USA > California > A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, Volume II > Part 20
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Politically he is a Republican, and active in the workings of the party. He served for one term as a member of the school board from the Fourth ward. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic body at Los Angeles, and is also identified with Stanton Post, G. A. R.
WILLIAM J. McCALDIN. A compara- tively brief time in the life of William J. Mc- Caldin was passed as a citizen of Pasadena. yet he is remembered by early residents of that city as an upbuilder and a progressive spirit which added no little toward the advancement and development of this section of Southern California. The exigencies of an eastern cli- mate forced him to leave the scenes of his business activities and the success which had always accompanied his efforts enabled him to bring with him to Southern California a fortune which was at once invested in real estate, and its consequent improvement and development gave to Mr. McCaldin a place
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among the citizens whose work contributed toward the permanent prosperity of the city.
Mr. McCaldin benefited by an inheritance of the sterling traits of character which were noticeable features in his successful career, being the descendant of a Scotch-Irish family of worth and ability. He was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1847, a son of William and Sarah (Bell) McCaldin, natives respectively of Ire- land and Scotland; the father died at the age of thirty-seven years, while the mother at- tained the ripe age of ninety-four. They had five sons, of whom William J. was the first to come to America, the others following him later and engaging in business with him. He had received a good education through an at- tendance of the public schools and a college there, and in young manhood he sought a new home and wider opportunities on this side of the Atlantic. Soon after his arrival in New York City he engaged in the coal business, later drifting into the shipping business, when he began building and buying vessels, tugs and canal boats, and eventually working up an. ex- tensive business in this line-used principally in the merchant marine trade. His interests were on the East river, where he owned tugs, canal boats and schooners used in the coal trade, as well as transatlantic and West Indian trade. He owned the South Portland for many years, but finally sold her to San Francisco parties, and this boat was afterward lost on the Pacific coast. Notwithstanding he was al- ways actively engaged in business affairs he was a progressive and liberal citizen in every respect and gave liberally of both time and means toward the furtherance of any plan ad- vanced for the betterment of his community, being one of the most active of the business men in the establishment of a produce ex- change in New York City, as well as countless other enterprises of public import.
His health breaking in 1885, Mr. McCaldin sought a milder climate, and in Southern Cali- fornia established his home. He was located for a time in Sierra Madre Villa and then re- moved to Pasadena, where he invested about $200,000 in real estate. Here he made his home up to the time of his death, which oc- curred in 1892. He made a place for himself
among the enterprising and progressive citi- zens of Pasadena and Los Angeles, and at the same time built up a wide circle of friends, who appreciated him for the sterling traits of character always manifested in all his dealings with the public. He voted the Republican ticket, but did not aspire to official recogni- tion ; in religion he was a member of the Pres- byterian Church. Fraternally he was a Mason of Knight Templar degree.
In New York City, in 1871, Mr. McCaldin was united in marriage with Miss Alice Ledi- ard, who now survives her husband. They had two daughters, Alice, now the wife of Senator H. S. G. McCartney, of Los Angeles, and Sarah, who died in Pasadena in 1894. Mrs. McCaldin is the descendant of an old French family, the name being originally Le Diard, but it was changed to its present spelling by her father, Charles Redmond Lediard. The latter was born in Bristol, England, and there graduated in medicine and pharmacy. At the age of twenty-five years he served as the youngest member of Parliament. Afterward he removed to St. Vincent's, West Indies, and there Mrs. McCaldin was born. He became the owner of a valuable estate abounding in forests of mahogany and rosewood, and also engaged in the drug business and the practice of dentistry in New York City, where he after- ward located. His death occurred in Brook- lyn, N. Y., in November, 1892, at the age of seventy-six years. He was also prominent in public affairs and interested in the develop- ment of whatever community he made his home, giving liberally toward this end. He was associated with the Masonic organization, having taken the thirty-second degree, and in religion was a member of the Episcopal Church. His wife was in maidenhood Mary Pollard, who was born in London, England, and died in Brooklyn. She was the daughter of Dr. Pollard, who died in France. Mrs. McCaldin was educated in the Morris Female Institute, of Morristown, N. J., after which she was married, and twelve years later be- came a resident of Southern California, where her home has been ever since. She is, how- ever, an extensive traveler, having made the trip across the continent twenty-three times.
