USA > California > A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, Volume II > Part 22
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After carrying on a successful saddlery busi- ness in San Francisco and Oakland for a time Mr. Jepsen removed his home and business in- terests to Napa, continuing there for fourteen years, or until 1891, which year witnessed his removal to Los Angeles, and the establishment of the business that now bears his name, as pre- viously mentioned. From the modest beginning that was started on the bay has since grown one of the largest wholesale and retail harness and saddlery establishments on the Pacific coast, and altogether they own and manage several large stores. Since the death of Mr. Jepsen the busi- ness has been conducted by his sons, Jacob and Carl, who inherit their father's business acumen, and in continuing his wise policy and methods are meeting with great success.
Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jep- sen: Jacob, Carl, George, Esther, Edward, and Emma; the two last mentioned are deceased. Mrs. Jepsen is an active member of the Emanuel Presbyterian Church, as was also Mr. Jepsen. His religion was a part of his daily life and per- meated every thought and act. None appealed to him in vain for sympathy and help, and both were given with a lavish hand. He thoroughly believed in a practical religion and exemplified this belief in his daily life. Fraternally he was identified with the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Ancient Order
WILLIAM SPENCER HOOK. In the growth of a city, no factor is more potent than its street railways. Outlying tracts of fine land, commanding sweeping vistas of mount- ain, valley and ocean remain ranch property, or lie in fallow fields until touched by a car line, when there soon follows a speedy trans- formation into graded streets, green lawns, spacious grounds and all that goes to make a desirable residence district and the ranch land becomes valuable suburban real estate. No- where has there been a more striking illustra- tion of this statement than in Los Angeles, with its almost unprecedented growth and the rapid expansion of its boundary lines, owing unquestionably in a large measure to its splen- didly equipped electric railway lines.
The impetus to improved street car service in this city was given by the late William S. Hook, when he, in company with his brother, Thomas J. Hook, obtained franchises and con- structed the traction car system, with its hand- some coaches and superior equipment. The traction lines ran through the southwestern part of the city, which had been previously scantily supplied with transportation facilities and was so sparsely settled that only a far- seeing business acumen would have ventured on such an outlay of capital. Mr. Hook's foresight was justified by the results; for the growth that followed in the southwest, in sightly residence tracts, traversed by wide boulevards, lined with elegant residences, was almost magical. Los Angeles felt a thrill of new life, real estate values advanced and it was not long until other capitalists, seeing the trend of the pace set by the traction lines, in- augurated similar improvements in the general street car system of the city, extended old lines, built new ones and contracted a net-work of inter-urban tracks.
William Spencer Hook was a true son of the progressive middle west, born in Jacksonville,
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Ill., March 20, 1840. His educational advan- tages were limited, for at the early age of twelve years he left school and began the con- flict with the world of affairs, as an employe in the private bank of M. P. Ayers. He re- mained with this bank until he worked his way up to a partnership and became a silent partner in the firm of M. P. Ayers & Co. About this time Mr. Hook, looking for other business investments, became interested in street railways. He purchased the horse car line of Jacksonville, converted it into an elec- tric system and remained in its management until 1895, when he removed to Los Angeles.
Never a robust man, Mr. Hook's failing health was the incentive for his first visit to this city in 1894. Seeing the rapid growth of Los Angeles and discerning its future possibil- ities, he purchased the traction franchise and began building the road in the spring follow- ing, and at that time became a permanent resident. He was the principal owner of the traction company stock and the general man- ager until 1903, when he sold out and the road passed into other hands.
Mr. Hook was entirely a self-made man, ris- ing to a commanding position in the world's . but later he removed to San Jose and followed activities solely by his own efforts. He was a man of excellent judgment and fine executive ability, thorough and systematic in business affairs and withal very retiring in disposition, finding his greatest happiness in his home and family. In politics Mr. Hook was a stanch Republican, but never aspired to office nor cared for public preferment. In 1896, Mr. Hook built a handsome residence at the corner of Adams street and Vermont avenue, where his widow and the two sons who survive him reside. His death occurred June 24, 1904, in Philadelphia, Pa .: his remains were interred in his native town, Jacksonville, Il1.
