An illustrated history of Los Angeles County, California. Containing a history of Los Angeles County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also of prominent citizens of to-day, Part 111

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1092

USA > California > Los Angeles County > An illustrated history of Los Angeles County, California. Containing a history of Los Angeles County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 111

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IRAM P. BURLINGAME, a native of the State of Maine, was born in 1827, and is the son of Carpenter and Rebecca (Woodman) Burlingame, natives of New York and Maine respectively, and of Scotch origin. At the age of twenty-one Mr. Burlingame left his native State and went to Minneapolis, Min- nesota, where he pre-empted 120 acres of land. Ile was married in St. Anthony, in 1852, to Miss Sarah A. Bean, a native of Maine. Iler par- ents moved from that State to Wisconsin and later went to Minnesota. It was Sarah Bean who was so miraculously saved from going over the falls at St. Anthony when she was a girl. Mr. Burlingame left Minnesota, February 9, 1870, coming to California, first to San Fran-

cisco and from there to Los Angeles County. He purchased 140 acres of land. A part of this he sold and has since bought 280 acres more of the best land in California. Mr. Bnr- lingame raises more strawberries than any other man in the State, having under cultivation thirty-five aeres. He was also interested in the development of water supply, and sank one oť the largest pipes in the world, it being fourteen and one-half inches in diameter. He has since disposed of his interest in this enterprise, sell- ing out to Pomroy & Gains and to his son, Edward C. Burlingame.

UDGE G. A. BALL was born at Ball's Bluff, Maryland, in 1839, a son of James and Nancy (Greenwood) Ball. His mother died when he was less than a year old, and his father when he was less than two. He was reared and educated by his uncle, S. Greenwood, in Georgia. He served four years in the Con- federate army, being in the Fifteenth Alabamna Infantry. He fought at Manassas and the first battle of the Wilderness, and many others, and was surrendered at Appomattox. After the war was over he went to Bastrop County, Texas, and taught school for awhile, and was married there, in 1870, to Miss Penelope Willett, a native of Tennessee and the daughter of John Willett. He practiced law for several years in Bastrop County, and was judge for one term. Ile came to Los Angeles County in 1886 and bought a small ranch three miles southeast of Norwalk, where he is practically retired from active business life. Socially he affiliates with the Masonic order.

M. BRADY, of the firm of Brodersen & Brady, real-estate agents at Long Beach, has been a resident of Los Angeles County since 1875. IIc was born in Lawrence County, Mississippi, in 1844, and is the son of J. R. and Martha A. (Williams) Brady, the former a

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

native of Georgia and the latter of Florida. The subject of this sketch is a true type of the Southern gentleman, and shows in his home that hospitality and genial welcome for which the Southern people are so noted. His father was a fariner, and died in 1866. He had a family of eleven children, only four of whom are living. J. M. Brady entered the Southern army in Kel- son's Heavy Artillery, in 1862, and served un- til the close of the war. After its close he returned home, and married Miss Malona Dean. He was permitted to enjoy her companionship for only a brief time. One year and a half after their marriage death called her away. In the fall of 1867 Mr. Brady went to Texas, and in 1868 was united in marriage to Miss Mary L. Shrode, of Texas. They have a very interesting family of six children: Martha E., Calvin K., Sarah E., Dora B., James H. and William T. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brady are supporters of the Southern Methodist Church. Mr. Brady is a worthy and respected citizen, and is honored and esteemed by the community in which he resides, holding at present the office of school trustee in Long Beach, and also serving as district road- master in his district. Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party, is conservative in his views, and always exerts his influence on the side of justice and right.

E. BARNETT was born in Hancock County, Illinois, in 1854, and is a sen of A. D. Barnett, who was a native of Russellsville, Kentucky. His father was Zacha- riah Barnett, who was a native of Westinore- land County, Virginia, and was in the battle of New Orleans. In 1830 A. D. Barnett moved to Hancock County, Illinois, and for a number of years was prominently connected with the county. In 1869 he came to California, and in the year 1884 he died in the San Fernando Val- ley. He had five children, of which the subject of this sketch is the youngest. Mr. Barnett was married in 1875 to Miss Alice Stevens, of Iowa

