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 18

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 18

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November. Republicans and Democrats agreed upon a joint ticket of fifteen freeholders to draft a new city charter. A coal "famine " began this month, and lasted several weeks. 1, California Bank opened, on the corner of Fort

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

and Second streets. 21, the first vestibuled train arrived in Los Angeles, coming direct from Boston. This month General Franklin, of the Soldiers' Home Commission, arrived in Los Angeles, and made an examination of pro- posed sites for a Soldiers' Home, which re- sulted in the selection of the place near Santa Monica.

December. The municipal election gave the Democrats a majority in the council. 3, liv- ery stable of Nicolás Covarrubias, on Los An- geles street, burned, resulting in the death of ninety-eight horses! 14, a high wind blew down a hotel at La Cañada, resulting in the death of a woman, and seriously injuring sev- eral others. The large hotel at North Cnca- monga was totally demolished. The iron roof and upper story of a building at Ontario were blown down, the new hotel at Lordsburg, in process of construction, was destroyed at a loss of $20,000, and many buildings were blown down in Pasadena and Los Angeles. The wind was from the east, and the highest velocity in Los Angeles was forty-six miles per hour.

1888.

Jannary. Los Angeles Furniture Store was destroyed by fire. Ground was broken for the new City HIall building on Fort street. Los Angeles street was opened from Arcadia to Ala- meda streets. George Parks killed James E. Miles at Whittier. Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock were killed at Garden Grove, now in Orange County, by a German named Anschlag, who was tried in Los Angeles, convicted and sen- tenced to be hung; and in November, on the evening previous to the day fixed for the hang- ing, he committed suicide by taking poison.

February. Booth and Barrett were at the Opera House.

March. N. R. Vail, of Los Angeles, was drowned at Redondo Beach. The annual flower festival was held in April at the Pavilion. Whittier, Fuller & Co.'s oil warehonse on San Fernando street was destroyed by fire.

May. The Democratic State Convention in

Los Angeles. The proposed new charter was defeated.

July. Ellis College, on the hill, bnrned.

August. The coast line of the Santa Fé sys- tem opened between Los Angeles and San Diego.

September. The Sovereign Grand Lodge, I. O. O. F., of the world, met in Los Angeles. Postoffice removed from its place on Main street, opposite Arcadia, to Fort street, between Sixth and Seventh.

October. Alfred Wolf found guilty of mur- der in the second degree, for the killing of Wil- son at San Juan By-the-Sea, and sentenced to nine years' imprisonment.

October 20, the new charter was adopted, and confirmed by the Legislature the following January. It was framed by a non-partisan board of free-holders elected May 31 preceding, consisting of W. H. Workman, Chairman; Walter S. Moore, Secretary; John Mansfield, C. E. Thom, P. M. Scott, J. H. Book, Jerry Baldwin, José G. Estndillo, I. R. Dunkelberger, Charles E. Day, Thomas B. Brown, W. W. Robinson, Dr. Joseph Kurtz, A. F. Mackey and George II. Bonebrake. By this new char- ter the wards were increased from five to nine, with one councilman from cach ward on a salary. The Presidential campaign was very active on both sides, meetings, processions, etc., without number being held.

November 5, National election. Brigadier- General Nelson A. Miles was transferred to San Francisco, and was succeeded here in com- mand of the Department of Arizona by General B. H. Grierson.

December. At the municipal election the Democrats elected a mayor and a majority of the council. As a result of the introduction of a bill in Congress by General William Van- dever, Representative of the Sixth Congressional District, looking to a division of the State, a large mass meeting was held in the Hazard Pavilion, which passed resolutions favoring the creation of the State of "South California," and an executive committee was elected to take charge of the campaign on that question.

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

FIRST EVENTS.

The first Protestant preacher in Los Angeles was Rev. J. W. Brier, of the Methodist Episco- pal church, who arrived here in 1850, his entire earthly possessions being contained in the ox team which he drove. He held the first service in the residence of Colonel J. G. Nichols.

The first brick house was erected on Main and Third streets in 1852. A brick building opposite this was occupied in 1859-'60 by Cap- tain Winfield S. Hancock, who was a very popu- lar officer in the community.

The first English-speaking school in Los Angeles was taught by Rev. Dr. Hicks in 1850. The first American child born in the place, as already mentioned, was John Gregg Nichols, on the 15th of April, 1851.

The first newspaper was established in May, 1851, and was called the Los Angeles Star.

