USA > California > A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, Volume II > Part 29
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JOSHUA H. ALDERSON. It is always interesting to chronicle the life history of the pioneer who endured the privations of this new country and passed through the hard- ships and dangers incident to crossing the plains in the days following the gold discov- ery in California. Mr. Alderson was born in Wilkesbarre, Pa., May 9, 1836. He was the son of John and Margaret ( Wilson) Alder- son, natives of England, who were farmers in Luzerne county, Pa., where he was reared and educated in the publie schools. He learned the mason's trade under his brother, and in 1852 he started for California, coming by rail to lowa, the end of the line, and thence by ox teams across the plains to California. He fol- lowed mining a few years and then returned east by way of the Isthmus of Panama. The next year he again crossed the plains to Cali- fornia, and this time the train was attacked by Indians, when they had a serious time. The train just in advance of them was attacked by the Indians, and all of the party were killed with the exception of one man, who made his way back and warned the train of which Mr. Alderson was a member, and thus enabled
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them to be prepared and resist the onslaught of the red men. The train continued on to the coast, but Mr. Alderson remained in Nevada, where he followed mining in the vicinity of Austin, White, Price and Eureka. Returning to New York state he married in Owego, and immediately brought his bride to Eureka, Nev., and there engaged in the livery, teaming and freighting business on a large scale. At the same time he was in the timber business and the burning of charcoal. He also had valuable mining interests, owning the Woo Hop mine on Treasurer Hill, and was interested in the Tem Piute and Banner mines. During all of these years he engaged in stock ranching.
In 1884 Mr. Alderson removed to Colorado and followed mining and prospecting in Rico and Durango. In 1887 he located in Los Angeles, and with Mr. Kincaid built the stores, livery and business houses on the corner of Figueroa and Pico streets, which enterprise showed them to be men of far-seeing judg- ment, as many at that time considered it an impracticable venture because of being so far from the then center of town.
Three years later Mr. Alderson was among the first developers of the local oil field and put down nine wells, all of which are produc- ers, and from that time on until his death, on the 22nd of January, 1902, he was actively en- gaged in this enterprise, being at the time of his demise president of the Newhall Oil Com- pany. He was also connected with other im- portant enterprises, serving as president of the Banner Mining Company.
Mr. Alderson's marriage occurred in Owego, N. Y., March 12, 1874, and united him with Miss Mary E. Wood, who was born in Eu- phrata, that state, a daughter of William and Hester (Horning) Wood, also natives of that state. Her father was a builder in Tioga county and there he reared his family. Since her husband's death Mrs. Alderson has re- sided at her home on South Hoover street with her only child, Edith W., a graduate of the Los Angeles State Normal school. Mr. Alderson was a very energetic and public- spirited man, ever ready to aid in the develop- ment and building up of the community where he lived. He was well and favorably known
and was much esteemed by those who were his associates, both socially and in a business way. Fraternally he was a Master Mason, and politically always voted the Republican ticket.
ANDREW STEPHEN SHORB, M. D. As a representative of the homeopathic school of medicine there is perhaps no physician of Los Angeles more deserving of mention than Dr. Shorb. Years of painstaking and thorough preparation, together with subsequent practical experience, qualify him to fill a high position in the medical profession and to maintain a de- served reputation for skill and proficiency. His identification with California dates from the year 1871, at which time he located in Los Angeles. and at this writing his office is in the Grant building. The Shorb family is directly descend- ed from the reigning house of Prussia, the wife of Jacob M. Shorb (the immigrating ancestor of the family in the new world) being a daugh- ter of the royal line of Hohenzollerns. This ancestor settled in the upper part of Maryland, where the family became well and favorably known. He was a man of considerable wealth, owning a large fleet of trading vessels which were marked with the royal coat of arms. Some of the personal possessions of this ancestor are now heirlooms in the family. One of the dis- tinguishing marks of the royal descent of the family is seen in the marking of the hair, which is a distinct dark stripe in white on the lower part of the head. Prince Henry while on a visit to this country noted this distinguishing mark in a lady whom he met at the White House, thus tracing her relationship to the family.
