USA > California > A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, Volume II > Part 40
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By his marriage with Miss Ida M. Wilson, a native of Tacoma, Wash., Mr. Thompson has two children, Georgia L. and Herbert Willard. In his political preferences he is a Republican, and fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. The same thorough- ness and application which have always been dis- tinguishing characteristics and which have been
Mary E. D Dennis
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applied in whatever he has undertaken have not been wanting in his western ventures, and as a consequence he has met with the success which is his just due. Whole-souled and energetic, he is alive to all public interests and is generous both with his time and means when thereby he can further the happiness and comfort of his fellowmen.
MARY E. DONALDSON DENNIS, A. M., M. D. Prominent in the medical fraternity of Los Angeles, Dr. Mary E. Donaldson Dennis has ably demonstrated her ability in this line of work and merits the high position she holds as a physician. A native of the middle west, she was born in Boone, Iowa, a daughter of John S. and Sarah A. (Brown) Pitman, whose personal sketch appears elsewhere in this vol- ume. Her only brother, the Rev. Homer K. Pitman, is pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Modesto, Cal. Her preliminary education was received through the medium of the public schools of Boone county, after which she at- tended Cornell College, at Mount Vernon, Iowa, for two years, then entered Western College, of Toledo, Iowa, which institution is now known as Leander Clark College. She continued her studies in this institution until her first marriage, which occurred in 1889 in Ogden, Iowa, uniting her with Charles V. Donaldson. He was a graduate of West Point and was a lieutenant in Company E, Twenty- fourth United States Infantry, and was active in the campaigns in Arizona against the Apache Indians. While in California on a furlough at Newport Beach he lost his life in an attempt to rescue two young ladies from drowning; they had ventured beyond their depth in the surf and he plunged in after them, rescuing one, then returning for the other, Miss Lottie Spurgeon, of Santa Ana. He was overcome with exhaustion and both were drowned. This was on the 15th of July, 1890. Mrs. Donaldson was then residing in Santa Ana, where, after her bereavement, her daugh- ter, Charlotte V., was born. Lieutenant Don- aldson's name is now enrolled with the Na- tional Heroes of Washington, D. C. The daughter is now attending Occidental College.
Mrs. Donaldson taught school for about two years in the Santa Ana High school, after which she returned east and again became a student in Leander Clark College. She was there graduated in 1892 with the degree of A. B., and upon her return to California she took graduate work in the University of Southern California, from which institution she received the degree of A. M. in 1895. She then entered the medical department of the University of Southern California, and in 1897 graduated with the degree of M. D., and since that time has engaged in the practice of her profession in the city of Los Angeles, and on Catalina Island, being one of the pioneer physicians of Avalon. She was located on the island be- tween 1900 and 1903, in the last-named year returning to Los Angeles, where she has since been practicing exclusively. She is prominent among the physicians of the city and is a member of the Southern California Medical Society, the County Medical Society and the State Medical and American Medical Associa- tions.
In Los Angeles, in 1899, she became the wife of Willard W. Dennis, who was born in Peo- ria, Ill., a son of Dr. C. J. Dennis, of that city. Mr. Dennis received his education in the schools of Ohio and Utah, remaining in the latter state until 1898, when he came to Los Angeles. In this city he engaged in the mer- cantile business and later followed the same occupation in Avalon. He is now serving as deputy sheriff of Los Angeles county under Sheriff Hammel. Dr. Dennis is a member of the Immanuel Presbyterian Church and a lib- eral contributor to all its charities. In mem- ory of her student days she belongs to the Alumni Association of Leander Clark College and also of the University of Southern Cali- fornia.
