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 81

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 81

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of Murchison, and engaged in fruit enltivation. When he first settled in the valley there were but a few families where now stands a thriving city. As the population increased and the de- mand for business enterprises arose, he estab- lished his present business, first in 1882, under the firm name of House & Thomas, and then as House, Thomas & Dreher; but since 1887 he has conducted the enterprise alone. In business he has been successful, and has done much in adding to the prosperity of his chosen eity. Politically he is a stanch Republican, and in 1883 and 1884 was a deputy sheriff of Los Angeles County, and for the six years preced- ing 1888 was a school director. Ile is promi- nent in Masonic circles, being a member of Pomona Lodge, No. 246; of Signet Chapter, No. 57, and Cœur de Lion Commandery, No. 9, Knights Templar, of Los Angeles. He is also a member of Capital Lodge, No. 86, I. O. O. F., of Sacramento, and of Etna Lodge, No. 107, Knights of Pythias, of Pomona. Mr. House, in 1887, built himself a beautiful cottage residence on Ellen street, npon his orehard property, sur- rounding the same with orchard grounds. He is also engaged in orange culture. His thorough and systematic cultivation, which he is able to give from his long experience in the business, has produced results almost marvelous, and has tended to convince even the most skeptical that wonderful riches are lying dormant in the soil of the San José Valley. In 1870 Mr. House was united in marriage with Miss Florence J. McCullongh, the daughter of George MeCul- lough, a native of Scotland. Mrs. Hlouse is a native of Illinois. They have had but one child, born July 21, 1871, and died February 21, 1874.

OHN T. IIADDOX .- Among the mer- ehiants of El Monte is the subject of this sketch, whose well-appointed store is cen- trally located in that town. His establishment is well fitted and stocked as a representative country store, dealing in dry-goods, groceries,

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boots, shoes, clothing, hardware, drugs and agri- cultural implements, and is well patronized by the community in which he resides. Mr. Had- dox also combines the real-estate and insurance business with his enterprise, and is the agent of E. J. Baldwin in his land sales in that section. A brief resumé of his life and association with the industries of the San Gabriel Valley is as follows: He is a native of Hancock County, Ohio, dating his birth in 1858. His father, Jacob Haddox, was a native of that State, but a descendant of an old family of Virginia, who devoted himself to mercantile pursuits. Mr. Haddox lived in his native county until 1868, when his father moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where the subject of this sketch received a good common-school and academic education, and also received his early training in mercantile pursuits. In 1876 he started in life for him- self, seeking the Golden State as the scene of his operations. Upon his arrival in California he located at El Monte, where for about a year he engaged in farming with his cousin, William Haddox, after which he rented land from Nicho- las Smith, about a mile east of town, and engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1881. He then established himself in mercantile business in El Monte in partnership with Charles M. Bell, under the firm name of Bell & Haddox. This enterprise was successfully conducted until 1885, when he sold out his interest to Mr. Langstadter and established his present business. He has also ten acres of land located in the Temple school district, which he is devoting to vegetable cultivation, besides 240 acres near Fort Yuma, in Arizona. Mr. Haddox is a progressive and enterprising citizen, who by his energy and firm business principles has secured success in his various enterprises, and one who is ever ready to aid such projects and movements as will build up the section in which he has cast his lot. He is a strong Republican in politics, and a worker in the ranks of his party, having been a delegate in many of the Republican county conventions. In 1881 he was appointed postmaster of El Monte, a position he held until 1887. He is

serving his second term as a justice of the peace, first elected in 1881, and later in 1888. He is a member of El Monte Lodge, No. 104, F. & A. M. In 1886 Mr. Haddox was united in marriage with Miss Victoria Mayes, the daugh- ter of the late Dr. Thomas A Mayes, one of the pioneer physicians of Los Angeles County and a resident of El Monte at the time of his death. Her mother, Mary (King) Mayes, is still a resi- dent of that place. By this marriage there is one child, Dorothea. Mr. Haddox's mother, nee Elizabeth Smith, was a native of Ohio. She died when he was three years old.