In 1853 the town contained three dry-goods stores, and one year later the place boasted of 4,000 inhabitants.

In 1854 the first Masonic lodge received its charter.

In that year also the first hive of bees arrived, it having been purchased in San Francisco for $150, by O. W. Childs.

During the same year a tannery was erected, an Odd Fellows' lodge was organized, and bull- fighting was legally prohibited.

In 1856 the first legalized hanging took place.

In 1860 the population of Los Angeles was 4,500, and the first telegraph line was cou- structed.

In 1867 a castor-oil mill and also gas works were established.

In 1868 the Los Angeles City Water Company obtained a franchise, and the first railroad was built. The road was twenty-two miles long, and united this city with the harbor at San Pedro.

The same year the first fire company was or- ganized, and at once entered upon its duties.

The first woolen mill was established in 1872, and the public library was founded in 1873.

In 1874 the first fruit-drying establishment was erected, on ar extensive scale. The year following a broom factory and artificial stone works began operations.

The first connty election in this county was held April 1, 1850; 377 votes were cast in the county. The officers chosen were: Judge, Agus- tin Olvera; Clerk, Benjamin Davis Wilson; Attorney, Benjamin Hayes; Surveyor, J. R. Conway; Treasurer, Martin Garfias; Assessor, Antonio F. Coronel; Recorder, Ignacio del Valle; County Sheriff, George T. Burrill; Coroner, Charles B. Cullen, who failed to qualify, and A. P. Hodges was appointed.

Jonathan R. Scott was the first justice of the peace, merely taking that office in order to give his ability to the county organization. He soon tired of it and was succeeded by J. S. Mallard. Judge Scott had been a prominent lawyer in Missouri, and was in the front rank of the bar at Los Angeles. He was ready for any useful enterprise. In company with Abel Stearns he built the first brick flouring mill in 1855, and about two years before his death he planted an extensive vineyard. He died September 21 1864. Ilis eldest daughter married A. B. Chap- man.

The first bricks were made by Captain Jesse D. Ilunter in 1852. Ile burnt his next kiln in 1853. From the first kiln was built the house at the corner of Third and Main streets in 1853; from the second, in the same year, the new brick jail.

Dr. Osborne, a native of New York, came to California in 1847, in Colonel Stevenson's regi- ment, and he put up the first drug store in 1850, which was followed by that of McFarland & Downey in 1851. The first daguerreotypes here were taken by him and Moses Searles, August 9, 1851.

November 1, 1851, first political procession (Pierce) under Nordholdt, Lecke and Goller with transparencies and the Padre's little brass cannon: attempting to fire it off, "George the Baker" was badly burned.

Peter Biggs, in 1852, was the first barber.

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

As a slave, he was sold to an officer at Fort Leavenworth. At the close of the war, left on California territory, his freedom was necessarily recognized. He lived here many years thereafter.

Samuel C. Foy, February 19, 1854, started his saddlery-the first to make any kind of harness. John Foy joined his brother in the following summer.

The first hospital, "The Los Angeles Infirm- ary," for the sick, was opened May 31, 1858, in the house of Don Cristobal Aguilar, by the Sisters of Charity. These ladies emigrated from their mother house, St. Joseph's, Emmets- burg, Maryland, and settled at Los Angeles in the year 1855. Subsequently they erected an extensive hospital of brick, with garden and orchard surrounding it, in the upper part of the city. .

The first United States patent issued to a Los Angeles citizen was in 1859 to Don Manuel Dominguez for San Pedro Rancho.

In the year 1867 Los Angeles was first lighted with gas. During this year, also, Doctor Grif- fin and Hon. B. D. Wilson, by means of a ditch, costing some $15,000, brought the water of the Arroyo Secos out upon the lands of the San Pasqual Rancho.

In 1868 the first bank was organized in Los Angeles by Alvinza Hayward and John G. Downey, under the firm name of Hayward & Co .; capital, $100,000.

In the spring of 1875 the " Forest Grove As- sociation" planted the first extensive tract of the eucalyptus, or blue gum, for timber.

The city of Los Angeles was incorporated by act of the Legislature, approved April 4, 1850. The government was organized July 3. Mayor, A. P. Hodges; Common Council, David W. Alexander, President; Alexander Bell, Mannel Requena, John Temple, Morris L. Goodman, Cristobal Aguilar, Julian Chavez; Recorder, John G. Nichols; Treasurer, Francisco Figue- roa; Assessor, Antonio F. Coronel; Marshal, Samuel Whiting; Attorney, Benjamin Hayes.

