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 69

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 69

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

native of California, having been born sixty-nine years ago in San Diego, where his parents had settled on their arrival from Europe in the early part of this century. His wife, whom he inar- ried when he was nineteen years of age, was born in Lower California. Soon after their marriage they settled on what was then called the Mount Pleasant tract, now that part of Boyle Heights lying south of First street and west of Boyle avenue, and there, nearly fifty years ago, he planted one of the first orchards and vineyards started in this part of the State. The two comprised about thirty acres, and the last of the trees and vines were removed only two or three years ago. Mr. Lopez now lives in Kern County, his wife having died about fifteen years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Cummings have a family of seven children, five sons and two daughters. The eldest, Frank, is eighteen years of age, and graduated from Santa Clara College in June, being one of the youngest to graduate in that institution. He has ranked very high throughout his college course, and his fond parents have numerous cards from his instructors complimenting his scholarship and deportment. Albert, the second son, is sixteen years old, and is attending Los Angeles College. The other children range from infancy to four- teen years. Mrs. Cummings is a lady of culture and refinement, and presides over her pleasant home with becoming grace and dignity.

OSEPH A. DELUDE .-- The subject of this sketch is one of the pioneers in the estab- lishment of business enterprises in the vil- lage of Arcadia, on the Santa Fe Railroad, about sixteen miles east of Los Angeles. In Decem- ber, 1887, Mr. Delude opened the Bonita Hotel at that place, having for several weeks previous to that date " kept hotel" in a large tent. In his first venture he was associated with Alexan- der J. Cameron, now of Savannah, who later sold ont to Mr. Delude, and still later Mr. De- lude sold a one-half interest to Frauk I. Smith.

At this writing (1889) the Bonita Hotel is the only house of entertainment opened to the pub- lic in Arcadia. Mr. Delude is a native of Sher- brooke, Canada East, dating his birth in 1857. His parents were Francis and Odile (Martin) Delude, both natives of Canada. The subject of this sketchi spent the first twenty years of his life in his native place, where he received the benefits of a good common-school education, and was reared to the practical life of a marketman. In 1875 he determined to seek his fortune in the United States. He accordingly came to Boston, Massachusetts, where he obtained em- ployment in a hotel. He soon became proficient in his business and spent many years as a stew- ard in some of the most prominent hotels in New England, among which was the Crawford House, White Mountains, and also in leading hotels in New York, New Jersey and Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1886 he came to Los Angeles County, and located at Pasa lena, where he was employed in the Raymond Hotel, until he took up his present residence. Mr. Delude is a progressive and enterprising citizen. Politically, he is a Democrat. He is a member of Pasadena Lodge, No. 324, I. O. O. F. Mr. Delude is interested in other real estate in the county and in Arcadia, besides his hotel property.

YRUS D. CURTIS, farmer at Lamanda Park, was born in Dexter, Maine, February 4, 1827, one of sixteen children. During his boyhood he worked upon the farm in the summer seasons for $8 a month, which was then considered high wages, and in winter he attended school. He was a great worker. At the age of seventeen years he went to Boston, Massachu- setts, and was employed in Fanenil HIall Market ten years. Next, for twenty years, he was en- gaged in the wholesale trade in fresh meats at Brighton, in partnership, under the firm name of Curtis & Boynton. Theirs was the largest pack- ing house in Massachusetts, doing a business of over $2,000,000 a year. In the great Boston fire

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

of November, 1872, the firm lost over $250,000, which embarrassed them beyond recovery. In 1877 Mr. Curtis came to California, land- ing in Los Angeles with only $32; but as he possessed health and strength, and the evi- dences of an upright and snecessful business man, he purchased a pair of mules on credit, and went to work, on rented land. Prospering, he bought fifty-nine acres of land near Sierra Madre Villa, but in 1888 he sold this property for $45,000, receiving $10,000 cash in hand; bnt he afterward had to take the land back, and he now ocenpies it. This year he has sowed 150 acres of barley, doing all the work himself. He is a very strong and energetic man. It has been said that probably there are not as many as three men in all the county as stout and agile as he. Ile is temperate in all his habits, and a teetotaler with regard to tobaceo and intoxicating liquors. Ilis appearance indicates that he may live to be a centenarian, enjoying health even at the age of 100 years. Ile is now sixty-two. Mrs. Curtis, nee Maria C. Shepherd, a native of New Hamp- shire, is a very amiable and hospitable lady and an excellent housekeeper. Both Mr. and Mrs. Curtis are social, warm-hearted New England people. They have one child, a danghter.

