USA > California > A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, Volume II > Part 6
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The home of Mr. Flint is brightened by the presence of his wife, formerly Katherine J. Bloss, daughter of Henry A. Bloss, and a wo- man of rare traits of character which have given her a prominence in social and church circles where she is best known. Their union, which was solemnized February 25, 1890, in Los Angeles, has been blessed by the birth of two children, Katherine and William. In addition to the many exacting duties of his practice and his association with the political affairs of the state, Mr. Flint is prominently identified with the growth and development of Los Angeles and of Southern California, up- holding its interests as a member of leading clubs, fraternal societies and commercial or- ganizations, being vice-president and a di- rector of the First National Bank and the Equitable Savings Bank.
HON. JAMES A. GIBSON. A man who has served with honor and credit in official posi- tion and made for himself an enviable reputa- tion in private law practice is Hon. James A. Gibson, a member of the law firm of Bicknell. Gibson & Trask of Los Angeles. He is of
Scotch-Irish ancestry, and his father, Thomas Gibson, sacrificed his life for love of his adopted country. He enlisted in a Massachusetts regi- ment of volunteers in the Civil war, in which he was killed while in active service. As a young man he had settled at St. Johns, Newfoundland, where he clerked for an uncle, a leading mer- chant of that city. Later he removed to Massa- chusetts, and Boston became the native city of the son. The mother was born in Ireland, but in girlhood lived in Marblehead, Mass .; she passed away some months before the father's death and thus the boy was left an orphan at a very early age. He was cared for by an aunt until old enough to earn his own living, and was little more than a child when he accepted the first opportunity that offered and went on a cruise at sea. At seventeen years he secured employ- ment in a large manufacturing establishment in Massachusetts with a view to becoming a me- chanical engineer, and continued at the work until he had attained practically the management of one of the departments. At the same time he commenced the study of law, but had not finished his readings when he came to San Fran- cisco in 1874. He remained in that city only a short time before removing to San Bernardino and having continued his law work was admitted to the bar in the district court of San Bernar- dino county June 13, 1879. Later he attained the right to practice in the superior courts and supreme court of California, and in the federal courts of the United States.
His first official honor was an election to the judgeship of the superior court of his county, having for several years conducted a private practice that convinced his constituents that he was thoroughly qualified to satisfactorily and honorably acquit himself of the duties of that important office. So well did he succeed in this that he was soon chosen for a higher position and on May 3, 1889, resigned from the superior bench and received the appointment as a mem- ber of the supreme court of California commis- sion, retaining that position until January, 1891, when he resigned in order to again take up his private practice. He removed to San Diego and became a member of the firm of Works, Gibson & Titus and was not long in attaining the high position among the leading attorneys of
Ma. Such
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that city that his talents entitled him to. Judge Works ultimately withdrew from the firm to establish a partnership with his son, and the two remaining members continued the law busi- ness as Gibson & Titus. June I, 1897, Judge Gibson desiring to locate in a city of larger opportunities, dissolved his connection with the San Diego firm and removed to Los Angeles, where he joined Messrs. Bicknell and Trask in the formation of what is now recognized as one of the strongest law firms in Los Angeles-a city boasting many attorneys of more than usual abil- ity and prominence. He has been especially prominent in connection with a number of im- portant corporation cases, and the esteem in which he is held by the legal fraternity in the state is evidenced by his election to the office of vice- president of the American Bar Association for California. He has also been president of the Los Angeles Bar Association. While filling official position politics was necessarily held in abeyance by Judge Gibson, yet he is a strong believer in the principles advocated in the platform of the Republican party. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic lodge; and he has been con- nected with military affairs of the state, having held offices in the first brigade with the rank of major. He was also for two terms a trustee of the Southern California Hospital and is actively interested in all matters of social and civic in- terest to the public.
