A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I, Part 110

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1184

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In Cedar Rapids. Iowa, March 22, 1893, Mr. Dudley married Mary J. Usher, daughter of Joseph Usher, a prominent farmer, and they are the parents of three children, namely : Will- iam U., Arthur V. and Frederick L. Political- ly Mr. Dudley is a straightforward Republican, and fraternally he is an Elk and Knight of Pythias, and belongs to the Royal Arcanum. Religiously he is a member and a lay read- er of the Episcopal Church, to which Mrs. Dudley also belongs.

DANA BURKS. Very early in the settle- ment of Virginia the Burks family came from Berkshire, England, and identified themselves with the newly established colony, the progenitor of American descendants bearing the name of John Burks. Members of the family participated in the memorable struggle for independence and shortly after the close of the Revolution they crossed the mountains into the wilds of Kentucky, where they still have representatives prominent in political affairs and in society. Five genera- tions bore an active part in the affairs of the state, but eventually a branch of the family be- came transplanted into Tennessee. Jesse H. Burks, who was born and educated in Kentucky and received an excellent medical education in that state, was for a time a resident of Ten- nessee, where he married Sabina Dismukes, daughter of Marcus L. Dismukes, a prominent planter of Bedford county. Three children were born to them in that county, namely: Jesse D., Paul and Dana, the latter having been born July 21, 1871. The family removed to California in 1876 and settled in Los Angeles, where for a

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time Dr. Burks followed professional practice. Later he gave up medicine in order to enter the field of financial activity and became associated with the banking and industrial interests of Los Angeles, where he founded the second trust company to be incorporated in the entire state, this being the Los Angeles Safe Deposit and Trust Company. He was during his lifetime one of the leaders in affairs and in the upbuilding of the community. While still a man of large influence and business prominence, he was acci- dentally killed in Chicago during a visit to the World's Fair. Since his death his widow has removed to Ocean Park, where now she makes her home.

Dana Burks, the subject of this sketch, was primarily educated in public schools and finished his education in the Los Angeles high school. By training he was fitted for the responsibilities of an active business career. On leaving school he became an assistant in the banking business to his father, whom he succeeded in the manage- ment of the Los Angeles Safe Deposit and Trust Company. For a time he was identified with the Citizens Bank of Los Angeles and later be- came proprietor of the Los Angeles City Di- rectory Company, and also of a general publish- ing and printing company, and a real-estate and building business, all of which he still maintains. Immediately after removing to Ocean Park in December of 1901 he became closely identified with the building up of the town. Not only did he promote the incorporation of the place, but he served as the first president of the board of city trustees and has continued in the position to the present time. Varied, indeed, have been the enterprises attracting his attention in this section of Southern California. When the Bank of Venice was organized he took a foremost part in promoting the new institution and was elected as its vice-president. Aside from the many other movements which demand his attention he acts as president and general manager of the Dana Burks Investment Company, the largest concern of its kind at Ocean Park, and having offices both at Venice and Los Angeles. Nor does this last represent the limit of his activities. An- other important industry commands a portion of his time and thought, this being the Los Angeles Dock and Terminal Company, in which he holds office as president and general manager. The company is engaged in the development of harbor frontage at Long Beach, where it owns eight hundred acres of tide land tributary to San Pedro harhor and adjacent to Long Beach.

A resumé of the activities engaging the atten- tion of Mr. Burks is sufficient to give even a stranger some knowledge of his versatility of mind and variety of business connections. To his home town, to his county and to the state hie

has proved a helpful citizen, progressive in spirit, ardent in championing all projects for the up- lifting of the race. Naturally such a man main- tains a keen interest in politics, and we find him supporting Republican principles and acting as a member of the county central committee. On the incorporation of his home town he was elected mayor and still fills the office, discharging its duties with efficiency and fidelity. Though prom- inent in public life, he has been fortunate in in- curring few enmities and in retaining the con- fidence of a host of warm friends throughout all of Southern California. Fond of social amenities, he finds diversion and recreation through his membership in the Jonathan, Union League and other prominent clubs, also in the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In his marriage he won a wife possessing a charming manner and a fine edu- cation, Miss Carhart, who was educated in New York City and as a girl resided in Santa Bar- bara. Their family consists of six children, Dana, Jr .. Jesse, Virginia, Aileen, Andrea and Dorothy.

