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 61

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 61

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EORGE BOEHME. When the first steamer landed at Santa Monica wharf in 1875, the subject of this sketch stepped ashore, and so strong was his faith in the possi- bilities of the place that he at once bought $2,000 worth of lots at the first auction. Ilis mature judgment in this, as well as in other matters connected with the city, has proved cor- rect, and he has been an eye-witness to improve- ments that a casual observer would never have dreamed of. He has seen a few tents, scattered along the beach, give place to a city of over 3,000 souls; and where the wild mustard waved in the ocean breeze, there are now fine residences and happy homes, and paved streets and business blocks. For thirteen years Mr. Boehme has been one of the most active as well as the most successful men in the place, and by his enter- prise and industry has added much to the ma- terial advancement of the city. He was born in Alsace-Loraine, France, in 1829. He speaks and writes not only the French language, but also the German and English as well. He has a fine library, and his general information proves

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

his familiarity with his books. He came to America in 1850, landing at New Orleans. In 1852 he came to California and was in the mines for a few months, till in 1854 he estab- lished himself in San Francisco as a tinner. In 1855 he went to Sacramento and was in the same business there for twenty years; he assisted at the laying of the corner-stone of the new State capitol building, and finally received the con- tract for the copper roofing of the same, over all competitors. Then in 1875 he came to Santa Monica, where he carried on his trade and a general hardware business till 1887, when he sold out. In the year 1887 he built the Boehme Block, corner of Second street and Utah avenne. This building would be a credit to any city, being a fine brick structure of light-colored brick, 77 x 43 feet, and two stories high. Mr. Boehme's residence is beautifully located on Ocean Front and Oregon avenue, commanding a magnificent view of the ocean and beach. He owns also a great many lots in different parts of the city. Ile has been a very successful man, and his name is in every way worthy to be con- nected with the place he has helped so materially to build up, and to be preserved with the history of the county of his choice and the land he loves so well. Ile was married in 1860 to a lady who has been a helpmate to him in every sense of that word, and to whom he ascribes whatever success he has had in the battle of life. They have four children living, three sons and one daughter: George Charles, aged twenty-seven; Henry M., aged twenty-two; Eugene W., aged nineteen, and Adelaine, aged sixteen, the latter being at Notre Dame College, San José, and the three sons being engaged in business at Santa Monica.

OSEPH BAYER, importer and wholesale dealer in wines and liqnors, No. 29 Main street, Los Angeles, is a native of Germany, and was born November 1, 1846. Ile emi- grated to America during his early boyhood,

and after the war broke out he entered the army; enlisted and served in the Second United States Infantry, being in the service three years. After the war he went to St. Louis and remained there until 1870, at which time he came to California and settled in Los Angeles. Two years later he engaged in business on the corner of Requina and Main streets; and, with the ex- ception of two years spent in Tucson, Arizona, has been successfully engaged in business there for the past eighteen years, dealing in imported and domestic wines and liquors, and California wines and brandies. He has a large established trade and is one of the oldest and best-known dealers in that line in Southern California. In 1875 Mr. Bayer married Miss K. B. Happ, a native of Buffalo, New York. They have one son, Alfred J.

REDERICK WILLIAM BRAUN, resi- dent partner and manager of the wholesale drug business of F. W. Brann & Co., opened the first wholesale drug house in Los Angeles, and in Southern California, at Nos. 127 and 129 New High street, on the 1st of May, 1888, with a large stock of drugs, drug- gists' sundries and outfitting goods for retail druggists. Before locating Mr. Braun visited many of the principal cities of the Southern States to determine the best point for establish- ing and conducting a wholesale business in that line of merchandise, and decided upon the metropolis of Southern California as offering the most promising inducements, notwithstand- ing the discouraging advice of some of Los Angeles' business men. That his choice was a wise one is demonstrated by the remarkable success of the business from the start. Being a thorough-going business inan, and having had large experience in the drug trade, Mr. Brann assumed the aggressive, and at once became a formidable competitor for the trade of this por- tion of the Pacific Coast. His partners in New Orleans being one of the largest wholesale and