JOHN A. FAIRCHILD. The Fairchild fam- ily, represented in Los Angeles by John A. Fairchild, a pioneer upbuilder of the resources of Southern California, was established in this country prior to the Revolution, in which his- toric struggle the paternal ancestor achieved prominence as a soldier .. He survived the perils
of warfare and returned to civic life, in the upbuilding of which he gave the same unselfish effort and energy which had characterized his military career. He reared a family of children, of whom a son, John, married Tryphena Arm- strong, the representative of another distin- guished family of colonial prominence, and be- came an early settler of New York. His inter- ests were identified with the military affairs of the state, where he was familiarly known as Cap- tain Fairchild.
In Cattaraugus county, N. Y., July 20, 1849, occurred the birth of John A. Fairchild, one of the children born to John and Tryphena Fair- child. He was fortunate in the possession of high traits of character, receiving both through inheritance and the training which his parents were able to give him. His preliminary educa- tion was received in the common schools of his native state, after which he prepared and entered Lawrence University, at Appleton, Wis., where he pursued his studies for a time. Laying aside the means of theoretical knowledge he came to California in the fall of 1867 and here took up the practical side of life. For four years he was interested in the drug business in Nevada City, the same business for another four years. While a resident of San Jose he also became interested in the banking business, assisting in the organi- zation of what is now known as the First Na- tional Bank, and later he accepted the position of cashier of the Commercial Bank of San Diego. Deciding to locate in Los Angeles, in 1883 he came to this city, where he has ever since re- sided. Various business interests have felt the force of his ability and energy, among them the Los Angeles Railway Company, whose cars were then operated by horses. He was a promoter of the enterprise and one of the principal stock- holders of the company, retaining his connection with it for nine years. Meanwhile, two years prior to severing his connection with this enter- prise, he had become interested as a contractor on public works. Upon his withdrawal from the Los Angeles Railway Company he organized a company for the purpose of carrying on this work, interesting E. W. Gilmore and George R. Wilton, the firm becoming known as the Fair- child-Gilmore-Wilton Company. Their growth
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H. A. Pierce
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from that date has been continuous and rapid, and in 1902 they incorporated under the above style, with a capital stock of $50,000, with Mr. Fairchild as president, Mr. Wilton vice-president, and Mr. Gilmore secretary and treasurer. The business of the firm was originally the construc- tion of asphalt pavements, but it has since in- cluded public works in general ; so successful has been the conduct of their business that they are known all over the Pacific coast and also as far east as Salt Lake City, Utah, where they have had extensive contracts for improvements. In Los Angeles they are the best known company of this character, employing from five to six hundred men and one hundred teams, and enjoy- ing an enviable reputation as to promptness, in- tegrity and thorough responsibility.
In addition to the engrossing interests of his contracting business, Mr. Fairchild is connected with various other enterprises of note, now serv- ing as president of the Consolidated Sheep Ranch Mining Company, of Calaveras county, Cal. He has the highest ideas as to the duties of a citi- zen, and although far too busy in business pur- suits to seek or accept official recogniton, has always given his strongest efforts to advance the interests of the Republican party, whose principles he heartily endorses. He takes a keen interest in a clean municipality and gives his influence toward this end. He has an enthusi- astic belief in the future of Southern California and especially of Los Angeles and has invested his means liberally. His home, a model resi- dence in all its appointments, is located at No. 837 Burlington avenue, and is presided over by his wife, a woman of refinement and culture. She was formerly Miss Augusta Barker, of Wal- worth county, Wis., where her father, Frank Barker, was a pioneer resident. Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild are the parents of three children: Ray L., located on one of his father's ranches as manager ; Lila J., wife of John G. Mott, an at- torney of Los Angeles; and Helen M., wife of Nathaniel W. Myrick. Mr. Fairchild is a promi- nent Mason, being a member of Southern Cali- fornia Lodge No. 278, F. & A. M., Signet Chap- ter No. 57. R. A. M., Los Angeles Commandery No. o. K. T .; and is also a Shriner. Socially he holds membership in the Jonathan Club.