ALONZO M. FRINK. A native of San Bernardino county, and one who has resided all his life on the old parental homestead, Alonzo M. Frink is one of the best-known and most successful large ranchers of this county. he being a son of Horace M. and Polly A. (DeWitt) Frink. The parents were married in San Bernardino county in 1857, the mother coming from her native state of Indiana to California with the grandfather in 1853. The father was born in New York in 1832, the son of Jefferson Frink, an expert drummer, and came to California in 1852, going first to the mines of Placer county, where he remained two years, and then settled in San Bernar- dino. He acted as guide for the United States troops on a march between San Bernardino and Fort Yuma in 1862, and discovered Frink Springs, which later became a favorite water- ing place for overland travelers. In partner- ship with his brother he accumulated large land holdings and engaged extensively in stock raising, having something like sixteen hundred head when he sold out in 1866. The following year he purchased one hundred acres of land in old San Bernardino, and lived there until his death in 1874, and this is the ranch upon which Alonzo M. now resides.

The birth of Alonzo M. Frink occurred Jan- uary 20, 1858, on the ranch which is now his home, and his education was received in the common schools in this vicinity. In 1882 he was married to Miss Lorana, a daughter of Lewis and Mary P. Van Leuven, the former

Marion & Shauf

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a native of Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Van Leu- ven came to California in 1852, settling in San Bernardino, where their daughter was born, and where the father passed away at the age of sixty years. The mother is still living at the age of seventy-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Frink became the parents of one daughter, Lizzie P., who is now the wife of L. R. Bahr, and the mother of one daughter. Mrs. Bahr makes her home with her father, her mother having died June 18, 1905. Fraternally Mr. Frink is a member of Token Lodge No. 290, I. O. O. F., at San Bernardino, of Redlands Par- lor. N. S. G. W., and also of Lodge No. 583, B. P. O. E., at Redlands. He has accumulated considerable property, owning jointly with his brother a ranch of one hundred and thir- teen acres in San Bernardino county, 012 which is a forty-acre orange orchard, the re- mainder of the land being devoted to the growing of grain and alfalfa; also in River- side county has a ranch of one hundred and ninety-three acres upon which hay and grain are grown almost exclusively. Mr. Frink is a man of enterprise and good business ability and his success is due to the exercise of these qualities. Politically he is an advocate of Re- publican principles and takes an active inter- est in all matters of import to a public-spirited citizen.

MARION J. SHAUL. Long and varied ex- perience in the handling of property, coupled with a natural conservatism and integrity of purpose, admirably qualifies Mr. Shaul for the successful prosecution of the real-estate busi- ness, and his name stands out pre-eminently among the leading real-estate dealers of the Southern Coast. Enthusiastic in regard to the future of this part of the state, he is particu- larly optimistic in his views concerning the future of Long Beach, and his every effort is to let it be known throughout the United States that for beauty and safety of beach and surf, for equable temperature and a climate equally pleasant at every season of the year, Long Beach has few equals and no superior. This opinion is not based on inexperience, for he has traversed the western coast from Alaska to San Diego; remembers the site of Long Beach when it was a sheep pasture; bought and sold large holdings during the great boom of the '8os and suffered with all citizens the effects of its collapse ; and is thoroughly ac- quainted with both the northern and the south- ern parts of the state.

During the year 1846 Amon and Sarah (George) Shaul, natives of Ohio, migrated to Iowa and took up land near Ottumwa, where

their son, Marion J., was born March 7, 1849. The family removed to Kansas in 1873 and settled on a farm in Pottawatomie county, where the father died in 1875, at the age of sixty-six years. The mother continued to re- side on the Kansas homestead until her death at seventy-six years. Primarily educated in public schools, Marion J. Shaul in 1870 was graduated from the Oskaloosa Commercial College, and the following year came to Cali- fornia, then proceeded to Idaho and engaged in mining for two years. Subsequently he set- tled in Ventura county and carried on a ranch of eight hundred and twenty acres near San Buenaventura, mean while also traveling throughout the county with a steam thresh- ing outfit (the first used in California) that utilized straw as fuel for the engine.

