USA > California > A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, Volume II > Part 37
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place his permanent home. Accordingly, in 1892, he established the Keystone Mining & Manu- facturing Company at Santa Paula, and while looking after the management of this concern he also engaged in stock-raising and farming on a ranch of two thousand acres in the Santa Clara valley. Sixty acres of this ranch were devoted to orchards, while he also gave some attention to the cultivation of beans. Until 1901 Mr. Sherriff continued thus occupied, when he sold out his interests with the exception of two hun- dred acres which he still owns, and in that year he located in Los Angeles. Here he purchased land and laid out what is known as Sherriff place, situated on Washington street, between Tober- man and Union avenues, and which now has fifteen residences on it. Besides this he also owns other valuable property in this city. He has taken a deep interest in other matters of public interest, assisting in the organization of the National Bank of Commerce, of which he is a director, and is likewise identified with the Man- hattan Savings Bank, of which he has served as vice-president.
In Pittsburg, in 1865, Mr. Sherriff was united in marriage with Miss Charlotte M. Seiferheld, a native of Ohio; they became the parents of one daughter, who died in 1886. They have since adopted a daughter, Florence Sherriff. Mr. Sherriff is a member of Stanton Post No. 55, G. A. R., and politically is a stanch advocate of Re- publican principles. He is a member of the Christian Church and liberally supports all its charities. In all his associations Mr. Sherriff has proven himself a man of strong character and integrity, helpful as a business man in the pros- perity of the general community, a practical friend to all who enjoy his friendship, and an earnest, liberal and public-spirited citizen, whose best efforts are always given toward the upbuild- ing and development of public interests.
ED W. HOPKINS. The present county assessor of Los Angeles county has made his home in the city of Los Angeles for seventeen years or more and meanwhile has formed a cir- cle of business and social acquaintances extend- ing throughout his home city and county. He is a native of the middle-west, born in Oskaloosa,
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Mahaska county, Iowa, March 25, 1863, the son of Dr. John Y. Hopkins, the latter a native of Ohio and the descendent of English antecedents. After preparing for the medical profession in his native state he became a pioneer physician and surgeon in Iowa, locating in Oskaloosa. During the Civil war he volunteered his services, becom- ing surgeon of the Thirty-third Iowa Infantry. Some years after the close of the conflict, in 1869, he removed from Oskaloosa to Guthrie Center, and there continued to follow his pro- fession until his death. His marriage united him with Miss Mary Needham, she, too, being a native of Ohio and the daughter of David Needham. Mr. Needham descended from a long and noble line of New England ancestors and he himself became an early pioneer of Ohio and later of Iowa. The mother died in St. Louis, Mo., in 1894.
Seven children were born into the parental household and five are still living, as follows : F. M. is a resident of Iowa; W. C. is in San Francisco; H. L. is in Los Angeles; E. W. is the present county assessor of Los Angeles coun- ty ; and C. W. is a physician of this city. Next to the youngest of the family, E. W. Hopkins was a child of about six years when the family home was transferred from Oskaloosa to Guthrie Cen- ter. and consequently his education was received in the latter place. As a supplement to his com- mon-school training he took a course in Simp- son College at Indianola, later returning to Guthrie Center to devote his attention to the study of law. He passed a creditable examina- tion and was admitted to the bar in 1887. For two years he practiced his profession in Seward county, Kans., and in 1889 he went to Portland, Ore., remaining there until 1891, when he came to Los Angeles, which has since been his home and the scene of his activities. Four years after locating here, in 1895, he was appointed a deputy county assessor and continued in the capacity of a deputy in the assessor's, auditor's and collec- tor's offices for Los Angeles county up to the year 1903, when his efforts were concentrated as deputy assessor, and in January, 1907, he was made chief deputy. After the death of Ben E. Ward he was appointed by the county board of supervisors to the office of county assessor, his appointment bearing date September 4, 1907.
Mr. Hopkins' marriage, which occurred in Los Angeles, united him with Miss Martha Mc- Vicker, a native of Ohio, and six children have been born to them. Decidedly Republican in his political opinions, Mr. Hopkins has always given his support to the principles of the party which he supports, and for years has been prominent in local affairs, and has served as a member of the Republican county central committee. His father's service in the Civil war makes him eli- gible to the order of Sons of Veterans, and his name is enrolled among the members of that society. Throughout his career as a public offi- cial Mr. Hopkins has won a host of friends on account of his unswerving devotion to his duty and honesty of purpose, and all who know him admire him for his pleasing personality.