County, Iowa, and a daughter of Anson Stevens. Mr. Stevens came to California in 1869, and is now a retired farmer living near the city of Compton. Mr. and Mrs. Barnett have a family of five children whose names are as follows: Marens E., Cephas L., Adrien B., Sarah A., Cora M., Nettie P. and Jessie L. When he first came to California Mr. Barnett worked by the day in Sutter County, for two years. IIe then moved to Ventura County and farmed from three to five thousand acres of land, for a terin of ten years. This land was known as the Sini Ranch. In 1887 he and a brother bought a half interest in 400 acres, a part of the Monte- zuma tract, lying one-half mile west of Garvanza. Here he is engaged principally in raising hay and corn, and in this he is one of the leading men of the county. In 1888 he had 1,000 tons of hay from 800 acres, and this year (1889) he will have over 1,200 tons from the same amount of land. Beside his interests in this State, Mr. Barnett owns 4,000 acres of land on Carson River, in Nevada, on which, at this time, there are over 1,200 head of stock. Socially Mr. Bar- nett is a Mason and is affiliated with Los Angeles Lodge, No. 42. He is also a member of the I. O. O. F., East Side Lodge, No. 325.

ANSOM BOWMAN BISHOP, of Santa Monica, has been a citizen of the Golden State since the year 1855. He was born at Livermore, Maine, December 1, 1820, and is a son of Nathan and Martha (Wing) Bishop. His grandfather, Nathan Bishop, Sr., was a min- ister in the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years. His father was a native of Win- throp, Maine, and a cloth-dresser and miller by trade. His mother, Martha Wing, was born at Wayne, Maine, and was the daughter of Dr. Moses Wing. He was a drummer in the Rev- olutionary war, and lost a leg in the service. He had a family of five children. Our subject is the oldest of four children. He learned the blacksmith's trade when a boy, and also that of

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machinist and locomotive building. He worked in the cotton factory at Saco, Maine, and while there met and married the lady who has ever since been an equal sharer in his successes and failures, joys and sorrows. This was Miss Sarah King Bradbury, who was born in Auburn, Maine. Soon after their marriage, they went to Boston, where he worked on locomotives. In 1855 he was sent as an engineer to California by Robinson, Seymore & Co., of New York. He came by way of the Nicaragua route, and three years later his wife came by way of the Panama route. Robinson, Seymore & Co. sent three locomotives from New York to San Francisco via Cape Horn, and from San Francisco these engines were re-shipped to Sacramento, and to the subject of this sketch belongs the honor of setting up and running the first locomotive in the State of California. On this trip from Sac- ramento he gave old General Sutter his first ride on a locomotive. Sntter was the first settler in Sacramento and was greatly frightened while on the engine. For nine years Mr. Bishop was master mechanic in the employ of the San Fran- cisco & San José Railroad Company. The first railroad axles, thirty in number, made in Cali- fornia were ordered by him, and made by Hall & Johnson in San Francisco. In honor of this Mr. Bishop was presented with a gold-headed cane worth $35. In 1868 the Mechanics' Insti- tute of San Francisco awarded him the second premium for an invention of his called " Crank and Pin Cross Head Lathe." Ile built a quartz mill with his own hands at Auburn, California, and mined for some time, after which he came to Los Angeles County, and was in the employ of Senator JJones as an engineer on the Los Angeles & Independence Railroad. After this he ran a train from Santa Monica to Los Ange- les for nine years. He has now practically re- tired from active business, and bought and im- proved very desirable residences in the " city by the sea." Ile and his excellent companion have reared and educated three daughters and one son, all married and well settled in life. The oldest is Ovilla, now the wife of William Wor-

den of San Francisco. The next is Cora, wife oť Alfred Trumbull, editor of To-day, a paper published in New York City; and the youngest is Emma Virginia, wife of Edward HI. O'Mel- veney, of the California Truck Company, Los Angeles; and the son, Frank, married Mamie Bell. He is an electrician, and was station agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company at Norwalk for eight years, and fifteen years in their employ. Mr. Bishop is a gentleman well known by railroad men, and is highly respected by all who know him.

OUIS BROSSEAU .- The subject of this sketch was born in Canada, in 1834. His parents, Lonis and Margaret (De St. Marie) Brossean, were both natives of Canada, and de- scendants of the early French colonists. Mr. Brosseau was reared as a farmer until the age of sixteen years. He then started in life for hin- self, his first move being to the United States. In 1850 he went to Michigan and was engaged in mining in the copper mines on Lake Supe- rior. In December, 1853, he came by the Pan- ama route to California. Upon his arrival he engaged in prospecting and mining in El Do- rado and other counties until 1860, locating the Monumental mine in Sierra County, and others. The excitement over the Nevada mines in that year cansed him to make a venture in that Ter- ritory. He went to Gold Hill, Nevada, and located several mines, among which was the famous Yellow Jacket. Returning to California in 1861, he established a store at French Town, El Dorado County, and also engaged in horti- cultural pursuits, planting vineyards and fruit trees. He continued his enterprises in that county until 1872, and then located in Round Valley, in Mendocino County, where he engaged in the live-stock business, and also in teaming and freighting Government stores. In 1876 Mr. Brosseau came to Los Angeles County and established his residence in San José Valley, about two miles north of what is now the pros-