AMES CLEMINSON, of El Monte, is a rep- resentative of one of the pioneer American families of San Gabriel Valley. IIe dates his birth at Independence, Missouri, Angust 7, 1833, son of John and Lydia (Lightner) Clen- inson. John Cleminson was born in England, December 29, 1798. During the war of 1812, he came to the United States, via St. Johns, New Brunswick, with his father, James Clem- inson (whose wife had died in England). After a residence of some time in Virginia, the family made their home in Louisville, Kentucky. Upon reaching manhood, John Cleminson, the father of the subject of this sketch, went to Lexington, Missouri, then a wilderness. There, December 28, 1822, he wedded Miss Lightner, who was of

Dutch descent, born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, July 11, 1800. Mr. Cleminson worked at his trade, cabinet and carpenter work, many years at Lexington, moving from there to Independ- ence and later to Illinois, where with his family he lived first at Galena and later in Carroll Connty. September 15, 1850, with his wife and four of their six children, he started, via the overland Santa Fé trail, for Southern California, with two teams of oxen and cows together for transports. The children who came with their parents were: James, whose name heads this sketch; John, Lydia and Diantha. (Lanra, wife of G. W. Durfee, and Mary M., wife of E. T. Mills, came a few years later). The journey of the Cleminsons was a long and tedions one. The first winter was spent at or near Harrisonville, Missouri, the next at Tucson, Arizona. At one time, losing nearly all their stock, one wagon was hauled by hand sixty miles and sold at Santa Cruz, Arizona. After trials and troubles, which we have not the space to relate, the family reached this sunny land, James arriving at San Diego in time to participate in celebrating the national birthday, July 4, 1852, and the family a few days later. At San Diego the first Amer- ican wedding ever solemnized was the marriage of Lydia Cleminson with S. S. Reeves. This occurred April 15, 1853. After a short resi- dence at San Diego the family made their home in San Bernardino County, and in 1858 upon a ranch near El Monte. The mother died Au- gust 11, 1873, and the father, November 28, 1879. Ile was a man well known in Los Angeles County and respected by all. James Cleminson married, in San Bernardino County, Mrs. Caro- line Beck, widow of Thomas Beck. She was a lady of English birth. Two children were born of this union, James D. and Willis S. The former has his home in San Bernardino, and the latter died January 10, 1882, aged four years and three months. Their inother departed this life March 27, 1880, aged thirty-six years. From her first marriage one son, Charles Edward, is living. The present wife of Mr. Cleminson, formerly Miss Emma Crist, he wedded October

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

11, 1885. She was born in the State of Iowa, daughter of Levi Crist, now a resident of Wash. ington Territory. Her child, Hugh Delbert Cleminson, was born November 18, 1886. Mr. Cleminson is the owner of fifty acres of land at El Monte, and also a tract of ten acres near Azusa. Politically, he is identified with the Republican party. He is a member of the ancient order of Free Masons. John Cleminson, the youngest of the Cleminson family, owns and resides upon thirty acres adjoining his brother James.

F. CULVER, one of the pioneers of Califor- nia and now a retired farmer in Compton, was born in Poultney, Rutland County, Vermont, in 1821, his parents being Isaac C. and Mariah (Mead) Cnlver. The mother was a na- tive of Vermont and was a descendant of the celebrated Colonel Ethan Allen. Isaac C. Cul- ver was also a native of Vermont, and in 1841 settled in Niagara County, New York, where he lived till his death, which occurred in 1884. His wife had preceded him to the grave, having died in 1881, both past eighty years of age. They had a family of nine children, seven of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch being the oldest. He received the ordinary com- mon-school education, and also attended the sem- inary at West Poultney, Vermont, six months. In 1849 he, in partnership with others, bonght a ship, the Edward Everett. This they loaded at Boston, Massachusetts, with syrup, flour, lum- ber, brick and merchandise, and started for San Francisco via Cape Horn. They landed in the city of the Golden Gate, July 6, 1849. This company built the first steamer that ever plied the waters of the Sacramento River. They sub- sequently dissolved partnership and engaged in mining. Mr. Culver followed teaming for a while, and also kept a hotel at Linden Corner, in San Joaquin County. February 14, 1852, he returned to his old home in New York. While in the East Mr. Culver was united in marriage with Miss Henrietta Raymond, of Niagara