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importing drug firms in the United States, gives the Los Angeles house special purchasing advantages, enabling it to compete successfully in prices with any house on the coast, and be- fore the end of the first year was reached Mr. Braun's energetic tactics, low prices and hon- orable methods of dealing had driven the San Francisco and Eastern dealers almost entirely from the field. He now ships goods all over Southern California as far north as Tulare and Fresno, throughout Arizona, and into New Mexico and Western Texas, and controls most of the wholesale trade in Los Angeles. At the past rate of expansion the trade of this house will soon reach $500,000 a year. On the 1st of February, 1889, their place of business was moved from New High street to the old post- office building, Nos. 287 and 289 North Main street, to obtain more ample and convenient quarters. They carry every class of goods nec- essary to fit up, furnish and stock a retail drug store, including showcases and counters. The house employs twenty-two persons, four of whom are traveling salesmen. Mr. Braun is a native of Peru, Illinois, where he was born in October, 1859. He began to learn the drug business in. Mendota, in his boyhood, subse- quently taking a course in pharmacy in Chicago, and was a drug salesman several years in that city. Before coming to California he carried on a wholesale and retail drug store in Texas for eiglit years.

BALLADE, a resident of Los Angeles, was born in France, April 6, 1839. IIe was reared in his native country, and in 1862 emigrated to America, and came the same year to the Pacific Coast. He remained in San Fran- cisco three years, and in 1865 went to Santa Clara County where he was employed for sev- eral years in the quicksilver mine near San José. He next went to Monterey and engaged in sheep raising, continuing there until 1872 when he came to Los Angeles and engaged in the same

business in this county for several years. For the past twelve years he has been interested in the grocery trade, and has carried on the busi- ness at the corner of Aliso and Alameda streets. Mr. Ballade was married December 9, 1869, to Miss Mary Marilius, a native of France. They have three children: John, Mary and Antoinette.

P. BOWEN, manager of the El Dorado grocery at Nos. 501 and 503 South Spring street, is a native of Mississippi, and was born in 1849. Though only in his teens wlien the struggle of the civil war came on, his edu- cation and surroundings inspired him with sym- pathy for the cause of the South, and he entered the Confederate army in 1863, and served nearly a year and half in General N. B. Forest's com- mand, participating in a number of hotly con- tested battles. Mr. Bowen says he laid down the rebel flag at the close of the war to take up the stars and stripes, and is as ready as any man to fight for the old flag. Soon after the war was over young Bowen went to Texas, and during most of his twenty years' residence in the Lone Star State was identified with the gro- cery trade. In December, 1873, he married Miss Childress, the only daughter of Dr. W. T. Childress, at that time a prominent citizen-mer- chant and banker of Sulphur Springs, Texas, but now a resident of Los Angeles, and the senior partner in the Childress Safe Deposit Bank of this city. In 1885 Mr. Bowen moved to Los Angeles and opened a grocery store under the above name (the Eldorado), at No. 124 North Main street. The growth of the business rendered it necessary to occupy a larger store, and in the fall of 1887 the stock was moved to the location above named. To accom - modate the large stock of staple and fancy gro - ceries demanded by their extensive and growing trade, the house nses, besides their ample store, the basement of the building and a warehouse in the rear. Under Mr. Bowen's efficient man - agement, the history of the business shows a

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continuous career of prosperity. The volume of its trade is one of the largest enjoyed by any retail grocery in this part of the State, and among its regular patrons are many of the lead- ing families of Los Angeles City and county. Mr. and Mrs. Bowen have but one child, Nita K., eleven years of age.

M B. BOYCE, who is engaged in the law, real estate, loan and insurance business on Utah avenue, Santa Mon- ica, California, is a native of New York, born in 1831. Ilis father was a millwright by trade, and later in life a manufacturer. Ilis mother died in New York State in 1864, after wbich his father moved to Illinois where he died in 1873. Their two sons both received a college education. From the academy of Charlotteville, New York, under Professor Alonzo Flack, the subject of this sketch entered the sophomore class in Union College, New York, and gradu- ated at that institution in 1857, under Dr. Eliphalet Nott. After his graduation he went to Chicago, Illinois, with his brother, M. M. Boyce, and was admitted to practice law in the courts of that State, and fornied a copartnership under the firm name of M. M. Boyce & Bro. The senior member of that firm died in 1874, at Independence, Iowa, strieken down with paraly- sis, while advocating the cause of his client, The shock upon the subject of this sketch, then in rather poor health, caused him to close up all business of the late firm, and seek the invigor- ating climate of California, where a complete restoration to health and enjoyment of life seem to surround him in the "city by the sea." He has recently become associated with H. S. Le- grand, a successful botanist and nurseryman, under the name of Boyce & Legrand, for the purpose of propagating the finest flowers and plants that are known. His green-house and garden, called Exotic Nursery, is a part of his unassuming but cozy home, on the corner of Third street and California avenue; and here are