EORGE R. JOHNSON .- Among the rep- resentative and enterprising business men of Monrovia is the subject of this sketch. He is the senior member of the firm of Johnson & Parker, dealers in staple and fancy groceries, crockery, glassware, etc. The well-equipped store of this firin is located on the corner of Ivy avenue, opposite the Grand View Hotel. It is one of the oldest business houses in Monrovia, and was established by the present proprietors April 1, 1887. The firm are the owners of the two-story building occupied by them. It contains two stores on the first floor, and residence and office rooms in the second story. This building was erected in the spring of 1887. Mr. Johnson was born in Rockford, Illinois, in 1859. Ilis father, Hobert J. Johnson, was a native of New York, and a farmer by profession. His mother, Charlotte L. Johnson, was born in Connecticut. Mr. Johnson was reared as a fariner and was educated in the public schools of Rockford, and later graduated at the Rockford Business Col- lege. At the age of twenty-one years he en- tered into mercantile pursuits in Rockford in a general merchandise store, which he conducted until February, 1883. He then engaged as a trav- eling agent for the Elder Publishing Company, of Chicago, and continued that occupation until 1886. In November of that year he came to Los Angeles County, and located in the city of

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Los Angeles, remaining there until the follow- ing spring, when he came to Monrovia and es- tablished his present business. Mr. Johnson is an enterprising and progressive citizen and a trained business man, and is closely identified with the building up of Monrovia. He is well known and respected; is a consistent member of the Methodist Church; has for the past ten years been an active member of the Young Men's Christian Association, and is vice-president of the association in Monrovia. Politically he is a Republican, taking an intelligent interest in his party. In 1888 Mr. Jolinson was united in marriage with Miss Hannah G. Hooper, the danghter of Edward D. and Mary B. Hooper, residents of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in which eity Mrs. Johnson was born. Her father is now a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

LBERT JENKS, artist, Los Angeles, was born in New York, May 26, 1830. His parents, Levi and Nancy Jenks, came West to Chicago in 1836, and were among the carliest settlers of that western metropolis. They located at Joliet, Illinois, when there were only three houses there. The subject of this sketch attended the common schools, and eom- pleted his education at Rock River Seminary. When quite a young man he studied medicine in the office of D. S. Smith, the veteran home- opathist of Chicago and the Northwest. After- ward he removed to Aurora, Illinois, and en- gaged in mercantile business for some years, and then entered into banking and carried on the business for ten years. Upon the breaking out of the Rebellion he went inte the army. In raising a company of cavalry he had 400 appli- cations for enlistment, but accepted only 100, and the men furnished their own horses and equipments. Ile was commissioned Captain of cavalry in the Thirty-sixth Regiment, was pro- moted to Lieutenant-Colonel, participated in several battles, and served from 1861 to 1863. Atter his return from the service he engaged in

mereantile business for several years, and gave it up to follow his chosen vocation. From carly childhood he had a remarkable taste for paint- ing, and in all the schools he attended during childhood, so fond was he of drawing that he was called the "boy artist." After taking up the brush he remained in Chicago until 1872. Then he was in Detroit several years, and in 1875 he came to the Pacific Coast, locating in San Francisco until 1886, when he came to Los Angeles, and since then has been busily engaged in executing orders received here, and has taken a leading position in the profession on the Pa- cific Coast. After the nomination of President Lincoln in 1860, Mr. Jenks received a letter from William Butler, Secretary of State for Illinois, asking him to go to the eapital to paint a portrait. Mr. Jenks responded to the request, not knowing who the subject was until he reached Springfield, and found it was Mr. Lincoln, the great martyr President. Mr. Jenks has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Frances H. Wetmore, of Ohio, who died leaving one daughter, now Mrs. Charles Sontag, of San Francisco. His present wife was Mrs. Cornelia A. Trowbridge, of the city of Detroit.

A. JONES, of the firm of Mackay & Jones, contractors, No. 710 South Fort street, is

6 a native of Ohio, born September 11, 1850. His parents, A. L. and Margaret (Eaken) Jones, were both natives of Pennsylvania. He attended school during his early boyhood, and, in 1865, when he was fourteen years of age, his parents removed to Illinois, where he served an appren- tiecship to his trade. Upon reaching his ma- jority he went to Iowa, in 1871, and remained there until July 1, 1878; then went to Colorado and for two years was engaged in prospecting. The next three years were spent in a quartz- mill building. He remained there until the fall of 1882, when he came to Los Angeles and worked at his trade; was foreman for Mr. Mackay for three years and then became a partner with

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him. Since then the firm of Mackay & Jones has done .a leading business in contracting and building, and no firm in Southern California enjoys a higher reputation than does this one. While living in Colorado Mr. Jones was mar- ried, April 26, 1881, to Miss Ella Woodfill, a native of Rochester, Indiana. They have two children : Albert and Myrtle.