County, New York. Her father was Caleb Ray- mond, who was the proprietor of the Frontier House at Lewiston, on the Niagara River. Soon after his marriage Mr. Culver started with his bride to California, June 5, 1852; arrived in San Francisco, July 12, 1852. He came to Lin- den and was proprietor of the hotel for several years and also farmed 480 acres of land. In 1865 he sold out his interests at Linden and moved to Copperopolis, Calaveras County, and again engaged in the hotel business. This, how- ever, proved unprofitable, owing to the unfruit- fulness of mining interests, and he returned to Linden, where he farmed land on the shares for some seven years. In 1875 he moved to Los Angeles County, and purchased eighty acres of land, which is now in the corporate limits of the city of Compton. Here he has since lived and expects to spend the residne of his days. Mr. and Mrs. Culver have three sons and two daugh- ters: Frank F., Frederick M., Willard, Ella, wife of T. F. Ross; and Mary, wife of Benton Flood.

RANK I. SMITH .- The above named gen- tleman is one of the proprietors of the Bonita Hotel, of Arcadia, and is closely identified with the growth and prosperity of that village. Mr. Smith is a native of Nova Scotia and was born in 1856. ITis father, John Smith, was also a native of that province, but was of Scotch descent. His mother, nee Sarah Smith, was also a native of Nova Scotia. Mr. Smith spent his early life in securing such an education as the common schools afforded, and in 1870, at the age of fourteen years, started in life on his own account. In that year he came to the United States and located in Boston, Massachusetts, and engaged in work at the markets. The next sixteen years of his life were spent in that city, mostly in occupations connected with the market business. In 1886 he came to California and located in Los An- geles County, at Pasadena. Soon after his ar- rival he obtained employment in the Raymond

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

Hotel where he remained until about six months before he came to Arcadia, in November, 1887, and became connected with the Bonito Hotel, as one of the proprietors. Mr. Smith is a strong believer in the future growth and pros- perity of his chosen section, and is one of those enterprising citizens that are always willing to aid in such projects as will promote the welfare of the community in which they reside. In political matters he is a Democrat, and takes an intelligent interest in the policy of his party. In 1884 Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Lanra C. Cameron, a native of Nova Scotia. From this marriage there is one child, Sherman W. It is worthy of note that this is the first white male child born in Arcadia.

ON YGNACIO DEL VALLE, long a prominent and useful citizen of Los An- geles, was a native of Jalisco, Mexico. He was born July 1, in the year 1808, and was the son of Lientenant Antonio del Valle, a soldier under the King of Spain. Ile came to California with Echandia in 1825. In 1841 he settled on the San Francisco Rancho in this county, which had been granted to his father. Don Ygnacio and Don J. A. Aguirre received a concession in 1843 of the rancho of Tejon, twenty-two Spanish leagnes, but which now belongs to General E. F. Beale, of Washington, D. C. In 1846 Don Ygnacio was treasurer of the civil government of Cali- fornia; in 1850 he was alcalde of Los Angeles; and later was a member of the city conneil and also of the State Legislature. Ile was a man of culture and intelligence and of much in- fluence in the community. Ilis city residence for many years and until 1861 was on the east side of the Plaza. At the time of his death, in 1880, his home was on the beautiful Cannilos Rancho, on the Santa Clara River, in the northwestern part of Los Angeles County, where his widow and her family still reside. It was here that Mrs. Jackson located some of the most poetic and romantie scenes of the story of " Ramona."

Don Ygnacio possessed the most unbounded confidenee of the community in which he lived, bothi under the Spanish and American regimes, as is evidenced by his being entrusted with the responsibilities of office, either military or civil, during the greater part of his mature life. He was a Lieutenant from 1828 till 1840, and served on the staff of both Governors Echeandia and Figueroa. In 1834 he was appointed by the latter to serve as commissioner in the secular- ization of the missions. He carried out the provisions of the law in the cases of the missions of Santa Cruz and of Dolores. Later he held other important official positions, as noted above, always performing his duties faithfully and honorably. Don Ygnacio was twice married. There were no children by the first inarriage. His second wife, whom he married in 1851, and who still survives him, was Doña Ysabel, dangh- ter of Don Servol Varela, and granddaughter of Don Antonio Ygnacio Abila. Six children were the result of this union, all of whom are still living, including ex-Senator Reginaldo F. del Valle, the wife of Juan Forster, Jr., etc. The memory of good Ygnacio del Valle is pleasant to many citizens still living, ontside of his own family. This warm, kindly feeling with which he is remembered yet by all those who were ac- quainted with him personally, is voiced in the following closing lines of a notice of his death, written by one who knew him well, Judge Y. Sepúlveda, and which appeared in one of our daily journals: "There is much in his life to engage our affections and respect. Few men have impressed upon the memory of their friends a livelier sense of excellence and unsul- lied virtue. In the private and domestic circle he was greatly beloved. He was confiding and affectionate. IIe possessed an enlightened be- nevolence and a warm sensibility, always eager to advance those who were within the sphere of his influence. IIe was a man of the most in- flexible honor and integrity, a devout lover of truth, conscientiously scrupulous in the dis- charge of his duties. The voice of censure rarely escaped from his lips. He had a deep