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

perous city of Pomona. His principal occupa- tion was fruit culture. Mr. Brosseau early saw the possibilities of a thriving town springing up at Pomona, and in 1881 purchased lots, upon one of which he built the well-known Pomona Hotel, located on Main street, south of Second street. This hotel was opened to the public by him December 25, 1881, and was the only hotel in town at that time. The next year he built the Pomona livery stables on Second street, and was identified with other building enterprises in the rapidly growing town. In 1883 he sold his hotel to Morris Kellar, but still retained his stables, which he had enlarged and well stocked. Mr. Brossean condneted his livery stable until 1886, and then sold his stock, retaining the ownership of the buildings and lots. Since that time he has devoted his attention to the care and improvement of his business and residence prop- erty in the city. He is also the owner of farm land near the city. In 1883 Mr. Brosseau mnar- ried Miss Emma Fry, a native of Ohio. He is a consistent Catholic in religion. In political matters he is a straightforward Republican. He is a reputable and respected citizen, whose suc- cess in life is the result of his own labors, com- bined with his intelligent foresight in business matters.

T. BELL, manufacturer of and dealer in harness, saddlery, whips, etc., corner of Hill and Eleventh streets, Los Angeles, was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, February 9, 1825. His parents, Jolin and Mary (Miller) Bell, were natives of the same county. His grandfather laid out the town of Iliekory, and owned the greatest gas-producing farm in the oil regions. The subject of this sketch grew up and learned his trade in Massillon. He came to California and settled in Los Angeles in 1871, worked at his trade several years, and then eu- gaged in business for himself on Main street. The residents here were mostly Mexicans at that time. Ile conducted his business on Main street

fifteen years and then removed to his present location, on his own property. He is one of the oldest in his line of business, and has a very desirable established trade. Mr. Bell has been twice married. His first wife was Lydia Groff, of Ohio, who died leaving four children, all of whom are now living, namely: Margaret, now Mrs. Macy, living here; Mary, now Mrs. Hamp- ton residing in Arizona; Lida Belle and James H., both living in this city. Mr. Bell's present wife was M. A. McDowell, a native of Kentucky. They have one son, Arthur T.

AMES F. BURNS, Chief of Police of the city of Los Angeles, was born in Ontario County, New York, September 27, 1831. His parents mnoved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and during his early boyhood lie attended school there; was educated for a teacher, and after reaching man- hood engaged in that profession. He decided to come to California, and came overland with a train. They had some trouble with the Indians in Utah, near the place where the famous Mount- ain Meadow massacre occurred, and arrived in California in November. The same year Mr. Burns came to Los Angeles and engaged in teaching school for several years, after which he was elected county superintendent of schools. In 1858 he was appointed United States Mar- shal, under President Buchanan. He was clected city treasurer in 1863, and was re-elected, hold- ing the office for five years. In 1867 he was elected sheriff of Los Angeles County and ex- officio tax collector, holding that office by re- election until 1872. From that time until 1878 Mr. Burns was interested in real estate, and was connected with various other enterprises. In the latter year he went to Frémont, Nebraska, and engaged in the grain and lumber business. In the fall of 1880 he was elected State Senator for the Eighth Senatorial District. He was also engaged in the banking business four years, until the fall of 1886. At that time he returned to Los Angeles and became interested in real-

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estate transactions. In March, 1889, he was appointed chief of police. Officer Burns has had a large experience as a public official, and few are so well qualified to perform the duties of the position he now holds. During his term of office as sheriff the record shows a larger ap- prehension of criminals than in any other term.

JONATHAN BAILEY .- Among the early settlers and enterprising citizens of the town of Whittier none, perhaps, have been more thoroughly identified with its best interests than the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this article, Jonathan Bailey, President of the Pickering Land and Water Company. He was born near Petersburg, Virginia, in 1819, and is a son of David and Sylviah (Peebles) Bailey, both natives of Virginia, and descended from Scotch ancestors. David Bailey moved to Clinton County, Ohio, in 1827, and there en- gaged in agricultural pursuits till his death, which occurred June 26, 1854. He was the father of eight children, four sons and four dangliters, only two of whom are living, the subject of this sketch and his youngest sister. Mr. Bailey was married in Ohio, in 1842, to Miss Rebecca T. Frazer, of Wilmington, Ohio, and daughter of Jonah and Mary (Hadley) Fra- zer. Her father was born in Tennessee, and went to Ohio when he was twelve years old, and her mother, a native of North Carolina, removed with her parents to Ohio, at the age of eleven years. They had fifteen children, all dying in infancy except Mrs. Bailey. Mr. Bailey was for many years a successful farmer in Ohio, and was also at the same time engaged in the real- estate business. In 1875 he came to this sunny land with his son, who was in delicate health, and remained six months. In 1885 he returned to California with his wife, that time remaining a year. Then, in 1887, with twelve others, he purchased 1,270 acres of land for the purpose of making a Quaker settlement. It was called the Quaker Colony, and they named the town