Ô D. JOHNSTON .- The Empire State has furnished some excellent men as pioneers of Los Angeles County, and perhaps none more worthy of an appropriate mention in this work than Mr. Johnston. He was born in Erie County, New York, in 1842. His father's name was Joseph E. Johnston, and his mother's maiden name was Annie Wenger; she was a native of Pennsylvania and of German descent. When the subject of this sketch was ten years old, his father moved to Lorain County, Ohio, and for many years was a farmer there, and now lives retired with his youngest son in Toledo, that State. After our subject was twenty-one years old, he went to Monroe County, Michigan, and in company with two brothers carried on the saw-mill business for nine years. In 1865 he was married near Toledo, Ohio, to Miss Eu- dolpha De Witt, a native of Monroe County, New York, whose father was Samnel De Witt, a New York farmer. In 1876 Mr. Johnston came to Los Angeles County and purchased a farm of 123 acres one-half mile south of Nor- walk. This he has put under a high state of cultivation, and his comfortable surroundings are evidence of the prosperity which has at. tended him since coming to the " County of the Angels." He has about 1,200 French prune trees on the ranch, from which, at the age of four years, he produced seven tons of prunes. He cultivates forty acres of vineyard, and man- nfactures his own wines. Last year he made over 27,000 gallons. He is also a partner in the cheese factory at Norwalk. He is a man of large business experience, and is energetic and

enterprising. He helped to organize the Nor- walk school district, and for nine years he has held the office of clerk of the board of directors. He is especially interested in educational matters. His oldest daughter, Cora A., is a graduate of the Normal School and will be enrolled among the teachers of the county. Edie L. is a stu- dent in the Norwalk district school. These two young ladies are all the children of Mr. and Mrs. Johnston. Politically Mr. Johnston is one of the able, intelligent supporters of the Republican party, and is socially a Freemason.

M AJOR EDWARD WADSWORTH JONES, President of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and also of the Historical Society of Southern California, was born at New Hartford, Connecticut, November 28, 1840. He is of Puritan stock; a collateral descendant of the officer who hid the Charter of Connecticut in the famous "Oak; " of the founder of Wadsworth Atheneum at Hartford, and of William Williams, a signer of the Dec- laration of Independence. Major Jones was edi- cated in the schools of his native State, and at the University of Tennessee. At the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion he entered the army, and served something over three years in the Second Connecticut Artillery, as Captain and Major. He was with the Army of the Po- tomac; was in the Shenandoah Valley; and at Cedar Creek was in command of his regiment, as shown by Sheridan in his Memoirs. He was brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel for gallant and meritorious conduct. After the close of the war he settled temporarily in Illinois. From there he went to Idaho and Utah, where he engaged in mining operations ten years, from 1871 to 1881. He worked profitably some rich silver mines in the Salmon River region, his company taking out $600,000 or $800,000. During this time there were two Indian wars in that country. Major Jones made his headquarters at Salt Lake City, where his family locate, and where he

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spent the most of his winters during those ten years, thns affording him an opportunity to study the Mormon question with considerable thoroughness. The winter of 1876 and 1877 he spent in Central America (San Salvador) ex- amining mines. In 1881, having sold his in- terest in the Salmon River mines, he spent the year in New York, and came to California in 1882, partly on account of his health. After looking over Central and Northern California pretty thoroughly, he determined to see the Southern part of the State, and came by steamer, arriving here in August. He decided as soon as he landed in Los Angeles County, as so many others have done, that this was the climate that he wanted; and be almost immediately wrote for his family, which he had left at Oakland, to join him here. He built a home in the west part of the city, where he now resides. He was a member of the city council in 1886-'87, and he is one of the most useful and public-spirited citizens that Los Angeles has. In 1863 Major Jones married Miss Spencer, a native of Illinois, in Washington. They have three children liv- ing, two danghters and one son, the latter now a student at Phillips Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire.