The first locomotive built in Los Angeles was designed by Fred. L. Baker and put up at

the Baker Iron Works in 1889, for the Los An- geles & Pacific Railroad, and named the " Prov- idencia." Weight, fifteen tons.

FLOODS.

The principal floods affecting Los Angeles County have been the following:

In the winter of 1825 the channel of the Los Angeles River was changed from about where Alemeda street now is to its present course. A great many cattle were drowned in the San Ga- briel River.

At Los Angeles, the flood of 1861-'62 began with the rain on Christmas eve, 1861, and con- tinued without intermission until January 17, 1862, on which last day, at 3 P. M., fell tremen- dous torrents of water, accompanied by loud claps of thunder and vivid lightning; but very little damage was done, however. The city dam was broken, some adobe houses fell, travel was impeded, and the southeast gales delayed the arrival of the Brother Jonathan at San Pedro. At El Monte the San Gabriel River made a new channel, entering near the town of Lexington, but the danger was soon averted by the energy of the inhabitants. On the Santa Ana, thirty miles above Anaheim, January 17, the flood de- stroyed the thriving New Mexican settlement of Agua Mansa (Gentle Water). There was no loss of life, but every former sign of culture was obliterated by the waste of sand which the waters spread over the whole valley, and 500 souls, honseless, were turned out upon the sur- rounding hills. These rains extended to the rivers San Diego and Mojave.

In 1867 a tremendous flood (for California) caused the San Gabriel to form a new channel, known since as New River, which was then a formidable stream. Five persons were drowned that winter. The Los Angeles River also flooded a portion of the country, and orchards, etc., were considerably damaged.

EARTHQUAKES.

No permanent or serious injury has ever been done by earthquakes in this country since De- cember 8, 1812, when the great catastrophe at

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

San Juan Capistrano occurred. There were moderate shocks in July, 1855; April 14, May 2, and September 20, during the year 1856; also one on the morning of January 9, 1857. This was followed by others during the day, and by many more during the three succeeding days. The same vibrations were felt also throughout the other counties of Southern California, and many of the northern counties of the State, being more severe at Fort Tejon than at any other point. This was the greatest earthquake since that of 1812. Mr. Barrows, who was at that time resident correspondent of the San Francisco Bulletin, thus speaks of the matter in a letter to that paper dated January 28, 1857:

" The great earthquake felt here on the morn- ing of the 8th inst. was rather more extensive in its operations than we at first anticipated; it did some appalling execution in various places. In the vicinity of Fort Tejon, 100 miles north of Los Angeles, the effects were the most vio- lent. The ground opened in places for thirty or forty miles, and from ten to twenty feet wide. The line of disruption runs nearly northwest and southeast. in an almost straight line, pass- ing near Lake Elizabeth. The ground appears to have opened in the form of a ridge and then to have fallen back, leaving the earth pulverized and loose about twelve feet wide generally, so that in many places it is almost impossible to pass. An eye-witness saw large trees broken off near the ground; he saw cattle roll down steep hillsides; and he himself had to hold on to a post in order to stand up. The people in the Fort were unceremoniously honored with a shower of plastering and a general tumbling down of walls and chimneys; and it seems providential that none of them were killed. Ile judged that it would take months to repair the buildings at the Fort. The officers and men are now camping out in tents.

" Quartermaster Wakeman reports the time of the shock at twenty-seven minutes previous to nine o'clock, which agrees very well with the time as noted here. The motion was preceded there, and accompanied here, by a heavy rum-

bling report. At the Reservation mach damage was done, but I have not heard the particulars. There are no signs of anght being thrown up from the openings at the Tejon. It is supposed that though the causes of these disturbances may be subterranean fires primarily, the second- ary and immediate causes are the escape or ex- plosion of gases generated by those fires. This we conclude from the entire absence of all signs of volcanic matter, although the disruptions of the earth and the force that caused them, in the movement of the earth on the 9th instant, were tremendous. We had at Los Angeles five or six shocks during the same day and night, and within about eight days' time we had twenty shocks-some violent, some light. Since that time we have had none to speak of."