In 1882 Judge Gibson was united in marriage with Miss Sarah A. Waterman, who died some years later, having become the mother of two children, James A., Jr., and Mary W., both of whom survived her. He was afterward mar- ried to Miss Gertrude Van Norman, a native of Ohio, two children also blessing this union, Martha A. and Horace V.
HON. P. M. GREEN. The death of Mr. Green March 23, 1903, closed a career of dis- tinct usefulness which had extended over a period of many years, the greater part of which was associated with the origin and up- building of one of Southern California's most beautiful residence cities, Pasadena. His identification with its history dates back to the days of the Indiana Colony, or, as it was
also known, the San Gabriel Orange Grove Association. As carly as 1873 he was one of the twenty who organized and incorporated the company, acquiring the right of title to over three thousand acres of land, which was subdivided into homesteads of from fifteen to sixty acres. In a word, this was the begin- ning of Pasadena, and from then until his death Mr. Green never ceased to cherish and strengthen its interests and enterprises, many of which he founded. The regard in which he was held may be best illustrated perhaps by quoting from the tribute from the officers of the First National Bank of Los Angeles, of which he was vice-president: "He was an
honest man, a just man, firm in his convic- tions of right 'as God gave him to see the right,' and withal was possessed of a pecu- liarly sweet temperament. He was the friend of everybody. His sympathies were bound- less and his charity for all mankind immeas- urable. In his death the commonwealth loses one of its best citizens, and the financial com- munity a splendid exponent of business right living, his home the exquisite tenderness of a model husband and father, and the bank a faithful officer and friend."
The history of the Green family can be traced to Nathanael Greene, the Revolution- ary patriot and general from Rhode Island, and the friend and coadjutor of General Wash- ington. From North Carolina, whither the fam- ily finally drifted, they removed to Kentucky, and it was in that state that Lot Green, the father of P. M. Green, was born and reared. From there he removed to the adjoining state on the north, and in Rush county, Ind., was known as a citizen of considerable importance, hav- ing served his community as an educator and as a justice of the peace. In politics he was a Whig and in religion was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. His wife before her marriage was Annie Cooper, who from her birth until her marriage was a resident of Kentucky, her father being a minister in a Baptist church there. Of the eight children born to these worthy parents only one is now living, Mrs. A. O. Porter, of Pasadena.
Perry M. Green was born in Rush county, Ind., May 7. 1838. and was next to the young-
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est in the family. When he was only about four years old his life. was saddened by the death of his mother, and the death of his father three years later left him desolate indeed. From the age of seven until he was fourteen he was cared for by his older brothers and sis- ters, and then started out for himself by ac- cepting a clerkship in a store. As the work was not to his taste he gave it up and hired out as a farm hand, receiving $7 a month for his services. Subsequently, however, he re- sumed clerking for a time, but relinquished this to enter Richland Academy, for which training he had been saving his earnings for some time. When he was nineteen years old he began to read law in the office of Davis & Wright, of Shelbyville, and at the age of twenty-one was admitted to the bar of In- diana, thereafter engaging in practice in Shel- byville for five years. During most of that time he was city attorney, a position in which he made quite a brilliant record. In 1865 he removed to Indianapolis, where he became a member of the firm of Campbell & Green, manufacturers and wholesale and retail deal- ers in drugs. This association existed until 1873, when he disposed of his interests in In- diana and came to California, a change which was brought about by the ill-health of his wife. As a member of the Indiana Colony he was entitled to a choice of lots, and purchased sixty acres in the southern part of Pasadena, and there it was that he gained his first expe- rience as a horticulturist. To one of his ver- satile abilities and large ambition it was dif- ficult to confine himself to one line of en- deavor, and thus it was natural that from time to time we find him adding to his responsibili- ties and business connections. In 1885 he or- ganized the Pasadena Bank with a capital stock of $50,000, and was made its president and manager. In the following year this was incorporated as the First National Bank of Pasadena, with a capital stock of $100,000. In connection with the parent institution a savings department was organized in 1901 under the title of the Pasadena Savings, Trust & Safe Deposit Company, capitalized at $50,- 000, Mr. Green also being president of this institution. He was a stockholder in the Los
Angeles Savings and Trust Company, and was a director and the vice-president of the Los Angeles National Bank.