JOSEPH WELSH, president of the Pasa- dena Hardware Company, is a native of Scot- land, his birth occurring in Newton Stuart Oc- tober 15, 1864. His father, Joseph Welsh, Sr., a native of Scotland, was apprenticed to learn landscape gardening, but he finally took up land- scape and cattle painting instead and became
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widely known for his superior knowledge and skill in this line. His mother was in maidenhood Elizabeth Erskine, also a native of Scotland, and daughter of John Erskine. The son received his early education in the public schools, after which he attended Ewart Institute up to his sixteenth year. He put aside his studies at that early age to engage as a clerk in a hardware es- tablishment owned by John Lawson, with whom he remained for six years and during which time he acquired a thorough knowledge of the business. Leaving the employ of Mr. Lawson he went to Glasgow, and after one year came to America, landing in New York City. Coming to Cali- fornia he found employment with James O. Methewson, his uncle, in Duarte, in an orange grove. The industry and ability of the young Scotchman soon won for him a place in the es- teem of his employer and it was not long before he became a partner in the enterprise. He re- mained there for a time, then disposed of his in- terests, and entering the employ of the Pasa- dena Hardware Company, of Pasadena, contin- ued with the company until he again established connections with a successful enterprise as a part- ner. In 1902 this company was incorporated with a capitalization of $20,000, which was soon afterward increased to $100,000, Mr. Welsh be- ing elected president, with R. S. Roberts vice- president, and W. S. Windham secretary and treasurer. They have a building 24x120 feet in dimensions for their main store, while their ex- tensive warehouses extend from the store to Union street. Their enterprise is one of the most extensive of its kind in Pasadena and with the passing years they have succeeded in building up a wide and lucrative patronage. Mr. Welsh is not only president, but also acts as general man- ager of the concern, whose success is justly at- tributed to the conservative yet progressive busi- ness men who have fostered the project.
The marriage of Mr. Welsh occurred in Pasa- dena and united him with Miss Jennie M. Nay, a daughter of Oscar T. Nay, and they are now the parents of two sons, Stewart Donald and Joseph Erskine, both of whom are students in the Pasadena schools. Mr. Welsh, although a careful and interested business man, does not give all of his time to those interests, but enjoys recreation which he takes as a member of the
Pasadena Duck Shooting Club and the Los An- geles Shooting Club, delighting in the skillful handling of the gun and rod. He is universally recognized as one of the enterprising men of Pasadena, always awake to the needs of the city and ready to lend his aid in any enterprise which tends toward the development of public interests. He is not only a good business man, but also pos- sesses unusual social qualities which have won him many friends.
CHARLES LEWIS. The business interests of Charles Lewis have occupied his attention pretty thoroughly up to within a few years, his home now being in Pasadena, where he is practically retired from his many enterprises. Mr. Lewis is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Chester county, July 14, 1829, a son of Evan and Rebecca (Vicker) Lewis, both natives of the same state. The father was a son of Thomas and Martha (George) Lewis, both natives of Berks county, Pa., and lifelong residents of their native state. Evan Lewis engaged as a farmer and stockman in Pennsylvania until 1839, when he moved to Belmont county, Ohio, and later located in Jefferson county, same state, where he con- tinued farming until his death, which occurred in 1859. His wife survived him for several years.
Charles Lewis attended the common schools of Ohio in pursuit of an education, and remained on the home farm until his eighteenth year, when he became apprenticed to learn the trade of wheel- wright. He followed this occupation for three years, when he went to eastern Pennsylvania and engaged in a mercantile business in a small town in Northampton county. Later he located in Chester county and there formed a partnership with Joseph Vickers, under the firm name of Vickers & Lewis, in a general merchandising busi- ness in Londonderry. While a resident of Londonderry he married Miss Jane Peirce, a daughter of Isaac Peirce, of that place. After three years, in 1855, Mr. Lewis disposed of his business interests and immigrated to Linn county, Iowa, near Marion, the county seat, there pur- chasing a farm and engaging in general farming and stock-raising. His farm consisted of two hundred acres which he brought to a high state of cultivation. In the year 1864 he entered the
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employ of the government as a clerk and went south to Nashville, Tenn., where he made his headquarters until the close of the Civil war. Re- turning to lowa at that time he became occupied in stone quarrying at Anamosa, remaining there until 1872. In the beginning of the ensuing year he went to Sioux county, Iowa, and engaged in the real-estate business with headquarters at the county seat. In the fall of 1883 he was elected treasurer of Sioux county, holding the office for six years. At the expiration of his term of service he resumed the real-estate business and continued alone until 1893, when he took one of his sons into partnership, organizing the con- cern under the name of the C. & M. E. Lewis Company. It was incorporated in 1902 with headquarters at Moscow, Idaho, where they are conducting a general real-estate business, Mr. Lewis being president of the company. During the summer months he is interested in the affairs of the business, while his winters are passed quietly in his pleasant home at No. 645 North Los Robles avenue, in Pasadena.