Whittier, in honor of the poet. The place grew with surprising rapidity, and one year after it was laid out the church numbered 400, having had only four members to start with. The services were conducted for three months in the dwelling house of Mr. Bailey, his residenee being the first one erected there. The Pickering Land and Water Company was organized with Jonathan Bailey as President; Hervey Ludley, Secretary and Treasurer; John H. Painter and Elbert New- ton as the first board. The company has since bought 2,700 acres more. Whittier is a town most beautifully located, and has a population of about 1,000.

M. BROWN, a prosperous and enter- prising farmer and fruit-grower, living three miles northwest of Garvanza, in the beautiful Eagle Rock Valley, is a Canadian by birth, and of German origin. He was born near Toronto in 1835, and is a son of Sylvanus and Permelia (Kees) Brown. They were natives of Vermont and New York respectively, and were Quakers. This lady was his second wife, and by her he had six children, the subject of this sketch being the oldest. When he reached his majority he left his home in Canada and came to the United States, locating first at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he resided for three years and a half. He was there inarried, in 1858, to Miss Eltana Merwin, of Erie County, Pennsyl- vania, and danghter of Samuel W. and Elizabeth (Bail) Merwin, both natives of the Keystone State, and of German origin. Soon after his marriage Mr. Brown moved to Nebraska. He drove an ox team all the way, and located near where Lincoln now stands. There was not a house there then, and he often went thirty miles to mill and the postoffice, leaving his wife all alone for a whole week, four miles and a half from the nearest neighbor, while he took the wheat to mill, which he had tramped out with oxen. He was truly one of the pioneers of Ne- braska. Ile saw Lincoln grow from nothing to

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a flourishing city of 1,600 inhabitants. Here he continned for twenty years, or till 1880, when he set his face toward the Golden State. Ilis first work on the coast was as a farmer in Santa Bar- bara County, where he remained three years. Then he moved to Los Angeles County and bought the fifty acres on which he now lives in the beautiful Eagle Rock Valley. This farm he has subjected to a very high state of cultivation, and is raising great quantities of oranges, grapes, barley, alfalfa, melons, cucumbers and tomatoes. To show what may be done in the way of pro- ducing these vegetables and berries, it is only necessary to mention the fact that last year he furnished 103 tons of tomatoes to the cannery. These vines grow and produce fruit in this val- ley from January to December. The names of Mr. Brown's children are as follows: Effie, wife of Orin Seeley, of Santa Barbara County; Mil- ton S., who married Miss Ollie Knowles; Willis E. and Earnest R. The mother of these chil- dren departed this life in Florida, February 7, 1876, where she had gone for her health. In 1884 Mr. Brown married Mrs. Mariah Smith, of Portland, Oregon. She had three children: Ella, Frank and Charles. Politically Mr. Brown affiliates with the Republican party; and re- ligiously, he believes in the doctrines as taught by the Spiritualist Church.

RIFFITH DICKENSON COMPTON, the founder of the town of Compton, Los Angeles County, California, is a native of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, born August 22, 1820. His ancestors came from England. When in his twentieth year the subject of this sketch went to Hamilton County, Illinois, where he lived four years. While there he married a second cousin, Miss Compton, who was born the same day, month and year, with himself. A daughter born to them now lives in this city and is the wife of George Flood, who is also the brother of Mr. Compton's second wife, his first wife having died in 1852. Mr. Compton