A subject which was uppermost in the mind of Mr. Green during the early days involved a plan which would provide adequate irrigation facilities in order to cultivate the land to the fullest extent. The first enterprise of the kind organized in the locality was the Pasa- dena Land and Water Company, of which Mr. Green was a director for over twenty-five years. He was also one of the organizers and a director in the first gas company established here, as well as a director in the first street- car company in this city. In later years he became associated with M. H. Sherman and E. P. Clark in the construction of the Pasa- dena and Los Angeles Electric Railway. Still another interest which was very close to his heart was the Throop Polytechnic Institute, of which he was president, director and one of its most liberal supporters.
From the foregoing it might be concluded that Mr. Green gave the best of himself and the most of his time to the multitudinous in- terests with which his name was associated, but in reality they took a second place in his esteem, no one being a greater lover of home and family than Mr. Green. His marriage oc- curred in Shelbyville, Ind., October 30, 1860, and united him with Miss Henrietta Camp- bell, whose father, John S. Campbell, was born in Delaware, reared in Philadelphia, and later became a pioneer of Indiana. One daugh- ter, Mary, blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Green, and since the death of Mr. Green the mother and daughter have continued to reside in the old family residence in Pasadena, which has been the scene of so many happy gatherings. Upon the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Pasadena in 1873 both Mr. and Mrs. Green became charter members, and from then until 1901 he held the office of trustee. For some time he was also a director of the Y. M. C. A. organization of Pasadena, greatly encouraging it by his ever- ready aid and sympathy. From its earliest days he was a member of the Pasadena Board of Trade and a warm ally of all organizations and movements for the commercial upbuild-
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ing of Southern California. A strong advo- the family, finding employment as a clerk in a cate of Republican principles, it was on that party's ticket that in 1879 he was elected to the state legislature as representative from Los Angeles county. During the session of 1880 he introduced a bill for the establishment of a state normal at Los Angeles, a measure which did not carry at that time, although he had the satisfaction of knowing that it was carried during the next session. Among his friends he numbered Frank P. Flint, member of congress, Judge M. T. Allen, Judge Conrey, Gen. M. H. Sherman and E. P. Clark, besides many other men of equal note, including the bar of Los Angeles. As the last mark of re- spect to one of Pasadena's best-beloved citi- zens every business house in the city was closed during the progress of the funeral, and his body was laid to rest in the city which he had nurtured and tended as his own child.
MAJOR JAMES R. TOBERMAN. No name is better known or held in higher appre- ciation in Southern California than that of Major James R. Toberman, one of the most prominent factors in the upbuilding and development of re- sources of this portion of the state. His life history, in view of his connection with the high- est interests of the state, is of interest to all who know him either personally or through the in- fluence of his far-reaching efforts, and it is fitting that his name should appear among the repre- sentative citizens of Southern California, where he has been located since the pioneer days of the state.