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Since her husband's death she has devoted her time to the management of her estate and has displayed unusual business ability and judg- ment along this line.
GIDEON TABOR STEWART, a retired citi- zen of Pasadena, brought with him to Southern California when he came here the magnificent record of a successful lawyer and man of affairs. He was born at Johnstown, N. Y., August 7, 1824, and was named for Judge Gideon Tabor, his parents being Thomas Ferguson and Petreshe (Hill) Stewart, descendants of Scotch-Irish an- cestry. His father was a contractor and builder at Schenectady, N. Y., where his grandmother, Elizabeth (Ferguson) Stewart, daughter of Dr. Thomas Ferguson, of Stewart Town, Ireland, opened the first English school and academy, which continued under her auspices until it was merged in Union College. She was well edu- cated and a very successful teacher, among the pupils attracted to her instruction being Richard Yates, afterward governor of Illinois. Mr. Stew- art's mother was a daughter of the distinguished divine and Revolutonary patriot, Rev. Nicholas Hill, whose family located in Schenectady from Londonderry, Ireland, near the beginning of the eighteenth century. The maternal great-grand- father, Henry Hill, was a prominent citizen of Schenectady and a loyal patriot to the cause of the colonies, and because of his fearlessness in upholding the cause was arrested by the British soldiers and so cruelly tortured that he died in less than a year thereafter, this being about the commencement of the Revolution. Two of his sons, Nicholas and Harry, inspired by his patriot- ism and loyalty, enlisted in the cause of the col- onies, in the Second New York Regiment, and were with Washington at Valley Forge and Yorktown and remained until his army was dis- banded in 1783. Then, for the first time since leaving their home for the dangers and hard- ships of camp life, they returned to Schenectady, where Nicholas completed his studies and entered the Christian ministry, rounding out the years of a well-spent life on his beautiful farm by the Mohawk, opposite the city of Amsterdam, where he passed away at the advanced age of ninety years. He reared a family of children who per-
petuated the honorable name, Nicholas Hill, Jr., being celebrated as the owner of the largest pri- vate law library in the United States as well as the most lucrative practice; and John L. Hill, an eminent lawyer, and leading counsel for defend- ant in the famous Tilton vs. Beecher case. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart had four sons who sought the legal profession, while a fifth, Alexander A. Stew- art, was a prominent merchant of Columbus and during the Civil war was a government con- tractor, furnishing uniforms for the soldiers. He was a strong temperance advocate, and father of Rev. George B. Stewart, president of Mt. Auburn (N. Y.) Theological Seminary. Of the four sons who studied law Merwin Hill graduated with honors at Union College, but died when preparing for the bar; James Ferguson graduated from Oberlin College, went with early settlers to Cali- fornia and was one of the oldest lawyers of San Francisco when he died in 1893, leaving a son and grandson as worthy members of the bar of that city ; Nicholas Hill, Jr., was both scholar and lawyer, and acquired fame as an educator, being at the head of the principal institution in the state of Florida, at Quincy, where he died in 1858; and Gideon Tabor, of this review, completes the list
Orphaned by the death of his mother in his infancy, Gideon Tabor Stewart received parental training from his father, who placed him in Ober- lin Institute at an early age. However, he left the studies of this institution to read law in the office of Jairus Kennan, of Norwalk, Ohio, re- maining with him from the spring of 1842 for the period of a year, when he went to Columbus and entered the law office of Hon. N. H. Swayne, afterwards a justice of the United States st- preme court. Going to Florida a year and a half later, he spent two winters with his brother, Nicholas, and after returning to Norwalk he was admitted to the bar August 14, 1846. He became a partner of Jairus Kennan, with whom he prac- ticed for some time. January 26, 1866, he was admitted to practice in the supreme court of the United States, being at that time a resident of Iowa. He had located in the latter state shortly after the outbreak of the Civil war and there purchased the Dubuque Times, the only daily Union paper in the north half of the state at that time. Mr. Stewart was a stanch Union man
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and being physically disqualified for field service resolved to give his time and attention to interests which might operate in favor of the cause he espoused. The Confederate forces then held the greater part of the lower Mississippi river and its valley, and were fast moving in the direction of Dubuque, then a very important military point on the Mississippi river, anticipating its speedy capture and the reduction of Iowa to slave terri- tory. Dubuque county and city were in the cen- ter of the lead mining industry, which attracted there a large foreign-born element in its popu- lation. This, from its anti-negro antipathies, found no difficulty in attaching itself to the pro- slavery side of politics, and by its vote largely controlled the elections. It was therefore for the purpose of bringing before the minds of this population the true condition of affairs and not as stated by the radical Democrat paper of the place, the Dubuque Daily Herald, whose editor was arrested and placed in prison by the National government because of treasonable acts and pub- lications. Soon after the close of the war Mr. Stewart sold the Dubuque Times and its printing office for the same price that he bought them, although he had nearly doubled the paper in size and much increased its market value, for the rea- son that he wished to return to Norwalk and resume his law practice. Its purchaser was a prominent Republican and from that time it re- sumed its former party control.