Writing since in a local journal, Mr. Barrows gives additional impressions and reflections:

" Whether the ground actually opened and then closed, and thus formed the ridge, or whether this ridge was merely a wrinkle on the crust of the earth, caused by contraction and subsidence from radiation of internal heat, may be a moot question. At any rate, a big wrinkle was formed at the time, and indications of it remain to this day. The earth of this ridge was pulverized and loose, and was about twelve feet wide generally, and was in many places almost impassable. I remember I was standing at the time of the great shock in the yard just south of Wolfskill House, on Alameda street. I began first to stumble in a westerly direction and was almost thrown down; and then, after an inter- val, giving time for recovery, I began to pitch, not suddenly and violently, but slowly toward the east. Others standing near me were affected in a similar manner. I noticed that the grapes that were hanging underneath the long, wide- porch of the house, swung backward and for- ward, easterly and westerly, till they, alinost came up to the rafters. If the motion of the earth had been short and sudden, the damage, as in the case of Charleston in 1886, would have been appalling; for the movement of the earth was certainly great, but at the same time

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

it was comparatively slow, giving everything on its surface time to partake of its motion. If the earth in the vicinity of Fort Tejon, where the ridge or wrinkle was formed, was raised up on each side of the fracture, and then slowly settled back, the effect would have been like the raising of a field of ice, forming thereby two inclined planes and then settling back and forming a crushed ridge or wrinkle along the line where the two planes met. Such indeed was the effect experienced in this city from this earthquake. We here must have been east of the extended line of disruption, and therefore on the easterly inclined plane. This would have agreed per- fectly with my experience. If a section of the earth's crust, east of the aforesaid line, on which the people of this city were, was raised or tilted up from the west, the first movement, if con- siderable, would have caused us to pitch or stumble toward the west; and the second move- ment, or subsidence, would have sent ns to the opposite direction. This is precisely what did happen. If, on the contrary, we had been on the west side of the rupture, or on the inclined plane west of the same, the order of movement to which the people of this city would have been subjected would have been reversed, we would have first stumbled toward the east, and then toward the west.

" We had a heavy shake in 1868, and also

another in 1872. With these two exceptions, the earthquakes we have had in Los Angeles since those of 1857 have been unimportant.

"One of the serious lessons that the people of Los Angeles and of California, and of the country at large, as they have only recently been admonished, should learn, is that their build- ings, especially if over one or two stories high, should be made, as nearly as may be, earth- quake-proof ; that is, they should be strongly built, -- bound or strapped together firmly with wood or iron, so that they cannot be easily shaken down. For, of all the earthquakes which have happened in this country within the memory of the present generation, it is re- markable how few lives have been lost from this cause, except from man's own fault. In other words, his own defective structures, it is true, have been shaken down about his head; but the eartlı, it is believed, has swallowed up no hninan life. In the great temblor of 1812 many lives were lost in the church of San Juan Capistrano, be- cause the tile roof, of many tons weight, fell on the congregation. So of the greater disaster at Charleston in 1886, and of others on this coast at different times. If human lives have been lost from earthquakes in this country, it is only because man's own works have been thrown down by reason of their faulty construction, and for no other reason whatever."

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

PIONEERS.

CHIAPTER XII.

OSEPH CHAPMAN, captured at Monterey in 1818, came to Los Angeles County in 1821.

James McKinly, a native of Scotland, ar- rived in Los Angeles in 1824, being then twenty- one years of age, and kept a store on Commercial street, and afterward went to Monterey.

John Temple, one of the most prominent pioneers of Los Angeles County, arrived abont 1827, and, forming a partnership with George Rice, opened the first store of general merchan- dise in the town, on Main street, where the Downey Block now stands. Dissolving part- nership abont 1831, Temple continued in the business till about 1846. Later he leased a mint in the city of Mexico tor ten years, and refused an offer of. $1,000,000 for it. About 1830 he erected the nucleus of what is now the Downey Block, at first adobe but afterward brick. In 1859 he built the old court house, between Spring and Main streets, under contract with the city, for $30,000; it was first intended as a city market. Ile married Rafaela Cota, and died at San Francisco, May 30, 1866, aged seventy years.

Jedediah S. Smith and party arrived here.

George Rice, a native of New England, came to Los Angeles about 1827, from the Sandwich Islands, and for a time was in partnership with John Temple in the mercantile business; after-

ward he was in business in the block on Main street between Downey Block and the St. Elmo Hotel. Abont 1830 he married one of the Lopez family. He went East with his family about 1835, and is reported to be dead.

J. D. Leandry, from Italy, settled in Los Angeles about 1827, opened a store near the Plaza on Nigger alley, and atterward resided on the San Pedro Ranch, and finally died on the Rancho Los Coyotes in 1842.