CHARLES M. PARKER. A man of ability and integrity, enterprising and practical, Charles M. Parker is well known in the business circles of Pasadena, with whose changing fortunes he is well acquainted, his residence here dating back to the year 1885. The fact that he had faith to believe in the final supremacy of the settlement of that day is proof positive of the possession of an optimistic and persevering nature, to which, more than to any other one quality, his success may be attributed.
Charles M. Parker is a native of the rugged state of Maine, born in Jay, Franklin county, November 17, 1843, the son of parents who knew the value of an education and hence gave their son every opportunity in that direction which it was in their power to bestow. His primary edu- cation was gained in the schools of his home town, and from there he went to Kent's Hill, Kennebec county, Me., and matriculated as a stu- dent in the Maine Wesleyan Seminary and Fe- male College, and later attended Wesleyan Uni- versity of Middletown, Conn., from which latter institution he was graduated in 1868. There- after he put his scholastic training to use by taking up the teacher's profession, for a time be- ing an instructor in Kent's Hill, Me., and from there going to the Wesleyan Female College at Cincinnati, Ohio. Returning to the New Eng- land states from there, for fifteen years there- after he was professor of Latin in the Wesleyan
Ihr Henderson
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Academy at Wilbraham, Mass. It was at the close of his term in this latter institution that he came to the Pacific coast country and took up work of a very different nature and in surround- ings that in comparison to the established condi- tions in the east were new and untried. Settling in Pasadena when it was comparatively a small town, he soon discerned the great possibilities offered by the place and its surroundings and at once began the work of promoting enterprises of the greatest publie utility. Among these may be mentioned the Lake Vineyard Land and Water Company, which was organized in 1883 by a number of public spirited citizens, and which was incorporated the following year for $250,000. For nearly a score of years past its officers have been : Charles M. Parker, president ; George A. Durrell, secretary; the San Gabriel Bank acting as treasurer ; while the directors are J. N. Allin, James Clarke, C. C. Brown, E. H. Royce, F. D. Stevens, and William R. Staats. The Lake Vineyard Land and Water Company supplies water for irrigation and domestic use to a large territory, including the greater portion of the city east of Fair Oaks and south of Mountain street. Besides his important position as presi- dent of the latter company Mr. Parker is also a director and stockholder in the First National Bank of Pasadena, director and stockholder in the Pasadena Grocery Company, and is interested in other business enterprises in the city also. Considering his keen interest in matters of edu- cation it is but natural to find him a member of the school board of Pasadena, and in that body his ideas are well received and have considerable weight with his co-laborers. He is also a mem- ber of the board of trustees of the First Metho- dist Episcopal Church, of which he is a member, and was the first president of the local Y. M. C. A.
August 17. 1871, Mr. Parker was married to Miss Mary E. Hatch, like himself a native of Maine, her birth occurring in Sanford, York county. Mrs. Parker's father, Stephen Hatch, was descended from an old established New Eng- land family, and he himself was a well-known figure in the town of Sanford. Four children, three daughters and one son, have blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Parker, as follows: Emma E., Mary M., Edith B. and Carl H. All
are well educated and are graduates of Pomona College. The son is preparing for a profession- al career and is now a student in Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill. With their three daughters Mr. and Mrs. Parker form a happy home circle, and in their pleasant residence at No. 476 South Los Robles avenue they entertain their many friends in a royal and hospitable manner. Be- sides his association with the Lake Vineyard Land and Water Company for the past sixteen years many other enterprises have benefited by Mr. Parker's clear and penetrating judgment, nowhere more essential, perhaps, than in settling up estates, and as executor or administrator his services have been of inestimable value upon a number of occasions. Apart from his business capability Mr. Parker is admired for his fine personality, for in him is found that strong mental and moral timber which, more than any other agency, has contributed its telling strokes toward the supremacy of the state of California.