Returning to Norwalk in the latter part of the year 1866 Mr. Stewart resumed his law practice and continued it successfully until December, 1901, when by advice from his physician he came to Southern California. Since that year he has continued to make his home in Pasadena, leaving his business and property at Norwalk in the care of his sons. He is eighty-three years old, hale and hearty in appearance, and retaining the cheer- ful manner and charm of personality which have won him a host of friends wherever he is known. Of the children born to himself and wife (who was formerly Abby N. Simmons, of Greenfield, Huron county, where their marriage occurred in 1857), all are living, one daughter and three sons. Mrs. Stewart passed away in February, 1899, at their home in Norwalk.
In addition to the engrossing interests entailed by his large law practice, which has included
many important cases in Ohio (the printed law records and briefs of his supreme court cases alone making four large volumes), Mr. Stewart has taken an active part in public affairs, botli state and national. He was one of the organizers of the first east and west railroad through Nor- walk, named the Cleveland, Norwalk & Toledo Railroad, and which now forms a part of the main line of the railway from New York to Chicago. He was three times elected by Whigs and Free Soilers as auditor of Huron county, and zeal- ously opposed the extension of slavery. When news came of the influx of slaveholders and their slaves, with the consequent fighting and blood- shed, in Kansas, Mr. Stewart organized a com- pany of about a hundred settlers from Huron county, and going to the garret of the court house, brought down a supply of guns and equip- ment of the old militia training system, with con- sent of the commissioners, to arm the men. By his contribution and that obtained by him from others, these arms were well cleaned and re- paired. His deputy auditor went with the com- pany, their wives and. children for permanent settlement there. By their attitude they were allowed to settle there and live in peace until the outbreak of the Civil war. Originally Mr. Stew- art belonged to the old Whig party and at the commencement of the war he became a Repub- lican, but at its close passed into the Prohibition party, where he has ever since remained one of its most devoted advocates. For fifteen years he was a member and for four years chairman of its national committee, and was unanimously nom- inated by three state conventions of the party in Ohio for president of the United States, but each time declined to be a candidate for that office. At one time he was candidate of the party for vice-president of the United States, was three times its candidate for governor of Ohio, and nine times its candidate for judge of the supreme court of the state. He was grand worthy patri- arch of the Sons of Temperance, and three times elected grand worthy chief Templar of the Good Templars of Ohio; and was prominent in the Maine law and other temperance movements. He was president of the Law Library Association of Huron county at Norwalk, and one of its organ- izers. He has been engaged in many business and commercial enterprises, in the early years of
Carrie Mr. Jones.