Major Toberman is a native of Virginia, and was born June 22, 1836, a son of John and Eliz- abeth (Campbell) Toberman; on both sides of the house he is the descendant of fine ancestry- German on the father's side and Scotch on his mother's, the paternal grandfather having served throughout the Revolutionary war in a Virginia company. John Toberman was born the year that Washington died, grew to manhood in Vir- ginia, there married and learned the trade of cabinet-maker, and after his removal to Missouri in 1845 began making wagons. At the age of fourteen years James R. Toberman left school to assist his father in earning a livelihood for
small country store; the first year he received as remuneration only his board and clothes and the second year was transferred to another store on the Missouri river where he was paid $10 a month for his services, a part of his work there being as clerk on the levee. He was evidently able to display considerable business ability even at his youthful age, because he was approached during this time by another merchant who offered him $25 per month for his services. He ac- cepted this position and for two years worked in a large wholesale house in Sibley. Resigning at the expiration of that time he returned to his home town-Carrollton-where a college had re- cently been built, intending to take a course in the institution, but after six months he changed his plans and instead entered the county clerk's office as assistant. During the three years he held the position he acquired a knowledge and experience which proved of far more benefit than any collegiate training could have done. He then became deputy circuit clerk, from which office he resigned and on October 25, 1859. he started for California, with two young men companions taking a hack to the nearest railway station, thence by Chicago to New York City, and there embarking on a steamer bound for Colon; after crossing the isthmus they again took passage on a steamer and subsequently arrived in San Francisco. There Mr. Toberman remained for a brief time, later went to Sacramento and from that point crossed the mountains to Virginia City, Nev., and there began mining when there were only three houses built in that place. Not successful in his efforts, however, Mr. To- berman was forced to sell his pack animal, as he had spent the greater part of his savings in the heavy expenses of the trip, and following this he engaged in prospecting over the country. Tiring of the life, he went by foot to Sacramento, spend- ing the nights under the stars and traveling steadily by day toward his destination. When he reached Hangtown he had but $12, but he continued his way to Sacramento, where he se- cured a position as night cashier in the Crescent City hotel. He remained in this employment until the fall of 1860, when he went to Napa, thence to San Francisco and finally to San Jose, where he worked in a store at the New Almaden
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quick silver mines. In Santa Cruz he engaged in the sawmill business and made some money, with which, in the spring of 1863, with a friend, he came to Southern California and thence by ox-teams went to El Paso, where his friend had some mining claims. However, because of the Indians, they were finally driven out of that loca- tion and Mr. Toberman came to Los Angeles, where he had been appointed United States rev- enute assessor by President Lincoln, his term of office dating from May 4. 1864. He served six years in this capacity, but in the meantime ( 1865) he was appointed the agent for Wells Fargo & Co. Express, and two years later he was made secretary of a gas company which was just then organized. At this time he bought his first ranch and the following year he built his first house in Los Angeles, which is still standing. On the 2d of June, 1867, he married Miss Emma J. Dye. a daughter of George W. Dye, an emigrant of Missouri who crossed the plains with mule-teams, and they began their housekeeping days in their new home.
The commercial interests of Los Angeles have always had in Mr. Toberman an earnest and practical factor. As early as 1868 he engaged with Mr. Hellman in the organization of the first bank in Southern California, which institution was known as Hellman, Temple & Co., a private banking concern. When Mr. Toberman resigned from his connection with the express company he sent to San Francisco and asked a friend, William Pridham, a messenger of the company, to come south and succeed him and he is today the incumbent of that office. The banking inter- ests eventually proved too wearing for Mr. To- berman and he early retired from the concern with which he had identified his interests, only to assume the weightier responsibilities of pub- lic office, being elected in 1869 councilman from his ward, and after an acceptable service, in 1872, was chosen to the position of mayor of Los Angeles. He was candidate for this office against a Mexican, who had served in this ca- pacity for years, but an evidence of the major's popularity was recognized in the large majority he received at the election. His service as mayor is known to the carly residents of the city and served to re-elect him in 1878 to the same office, (luring which administration he proved his loy-
alty and patriotism in his efforts to advance the best interests of the city, expending much of his own means in a legal contest with the gas com- pany for the welfare of the city, and winning the snit. He was elected the third time to this office January 1, 1880, and served until 1882, among his most successful achievements during his third administration being his reduction of taxes from $1.82 on the hundred dollars to one per cent on the same, putting the city out of debt. Near the close of his administration he signed a con- tract with a St. Louis man for an electric light plant, which he set in operation on the last day of his administration, by pressing a button. He was also one of the strong advocates for the Southern Pacific Railroad and finally secured its admission into the city by voting a tax of $500,000. No man has been more prominent in his efforts to advance the interests of Los An- geles, and no man is given more credit for his unselfish interest in the welfare of the public. What he has accomplished cannot be written, for it is that upon which the present city's greatness is built. Be it said, however, that Major Tober- man occupies a unique position in the minds and hearts of those whom he has helped in the past years by his conscious integrity in his official ca- pacity, his faithful discharge of every duty that fell to him, and his manifest belief in the future of the city he has helped to build.