now some of the most beautiful roses in South- ern California, the climate of this place being especially adapted to their growth and culture. Mr. Boyce was married in 1878 to Miss Julia E. Calkins, who is also a native of the Empire State. Mr. Boyce has served the people of Santa Monica as postmaster for a term of nine years, and for a number of years as justice of the peace and notary public. He was made a Mason in 1857 in St. George's Lodge, No. 60, Schenectady, New York. Mr. Boyce possesses the elements of a successful business man, is courteous, intelligent and scholarly in his bear- ing, and is highly respected by all who know him.

MRI BULLIS, whose residence is located two and one-half miles north of Compton and nine miles south of the city of Los Angeles, is a pioneer of 1871. He is a native of Columbia County, New York, was born in 1837, and is the son of Joseph J. Bullis, who also was a native of the Empire State, and came to California in 1849, where for several years he engaged in mining. When first coming to the county the subject of this sketch purchased 515 acres of land. Some of it he has since sold and the rest is well improved. He is farming about 200 acres of land in Compton Township, and he also owns lands and lots in different parts of this county, and in San Bernardino County. Near his residence he has one of the finest artesian wells in Southern California. It is 333 feet deep and 7 inches in diameter, flowing at the rate of 2,700 gallons per minute. At one time it threw out a stone which weighed two pounds. This well was put down at a cost of over $1,000, and the water is perfectly pure. Before coming to this State Mr. Bullis served five years on the metropolitian police force in the city of New York. He left that city November 1, 1867, and landed in San Francisco, November 27, by steamner. Since he has made a home in this county he has traveled extensively in nearly all

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the counties of the State, and in Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, and other States and Territories, and his verdict is that Los Angeles County is sur- passed by none in beanty of scenery, healthful- ness of climate and prodnetiveness of soil. Mr. Bullis was married in 1859 to Miss Mary Con- rey, by whom he has had three children: William, now in the employ of the Wells, Fargo Express Company; Lily, who is still at home; and Frankie, who died in infancy. Socially, Mr. Bullis is connected with the Masonic fra- ternity, the I. O. O. F. and A. O. U. W. His wife and daughter are members of the Episcopal Church at San Pedro. Mr. Bullis is one of the trne pioneers, and is always ready to contribute to the advancement of all worthy enterprises.

ENRY KIRK WHITE BENT was born in Weymonth, Massachusetts, October 29, 1831. His parents were natives of Mas- sachnsetts, but were descended from English ancestors. He was educated at the Williston Seminary of East Hampton, and at Monson Academy; he prepared to enter Amherst Col- lege, but was prevented from entering by the serions results of the measles on his eyesight. Afterward he went West and engaged in civil engineering in the building of the Kenosha & Rockford Railroad, in Wisconsin, as first assist- ant engineer. In 1858 he came to California, and worked at mining a year at French Corral, Nevada County. He taught school at Downie- ville a year and a half, after which he was elected county surveyor of Sierra County in the fall of 1861. Ile pursued the profession of mining engineer till 1866. He was also elected public administrator during his residence in Sierra County. Mr. Bent was a prominent and influential citizen. He was a member of the board of examiners of the public schools, and during the war he was chairman of the Connty Republican Committee, etc. His health giving way, he went East, and was under med- ical treatment in Boston for two years, but

without much benefit. IIe came back to Cali- fornia, and in October of 1868 he came to Los Angeles, where he recovered his health with- ont medicine-the climate here, in his opinion, doing more for him than all the best doctors could do for him in Boston. As soon as he could attend to business he took the agency of the Santa Gertrudes Land Association, and later he engaged in the sheep business. Mr. Bent took an active part in the establishment of our public library, in the interest of which a mass meeting was hield; General Stoneman presided; the matter was discussed and referred to a com- mittee, consisting of Governor Downey, Bent, Newmark, Caswell and Brodrick, who formu- lated the plan of our present public library. All of this committee, with other citizens, were made the directors, and J. C. Littlefield (now deceased) was appointed the first librarian. Mr. Bent was a member of the committee that drew up the city charter, that for many years pre- ceded the charter now in force. He also was active in political affairs; and in 1873 he was appointed postmaster of Los Angeles, and served till 1877. His predecessor in this office was Captain George J. Clarke, and he was suc- ceeded by Colonel I. R. Dunkelberger. Mr. Bent has been a member and president of the city board of education. He was for many years chairman of the board of trustees of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, and superintendent of the Sunday-school. He was vice-president, and often acting-president, of the Southern California Horticultural Soci- ety for a number of years, in its early history- which in its time was a very useful institution: it has since been merged into a State society. He is a trustee of Pomona College. In 1855 Mr. Bent married Miss Crawford, of Oakham, Massachusetts. The children of this union are: Florence, now Mrs. Halstead; Arthur S. and Henry S. Mrs. Bent died in 1876. Mr. Bent married a second wife, Miss Mattie Fairman, in 1878. They have two sons: Charles Edwin and Ernest Fairman. Mr. Bent removed to Pasa- dena in 1886, where he now resides. Mr. Bent