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his practice having edited the Norwalk Reflector, the Whig organ of Huron county, and was for several years half owner of the Toledo Blade. He is a life member of the American Bible So- ciety ; has been for many years president of the Firelands Historical Society, of which he was one of the founders over forty years ago and which has published over three thousand pages of historic collections. He was one of the found- ers and first officers of the Whittlesey Academy of Arts and Sciences at Norwalk (and is its only surviving charter member), which has maintained a large library and reading room with valuable courses of lectures. He was also one of the pioneers of the Scotch-Irish Society of America and director of the Western Reserve Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and is now vice-president of the California Humane Society. In addition to all the activities mentioned, he has written and published a volume of poems and also a historic booklet on ex-presidents John and John Quincy Adams. As a speaker he is fluent and ready and has been called upon for many political speeches and numerous finished addresses on other subjects, during his long and useful life. It is something to have lived as Mr. Stew- art has done; to have steadily and conscientiously erected the structure which indicates his aims and purposes in life; to have won success finan- cially and in the eyes of his fellowmen; and with all to have retained to the evening of his days the personality which has distinguished him in his career.
JOHN H. JONES. One of the most es- teemed and helpful citizens of Los Angeles was the late John H. Jones, who as a pioneer of the state of California and an early settler of this city gave liberally of time and means toward its upbuilding and development. Mr. Jones was the son of an Englishman, and was born in Greenbush, N. Y., March 31, 1834 ; his parents, James and Sarah (Olds) Jones, grew to maturity in England, where they married and acquired a competency which enabled them to retire from active business pursuits on coming to America. Their two other chil- dren, a son and daughter, were both born in England, and both died when past middle age.
James Jones died in Massachusetts, where he had made his home in retirement, typical of the best in an English gentleman's life; held in high esteem by those who knew him best, for the sterling traits of character which dis- tinguished his citizenship.
John H. Jones was but a lad in years when he lost his father, his early training thus de- volving upon the mother, who gave to him by inheritance and precept the unswerving principles which were always his most notice- able characteristics in both public and private life. He received his early education in the public schools of Massachusetts, and in. that state spent the first years of his manhood. Shortly after his marriage he decided to seek his fortune in California, the land of his boy- hood's dreams, and accordingly took passage on a vessel commanded hy a friend of his. This brought to the Pacific coast a cargo of goods via Cape Horn. The journey was made in safety, and soon after his arrival Mr. Jones found employment as a clerk in Los Angeles. Later he went to Santa Barbara and engaged extensively in trading, and at the same time began to speculate in lands. Considerable of the down-town property of Los Angeles was owned by Mr. Jones at one time, his first home being at the corner of Fifth and Main streets, where he lived for more than twenty- eight years, while he also lived for a brief time on Broadway, between First and Second streets. He had the utmost confidence in the future possibilities of the city of Los Angeles and indeed of all Southern California, and the greater part of the property that he purchased was at once improved under his direction, Chester block being erected by him, also two flat buildings on Ottawa street and one on Twenty-seventh street. At the time of his death he had under construction a large ware- house on Los Angeles and Fifth streets. He was very successful in his business ventures and acquired a large fortune, but despite the affluence and its consequent influence which came to him, he remained ever the same ge- nial, helpful friend to his associates, the same practical and liberal citizen, the simple, kindly, courteous gentleman which was his due through inheritance and training. He was lib-
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eral but unostentatious in his giving. the Golden Rule remaining his maxim throughout his en- tire life. In politics he was a Republican, and as a member of the city council for one term he was a power for the advancement of the city's interests. His death occurred suddenly at his home, No. 258 East Adams street, Feb- ruary 12, 1903. removing a citizen who had won the high position he held in the esteem of his fellow townsmen, and who left behind him a record of quiet, honest and earnest integrity which has placed his name on the roll of hon- ored pioneers of the city.