JOHN HENDERSON. The mining inter- ests of the southwest have in John Henderson, one of its most successful advocates, for with- out means he began life and is now comfort- ably established and secure in the possession of that competence which is the aim of every man. Mr. Henderson inherits the sterling traits of character which have distinguished his career, being a native of Scotland, born in the city of Edinburgh February 17, 1856. He was the fifth son in the family of his parents, Alexander and Katherine (McGuire) Hender- son, and grandson of Morris Henderson: the two elder men engaged in the coal mines of Scotland throughout their entire active lives. The father, now quite advanced in years, is visiting his son in Pasadena, the mother hav- ing died in 1899 in Mexico.
John Henderson was educated in the com- mon schools of Scotland and later attended the South Sidney Academy in Canada, where his parents had located. After leaving school he engaged in the copper mines of Newfound- land for the period of four years, when he came to the United States, and in Tucson, Ariz., engaged in the gold and copper mines of that section. In 1885 he went to Sonora,
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Mexico, and became actively identified with several of the most prominent companies ope- rating in that section, and at present is act- ing as a stockholder and general manager in four companies, namely : the Porvenir de So- nora, S. A., the Reina de Cobre, S. A., the San Felipe Mining Company and the El Oro. He is also interested in the internal development of the southwest and is actively associated with the new railroad, Arizona and Gulf, he having secured the concession for the build- ing of same.
In 1882 Mr. Henderson married Miss Eliza- beth B. Marshall, of Newfoundland, and they are now residing at No. 335 South Los Robles, in a handsome residence modern in all its ap- pointments. They are the parents of the fol- lowing children: John R., Alexander, Mary S., Harry S., Florence Elena, Louise H. and Lawrence M. Mr. Henderson is esteemed as a citizen and ranked among the progressive spirits of Pasadena.
JOSEPH WASHINGTON FREY. A quar- ter of a century has passed since Mr. Frey located in the city of Los Angeles and during that time he has witnessed and participated in the wonder- ful development which has marked this beautiful southern city. A native of the middle west, Mr. Frey was born in Battle Creek, Mich., February 22, 1846. Two brothers served in the Civil war -Andrew, in the United States navy, aboard the flagship Black Hawk, and James in Company C. Second Regiment Michigan Infantry, the latter being wounded and captured at Fort Saunders and spending eighteen months in Confederate prisons. He now resides in East Leroy, Mich. Their father, Joseph Frey, was born in Switzer- land, and in young manhood he immigrated to America and located in West Alexandria, Ohio, thence going to Michigan, where he was one of the early pioneer settlers.
Joseph Washington Frey was reared in Michi- gan and educated in the public and high schools of Battle Creek, after which he attended Albion Col- lege. Although only a boy he volunteered twice for service during the Civil war and was rejected both times. Reared in an atmosphere of business affairs, it was natural that he should seek this
work for his first independent employment, ac- cepting a position as traveling salesman for Burn- ham & Co., of Battle Creek. This took him throughout all the states east of the Mississippi river and added immeasurably to his business training. In Battle Creek he engaged in the manufacture of furniture for nine years, mak- ing a specialty of manufacturing tables. In 1883 he decided to make a change of location and accordingly sold out his interests in Battle Creek and came at once to the Pacific coast, establish- ing himself in Los Angeles, which was then a city of twelve thousand inhabitants. He began work as a manufacturer of mantels and as a carver in wood, his being the first business of the kind in Southern California and the second on the coast. He established his business first at Kerckhoff & Cuzner's mills, and later removed to a location on North Main street, near the Plaza, and here he conducted a constantly increasing business for sixteen years. In his work Mr. Frey Iras shown the sagacity and unerring judgment of a successful business man, believing firmly in the future of the city in which he located so many years ago, and at a time when there was absolutely no promise of its coming prosperity. He has used , California woods in the manufacture of mantels, thus utilizing home products and encouraging home industries to such an extent that he is justly named among the leading manufacturers of the city and one of the men to whom much credit is due for the promotion of such upbuilding en- terprises. Besides manufacturing and selling his own goods, he imports carved mantels from Italy and France. He continued to build up his busi- ness, finally locating on South Broadway between Fifth and Sixth streets, where he had both factory and store for about eight years, and then in 1903 he built a factory on Los Angeles street near Twelfth, a brick building 50x150 feet in dimensions and two stories in height, and here he turns out the finest work of the kind in South- ern California, having furnished ninety per cent of the best houses in Southern California with mantels.