went to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1846. In 1849 he came to California across the plains, and set- tled at Woodbridge, Solano County, where he remained sixteen years. After that he went to Watsonville, and in the fall of 1867 he came to Los Angeles on account of his own and his fam- ily's health. He, Mr. Morton and William Fowler each hought eighty acres of land at $5 an acre, in what was known as the Temple and Gibson tract, of the San Pedro Rancho, and started the settlement now known as Compton. Mr. Compton tells this remarkable story in con- nection with his early labors on this farm, which, as he has disposed of all his interests in that locality, cannot therefore be called a boom- ing romance and is admissible here. All who are acquainted with Mr. Compton know him to be a man of strict veracity. He says that the great freshet of 1867 and '68 flooded that whole country, enriching the land as the deltas of the Nile are enriched by the overflow of that mighty streamn. After the land had dried off, late in the following spring, he planted two acres of potatoes, and from these two acres he realized $1,680 above all expenses, or $840 per acre! He says the ground, metaphorically speaking, was alive with potatoes. He sold them in Los An- geles, digging and delivering as wanted, mainly to two merchants, A. C. Chauvin and H. J. Yar. row, the former being still a resident of the city. He only received about $1.00 to $1.25 per sack. It was then believed that potatoes could not be profitably raised here, or if raised, that they would not keep; and at first he had great difficulty in getting any grocer to buy them or even to take any on trial. Previous to that time the Southern part of the State depended on Humboldt, Bodega and other northern coun- ties for its potatoes. And so Mr. Compton demonstrated the wonderful capacity of Los Angeles County in this line, as did Messrs. Lankershim and Van Nuys, and Vignes and Wolfskill, and Wilson and Rowland, and others in other lines. Mr. Compton is only another ex- ample among many, showing that a poor man, with no capital but strong hands and a courageous

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heart, can conquer success in this fertile land, if he can anywhere in this wide world. Mr. Compton has latterly been engaged in develop- ing the San Jacinto country; and .he claims, which may or may not be disputed, that he has actively assisted in settling, satisfactorily to all parties interested, more families than any other one man in Southern California. Mr. Compton is one of the trustees of the endowment fund of the Southern California University and of the Agricultural College at Ontario. He resides near the University in Los Angeles.

M AJOR GEORGE H. BONEBRAKE .- It is not to her wealth, her manufact- ures, her agriculture and the political power she wields that Ohio owes her proud posi- tion in the sisterhood of States, but rather to the genins, enterprise, business acumen and the integrity of her sons that her wonderful progress is due. Wherever great cities have sprung up, wherever gigantic public improve- ments have been conceived and perfected, pro- found legislative or judicial problems solved, vast, victorious armies led, Ohio's sons have come to the front. From the mother State to the remotest sections of the Union they have gone, bearing with them the impress of prog- ress. One of Ohio's sons who has aided very materially in transforming Los Angeles from a sleepy Mexican village to an important com- mercial metropolis, graced with every art, in- vention and product of an advanced civilization, is Major George H. Bonebrake, the subject of this memoir. He was born in Eaton, Preble County, Ohio, and there, with such meagre ad- vantages as were obtainable by attending the district school two months in the year, and by a diligent improvement of every opportunity for private study, he was prepared to enter college at the age of seventeen. In Otterbein Univer- sity, the principal institution of learning of the United Brethren denomination, at Westerville,

Ohio, he pursued his studies six years, grad- nating in the classical course with gratifying honors at the age of twenty-three. After leaving college he accepted a position in a neighboring seminary as Professor of Languages, for which he was admirably adapted, being a proficient scholar in Latin, Greek, German and French. The duties thus allotted him not being sufficient to fully employ his active, ambitious mind, he applied himself to the study of law under the preceptorship of General Thomas Brown, dis- tinguished alike as a member of the bar and for his eminent services in the United States Con- gress during his fourteen years of connection with that body. His association with that great attorney-statesman was a fortunate circumstance in the career of Mr. Bonebrake. Not only did it lay the foundation for an enduring friendship mutually pleasurable and intellectually valuable, but a business copartnership was subsequently established, under the firm style of Brown & Bonebrake, which resulted in no small pecuniary profit to the contracting parties. In the prac- tice of his chosen profession, Mr. Bonebrake had hoped to concentrate his superior powers; but an unforeseen event suddenly changed the current of his life. The breaking out of the Rebellion was the turbid tide in his affairs which tested the loyal heroism of the man and led to honors, if not to fortune. In response to the call of his imperiled country he enlisted as a private soldier in Company C, Sixty-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in the early part of 1862, and entering upon the rigor- ous duties of this new position with the same conscientious devotion and energy which has characterized his efforts in every station in life, Mr. Bonebrake rose by successive promotions for gallant and meritorious conduct to the rank of Major, and was brevetted Lientenant-Colonel before being discharged. When entering the army Professor Bonebrake resigned the princi- palship of the seminary, mnuch to the regret of the friends of the institution to which his effi- cient labors in that behalf had endeared him. On retiring from the army at the close of the

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Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1092

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1092