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sense of religion. His faith was such that it imparted serenity and confidence. He was mod- est and reserved, of thoughtful aspect, but not cold. With those with whom he was intimate he indulged in playful and delicate humor. No man had a sounder judgment. The tears that fall on his grave are unstained by any mixture of bitterness for frailty or for vice. He lived as a true man would wish to live. He died as a good man would wish to die. 'How beautiful is death when earned by virtue.'"

HARLES HENRY DUNSMOOR, County Clerk of Los Angeles County, was born in Temple, Maine, July 18, 1850, son of James A. and Almira M. (Mosher) Dunsmoor. The former was of Scotch descent, and a native of Massachusetts, and the latter is of English extraction, and was born in Maine. When the subject of this sketch was two and a half years old his parents moved to Minneapolis, Minne- sota, where he remained with them until reach- ing manhood, and was educated in the public schools and the University of Minnesota. In 1872 he came to California and located in Los Angeles. Since that time he has been actively identified with the best interests of this pros- perous city and county, and has held various positions of trust and responsibility. Upon his arrival here he was engaged in teaching in the public schools of Los Angeles County for two years; devoted himself for the next three years to mercantile pursuits; served one year as assist- ant tax collector of the city of Los Angeles, and acted, for three years, as chief deputy recorder of Los Angeles County, under Recorder C. C. Lamb. In 1883 he engaged in shipping fruit, which he continued until the fall of 1884, when he was elected county clerk of Los Angeles County, on the Republican ticket, and in the fall of 1888 he was re-elected to fill the same position. As a public officer he has per- formed his duties faithfully, and that his efforts are appreciated by the people is evidenced by

the fact of his re-election to the position he now fills. Mr. Dunsmoor's parents came to Los Angeles in 1872, where his father died in 1873. His mother still survives, and is a member of the Fort Street Methodist Episcopal Church. The subject of this sketch was married Novem- ber 5, 1871, to Miss Cynthia J. Gilman, of Richfield, near Minneapolis, Minnesota. They have two children: Charles F. and Grace Olive. Mr. and Mrs. Dunsmoor are members of the Fort Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Dunsmoor is a member of Pentalpha Lodge, No. 202, F. & A. M .; of Signet Chapter, No. 15, R. A. M., and of Cœur de Sinor Commandery, No. 9, K. T., all of Los Angeles.

S. DAUBENSPECK, contractor and builder, 42 Grand avenue, Los An- geles, is a native of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, and was born June 14, 1847. During boyhood he attended the common schools, and entered the army when sixteen years of age, serving in the Ninety-seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. He served an apprenticeship to the trade of carpenter and joiner, and began contracting in Allentown and Scranton before reaching his majority. In Oc- tober, 1871, he set out for the Pacific Coast, and reached Chicago at the time of the great fire, and decided to remain there. He entered the employ of Goss & Philipps, the largest manufacturing firm of sash and doors in the city, and was assistant superintendent of their mills for twelve years. He was superintendent of the mills of Badenoch Brothers until 1887, when he came to Los Angeles and engaged in contracting. Among the many fine residences he has taken contracts for and erected are those of Mr. R. Larkins, 42 Grand avenue; Mr. J. F. Cosby, corner of Figaroa street and Brooklyn avenue; Mr. Allen, of the Times, corner of Pearl and Ninth streets; J. B. Winston, An- gelina Heights; Dr. Pierport, on Ellis aveune, and many others. He has the contract for the

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First Congregational Church, corner of Sixth and Hill streets, one of the finest in the city. He has had a large practical experience in the building and lumber trade. Mr. Daubenspeck was married November 23, 1880, to Miss An- gnsta Judd, a native of Michigan, and a step- daughter of Robert Larkins, of this city. Since coming here they have lost their only daughter, Olive, a very attractive child.