Mr. Frey was one of the men who assisted in the organization of one of the greatest develop- ing influences of Los Angeles-the Chamber of Commerce,-and he has since remained a stanch supporting member. From the time of its or-
Frank Stalker
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ganization up to within a brief time he was also an active member of the Merchants & Manu- facturers Association. He has not allowed his business occupations, however, to so engross his attention that he has found no time for pleasure pursuits, and for eighteen years he has been a member of the Recreation Gun Club, of which he is now acting as commissary. Politically he is a stanch advocate of the tenets of the Republican party.
FRANK WALKER. The industrial calen- dar of Los Angeles contains the name of no citizen whose abilities have resulted in more lasting good to the city than that of Frank Walker, who, since early manhood, has found an outlet for his unusual adaptability in sev- eral avenues of activity throughout the west, aside from his chosen occupation of building. He is the son of Francis and Elizabeth (Hud- son) Walker, who were hardy pioneers of Canada and who reared six boys to years of usefulness, Frank Walker being the youngest of the family and the only one in California. Born on March 29, 1843, within eighteen miles of Niagara Falls, Mr. Walker is a native of the town of Kincardine, Canada West, where he spent his childhood and young manhood, but the greater portion of his life since he was twenty years of age has been passed in business activities west of or in the Rocky mountain districts.
The year 1864 witnessed the arrival of Mr. Walker in California, the journey west being accomplished via Panama, on the steamer Ocean Queen to Aspinwall, and aboard the Golden Age to San Francisco, arriving in the latter city May 7, twenty-four days after leav- ing New York City. Soon after coming to this state he went to Eureka. Humboldt county, and engaged in lumbering for a time, after- wards going to Big Bend, near the headwaters of the Columbia river in British Columbia, but filled with the desire to see more of the coun- try, he went to Idaho, where he helped to build the first mill on the famous Poor Man mining claim at Silver City, and later had charge of mills on the Carson river in Nevada for about three years. In 1870.he returned to
San Francisco and engaged in building and contracting, three years later changing his loca- tion to Santa Barbara, where he erected some of the first brick blocks in that town. Among the buildings he erected in Santa Barbara may be mentioned the Odd Fellows' building, the city hall, the Stearns building, and many pri- vate residences. He also constructed the first street railway in Santa Barbara, that from the wharf to the Arlington hotel. Journeying to Old Mexico in 1879 in search of more prolific fields, Mr. Walker engaged in mining in San Antonio and also built and operated a mill for the San Antonio Mining and Milling Com- pany. Not content, however, with Mexico as a permanent abiding place, he removed to Tombstone, Ariz., a year later, where he be- came prominent in the upbuilding of this then wild mining center, building the first water works in the town, furnishing plans for and taking charge of the construction of the court house, one of the finest in the territory, and the city hall. He erected numerous business houses and furnished the architectural plans for several other buildings, both public and private.
Led by climatic as well as business consid- erations to cast his lot with the people of Los Angeles, he became identified with this city in 1885 and engaged in building and contracting until 1892, meeting with fair success, and at the end of that time removed to San Francisco, where he remained five years. Returning to Los Angeles, where he has since been located, he looked after his previously acquired inter- ests here and continued in the general con- tracting and building business. Mr. Walker has erected many residences and flats in dif- ferent parts of the city, though his activities have by no means been confined to this one line of business. He patented the solar heater, that device used so extensively in Southern California, and which has proved such a con- venience and comfort to so many families. This solar heater is manufactured by the Cali- fornia Water Heater Company of Los Angeles.
Mr. Walker has one son, Frank H., whose birth occurred in Santa Barbara. He received his education in Stanford University, and is now engaged in the wholesale handling of
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stoves and ranges in San Francisco. He was formerly private secretary to the president and general manager of the Frisco Road, with headquarters in St. Louis, Mo. Up to 1895 Mr. Walker showed commendable activity in the Republican party, in the principles and issues of which he then had great faith, but undergoing a change in his political views, he later affiliated with the Democrats, by which party he was elected to the city council in 1900 as representative of the Third ward, tak- ing his oath of office in January of that year. He has also been chairman of the zanja com- mittee, a member of the land committee, and of the water supply committee. Of late years Mr. Walker has affiliated with no political party, preferring to be independent in politics. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. the Los Angeles Pioneers, and is associated with the Santa Barbara lodge and chapter of Masons, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, both lodge and encampment. Per- sonally he is a man of sound commercial astuteness, irreproachable integrity, esteemed by all who know him and occupies a promi- nent place as a citizen. While in the council he opposed and was the means of preventing the street railway corporations from getting the celebrated freight-carrying franchise, which would have allowed freight cars to run on some of the principal streets of the city.