Mr. Toberman acquired his title of major by serving from 1864 to 1868 as quartermaster on the staff of General Banning, and it is as Major Toberman that he is known throughout Southern California. Since 1864 he has been identified with the Masonic interests of Los Angeles, hav- ing been made a Mason in the first lodge organ- ized in this city. He has reared his two sons, Ralph S., born March 29. 1868, and Homer J .. born July 7, 1872, in the same broad environment he believed in when he chose California for his permanent home ; the elder is engaged in a gro- cery business in Hollywood while the younger, who married in 1898, died in 1900, leaving a son, James W. The major is a thorough Californian and intensely alive to the interests of his adopted state. It was not until 1871 that he made a visit to his eastern home and since his return to this state has been more than ever impressed with the possibilities of its future. Those who know him
Slutter fass
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best place him highest among the citizens of Los Angeles, where as a pioneer he witnessed the magnificent upbuilding and participated in the development of his adopted state.
STODDARD JESS. The history of the Jess family in America dates back to the grandfather, John L. P. Jess, who was born in Nova Scotia, of English descent, and who there grew to manhood and established home ties. Subsequently he brought his family to the United States, and for many years the name was a prominent one in the vicinity of Fox Lake, Dodge county, Wis., where he then settled. Among the children who made the trip from Nova Scotia to Wisconsin was George Jess, the father of Stoddard Jess. Among the adventurers who came across the plains in 1850 as a result of the discovery of gold was George Jess. An experience of two years in the mines, however, satisfied him that his forte did not lie in working in the mines, and it was with a good deal of satisfaction that he turned his steps toward Wisconsin. For some time he carried on farming and merchan- dising in Dodge county, both of which enter- prises he gave up later to establish a bank in Waupun, that state. From then until the year 1885 the banking firm of George Jess & Co. was one of the solid monetary institutions of Dodge county. Relinquishing his interests in the state in that year he came to California, spending the remainder of his life in Pomona. From whatever standpoint his life was viewed it showed him to be a man of versatile quali- fications, and while he was a resident of Wis- consin he represented his district in the state legislature, besides filling many city offices of trust. Politically he was a Republican, and fraternally he was a Royal Arch Mason. His religious home was in the Unitarian Church. The lady whom he chose as his wife was be- fore her marriage Maria Theresa Judd, a na- tive of Dutchess county, N. Y., and a daugh- ter of Stoddard Judd. The latter was a prac- ticing physician in New York state until set- tling as a pioneer in Wisconsin. Under Presi- dent Polk he received the appointment of United States land office receiver at Green
Bay, going from there to Fox Lake in the same capacity some time later. Well known alike in the political and legislative affairs of the then territory he was worthy of much credit for the part he took in the organization of the state during its formative period. He was a member of the first and second con- stitutional conventions that formed the con- stitution of the state, and served several terms in the state senate from his district. Politically he was a Republican, and fraternally he took an active part in the work of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having been a mem- ber of the order for many years.
Stoddard Jess, who bears the given name of his illustrious maternal grandfather, was born in Fox Lake, Dodge county, Wis., December 3, 1856, and was the only child born of the marriage of George and Maria T. (Judd) Jess. His initial school training was received in the public schools of Fox Lake, after which he matriculated with the University of Wiscon- sin, graduating therefrom in the class of 1876. Immediately thercafter he became associated in the bank of George Jess & Co. in the ca- pacity of cashier, during this time also serving as a member of the city council for a number of years. During 1883 and 1884 he filled the office of mayor of Waupun, an honor indeed, for he was then less than thirty years of age.
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