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is a model man in all the relations of life; he believes that every citizen should be a full- fledged citizen, i. e., that he should assume and perform, no. only the duties which he owes to self, but also every one of those he owes to the community around him. In a word, he is a man of brains and a man of conscience.

RANCIS BAKER was born in New Bed- ford, Massachusetts, October 28, 1828. Ilis paternal ancestors for several genera- tions were natives of Massachusetts. His mother, a Greene, traced her ancestry back to Dr. John Greene, of Salisbury, England, who came to America in 1736, and who, in company with Roger Williams, bought Rhode Island from Miantonomi, the Indian chief; and who founded the town of Warwick in that State. General Nathaniel Greene, of the Revolution, was a descendant of this same Dr. John Greene. Frank, the subject of this sketch, when at the age of sixteen, went on a whaling voyage to the Indian Ocean. On his return, in 1849, he shipped round Cape Horn for California, arriv- ing in San Francisco in September of that year. lle went to the mines on the Stanislan and worked awhile. He came to Los Angeles in September of the following year. Il is life during his residence here of nearly thirty-eight years has been a stirring one, and would prove very interesting if recounted in detail. As under- sheriff, etc., in early times, he came in contact with some pretty rough characters. Being a man of unflinching nerve, he was always a mnost valuable officer. In 1857 he was a deputy of Sheriff Getman, and shot down the desperado, Reed, who killed Getman January 8, 1858, at the foot of Negro alley. In the encounter, Baker had five holes made in his clothes by Reed's shots before the latter was killed. From 1×68 to 1870 he was a deputy under City Mar- shal William C. Warren, who was killed by Joe Dye, in November of the latter year; and in the succeeding December election he was elected

eity marshal and tax collector for the two fol- lowing years. In 1855 Mr. Baker clerked awhile with N. A. Potter, who had the first regular hardware store here. Mr. Potter, who was for many years one of Los Angeles' best and most influential citizens, was a native of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He came to Los Angeles in 1855, bringing with him a stock of goods, and commenced business, first in a frame building on Los Angeles street, where Mesna- ger & Co.'s liquor store now is. In 1857 he bought and moved into a two-story brick store on Main street, adjoining the Lafayette IIotel, and on the site of S. Meyer's crockery store. Mr. Potter died in the '60s, leaving one son, Oscar M., his wife having died before him. At first Louis Jazynsky was a partner of Mr. Pot- ter's. Later they dissolved, and each carried on business separately. In 1861 Baker elerked with V. Beandry, sutler of the two companies of dragoons stationed in Los Angeles, of which Captain, afterward General, Davidson (“ Black Jack") was commander, and Captain, afterward General, Hancock was Quartermaster .In 1871 Mr. Baker married Hannah K. Ryals, who died in May, 1887. Mr. Baker is still a resident of this city.

G. BUTLER, owner and proprietor of the Signal IIill Nursery, and dealer in real- estate, came to this county in 1881, and purchased forty acres of the Cerritus Ranch, the first acreage sold in the American colony tract north of Long Beach. This nursery con- tains thirty acres of all kinds of deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubbery, ornamental trees, ete. Mr. Butler is a native of the " Buckeye State," born in Wayne County in 1854, and is the son of Almon Butler, who for a number of years had been engaged in the mercantile busi- ness, and who was a native of Vermont. The subject of this sketch received the benefits of a liberal common-school education. To the know]- edge acquired in his youth he has added largely

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by reading and observation. He was married in 1878 to Miss Rosa McClure, daughter of W. D. McCInre, an extensive fruit-grower of Ver- non, California. Mr. Butler is greatly interested in the development of Southern California. He is an enterprising young man, and may be de- pended upon to support and aid all enterprises which have for their object the building up of the community and the county in which he resides.