As a pioneer of California Mr. Fairchild ex-
perieneed the hardships and trials of a beginning civilization. Without means he began at the foot of the ladder upon his arrival in the state. from San Francisco, where he arrived on the 27th of October, 1867, going at once to Nevada City, where he spent nearly four years in the drug business. That he succeeded in the accumula- tion of means with which to engage in business enterprises was never a matter of surprise to those who knew him and the characteristic qual- ities of his manhood. In his enterprises in Los Angeles he has again succeeded and has risen to a position of financial and business import- ance, recognized as a citizen of enterprise and ability, and is held in the highest esteem by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
JUDGE H. A. PIERCE. No name is bet- ter known in the official life of Los Angeles than that of Judge Pierce, who as an attorney- at-law and justice of the peace has adminis- tered to the needs of the public for many years. He is the descendant of an old New England family, his birth having occurred in Derby, Orleans county, Vt., March 2, 1839; his grandfather, John F. Pierce, was a farmer in New Hampshire and served seven years under Washington in the Revolutionary war. He was prominent in local affairs and died at the advanced age of one hundred and four years. His father, John F., Jr., was born in Swansea, N. H., in 1795. In manhood he be- came a fine cabinet maker, being a man of unusual brilliancy and ability along mechani- cal lines. He served in the war of 1812, . emulating the patriotic example of his sire. He located in Vermont and there his death occurred in 1884. at the age of eighty-nine years. He was a cousin of Franklin Pierce, a president of the United States. By mar- riage Mr. Pierce allied himself with an old Massachusetts family, his wife being, in maidenhood, Abigail Fisk, of Templeton, Mass., who also passed away in Vermont at the age of eighty-four years. They became the parents of five sons and two daughters, all of whom attained maturity, and two sons and one daughter are now surviving: H. A., of this review ; Horace A., a miner of Nome,
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Alaska ; and Mrs. Emma L. Jordon, of James- town, N. Y.
H. A. Pierce was the fourth child in the fam- ily of his parents. He received his preliminary education in the public schools of Derby, and then became a student in the Newberry Colleg- iate Institute, where before he was nineteen years old he held the chair of elocution. It was just about that time that he felt so strongly attracted to California that he gave up all his interests at home, and at once embarked on the George Law to Aspinwall, thence on the Golden Gate to San Francisco, where he ar- rived in February of that year (1857). His tastes being all literary, mining did not prove so strong an attraction to him as pedagogical work, and he was shortly after his arrival en- gaged in teaching in Contra Costa county. Later he went to Cacheville, Yolo county, and established a private school, with tuition placed at $5 per month for each pupil. The need of such an institution was quickly proved by the number of pupils enrolled, as he soon had one hundred in attendance. For a time following that he was interested in mining operations.
The breaking out of the Civil war proved the mettle of many men, and especially of those who were located on the Pacific coast, far away from the seat of difficulties, and with news so long in reaching them that it re- quired a stanch and patriotic soul to compre- hend the struggle soon to be begun. Mr. Pierce, with a Mr. Lippett, at once set about raising a regiment of men, and soon had a thousand who were willing to return east and take part in the struggle. However, the ex- pense of transporting them to New York City was so great, and as so many more than were at first needed responded to the first call of the president, it was thought better by the government to disband them than to attempt their transportation. This was done, but Mr. Pierce returned east and enlisted for service. In the meantime he studied law, and on the 29th of January, 1866, was admitted to prac- tice in the supreme court of the United States, in Washington, D. C. He has been a member of that bar longer than any other lawyer west of the Rocky mountains. IIe began the prac-
tice of his profession in Washington, and con- tinued in that location until 1869, when in the spring of that year he went to Dakota, where he was appointed adjutant-general of the ter- ritorial government, with offices at Yankton. After two years he went to Arkansas, and in Pine Bluff practiced his profession, and also engaged in journalistic work, owning and edit- ing the Jefferson Republican and the Arkansas Patriot. For three years he was next located in Fort Smith, where he served as circuit su- perintendent of public instruction, which in- cluded five counties in northwestern Arkansas. He remained in this location until 1874, when he removed to Chicago, Ill., there practiced law for a time, and then was again established in Pine Bluff, thence removing in the spring of 1879 to Topeka, Kans. After eleven years in that city Mr. Pierce came to Southern Cali- fornia, practiced his profession in Santa Ana for two years, and then located in Los An- geles, where he has since remained. While a resident of Topeka he had a large and lucra- tive law practice, and was in every way equipped for the position of justice of the peace, to which he was appointed in 1903. In the fall of 1906 he was nominated on the Re- publican ticket to this office and was elected by a large majority.