E. JENISON, a farmer residing near Dow- ney, and the senior member of the firm of Jenison & Greening, general merchants in Downey, came to Los Angeles County in 1877. Two years previous to this he was at San José. He is a native of Illinois, born in Menard County, December 10, 1838, and is a son of John Singletary Jenison and nee Martha MeNabb, natives respectively of Massachusetts and Kentucky. The father was a pioneer of Sangamon County, Illinois, where he died in 1853. Of his seven children, only three are now living. Mr. Jenison did good service in the late war, entering the army in 1861 and serving four years and four months. Ile was a member of Company A, Tenth Illinois Cavalry,

and at the siege of Vicksburg and on the Yazoo expedition was in MePherson's Corps, Logan's Division, and Mower's "Eagle Brigade." This is the brigade that carried the eagle through the war. In 1875 Mr. Jenison was married in Menard County, Illinois, to Miss Susan B. Champion, of the same county. To them have been born four children, two of whom are living, Roy and Lena. On account of his health Mr. Jenison has retired from the mercantile business, and is now devoting his time to the management of his farm. He also condnets a good dairy business.

ANS JEVNE, proprietor of the finest retail grocery store in Sonthern California, and whose name is probably familiar to more honseholds in and abont Los Angeles than that of any other business man, severed his connection with his brother, C. Jevne, in Chicago, who owns the most elegant retail grocery in that great metropolis, if not in America, and in February, 1882, came to the Pacific Coast. Nine months later he opened his grocery store in the building he now occupies, at Nos. 38 and 40 North Spring street, in a room one-fonrtli as large as his pres- ent store. Having had a thorough training in the business in Chicago, first as salesman and afterward as manager in his brother's mam- moth establishment, for seventeen years-with but ten days' vacation-Mr. Jevne was master of the grocery trade in every detail, as conducted upon the highest standard and best methods. Therefore, the success of his business has been phenomenal from the beginning, demanding fre- quent enlargement of store-room and facilities until now two floors of the spacions briek build- ing are required to accommodate his immense trade, which gives employment to twenty-six or twenty-seven men and thirteen horses. Mr. Jevne makes a specialty of the very choicest brands of goods, and buys the best the markets of the world can supply. Ile imports large quantities of the finest French and English

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bottled and other fancy goods direct from Bordeaux and other European points, which he sells at wholesale to dealers throughout South- ern California, Arizona and New Mexico, besides supplying his extensive retail trade-the largest in the State outside of San Francisco. His commodious store is a model of neatness and order, and the artistic arrangement of toothsome edibles makes it a veritable palace of beauty and attractiveness. Besides the careful supervision of his large business, Mr. Jevne finds time to look after his outside investments, which are quite extensive, and also to take an active part in the Chamber of Commerce and other local organizations which he is a member of and which have for their object the prosperity and general advancement of Los Angeles and South- ern California, of which he is' a most loyal and public-spirited citizen. Hans Jevne was born in Norway on the 28th of February, 1849, and enjoyed superior educational advan- tages during the first sixteen years of his life that he remained in his native country, so much so that he was a good English and German scholar when he came to America in 1865. His entire commercial experience has been in Chicago and Los Angeles. Mr. Jevne possesses an active mental temperament, is suave and gen- tlemanly in manner, making a friend of every acquaintance.

ILLIAM H. JUENGER, senior partner of the firm of Juenger & Cross, drug- gists, No. 27 North Main street, estab- lished the business at that number over four years ago, having opened the store on March 16, 1885. About a year later he took in Frank C. Wolf as a partner, who sold his interest in the early part of 1888 to W. S. Cross, the pres- ent junior member of the firm. They have one of the largest and prettiest drug stores in Los Angeles, and carry a full and complete stock of every kind of goods usually kept in a first-class drug store. They make a specialty of the phar-

macy branch of the business, and have a very large prescription trade, averaging thirty-five to forty a day. During the first four years of the history of the house it compounded and sent out 28,000 prescriptions, besides those prepared for the French Hospital, for which institution this firm has furnished all the drugs and medi- cines in the past three years. Mr. Juenger is one of the most thorough pharmacologists in Southern California, having had seventeen years of active experience in pharmacy. He manu- factures several proprietary prescriptions. Mr. Juenger was born in New Orleans, July 22, 1859, and passed the first thirteen years of his life in the Crescent City. Coming from there to Cal- ifornia, he located in San Francisco, where he began to learn the drug business early in his teens. Fifteen years ago he came to Los Ange- les, and was five years in the employ of Mr. Heinzeman, in the oldest drug store in the city. In September, 1884, Mr. Juenger and Miss Eliza Anderson were united in marriage. She is a " native daughter," born in Los Angeles.