A native of Ohio, Dr. Shorb was born in Canton, Stark county, April 12, 1837, into the home of Adam L. and Maria L. ( Bowen) Shorb. His family being in comfortable circumstances, it was possible for him to secure advantages denied those of humbler birth and surroundings, and it is but fair to say that he made the most of his opportunities and advantages. His earli- est years were associated with Stark county, where he first attended public school, later at- tending a select school in the same locality. From an early age his studies were directed with the medical profession in view as their objective
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point, hence his higher training in Canton Acad- emy, which he entered in 1854. His medical training was begun in the city of Canton, where he read medicine under the direction of Drs. Mathews and Estep, well-known physicians and surgeons of that city. Subsequently he entered Pulte Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating with honors from that institution with the class of 1879. Wisely divining that the newer west extended greater opportunity for establishing a growing practice than his home locality he lost no time in carrying out his plans. His selection of Topeka, Kans., proved a wise one, for from the first his practice grew and his reputation as a well-qualified physician gave him a standing in the community which was well deserving of his untiring zeal as a practitioner. Believing that an even greater outlook awaited him in the far west he came to Los Angeles in 1871, the wisdom of the change being demon- strated in increased popularity in the line of his profession, the homeopathic school having no more astute follower in this city than is found in Dr. Shorb.
In Newark, Ohio, in 1868, Dr. Shorb was united in marriage with Miss Martha L. Blanch- ard, a native of that city and a daughter of George A. Blanchard, a man of considerable means and well known as a capitalist there. Al- ways a student of his profession the doctor loses no opportunity to keep in touch with advanced thought in the medical world, and among other strictly professional organizations is a member of the Homeopathic State Medical Society and the Southern California Medical Society. Aside from his profession the doctor finds time for recrea- tion and social intercourse, nowhere more enjoy- able than in the gatherings of the Masonic brethren, he being a member of Pentalpha Lodge No. 202, F. & A. M., Acacia Chapter No. 32, R. A. M., and he is a thirty-second degree Mason. all of his associations being in Los An- geles. Local interests of a commercial character also claim the doctor's attention, he being a stockholder in the Security Trust Bank, and he also owns considerable real estate in the city, as well as a choice piece of ranch property, the latter of which is now occupied by a tenant. The family home in at No. 1261/2 North Flower street. Progressive and liberal, the doctor can
always be depended upon to take a helpful part in all movements that will mean improvement or better facilities for the comfort and conve- nience of the public, and in many ways he ex- hibits a praiseworthy loyalty to the city of his . adoption.
CHARLES C. BROWNING, M. D. The experience gained by active professional work, first in a small Illinois town near the Missis- sippi river, later in hospitals and asylums of New York, and ultimately in the far west on the shores of the Pacific ocean, has given to Dr. Browning a broad and humanitarian out- look upon the science of materia medica and, supplemented by thorough study and post- graduate work, has brought him a high rank among the physicians of Southern California. Fate brought him to the west when he had high hopes of success in his eastern home. Already he had won a distinct position in hos- pital and asylum practice and had made a study of alienation to such an extent that he was offered an influential place at the head of an asylum on the Sound. All his hopes and ambitions he had to lay aside, for he had con- tracted tuberculosis and a change of climate was imperative. The misfortune of ill-health which brought him to the western coast proved, however, to be his greatest fortune, for he regained health, established himself in practice, took up citrus-fruit raising, acquired lands and other holdings, and has risen to high rank as a specialist in the treatment of tuberculosis.
The life which this narrative depicts began in the home of Rev. E. C. and Sophia (Pen- nock) Browning, natives, respectively, of Illi- nois and Indiana, and in 1861, at the time of the birth of their son, residents in the vicinity of Denver, Hancock county, Ill. At the close of the war the family removed to northeastern Missouri, where the father became a leading minister of the Christian Church and org -. nized the Missouri State Board of Home Mis- sions, of which he was chosen the first secre- tary, and served in that office for many years. Later he was called to Arkansas to take up pastoral and home missionary work in the
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interests of the church. Meanwhile the son had been sent to the Christian University at Canton, Mo., one of the early educational in- stitutions of the Christian Church. From there he went to the University of Missouri as a student in the medical department, from which he was graduated in 1883 with the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine.