Coming to San Diego county in 1886 Mr. Shaul engaged in farming and horticultural pursuits at Fallbrook. From 1886 to 1888 he engaged in the real-estate business and had the record of selling more land than any one else in the vicinity. From 1890 until 1894 he made his home on a farm and then spent a year in Los Angeles as a real-estate agent, aft- er which he embarked in the same business at Long Beach. While still residing in that town he became greatly interested in the Alaska gold excitement and aided in organizing a company of twenty-two explorers, among whom were a Quaker preacher, a physician (Dr. Henderson) and an undertaker. The company purchased the sailing yacht Penel- ope and stocked it with a supply of provis- ions. clothing and drugs sufficient to last for three years. Sailing northward they landed at Cape Blossom on the 9th of July. 1898, and spent the balance of that summer as well as the following winter prospecting on the Ku- buck river about three hundred and twenty miles inland from Kotzibu sound. The log cabins they erected but feebly sheltered then from the keen Arctic blasts. For six weeks the thermometer did not rise above sixty-four degrees below, and four times during the win- ter it was seventy-two degrees below zero. Of the eight hundred people who wintered there, seventy-three died ere spring opened. Four of the company returned to Cape Nome by dog-teams and sleds and located several claims on the beach, also back of Nome City in the mountains, and these claims they worked until they started home on the Penelope Sep- tember 25, 1899, arriving at San Pedro No- vember 6, same year, with every member of the party on board and in fair health.

On his return to California Mr. Shaul en- gaged in the real-estate business with C. J. Walker under the firm title of C. J. Walker

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& Co. In July of 1904 he went to Oceanside attracted by the natural beauty of the location. Grasping the opportunity, he purchased resi- dence and business property, much of which has quadrupled in value since then. After go- ing there he aided in the organization of the Oceanside Electric and Gas Company, of which he was vice-president and a director. Under the supervision of the company an electric light plant was built and installed on the beach and a bathhouse was built, arranged with a large salt water plunge, heated to the proper temperature from the boilers of the electric light plant. The company used wise judg- ment in its work and is reaping the reward in the ownership of a profitable plant, while at the same time the people of the town and tourists find the lighting facilities satisfactory in every respect. Upon the re-organization of the Bank of Oceanside Mr. Shaul took an active part in the work and became a stock- holder, director and vice-president in the in- stitution, besides which he was a member of the Oceanside Board of Trade, and in many other ways active in forwarding the interests of the community. After spending two years in Oceanside Mr. Shaul returned to Long Beach and became associated with the Walk- er Real Estate Company, purchasing the in- terest of C. J. Walker, and has since met with pronounced success in his operations.

At the age of cighteen Mr. Shaul was con- verted and has ever since been active in the Methodist Church, taking a prominent part in Sunday-school and congregational work. In Long Beach he became identified with the Fra- ternal Aid Association, and in politics he al- ways has affiliated with the Republican party. His marriage took place at Hueneme, this state, in 1876 and united him with Anna, daughter of Joseph Smith, originally from Illi- nois. They are the parents of a son and daughter, namely : Charles E., residing in Pasa- dena, where he is a member of the Seley Fruit Company : and Adda. wife of H. M. Seley, of Pasadena.

JOSIAH J. HARSHMAN. A pioneer settler of Compton, one of its most able busi- ness men. and a highly esteemed citizen, Jo- siah J. Harshman has been conspicuously identified with its development and progress, and whenever opportunity has occurred he has aided and encouraged the establishment of enterprises conducive to the public welfare. With its industrial and financial prosperity he has been closely associated, and is now widely known as proprietor of the Anchor Cheese factory, and as president of the First National

Bank of Compton. It was organized as a state bank in July, 1903, known as the Bank of Compton, and two years later was made a national institution and the name changed to the First National Bank of Compton. During all of this time the directorate has remained the same, with the exception of Prof. W. L. Frew, as assistant cashier. A savings depart- ment was established in 1906, at which time Mr. Harshman was elected to the presidency. He was also influential in the formation of the Compton Water and Lighting Company, and took an active part in the establishment of the Compton Telephone and Telegraph Company, also the Compton Co-operative Association, which is now incorporated as the Compton Commercial Association. A son of Matthias Harshman, he was born August 2, 1840, in Marion county, W. Va., of Pennsylvania stock.