ILLIAM MORTON and Mary A. (Moore) Morton were both natives of Oswego County, New York, the former born in 1810 and the latter in 1819. They were married in 1834, and a year later a son was born to them. Two months after its birth they removed to Lenawee County, Michigan, where they resided for several years. IIere two children were born and the oldest child died. In 1843 they moved to Marshall, Michigan, where they lived sixteen years. In this place, also, two children were born to them and one of the oldest died. In 1859, with their three children, Mr. and Mrs. Morton started across the plains for California, for the benefit of Mr. Morton's health. In company with a number of families from Marshall, they first went to St. Louis, where they purchased their outfit and then proceeded to St. Joseph, where they joined a train of thirteen wagons. At Salt Lake City they made a stop of two weeks to recruit. There Mr. Morton was compelled to sell some of their goods, three of their horses having died on the road from the effects of alkali, thus pre- venting them from taking all their goods to their destination. They arrived in Stockton, California, in September, 1859, and a few months later Mr. Morton rented a farm nine miles from Stockton, and remained there till the next fall. He then purchased a farm of 143 acres joining the rented farm. This he stocked and built on, and here their youngest child, a daughter, was born, and the youngest son died.

In 1867 Mrs. Morton's health failed, and they prospected for a home in Southern California, and, being favorably impressed with Los An- geles County, they located near Compton. Mr. Morton's first selection of a farm was on too low ground, and they suffered from the overflow of water. He, however, purchased a farm of 160 acres on what is known as "The Hill," and there established his home. Soon after many houses were built near by, including those of his two sons. Mr. Morton died in 1874. For 'many years he had been an honorable member of the I. O. O. F. fraternity, and also of the P. II., or Granger Society. He be- longed to a historical family, being a second consin to our Vice-President, Levi P. Morton. He was one of the true pioneers of this county, and a man widely known and highly esteemed. Mrs. Morton is still living on the old homestead, one and one-half miles west of Compton. She joined the Rebeccas in 1857, in Michigan, and is still an enthusiastic member. She has been a woman of very great energy, and now at the advanced age of seventy years has all ber mental powers unimpaired, and is as active and spry as a girl of fifteen.

D. BEDWELL was one of the first set- tlers of Downey, coming to this place April 16, 1866. He is a native of Tennes- see, born April 20, 1820, his parents being James Bedwell and Susanna (Rawson) Bedwell, the latter of North Carolina. His father moved to Poinsett County, Arkansas, in the year 1840, and there farmed till his death, which occurred in 1860. The mother's death took place in 1866. The subject of this notice was married Angust 29, 1837, in Marshall County, Tennes- see, to Miss Elizabeth Culver, of North Caro- lina. This union was blessed with five children : Hester A., Samuel C., Mary J., James K. Polk, and Susan Elizabeth. The mother of these children died April 1, 1847, and September 3, of the same year. Mr. Bedwell, in Jackson

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County, Arkansas, married Miss Louisa Ann Pierce, a native of Tennessee. The fruit of this union was one child, Emily C., now the wife of J. W. Potts, the well-known capitalist of Los Angeles. Mrs. Bedwell died March 1, 1884. October 16, 1885, Mr. Bedwell was again mar- ried, choosing for his third companion Miss Susan C. McComic, also of Tennessee. Of this union one child has been born, Bob W. When first coming to the county Mr. Bedwell pur- chased twenty-five acres of land where lie now lives, and great, indeed, have been the improve- ments that he has made, and that have been made around him. Where once the mustard grew rank and wild, may now be seen an orchard of the most beautiful oranges, and fruitful fields of corn and alfalfa. Mr. Bedwell is a Christian gentleman and a God-fearing man, was once a deacon in the Baptist Church, but at present is not a church member. Politically, he is a Republican, and was at one time deputy sheriff of Jackson County, Arkansas. He is one of the true pioneers of Los Angeles County, and of such men as he the county should ever be proud. He left his home in Western Texas, with his family, February 20, 1865, and by ox teams crossed the plains, landing in Los Angeles, April 16, 1866. Many, indeed, were the hard- ships they endured on that famous journey, and our forefathers who landed on Plymouth Rock, and other places on our Eastern sea board, and miade homes, are deserving of no more praise than are the humble men who crossed the Rock- ies, seeking homes for their loved ones.

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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