In 1872 Mr. Lewis' first wife died, and in 1892 he was united in marriage with Anna H. Coates. By his first marriage he had the following chil- dren: Henry P. and Maris E., the latter sec- retary and manager of the real-estate business. Fraternally Mr. Lewis is a Mason, having been made a member of the organization in Lodge No. 67 at Anamosa; he was raised to the Royal Arch degree but is now demitted. In 1853 he affiliated with the Odd Fellows. He is an enter- prising and substantial citizen and respected and esteemed by all who know him.
JOHN HAUERWAAS. One of the most enterprising citizens of Los Angeles was the late John Hauerwaas, whose business pursuits resulted not alone in the upbuilding of his personal fortunes, but in the establishment and maintenance of many activities instrumental in the development of the city and surrounding country. His death, in the prime of his man- hood, on the 19th of December, 1906, removed from the community a valuable citizen and one who numbered his friends liberally wher- ever he was known. A native of Bavaria, Germany, he was born February 10, 1864, a
son of Conrad Hauerwaas, a merchant of that country and an influential citizen. After con- pleting his education in the public schools of the Fatherland he was apprenticed to learn the trade of cabinetmaker. At the age of sixteen years he came to America and in New York City entered the employ of a firm in the cary- ing, cabinet and grill work department. Later in Philadelphia, Pa., he followed a similar em- ployment in car shops for a time, when, in 1882, he came to the Pacific coast and in San Francisco engaged in the car shops. Two years later he came to Southern California and located in Long Beach, thence removed to Los Angeles, and here established a cabinet- maker's shop on East First street, carrying this on for several years. Finally, with Mr. Adloff, he took an agency for the Weiland brewery, and began building up that business, which has since grown to such large propor- tions. They were first located in a small way on North Main street, but as the business in- creased so rapidly they felt justified in locat- ing the enterprise in larger quarters at Nos. 112, 114, 116, 118 Central avenue, where they are now carrying on an extensive trade. At the same time Mr. Hauerwaas was interested in mining and real estate operations, owning some valuable property in Los Angeles, among which was his home, located at No. 2703 South Hoover street.
The various interests of Mr. Hauerwaas identified his name with many projects of im- portance in the upbuilding of Los Angeles. Prominent socially he was an active member of the Jonathan Club, the Recreation Gun Club (of which he was at one time president), and the Chamber of Commerce, and fraternally was identified with several organizations, hav- ing been made a Mason in Los Angeles Lodge No. 42, F. & A. M., raised to the degree of Royal Arch in the chapter here: also belongs to the Odd Fellows' lodge and encampment ; the Foresters ; Herman Sons (of which he was past president) : the Turn-Verein, and the Red Men. Mr. Hauerwaas was considered one of the best rifle shots in the state, having re- ceived many medals won in different contests not only in California, but national contests in the eastern states, and was captain of the
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shooting section of the Turn-Verein. Politi- cally he was a Democrat in his convictions and gave his support to that party, although never desirous of personal recognition in that line. He was the founder of Schutzen Park, a summer garden on the Pasadena short line, was president of the company that controlled it, and at the time of his death was actively en- gaged in plans for its improvement and de- velopment.
Mr. Hauerwaas left a widow and five chil- dren: Lucy, Gertrude, Edna, John and Eve- lyn. Mrs. Hauerwaas was formerly Miss Lucy Preston, a native of Los Angeles, where she was reared and educated, and where she was married November 10, 1888. Her parents, Henry and Amelia (Hartje) Preston, were both natives of Germany and pioneer settlers of Los Angeles, where the father engaged as a successful horticulturist, being the first to bud the lemon onto orange trees. He passed away in this city, survived by his wife, who still resides in Los Angeles, and five of their seven children. Mrs. Hauerwaas is active in social life, and as a member of Loyalty Chap- ter No. 217, Order of Eastern Star, takes a keen interest in this auxiliary of the Masonic organization.
EDWIN W. SARGENT, an attorney, came to Los Angeles in 1886 and became at once promi- nently identified with the title companies, being active in the management of same and most prom- inently known as a legal adviser as to land titles.
He was born in Oregon, Dane county, Wis., on August 15, 1848. Both his father and mother were of New England origin. His early life was spent upon his father's farm in Wisconsin. He was an attendant at the State University of Madison, Wis., for several terms, and subsequent- ly attended and graduated from the legal de- partment of the Iowa City Law School, Iowa City, in 1874. He went to Iowa in 1871 and resided thereafter at Denison until 1879, having entered upon the practice of law there in 1874.