Throughout his entire career Judge Pierce has been a public speaker, being forceful and eloquent and unafraid of argument or issues. In 1860 he stumped California for Abraham Lincoln, and for his second nomination in 1864 canvassed the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, as he was then in the east for service in the Civil war. He first en- listed in the Thirty-second Massachusetts Regiment and was at that time (1864) detailed to the headquarters of General Grant, where he served until the close of the war. During the campaign for Grant in 1868 he spoke one hun- dred and nine times. He has been active in every national campaign from the time of John C. Fremont to Theodore Roosevelt, and has spoken in twenty-seven different states of the Union. He was a national delegate to the convention of 1868 and was chairman of the Virginia delegation at the nomination of Gen- eral Grant. He has been stanch in his adher-
Robert K KlJuc
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ence to the principles of the Republican party, and is accounted one of the strong men of Southern California in his efforts to advance these interests.
Judge Pierce has been twice married, the first union occurring in Washington, Ill., and uniting him with Mrs. Helen (Corwin) Fisher, whose name is familiar to readers of fiction, as for many years she wrote for the New York Weekly, the New York Ledger, Harper's and Saturday Night. In 1873 she entered into a contract with Street & Smith with a remuner- ation of $5,000 a year, at that time the highest salary paid a woman writer in America. Among her works of fiction are "The Curse of Everleigh," "Lady Violet," "A Woman's Master," etc. Her death occurred in Los An- geles April 4, 1900. On the 24th of May, 1905, the judge married Miss Nellie May Allee, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and a woman of rare worth and character. Judge Pierce is identified with the Masonic organization, hav- ing joined the order in 1861 in Mt. Moriah Lodge No. 44, of San Francisco, where he held membership for forty-four years, being now a member of Los Angeles Lodge No. 42. He is also identified with the Odd Fellows, being past officer of the Encampment and Canton ; the Knights of Pythias. and was commander of Division No. 8 of the Uniform Rank in To- peka, Kans .; and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In memory of his "days and nights on the battlefield" he is prominent in the Grand Army of the Republic. He enjoys a large circle of friends who have been won by his personal attributes of character-his quiet yet unswerving integrity, his frank friendli- ness and cordiality, and the liberality and loy- alty of his citizenship. He keeps in touch with every forward movement of the day and is thus an entertaining companion, and is espe- cially interested in furthering all movements tending toward the advancement and upbuild- ing of his adopted city and state.
ROBERT KARR McGUE. Among the names of honored pioneers who have come and gone in the march of progress of the beauti- ful commonwealth of California, that of Rob-
ert Karr McGue is remembered as one who braved the perils of the early days and amid a beginning civilization established a home and a heritage, building up for himself a place among the helpful citizens. He was a native of the state of New York, his birth having occurred in Princetown, Schenectady county, in 1820. The family was of Scotch origin, the paternal grandfather, John, having emi- grated from Scotland prior to the Revo- lutionary war, in which conflict he par- ticipated. The father, James, was born in New York and engaged as a farmer until his death, which occurred in 1832. The family name had always been known as MacGough until after his death, when the children changed it to the present spelling. The mother was, be- fore marriage, Agnes Smealie, of Scotch de- scent. She was born in Princetown, N. Y., the daughter of John Smealie, who was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, and came to New York state when twenty-one years of age. After the close of the Revolutionary war, in which he participated, he settled down to the life of a farmer. In the parental family there were four sons and thice daughters, of whom James became a pioneer of Kansas, in which state his death eventually occurred; he had two sons, John J. and William E., both of whom served in the Civil war. John died in Chariton county, Mo. Kelly was born in 1824, in young manhood became a farmer at Princetown, N. Y., and was actively interested in Republican politics. In religion he was a member of the Presbyterian Church. He came to Los Angeles in 1883 and died in February, 1884; he mar- ried Catherine Nancy Ingersoll, who was born in Princetown and died in Los Angeles in 1893, leaving four children, namely: Wil- lian James, who died in Schenectady, N. Y., in 1900: Agnes, who married Nicholas Myers and died in Schenectady, N. Y., in 1883; John P., of Los Angeles, who married Emily Elizabeth Ingersoll, of Ottawa, Ill., and Abraham L., a resident of Los Angeles. Rob- ert Karr was the youngest son of the MeGue family, while the daughters were Jane, who married John Morrison and died in De Kalb, Ill., in 1888; Ellen, who married William Radley and resides in Rockford, Ill., and
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Mary, who married Daniel Brewer and died in Chariton county, Mo.