A son of a Pennsylvania pioneer, Matthias Harshman grew to manhood on the home farm. In 1838 he moved with his family to West Virginia, and after living there six years went to Ohio, locating in Trumbull county in 1844. Buying land, he was there employed as a tiller of the soil until his death, in 1878. He married Rachael Ross, a native of Penn- sylvania, and she survived him many years, dying in Ohio in 1901, at the venerable age of eighty-six years.

Josiah J. Harshman was educated in Trum- bull county, Ohio, attending primary, gram- mar and high school and the village seminary. At the age of twenty-one years he began life for himself as a commercial salesman, for five years traveling through seventeen of the mid- dle and western states and Canada. Settling then in Trumbull county, Ohio, he bought a cheese factory, which he managed successfully for six years, when he traded it for a farm, and this he operated a short time. Selling it in 1876 he came to Los Angeles county, lo- cating at once in Compton. He intended to establish a cheese factory at once, but found that the place was too new and the number of people too few. Plainly foreseeing, however, that in the not very distant future such a plant would be of inestimable value to the farmers of this section, he remained here, and in 1880 started a cheese factory, the first es- tablishment of the kind in Southern California. He was successful from the start, dairymen bringing milk from every direction, some of them coming many miles with it. In 1890 he established and has since managed the An- chor Cheese factory, which has grown to be one of the flourishing industries of Compton.

When he located in Compton, Mr. Harsh- man purchased forty acres of land, from which

Richard Survey

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he improved the homestead which he has since occupied. In 1905 he laid out ten acres in what is known as the Harshman tract, and likewise two acres in the high school tract, and an acre and a half in the Motor tract, on the electric line. In public affairs, Mr. Harsh- man has been active and influential, having served as president of the board of trustees one termi, and has been a member of the high school board since April, 1906, previous to which he served as a director of the grammar school for two terms. Politically he has been identified with the Prohibition party for the past twenty years, and religiously he belongs to the Free Methodist Church.

December 24, 1869, in Ohio, Mr. Harsh- man married Jennie A., daughter of Ambrose Cross, a native of New York, and into their household five children have been born, name- ly: Lula, Nina, Ray (who married a Miss Quinlan and is living in Compton), Callie and Clyde.

RICHARD GARVEY. Keen business fore- sight and the faculty of decision as well as vision have given to Richard Garvey the com- petence which the world owes every man, but which only the persevering and energetic suc- ceed in winning. He came to California in the pioneer days of the state, interested himself in mining for twenty years, and after making a pronounced success in this work turned his attention to the real estate of Los Angeles county, in the buying and selling of which he has been unusually active. Mr. Garvey is a native of Ireland, born in County Mayo September 22, 1838, and in 1849 came to the United States consigned to a relative in New York, but landed at Savannah, Ga., instead, as he says, "not knowing enough to get off there." His father, Peter Garvey, was a farmer in his native country, and died there about 1845. His mother, formerly Mary Flannagan, was also a native of Ireland and died in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1884. They were the parents of seven children, three of whom are living. Richard, Delia and Maria, the latter two living in Cleveland, Ohio, One son, John Garvey, who served in the Civil war, as an officer in the Seventh Regiment Virginia United States Volunteers, died from the effects of a wound received at Antietam and was buried in Cleve- land, with military honors. Another son be- came a priest in the Catholic Church, his death occurring while engaged in his ministerial du- ties in Texas.