He moved to Atchison, Kans., in 1879, and from there to Los Angeles in 1886, where he has permanently resided since.
He was married at Sterling, Ill., in August,
1876, having one daughter, Lillian W. Sargent.
He has always been known as a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Masonic frater- nity, being a Knight Templar, and belonging to the Mystic Shrine.
EDWARD S. CRUMP. Before coming to California Edward S. Crump had proven his ability and energy in mercantile pursuits, with which he had been identified from young man- hood. He is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Allegheny county, near Pittsburg, April 27, 1870, a son of Steven S. and Agnes M. (Risher) Crump; the father was a native of Pennsylvania and a son of John and Ruth Crump, both natives of Virginia, while the maternal grandfather, John C. Risher, was born in Pennsylvania the de- scendant of an old German family. Edward S. Crump received his early education through the medium of the common schools, after which he had the privilege of a private tutor. Subsequently he entered the employ of the Union Foundry Machine Company, at Pittsburg, Pa., remaining with them for one year, when he resigned to ac- cept the position of bookkeeper in a general store at Dravosburg, Allegheny county. Later he be- came a partner in the concern and was identified with these interests for four years. While there he was married, on the 6th of October, 1891, to Miss Daisy Bell Hopkins, of Mckeesport, Pa., only daughter of George E. and Henrietta (Weidler ) Hopkins. After his marriage Mr. Crump continued in his mercantile business until 1894, when he disposed of his interests and with his wife came to Southern California, like the early emigrants of old seeking the gold of the country, but not like them looking for it in every- day life rather than in the earth. In the same year Mr. Crump purchased the paint and oil busi- ness of F. A. Haskell, but later sold it to H. W. Wadsworth, agreeing to remain with him as his bookkeeper for the period of six months. At the termination of the six months he was requested to remain because of his efficient work, and he is still in that position. In the meantime he had become interested in real estate, and purchased a lot, put up a house and sold it at sufficient profit to justify another venture of the same kind. Three times he built and sold, having in his
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wife a capable assistant, while he looked after his other interests. Their own home is on the banks of the beautiful arroyo, to the improvement of which they give every possible effort. They have prospered since coming to California and it is not strange that they think there is no place to equal it in conditions, climate and residents.
Mr. Crump is a prominent Mason fraternally, being associated with the blue lodge, Pasadena Chapter, and Pasadena Commandery No. 31, K. T., and is also a Thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason.
ADAM DIXON WARNER. Probably very few men west of the Mississippi river are better known among the great lawyers of the Pacific slope, than is the subject of this sketch, Adam Dixon Warner, more familiarly known as "Dick" Warner. Although a resi- dent of the city of Los Angeles less than four years, he has already taken front rank among the great lawyers of the city and state. Mr. Warner is now in the very prime of life, being forty-eight years old. He was born on the banks of the St. Lawrence river in the county of Stormont, Ontario, Canada, on May 22, 1858. His father, William Warner, known as Squire Warner, was one of the early pioneers and richest farmers of Canada. He was born February 5, 1798, and was the father of eigh- teen children, and gave each one of them a good farm. Of this number the subject of this article was the seventeenth. The father buried two wives, by whom he had twelve children. His third wife was Marion McGill Dixon, the daughter of Adam Dixon, a Scotch-Irish miller and farmer, who lived at Moulinette, Canada. The fruits of this marriage were six sons, all of whom are yet living, except one.
The Warner ancestors came from Holland at an early period in our history and settled in Connecticut and New York, where the name flourished for generations in professional, po- litical and business circles. The grandfather of Adam Dixon, Conrad Warner, was a United Empire Loyalist and was one of the number who went over to Canada and became the fore- fathers of that sturdy and progressive people populating the province of Ontario.
Adam Dixon Warner was but twelve years of age when his father died. For a number of years before his father's death (during the war) his daily duty after school was to run to the post office and get the daily paper and read it aloud to his father in his declining years. This reading during the exciting times of the war and the reconstruction period, imbued him with a spirit of determination to become a law- yer and also created the spirit of independence of citizenship, which is Mr. Warner's most dominant and most valued characteristic. He attended the country school until he was six- teen, and then, realizing that from the terms of his father's will that he would be unable for many years to use his portion of the estate to educate himself as he desired, he set out to earn the money with which to complete his educa- tion and fit him for the profession he now so ably graces.