Robert Karr McGue received his education through the medium of the public schools of Princetown, N. Y., where he passed the first years of his manhood. In 1846 he decided to try his fortunes in the more remote west, and accordingly started overland. In Michigan he spent two weeks in the home of his brother, James, then he went to De Kalb county, Ill., and there entered a farm of one hundred and sixty acres of land that is still owned by the family. In 1852 he started across the plains bound for California, equipped with four yoke of oxen and necessary supplies for a journey that lasted from May I to November. With- out serious mishap he arrived in the state, and like the countless others who sought the west about that time, he at once engaged in min- ing. From northern California he drifted into Arizona, intending to follow a similar occu- pation, but was driven out by the Indians ; he then went to New Mexico and mined for a time, thence going to Montana and Idaho, and from there to the Frazer river. He continued mining until 1867, and during the year fol- lowing he came to Southern California, and here prepared to indulge his taste for raising fine stock. He had met with success in his long years of mining enterprises and had ac- cumulated a fortune and this he invested in Southern California. He purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land at the corner of Vermont and Vernon avenues and there developed a ranch. This property, which at his death contained one hundred and fifty- nine acres, was willed to his nephews, John P. and Abraham L. McGue, and at that time was officially appraised at $20,000. In 1905 it was sold hy them for $210,000, and was laid out as a subdivision of the city known as Vermont Avenue Square, which has since been rapidly built up with handsome homes. Mr. McGue died in August, 1884. In his fra- ternal relations he was identified with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and polit- ically was a stanch adherent of the principles advocated in the platform of the Republican party. At the time of the Civil war, when it required courage to give support to the Union
in the western states, Mr. McGue was fearless in his utterances of loyalty, proving the pa- triotism which was his by inheritance. He took an active interest in educational affairs, and gave an acre of his property for school purposes and also assisted materially in the erection of the building.
He was a member of the Presbyterian Church all his life and was always found ready to support any charity brought to his atten- tion. His death removed from his community a citizen of unusual worth and ability, a man of recognized breadth of mind and the most humane qualities of heart, a friend to the friendless and one who never failed to hold out his hand to all in need. He had won a place for himself in the hearts of his friends and neighbors, who revere and honor his mem- ory for the good he tried to do, often referring to him as the Good Samaritan. Modest and retiring in disposition, amiable under all cir- cumstances and with nothing but kindness and goodwill for his fellow citizens, he was no less admired and loved for these qualities than for the stanch integrity of his character and the unswerving honor which was manifest in all his business dealings.
GEORGE HOWARD HUTTON, judge of the Superior Court of the state of California in and for Los Angeles county, elected in Novem- ber, 1906, is a direct product of the frigid north, where his childhood was spent as a ward of his uncle, Rev. George H. Bridgman, president of Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn., at which institution he received his academic education. At the State University of Minnesota he re- ceived his legal education and was from there admitted to practice in 1893, and the same year became the assistant attorney or general trial lawyer for the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad, which position he held until his removal to Cali- fornia in 1897, when he located and engaged in the practice of his profession at Santa Monica. Up to the time of his elevation to the bench he had been actively engaged in his profession and attained more than ordinary success as a lawyer, being widely known in Los Angeles county and throughout Southern California. For seven
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