JOHN LANG. One of the old settlers and prominent pioneers of Los Angeles was John Lang, whose death, December 9. 1900, removed from the community a practical and helpful citi- zen whose best efforts had always been given for the upbuilding and development of the city and section. He was a native of England, his birth having occurred in Devonshire December 9. 1826. He received his education through the medium of the common schools, after which he learned the trade of blacksmith. The discovery of gold in California led to his immigration to the state in 1849, but after spending a year there went to Australia. After a short stay in the lat- ter country he returned to California, and from here went to Oregon, where he participated in the Rogue River Indian war. A trip to Cali-
fornia was followed by a time spent in the mines of the Fraser river, when he again returned to California and engaged in placer mining. He was last located in this occupation at Caribou mines, and there he established a hardware busi- ness, with blacksmithy attached, besides hand- ling wagon makers' supplies.
While a resident of British Columbia, in Vic- toria, in 1866, Mr. Lang married Mrs. Rosina Everhardt, who was born in Stuttgart, Germany. She came to California in 1860, having come with a sister, Mrs. Louisa Messer, to New York City in 1854. She made the trip to the Pacific coast by way of the Isthmus of Panama and upon her arrival in San Francisco was there married to Joseph Everhardt. He was also a native of Ger- many, born in Kur-Hessen; in young manhood he immigrated to America and in New York City established one of the finest restaurants of that day. In 1849 he came to San Francisco, where he opened the first restaurant, after which he con- ducted the Russ Garden restaurant in that city. Coming to Los Angeles in 1854 he conducted the Ballonia hotel-the first of this city, and was then proprietor of the La Fayette hotel until 1860, when he sold out and returned to San Francisco. After his marriage there in 1860 he went to Sonoma, bought and ran the Sonoma hotel for one year, then went to Victoria, British Columbia, where he conducted the hostlery known as the Everhardt hotel until his death, which occurred in 1864. They had two sons, Louis, of Portland, Ore., and Joseph, who died in Victoria.
Until 1872 Mr. Lang continued engaged in the mining business, and then came to Los An- geles and purchased nine acres of raw land, located on Twelfth between San Pedro and Main streets, and at once began its improvement by setting out an orchard. This property was later sold as a ranch, but other property which he pur- chased at that time has since become valuable in their possession as business blocks. Among these was a lot on South Broadway, extending from Broadway to Hill, a depth of sixty feet. This Mrs. Lang sold in December, 1906, on Hill street for $120,000, while she still retains the frontage on Broadway, where she built a cottage in1 1872. They also owned property on Main street and on South Spring, where she put up the
Elisabeth- h. Follanche.
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Wilcox annex a few years after her husband's death. Mr. Lang was always prominent in the development of the city in which he made his home, was very liberal in all his dealings, was public-spirited in every way, and all in all was accounted one of the foremost citizens of Los Angeles. He was a member of the California Pioneers in San Francisco, and in religion at- tended the Unitarian Church, of which his wife is a devoted member. Mr. Lang was very strict in his adherence to the highest principles of life, was possessed of unswerving integrity, and was justly esteemed among those who knew him best. Besides his wife, who resides at No. 915 South Alvarado street, he left two sons, Albert George, a graduate of the high school of Los Angeles and University of California, and now a whole- sale commission merchant of San Francisco; and Gustav John, a diamond setter in Chicago until his father's death, when he returned to Southern California to look after the interests of the fam- ily. Mrs. Lang is prominent socially and in re- ligious affairs, and as an officer in the German Benevolent Society assists materially in the ad- vancement of those interests. She takes a keen interest in the development of Los Angeles and has a firm faith in its future progress and ad- vancement.
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