From boyhood it had been Dr. Browning's ambition to become a physician. While at- tending the public school at the age of nine years he organized a physiology class, that study not being taught regularly in the school. His tastes and inclinations drew him into the profession and constant study brought him early success in its practice. After complet- ing his university course he returned to Han- cock county, Ill., and took up professional work. Possessing the confidence of old ac- quaintances as to character and integrity, it was not long before he also gained their con- fidence as to professional ability, and he prac- ticed for five years in Hancock county with growing success. In order to take up post- graduate work he went to New York City, where he studied in the University of the City of New York. For one term he was con- nected with the New York House of Relief, and later was retained on the medical staff of the New York City Asylum for the Insane at Blackwell's Island.
Upon coming to California in 1891 Dr. Browning traveled through the country in order to find a desirable location and eventu- ally settled at Highland, San Bernardino county, where he began to make a special study of tuberculosis, at the same time carry- ing on a general practice. His pleasant home was in the midst of a grove of citrus trees, which he planted, and later he bought other lands suitable for fruit-growing. On the in- corporation of the First Bank of Highland he was chosen a director and elected vice- president, and continued in that office until his removal from the town. In the organiza- tion of the Highland Fruit Growers' Asso- ciation he was actively interested, and for a time held office as vice-president, his able services being of value in the upbuilding of the concern. He was one of the incorporators
and secretary of the Highland Domestic Water Company. During March of 1905 he removed to Monrovia and became associated with Dr. Pottenger in the incorporation of the Pottenger Sanatorium for the treatment of diseases of the chest and throat. Of this company he is vice-president, and his entire attention is given to its development, for which work he has an office in the O. T. John- son building in Los Angeles.
After taking up medical practice in Illinois, Dr. Browning married Miss Helen Tillapaugh, who was born near Denver, Hancock county, and received a public school and collegiate education, supplemented by special training in music at Jacksonville, Ill. They have an only child, Helen Gilberta. Mrs. Browning is a daughter of Gilbert Tiilapaugh, who removed from New York to Illinois in a very early day, settled upon an unimproved tract of land and developed a valuable farm. Eventually he disposed of some of his Illinois holdings and came to California, since which time he and his wife have made their home in Los An- geles.
Fraternally, Dr. Browning is identified with the blue lodge and chapter of Masonry in Red- lands, the Commandery of San Bernardino, Council and Shrine in Los Angeles, and he also is a charter member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Redlands. Along the line of his profession his associations are extended and important, including member- ship in the American Medical Association, the California, Southern California and Los An- geles County Medical Societies, the Los An- geles Academy of Medicine and the Los An- geles Medical and Pathological Association, also the National Association for the Advance- ment of Sciences, the National Association for the Prevention and Cure of Tuberculosis, the Southern California Anti-Tuberculosis League (of which he acts as secretary) and the Amer- ican Archeological Association. On various occasions articles from his pen have ap- peared in medical and scientific journals and frequently he has delivered lectures n subjects pertaining to his special- ties. Both the lectures and the arti- cles prove him to be a close student of his
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profession, a kecn inquirer after truths, and the possessor of extended knowledge as a spe- cialist,-a type of those earnest, studious, forceful and logical physicians to whose re- searches is due the progress of the profession.
EUGENIO HOUGH KINCAID. Among the old settlers of Los Angeles and its promi- nent business men mention belongs to E. H. Kincaid, who has won for himself a com- petency since coming to Los Angeles and has also added materially to the growth and up- building of the city. He was a pioneer of the state in the "days of old, in the days of gold"; he experienced the ups and downs of life in those early and primitive days, the hardships, privations and perils incident to the miner's career ; he saw the western land when it lay a desert with nothing to presage its great pos- sibilities, its wonderful development and un- surpassed beauty in "fields of grain and golden fruit"; he has witnessed, too, and participated in the efforts which have made California what it is to-day-one among the greatest of the states of the nation. And to these pioneers belong the credit of the achievement and the consequent gratitude of the present generation.