Upon coming to the United States Richard Garvey first lived in Savannah, Ga., removing in 1854 to Ohio. where in Cleveland he re-

ceived his education. In his boyhood he sailed on the lakes and was wrecked three different times, once near Chicago, once at Cleveland and the third time at Mackinaw. In 1858 he followed the westward trend of civilization and came to California, arriving in Los An- geles in due time. Soon after his arrival he engaged with Capt. W. S. Hancock to carry the mail and express from Los Angeles to the military posts of the south in New Mexico and California, after which, like thousands of oth- (rs who came to the state after the war began, he engaged in mining. He was located in Cal- ifornia. Nevada and Arizona during the twen- ty years in which he was so occupied, meeting with success in his various enterprises, and in 1872 he sold one mine in San Bernardino coun- ty for the sum of $200,000. He has been suc- cessful in disposing of others for large amounts, but he still retains the Greenlead mine in Holcomb valley district, which he in- tends to reopen and will strive to replace the fortune he lost. All this time he had made Los Angeles his headquarters and in the meantime had become interested in the future of the city and surrounding country, and in 1872 he began to purchase real estate, between this date and 1886 owning five thousand acres of land, upon which he spent all the money he had previously made as a young man and incurred considerable indebtedness. Much of this property he re- tained until 1892, when he began subdividing it in five and ten acre tracts, disposing of large portions of it, and at an expense of over $100,- 000 bought water and brought it seven miles to the property, built a lake comprising nine and one-half acres with a dam fifty-four feet high, by which he irrigated one thousand acres of the land. This was done through loans from the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles.

In order to pay off the large loans and inter- est from this bank, sales were made amount- ing to over $200,000, and during the thirteen years over $300,000 was paid, still owing to them $90,000 in 1905. at which time they fore- closed, thus bringing the added costs up to a total of about $110,000. Notwithstanding the fact that they declared in open court that the property was not worth that amount, in 1905 Mr. Garvey disposed of one thousand acres at an advance of $25,000 to some of the best busi- ness men of Los Angeles. Soon afterward he sold eight acres for $6,000 and in 1906 sold two hundred and thirty-one acres at $635 per acre, the sale representing $145,000 and com- prised the old homestead, which was among the first houses built in the old Mission days of San Gabriel. He is still owner of about six hundred acres of the Garvalia ranch, and

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entirely out of debt, which is about the first time he has been in that condition since he owned the land, notwithstanding the fact that he was nearly ruined by a man he had served all his life, and that he trusted implicitly.

In 1884 Mr. Garvey was united in marriage with Miss Tessie B. Mooney, a native of Ohio, and she died the following year, leaving a son, Richard, Jr., who was reared by his aunt, Miss Mary E. Mooney. He is a graduate of St. Vin- cent's College, and is now a student of Berke- ley. Mr. Garvey is a member of the Catholic Church and fraternally belongs to the Knights of Columbus. He has a comfortable residence in Los Angeles but prefers a country home, and upon his ranch in the Garvalia district is going to build a house, equipped with every modern convenience and comfort. Mr. Garvey is independent in his political views, reserving the right to cast his ballot for the man he considers best qualified for official position. He has served as school trustee of Garvalia district for many years, and takes a keen interest in the upbuilding of educational affairs. In 1875, after the failure of the Temple & Workman Bank, he was appointed receiver.

FRANKLIN PIERCE WILLARD. An il- lustration of what it is within the power of a self-reliant and ambitious young man to accom- plish may be found in the life of Mr. Willard, who, though deprived of all educational advan- tages excepting such as he could provide for himself, nevertheless gained a superior educa- tion, both in the classics and the law, in addition to taking a medical course of one year and ac- quiring a thorough knowledge of the occupation of a mining engineer. A native son of Cali- fornia, he was born near Madison, Yolo county, seven miles west of Woodland, December 2, 1853, and is a member of a pioneer family of the coast. At the time of the famous expedition by Lewis and Clark for the purpose of exploring the northwest Alexander H. Willard, Sr., was engaged by the expedition as their blacksmith, and in that capacity traveled through the remote and hitherto inaccessible regions of the north- west. Returning to Missouri, he followed his trade there until 1858 and then joined members of the family in California, where he died about 1860, at a very advanced age. His son, Alex- ander, H., Jr., was born and reared in Missouri, from which state he came across the plains with ox-teams in 1848 and settled on the Cache creek, where he bought five hundred acres of the Gor- don tract. Soon afterward he went back east and brought his family and household effects overland in 1849, settling on his ranch, where he engaged in the stock business until his death.

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A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I, Part 110

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company Number of Pages: 1184

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1184