In the spring of 1874, when but a lad of six- teen, he went to the wheat fields of northern Wisconsin, and took his place alongside of men in the harvest field, earning $3 and $3.50 a day. After three years of work on the farms in summer, the logging-woods in winter and the river drive in the spring, he returned to his native heath to run the old farm, which he did in summer, and attended the high school at Cornwall, Ontario, in the winter, and spent most of his play-time studying law in the law offices of MacLennan and MacDonald, one of the strongest law firms in Canada.
After graduating at the Cornwall high school he sold reapers and mowers and rakes to the farmers in the summer season, and attended the St. Catharines Collegiate Institute at St. Catharines, Ontario, preparatory for the law school at Toronto University. Overwork at college, cramming for an examination, laid him low with a severe attack of brain fever that nearly ended the career of this aggressive young man. Upon recovery a year later he attempted to resume his studies, but was com- pelled to abandon them and seek outdoor exer- cise. Not dismayed, and with the same pluck that has marked his career, he accepted em- ployment in the saw mill of Page, Dixon & Co., at Davenport, Iowa, for the triple purpose of regaining his health, familiarizing himself
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with the business methods of big concerns, and as well learning the lumbering business in all its detail. In 1883 he went to St. Paul, Minn., there engaging in the real es- tate business and in a short time amassed a snug fortune; soon he became recognized as one of the leading real estate dealers and au- thorities on values in that city. But alas! the memorable Ashland boom came along in March, 1887, and it was from Ashland that Dick sent his famous telegrams to the Third National Bank, "Send me twenty-five thou- sand. I have Ashland in a sling." In a few days he sent another, "Send me twenty-five dollars, Ashland has got me." Suffice it to say the young plunger had sunk $47,000 in cash. and was broke. Though broke financially he was still a millionaire in pluck and aggressive energy. Here he turned to the law, and with- in the next few years he jumped to the front rank as one of the great trial lawyers of the west, and gained a national reputation in the defense of Clara Blatz, whom he successfully defended for as foul a murder as was ever committed.
In 1891 the Great Northern Railway had es- tablished its line through to Puget Sound, and upon the advice of the great railroad builder, J. J. Hill, Mr. Warner started for what was then Port Gardner Bay on Puget Sound, but which is now the city of Everett, Wash. He opened a law office at the then county seat, Snohomish, about eight miles up the river. Investments in real estate landed him in a few. months among the solid men of the young city of Everett.
Here at Everett Mr. Warner was employed by an Indian widow, Josephine Hatch, to pros- ecute a suit in equity against the Rockefeller interests, the Everett Land Company, on the ground of fraud. Suit was brought on behalf of herself and her minor children for the re- covery of three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land situated in the heart of the young city, valued at more than a million dollars. By those who thought the suits a blow at the young city of Everett, Mr. Warner was de- nounced by all kinds of calumny, but un- daunted, and with great skill and courage, against the ablest lawyers money could hire,
he fought the case through the circuit court of appeals twice during a period of five years, and finally had the land restored to the minor children. These cases are reported in the Federal Reporter from Volume 52 to 68. For his great battle Mr. Warner received an un- divided one half under his contract, as his at- torney fee, which up to this time was the most valuable fee ever paid a lawyer on this coast.
During his residence in the state of Wash- ington Mr. Warner represented his county in the legislature of 1897, and was the leader of the house. In fact, with the co-operation of Senator George Turner he wrote most of the revenue law enacted by that legislature that placed the state of Washington on a sound fi- nancial hasis, by compelling big corporations and other tax dodgers to pay their long delin- quent taxes. His service to his constituency and the state in introducing the bill that wiped out all the needless commissions that were plundering the public treasury, and another that established the board of control in their stead, and his aggressive demand from that legislature that the party pledges of retrench- ment and reform should be inviolably kept, brought him the maledictions of a horde of of- fice holders and seekers and corporate lobby- ists. But with his characteristic tenacity of purpose, and love for a good fight, he defied and routed his accusers until at the end of the session, he had the satisfaction of seeing his bills enacted into laws.
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