Born in Caledonia, Elk county, Pa., March 2, 1833. Eugenio Hough Kincaid was the sec- ond in a family of five daughters and three sons born to his parents, Eusebius and Sa- mantha (Pasco) Kincaid. His father was born in Canada in May, 1808, a son of Dr. Noah Kincaid, who served in the war of 1812. The latter emigrated from Scotland to Canada and there engaged in the practice of medicine, later locating in Elk county, Pa., where he spent the remaining years of his life. He mar- ried Lydia Hough, whose eldest son, Rev. Eugenio Kincaid, was for many years a Baptist missionary in Burmah, India. During a revo- lution in that country he was captured and held prisoner, condemned to be beheaded, but a kind Providence intercepted the plans and he escaped, thereafter continuing his work in the missionary field. Eusebius Kincaid en- gaged as a lumberman and farmer in Elk county, of which he was the first high sheriff. being a popular and prominent citizen of that
section. In 1850 he removed to Portage, Wis., where his death occurred in the early '60s. His wife was born in New Jersey in June, 1808, a daughter of Zophar D. Pasco, the rep- resentative of an old eastern family ; she died in Los Angeles in 1882.
E. H. Kincaid received his education in the common schools of Pennsylvania, after which, when seventeen years old, he accompanied his parents to Wisconsin, traveling by team to Buffalo, thence on the lakes to Detroit, then on the Michigan Central Railroad to New Buffalo, then by boat to Chicago, finally by steamer to Milwaukee, where they hired teams and drove to Portage. There he helped his father clear the land upon which they made their home. Later he attended the University of Wisconsin, then took a commercial course in a business college in Madison, after which he taught school for a short time. In 1857 he came to California via New York City, where he took passage on the Illinois to Aspinwall, and on the Pacific side sailed on the Golden Age to San Francisco. Following his arrival he went to the mines of Calaveras county, where he spent two years, and having secured a profit for his work he returned to his home in Wisconsin, making the journey the way he had come. After a short stay in Wisconsin he went south and traveled over the states of Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana and Arkan- sas; he was in Mississippi in January, 1861, just before the war broke out. He returned then to Wisconsin and in the spring of that year started across the plains, traveling by horse-teams to Salt Lake City. He there se- cured employment in the building of the first overland telegraph lines from Salt Lake City to Ruby valley, a distance of three hundred miles, and after the completion of this work he came on to Sacramento, Cal., with the same company, having charge of the telegraph out- fit. This company afterward became the Western Union. Mr. Kincaid remained with them eighteen months, and then went to Ne- vada. There he engaged in teaming between Virginia City and Austin, and at the same time was interested in mining, and finally in the cattle business. This last-named occupation
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proved a successful one and he remained on a ranch until 1872. In this year he sold his ranch and coming to Los Angeles purchased fifteen acres on the corner of Pico and Fi- gueroa streets and set out what became one of the finest orange ranches in this section, property which he continued to cultivate for some years. Associated with Mr. Alderson, Mr. Kincaid started a business center at the above, building business houses there, in what was then considered the country and before the horse-car lines had been extended out that far. They were much ridiculed for their vent- ure, but time has proven that they were not mistaken in the city's possibilities, for that lo- cation is now the center of population and in a score of years bids fair to be the business center of this great city. In 1887 Mr. Kincaid laid out in city lots his fifteen acre ranch pre- viously mentioned, this being known as the Kincaid tract. He disposed of the most of this property with the exception of twelve lots on Pico between Figueroa and Trenton streets, which he has since improved with a handsome business block. In addition to the property just mentioned Mr. Kincaid also purchased a hundred acre ranch at Lugo. Outside of look- ing after his property interests he is retired from active business cares and is enjoying the evening of his days in well-earned retirement.
