpit from 1881 to 1884. During his ministry, and largely through his contributions, the First Church was built on Temple street near Broadway, where the Aber- deen lodging house now stands. Services were held in this building until 1894, when it was sold and a church edifice erected on the corner of Hope and Eleventh streets at a cost of $25,000, with Rev. A. C. Smithers as pastor. In 1895 the Rev. B. F. Coulter erected the Broadway Church of Christ on Broadway near Temple, at a cost of about $20,000. He conducts the serv- ice in this church, which is free from debt.
UNITARIAN CHURCHES.
The first religious services held by the Uni- tarians were at the residence of T. E. Severance in March, 1877. In May of that year an or- ganization was perfected and regular services were conducted by the Rev. John D. Wells.
In 1885 the Rev. Eli Fay located in Los An- geles and conducted services for a time in the Masonic hall, No. 135 South Spring street. The church was reorganized and the services were held in Child's opera house on Main street. A lot was secured on Seventh street near Broadway, and largely through the liberality of Dr. Fay a church building, 45x100 feet in area, was erected at a cost of $25,000. The church was dedicated June 16, 1889. It was destroyed by fire in 1892. The congregation then purchased from the Baptists the church building on the
northeast corner of Hill and Third street, orig- inally built by the Congregationalists. This site was sold for business purposes in 1899. The last sermon was preached in it by the Rev. C. K. Jones March 18, 1900. The congregation built a new church on Flower street between Ninth and Tenth streets.
SYNAGOGUES.
Congregation of B'nai B'rith. The first Jew- ish services in Los Angeles were held in 1854. No place of worship was erected for several years later. In 1862 Rabbi A. W. Edleman or- ganized the congregation of B'nai B'rith and conducted the services until 1886.
The first synagogue was built in 1873 on what is now the site of the Copp building, just north of the city hall grounds on the east side of Broadway. The lot and buildings were sold in 1894 and a new synagogue erected on the corner of Ninth and Hope streets.
OTHER DENOMINATIONS.
The Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) was first organized in the autmun of 1882. Services are now held at No. 516 Temple street.
The New Church (Swedenborgian) was or- ganized in 1894, and held services for some time in Temperance Temple. It has since erected a church building at No. 515 East Ninth street at a cost of $3,000.
Seventh Day Adventist, organized in 1880 and built a church on Sixth street. They have now a church at No. 121 Carr street which cost $6,000.
Friends Church was organized in 1897. The congregation have erected a church building on the corner of Third and Fremont avenue at a cost of $4,000.
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CHAPTER LVIII.
THE PIONEER NEWSPAPERS OF LOS ANGELES.
T O give a history of all the newspapers, came in sheets a little larger than ordinary fools- living and dead, that have existed in Los cap. Angeles within the past fifty-five years would fill a large-sized volume. I have limited my sketches to newspapers whose founding dates back twenty-five years or to those established before January 1, 1882. Of these there are four still living.
The following sketch of the first newspaper published in Los Angeles is compiled from a paper prepared by the author of this history sev- eral years since and published in the Annual of the Southern California Historical Society for 1900. Since the preparation of this article the files of the Star, from which the earlier histori- cal facts were drawn, have been lost or de- stroyed, and as no duplicates to my knowledge exist I have for that reason given more space to the history of the Star than otherwise would be- long to it.
In our American colonization of the "Great West," the newspaper has kept pace with immi- gration. In the building up of a new town, the want of a newspaper seldom becomes long felt before it is supplied.
It was not so in Spanish colonization; in it the newspaper came late, if it came at all. There were none published in California during the Spanish and Mexican eras. The first newspaper published in California was issued at Monterey, August 15, 1846,-just thirty-eight days after Commodore Sloat took possession of the terri- tory in the name of the United States. This paper was called "The Californian" and was pub- lished by Semple & Colton. The type and press used had been brought from Mexico by Agustin V. Zamorano in 1834, and by him sold to the territorial government ; and it had been used for printing bandos and pronunciamientos. The on- ly paper the publishers of The Californian could procure was that used in making cigarettes which
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