HOMAS A. DELANO was born in Charles- ton, New Ilampshire, in 1830. He is a son of Charles A. and Mary C. (Hammet) Delano, and during his boyhood followed the sea. Ilis father was from Nantucket, and was a sea-faring man, as were also his ancestors for six generations before him. The subject of this brief notice is a pioneer in California of 1849. He came by sail, and landed in San Francisco on the 7th of Angust, after a voyage of seven months. He first engaged in mining at Sutter's Mills and Middle Fork of the Amer- ican River, for about one year, after which he went to the Russian River district, and engaged in raising wheat. To him belongs the honor of getting the first American plows in that section. He bought them in San Francisco, at a cost of 838 apiece. His father had accompanied him to California, and had gone back East in 1850. In 1851 he returned to San Francisco, and there died in July of the same year. Our subject re- mained on the ranch till 1854. January 4, 1855, he arrived in Los Angeles, and for six- teen years gave his time and attention to freighting, harvesting and threshing. He owned property in Los Angeles and put out two or- chards there, one on Main street, and one on San Pedro street. For a number of years he kept a freight station in San Franciscito Cañon, called Delano Station. In 1872 he discovered borax in the Slate Range in San Bernardino County, and there built a manufacturing estab- lishment. Four years ago he moved to where he now lives. He and his sons have about

1,800 acres of land, which under their careful management yields abundant harvests of grain and hay. They also raise horses and cattle. In 1862 he married Miss Soledad Vejar, a native of California, and the daughter of John C. Vejar, who was born in San Diego. He was a Spaniard, and by occupation a farmer. His wife's name was nee Gracie Reys, also a native of California and of Spanish origin. They were a very influential family, and had important titles and grants. They had five children, three of whom are living. He died in 1875, and his wife in October, 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Delano have a large family: John Charles, William II., Thomas A., Mary Grace, Frederick J., Annie I., who departed this life at the age of thirteen years; Arthur G., who died at the age of ten years; Robert, who died when eight years old; Benjamin F., died in infancy; Frank and George. In closing this brief outline of Mr. Delano's life, it is altogether proper to state that he is a man of more than ordinary worth. The esteem in which he is held by his neigh- bors is evidence of his uprightness of character and his honor as a man. In his home he is kind and obliging, and a hearty welcome is ex- tended to all.

MILE DEUTSCH. one of the prominent residents and business men of the Sierra Madre, dates his birth in Belgium, Sep- tember 20, 1846. His parents, John and Agnes (Eichorn) Deutsch, were natives of Luxem- burg. Mr. Deutsch was deprived of the advan- tages of a good education, and at the age of eleven years was put to work in a cigar factory, in his native place. Of an energetic disposition, he was not content to live the life of an ill-paid artisan of the old world. Therefore, in 1862, at the age of sixteen years, he emigrated to the United States, and after spending about six months at his trade in New York, he proceeded to Toronto, Canada. The next year he returned to the United States and followed his calling in

KANTEL DOMINGUEZ

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Buffalo, New York, for two years, and then located at Chicago, Illinois. After working for about two years as a journeyman cigar-maker, he established himself in business in that city as a cigar manufacturer. The great fire of 1871 swept away the results of his year's labor and left him heavily in debt, but with commendable energy and indomitable will be rebuilt his fac- tory and re-established his business, conducting it with success until ill health compelled his retiring from active business pursuits. Seeking a more congenial climate, in October, 1883, Mr. Deutsch came to California and located in Los Angeles, where he engaged in real-estate opera- tions and later in cigar manufacturing. In the spring of 1885 he took up his residence at Sierra Madre, on a four-acre tract west of Bald- win avenue, in block 14. This land was por- chased and its improvements commenced in 1884. In the fall of 1885 he established the Sierra Madre Cigar Factory on the corner of Baldwin and Central avennes. He soon secured a good trade for his products, as he manufact- ured none but first class articles. Mr. Deutsch now owns two acres of his original purchase, which he has fully improved, planting oranges, lemons and a variety of deciduons fruits, also erecting a comfortable two-story residence, snit- able out-buildings, etc. Ile has also three and one-half acres in the Sierre Madre tract, abont a fourth of a mile east of his residence, which is producing wine grapes. He is the owner of the Sierra Madre Park, a tract of land 640 acres in extent, located about two miles and a half north of Sierra Madre, on the Wilson Peak trail. He is devoting time and money to im- proving and beautifying this place, and the Sierra Madre Park is destined in the future to rank as one of the favorite resorts in this sec- tion. Mr. Deutsch is a progressive citizen and a strong believer in the future destiny of Sierra Madre, a faith that he is verifying by the expend- iture of money in improvements, etc. He is a strong supporter of schools and of every enter- prise that will add to the welfare of the com- munity. He is a school trustee of the Sierra

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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