Mr. Kincaid's home is located at No. 1189 East Fifty-third street and is presided over by his wife. formerly Miss Charity S. Mills, who was born in Peru, LaSalle county. Ill., the daughter of Freeman and Minerva Grace Mills, natives of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts re- spectively. In 1852 Mr. Mills came to Cali- fornia, and five years later, in 1857, was joined by his family at Woodbridge, San Joaquin county. Mr. Mills was sheriff of the county and a farmer in that locality, and there both himself and wife passed away. They became the parents of seven children, four sons and three daughters, of whom Charity S., Mrs. Kincaid, was the fourth in order of birth. She was a graduate of the State Normal, and her marriage occurred in Woodbridge, Cal., in 1867, ten years after coming to the state. Born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid are the following children : Allie, a graduate
of the Los Angeles Normal, and an artist; Freeman M., a graduate of the University of California, and now in the postal service of this city ; Claude E., a mining man of Rhyo- lite ; Elmer L., a stenograplier in Los Angeles ; Ralph, a merchant and rancher at Lugo; Wal- ter, an assayer at Los Angeles; and Mary, a pianist, at home. Mr. Kincaid is identified fraternally with the Masonic organization, hav- ing been made a member of this order in Bel- mont, Nev., and in Austin, same state, was raised to the degree of Royal Arch. He is now a member of Pentalpha Lodge No. 202, F. & A. M., of Los Angeles. Politically he has been a stanch advocate of Republican principles since the time of John C. Fremont, casting his first vote for him in 1856.
HON. ALEXANDER McCOY. The name of the late Hon. Alexander McCoy, of Pasadena, was also widely and favorably known throughout Illinois, where from 1850 until his removal to California in 1888 his legal accomplishments won him the reputation of being one of the most bril- liant lawyers of the middle west. He was a man of strong personality, great force of character and rare mental attainments, to which were also added a persistency of purpose and zeal, intelli- gently and unerringly directed, which led to his notable achievements at the bar, the influence of his masterful intellect being felt by judge and jury as well as by his associates and clientele. Even larger honors came to him when, in the fall of 1864, his constituents made him their can- didate to the legislature of Illinois. During the session of 1865 he was awarded the chairmanship of the committee on judiciary, an honor which gave him the first place upon the floor as a legis- lator. There as in his private legal practice he was a recognized leader, and no matters of im- portance were ever considered settled that had not been brought before his consideration. While in the legislature his achievements were of great value to the state, and particularly that portion represented by him.
Of Scotch descent, Alexander McCoy was born near West Alexander, Washington county, Pa., October 26, 1818, the son and grandson of Jolin and Daniel McCoy respectively, the lat-
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ter a captain in the Revolutionary war. His mother, Jane (Brice) MeCoy, was a daughter of Rev. John Brice, who organized and was the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of what was formerly known as Three Ridges, but is now West Alexander. Pa. To a primary edit- cation gleaned in the schools of his birthplace Alexander McCoy later added preparation for Washington College through a preceptorship under Rev. Dr. MeClusky and other eminent men, entering that institution in 1842. For some time after his graduation he taught school in his home vicinity and later became a teacher of languages in the Vermilion Institute at Haysville, Ohio. Thus far his efforts had been but stepping-stones toward the plan which he had marked out as his future career, the entering wedge of which was taking up the study of law in the office of Given & Bancroft at Millersburg, Ohio. Always a great student and possessing a comprehensive mind, he naturally made rapid progress in his studies, and after a thorough preparation was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Ohio in the winter of 1850. Immediately thereafter he removed to Peoria, Ill., where he opened an office for the practice of his profession. This was a time when a great contest was being waged in the court of Peoria and adjoining counties between parties holding lands under tax titles accrning under the state authorities and parties claiming the same ander patent given to soldiers for said lands by the general government. In order to obtain a clear understanding of the facts in the case Mr. McCoy spent nearly a year in the county clerk's office of Peoria county, where the tax titles origi- nated.
In Peoria, February 1. 1851, Mr. McCoy en- tered into partnership with Henry Grove, under the firm name of Grove & MeCoy, and from the first they were accorded patronage from the best and most influential residents of that eity. After about six years of unbroken and ever increasing practice Mr. McCoy was, in the fall of 1856, elected state's attorney for what was then the sixteenth judicial district, for a term of four years. The strain of added duties in connec- tion with his heavy private practice finally proved too much for his physical endurance and in 1858 the partnership was annulled. However, return- ing health finally enabled him to resume his du-
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