Mr. Jones' wife was formerly Miss Carrie M. Otis, a native of Massachusetts and a daughter of the Boston family of that name. She was reared in her native state and edu- cated in its schools, after which, November 24, 1854, she was united in marriage with Mr. Jones. She remained in Massachusetts when her husband came to California, joining him in 1858, making the journey by the Isthmus of Panama and the trip from San Pedro to Los Angeles was made by stage. It may be imag- ined that the little pueblo with its adobe houses and its uncivilized, foreign appearance struck the Boston-bred girl unpleasantly and did not speak eloquently of the pleasures of her future home. In the years that followed she made many trips back to the eastern home, being a passenger on one of the first trains eastward after the completion of the transcon- tinental railroad. However, she too became imbued with the future greatness of the coun- try and has come to love the sunny skies of Southern California, where she still makes her home. She has developed business ability which has enabled her to look after her own affairs in an efficient manner, and her judic- ious management has resulted in a material increase of the property left her by her hus- band. Like her husband, she is liberal and public spirited, and like him also is unosten- tatious in her giving, although her name can- not but he associated with many charitable en- terprises. She assisted in building the first Episcopal Church on Temple street and was associated with the early-day leaders in ben- evolences. She is a Unitarian in her church affiliations. Recently she gave to the Young
Women's Christian Association the sum of $20,000 to assist in the erection of their new home building, and in numberless other enter- prises of similar character she has been and is likewise interested. She takes a keen inter- est in the development and upbuilding of Los Angeles, and is always found foremost among the citizens who are seeking to promote the general welfare. Among her holdings mention may be made of the three valuable corner properties located as follows: two on Fifth and Spring and one on Fifth and Main streets, which she has leased for a term of years.
RALPH HAGAN, M. D. The medical pro- fession in Los Angeles has many members who ยท have achieved prominence in their chosen field of labor, and of these the subject of this sketch is one of the foremost. In the prime of life, he possesses that enthusiasm, energy and vitality which are essential to the highest success, and being an earnest student, his mind is ever open to conviction and progress. He is a son of Mar- tin Hagan, M. D., who was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in 1832, and in that state grew to manhood. During young manhood he prepared himself for the medical profession by taking a course in Starling Medical College at Columbus, Ohio, and soon after his graduation therefrom hecame assistant surgeon in the One Hundred and Fifty-first Ohio Regiment, and was later made surgeon of the Sixty-first Ohio Regiment. The war ended, he returned to his home in Tus- carawas county, where for two terms he served as county treasurer. At the end of this public service he once more resumed his medical studies, taking a course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Having obtained the degree of M. D. in the latter institution he located in St. Paul, Minn., for the practice of his profession, building up a fine private practice, in addition to acting in the capacity of surgeon for several railroads in that city. The severe strain of constant application soon began to tell on his own health and in 1881 he took a trip to Honolulu, intending to remain one year. So pleased was he with the salubrious climate of that country that he was loath to leave, and the one year lengthened into three. During this time
Frank Mr. Chapman
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he had not been idle, but on the other hand sides which he acts as medical director of the found considerable opportunity to practice his Los Angeles Life Association and examiner for several fraternal societies. profession, having been appointed physician to the insane, and also acting as physician to the royal family.
L'pon leaving the island in 1884, instead of re- turning to Minnesota, Dr. Hagan located in Los Angeles, where for about thirteen years he car- ried on a lucrative practice. He gave this up however in 1897. from that time until his death, in 1902, when in his sixty-ninth year, living re- tired. During his residence here he served as health officer several years and was also county physician for some time. Prominent in Grand Army and Masonic circles, he was also well known in Republican gatherings, but in none of these was he more interested than in the medical societies to which he belonged, and in all of which his opinion and judgment had great weight. His marriage united him with Rose Armstrong, who was born in Port Washington, Ohio, a daughter of William Armstrong, one of the most promi- nent merchants in the latter city. Mrs. Hagan is still living and makes her home in Los An- geles.
Of the three children who originally comprised the parental family two are living, and of these Ralph Hagan is the youngest. Born in St. Paul, Minn., May 13, 1872, he was there reared and educated until he was nine years old, when with his parents he spent three years in Honolulu. Upon coming to Los Angeles in 1884 he resumed his studies in the public schools of this city, fol- lowing this training by taking a high school course. Supplemented by a careful and thought- ful observation of the practice of medicine as fol- lowed by his talented father this preparation well fitted him to become a pupil in the medical department of the University of California, which he entered in 1892, and from which he gradu- ated in 1895. For one year thereafter he acted as house surgeon in the Los Angeles county hos- pital, giving this up to fill his appointment as police surgeon, a position which he held from January, 1897. until January, 1901. Since the latter date he has given his attention almost ex- clusively to his private practice, making a spe- cialty of surgery, and is also on the staff of physicians in charge of the Pacific hospital, the Sisters' hospital, and Los Angeles Hospital, be-
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