RVINE JOHNSON, a true pioneer of the Golden State, who is now spending the evening of life with the wite of his youth, is a retired farmer, residing three miles west of Downey, and is a man in every respect worthy of honorable mention in a work of this character. He was born in Madison County, Kentucky, July 1, 1817. His father, John Johnson, born October 15, 1785, was a soldier in the war of 1812; and his grandfather, James Johnson, was a Captain in the Revolutionary war. John Johnson's first wife was Elizabeth Campbell, who was born in Virginia, and by her he had four children, to which family Irvine belongs. The mother died when he was three years old, and the father married Elizabeth Parker. Of this nnion three children were born, two of whom are living. A half- brother of the subject of this sketch, Thomas Walker Johnson, was a soldier in the Southern army, and died in prison some-

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where in the South. In 1857 Jolin Johnson moved to Gainesville, Cook County, Texas, where he died in 1860. Irvine Jolinson was married March 2, 1836, to Miss Elizabeth Ann Maggard, of Randolph County, Missouri. She is the daughter of Jacob and Susan (Bright) Maggard, natives respectively of East Tennessee and South Carolina. The father was of Pennsylvania Dutch descent, and the mother traces her ancestry to the Scotch. They were pioneers in Missouri. and at times were compelled to live in forts to protect themselves against the Indians. They had four sons and five daughters, one son and two daughters still living. Mr. Johnson left his old home in Missouri, April 3, 1853, with his wife and five children, to cross the plains to the Golden Coast. Six months were spent on that famous journey, and it is with peculiar in- terest that one listens to Mrs. Johnson tell how she enjoyed camping in wagons, and seeing the beanties and wonders of nature which were new and changing every day. Mr. Johnson spent five years in mining in Amador County, one year in farming in Sacramento County, then two years in Sonoma County, from which place he moved to Solano County, where for seven years he was a tiller of the soil. Next he farmed for seven years in San Luis Obispo County. Twelve years ago he became a citizen of Los Angeles County, where, in retirement, he ex- peets to spend the residue of life, being now in his seventy-third year. He and his faithful companion have been workers together in the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church for over fifty years. During that time he has held the vari- ous offices of the church. l'olitically he was a Whig while the party had an existence, and since then he has been a whole-souled Democrat, be- lieving heartily in its doctrines and supporting its principles by his vote and influence. He is a man of recognized ability, having, while in Missouri, served as justice county judge. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have reared a family of seven children: John, who married Martha Summer; James A., who married Nancy Root; David M.,

who married Sarah Barnett for his first wife and Alice Floyd for his second; Matilda, wife of Thomas Barnett; Thomas W., who married Lil- lie Raymond; Mary A., wife of T. N. Cocke; and Ella, wife of William J. Edwards. Mr. Johnson has twenty six grandchildren and three great-grandehildren.

LBERT H. JUDSON was born in Port- land, Chantauqua County, New York, on the 21st of September, 1838. He received a common-school education in his native town, and attended the Fredonia Academy several terms; taught school, and afterward followed civil engineering for a time; then studied law, attended one term at the Albany Law School, and was admitted to the Superior Court of his native State in 1860. He commenced the prac- tice of law in Fredonia, New York, in 1861, and in 1871 removed to San Leandro, California, where he remained, practicing law and editing the Alameda County Gazette, until May, 1873, when he went to Los Angeles, California, open- ing a law office and starting the first abstraet office ever opened in Los Angeles. The abstract branch of his business grew rapidly, and was carried on successively by Judson & Fleming, Judson & Gillette, Jndson, Gillette & Smith and Judson, Gillette & Gibson, and at present is known as the Abstract and Title Insurance Company, a corporation, the largest institu- tion of the kind in the State. Mr. Judson sold out his interest in the abstract firm in 1884, but remained as counsel for the firm until 1886, when he retired from his law practice and re- moved to Highland Ilome, in San Gorgonio Valley, on account of the failing health of one of his children. He has recently returned to Los Angeles. Mr. Judson has always been an Independent Republican in politics. He has not sought office, but reluctantly consented on two occasions to permit himself to be nominated, once for superior judge and ouce for city at- torney, but on both cccasions was defeated, with

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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