Jesse Ferguson, an American, came to Los Angeles from New Mexico, by way of the Gila River, in company with R. Langhlin and N. M. Pryor, about 1828. He conducted a store on Main street, near Second, for William G. Dana, of Santa Barbara. Married a Miss Randon in Los Angeles, and about 1835 went to Lower California, where he died a few years later.

Richard Laughlin, about 1828, came as a trapper from New Mexico, by way of the Gila River, went first to Lower California, and the next year returned to this city, where he worked at his trade as carpenter, and occasionally hunt- ing also. Finally he started a vineyard on the east side of Alameda street, and married a na- tive lady and had several children. He died abont 1855.

Nathaniel M. Pryor, an American, came here with the parties before mentioned, in 1828-'29. Ile divided his time between liis trade as sil-

nonvegskill

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

versmith and otter-hunting, and was for a time a warehouse keeper for Abel Stearns at San Pedro. Ile married Dona Sepúlveda in Los Angeles, purchased a large amount of property on Alameda street, and died in May, 1850, leaving several descendants. He was a promi- nent character.

Abel Stearns, so often referred to in the pages of this history, was a native of Salem, Massa- chusetts, spent considerable time in Mexico, and settled in Los Angeles as a merchant in 1828. He became wealthy, was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1849, and of the State Legislatures of 1851 and 1861. Ile married Doña Arcadia, daughter of Don Juan Bandini, who, after his death, married Colonel R. S. Baker, and is still living in Los Angeles.

Louis Bouchet, a native of France, came to Los Angeles about 1828 or 1829, purchased a small vineyard near where the Sisters' School now is, and cultivated it up to the time of his deatlı, October 23, 1847.

Michael White, born in England in 1801, emigrated to Lower California in 1817, com- manded a vessel for a number of years, became wealthy, settled in Los Angeles, lost his wealth, and is now deceased.

Juan Domingo (English, Jolin Sunday), a Hollander by birthi, was a carpenter on the brig Danube, which was wrecked in the harbor of San Pedro in 1829. He became a resident of Los Angeles, married Miss Feliz, planted a vineyard on Alameda street, and lived there until his death, December 18, 1858, leaving a large family and many warm friends. IIis name in Dutch was Johann Gröningen.

Samuel Prentiss, a native of Rhode Island, was a sailor on the brig Danube, and after the wreck of that vessel became a resident of this county, and spent his time in fishing and hunt- ing, and died about 1865, on the island of Santa Catalina, where he was buried.

Ewing Young, a native of Tennessee, was a trapper of beaver in New Mexico. In 1828-'29 he visited California and trapped about Tulare Lake, and the San Joaquin River and its tribu-

taries. Returning to New Mexico about 1830, he fitted out the Wolfskill party, with whom he came to Los Angeles. In 1836 he settled in Oregon, where he became wealthy, dealing in live-stock, and died about forty years ago.

In 1831 came the Workman-Rowland party, and also the Jackson party, including J. J. Warner.

John Rhea, a native of North Carolina, emi- grated to New Mexico about 1828- 29, and thence to California as one of Wolfskill's party. He kept a saloon, grocery and billiard-room in Los Angeles, and finally returned East.

Jolin Ward, who was born in Richmond, Vir- ginia, in 1765, took part in the battle of New Orleans, went to Santa Fé in the first wagon train to that point, was in Los Angeles in 1832-'33, returned to Missouri, and in 1843 came to California in the first eastern carriage ever seen in this part of the country, went to Chihuahua in 1846, returned to Los Angeles in 1849, and died here in 1859.

Joseph Paulding, a native of Maryland, en- tered California from New Mexico in the winter of 1832-'33, by way of the Gila River; he was a carpenter, and made the first two billiard tables of mahogany wood ever made in Cali- fornia. IIe died at Los Angeles, June 2, 1860.

Isaac Williams, a native of Pennsylvania, came to California in 1832, owned the Chino Ranch, where he died September 13, 1856. He had a brother Hiram who lived at San Timoteo, San Bernardino County.

Moses Carson, a brother of the celebrated scout, Kit Carson, came to Los Angeles in March, 1832, followed trapping and was connected with the warehouse at San Pedro, he finally removed to Russian River.

Lemuel Carpenter, of Missouri, came to this county in 1832 or 1833, by way of Sonora, in company with Chard, Paulding, Ward, et al. He established a soap factory on the right bank of the San Gabriel River, not far from the present road to Los Nietos. He subsequently purchased the Santa Gertrudes Ranch, and

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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