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 87

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 87

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months. At that time there was considerable excitement over the discovery of quartz mines in Contra Costa County, and the report of the richness of the Mt. Diablo mines induced him to go there, where he obtained his first mining experience. His elaims, as well as those of others, proved a failure, and Mr. Morgan turned his attention to various other pursuits for about a year and a half. While in Contra Costa County diphtheria was very prevalent, and he had the misfortune to lose his wife and two children, who were all carried away so near the same hour that all were buried in the same grave. At about the same time the much lamented Rev. Starr King, to whose memory a handsome mon- ument was erected last year by prominent Cali- fornians, died of the same disease. Not caring to remain on the scene of so much sorrow, Mr. Morgan went to San Francisco in the spring of 1865 and remained there for eight years, fol- lowing the business of life insurance. So suc- eessful was he in this business that in one year he secured $900,000 worth of insurance. The in- trieaeies of this calling so interested him that he became thoroughly wrapped up in it, and his earnestness and thorough familiarity with the problem of insurance bore him the most signal success. His reputation resulted in receiving the most flattering offers from first-class Eastern companies to take charge of their business on the coast. January 26, 1868, Mr. Morgan was again married, in Santa Bárbara, to Miss Alice Brown, of that place, who had been a former acquaintance at Oberlin. The result of this union has been three children, one sou and two daughters. It was on his wedding journey, in 1868, that he first visited Los Angeles. He became so favorably impressed with the place that he took up 320 acres of Government land, and after remaining one month went back to San Francisco. His land purchase at $1.25 per acre in 1868, the most of which he has disposed of, is to-day worth from $200 to $1,000 per acre. Even that price has been refused for some of it. Every winter thereafter for four years he visited Los Angeles in the interest of his

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business, and in August, 1872, he became deter- mined to reside permanently. Soon after arriv- ing he opened an office and engaged in the real- estate business and incidentally did a little insurance. His real-estate business, which he has followed ever since, became very extensive during the first twelve years of his residence. Almost one-half the sales transacted in the city passed through his hands. His business acumen and good judgment inspired everybody with confidence in his ability to buy or sell property to the best advantage, and his advice on such matters was eagerly sought for and acted upon. He was, it may be truthfully said, the first man in the city who bought large tracts of land and divided them into lots. Others followed the same plan, and from that time the boom in Southern California commenced. Mr. Morgan's time is now taken up in looking after his large personal interests. He has large interests in the Highland View tract; is a stockholder and president of the Highland Park Water Com- pany. He is a Republican in politics, but has never desired or sought any political office. Mr. Morgan, who is a member of the Methodist Church, is an earnest and consistent Christian, believing in doing all the good to humanity within his power for their spiritual and moral welfare; and all charitable affairs and any move- inent tending to advance the interests of the city receive generous support from him. He has a very interesting family to whom he is devoted, and his fireside presents a picture of rare hap- piness.

FUDGE II. W. MAGEE, President of the San Gabriel Valley Bank, Los Angeles, was born in Coles County, Illinois, October 9, 1847. Ilis parents, B. W. and Elvira (Trne) Magee, were natives of Kentucky. His mother died in 1874, and his father is living in Ne- braska. At the age of seventeen years the sub- jeet of this notice entered the office of the clerk of the court of Coles County, and after remain-

ing there three years was appointed clerk of the Court of Common Pleas. After serving his term, he entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and graduated in the Law Depart- ment in 1873. He practiced law in his native county for seven years, and in 1882 came to. Los Angeles, continuing in his chosen profes- sion. In 1885 he was nominated by acclama- tion for the Legislature, but withdrew on account of not being eligible for the office. He was elected president of the San Gabriel Valley Bank in 1887, and since then has held that posi- tion. He has one of the most attractive homes in Pasadena. In 1873 Judge Magee married Miss Ellen J. Barnes, of Indianapolis. They have three children: H. Grace, William H. and Panl.

ILLIAM MOSS was born in Arkansas in 1825, and is a son of Matthew and Mary (Caldwell) Moss, both of whom were natives of the Old Dominion. They were early settlers in Hempstead County, Arkansas, but subsequently moved to Texas, and in the Lone Star State he farmed until his death. The subject of this sketch came to California in 1849, worked in the mines for some time, later engaged in farming, and in 1859 returned to Texas, remaining there ten years. In 1860 Mr. Moss married Miss Henrietta Field, a native of Tennessee, born in 1836, and daughter of HIarrington and Lucy (Mitchell) Field, both of Virginia. Mr. Field was educated for a plıysi- cian, but chose farming for his occupation. IIe inoved with his family to Texas in 1851, where, after farmning successfully for eight years, he died. His aged companion is still living in Austin, Texas, in her eighty-third year. It may not be ont of place here to note that Mr. Field had one brother, Dr. Thurman Field, also a half-brother, Prof. J. A. McRoberts, for many years an honored and widely known public in- structor in several colleges in Tennessee. It is also proper to state that Mrs. Moss is a first

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cousin to General Thomas Green, well known in the history of our late war. Mr. and Mrs. Moss have reared a family of four children. The two oldest, Harry and Mollie, were born in Texas. The latter is now the wife of J. S. Moss, of El Paso. Matthew and Willie were born in California. In 1869 Mr. Moss, with his wife and two children, came to the Golden State, and for five years he was engaged in agri- cultural pursuits on a rented farm near where the town of Rivera is now located. In 1874 he purchased fifty-six acres where he now lives. On this farm he has erected a comfortable and commodions residence, which is surrounded by an orchard of oranges and lemons, bearing the choicest variety of fruit. He has also planted out forty acres of English walnuts, the cultiva- tion of which he has demonstrated to be an in- dustry which will yield handsome returns. Politically Mr. Moss affiliates with the Demo- cratic party, and is one of the strongest snp- porters of its principles. He is one of the self-made men, and a man liberal in his views, and ready to forward the interests of any enter- prise having for its object the public good. Mrs. Moss and her daughter are active mem- bers of the Baptist church.

LIJAH MOULTON was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1820. His father, Elijah Moul- ton, was a native of Massachusetts, and moved to Montreal at an early day. Mr. Moul- ton traces his ancestry back to the French. He was apprenticed to learn the cooper's trade of a Scotchman in Montreal, but on account of the old gentleman's ill treatment of him, he ran away when his time was half out, and went to West Troy, New York. From there he went to Cincinnati and spent one year. Then he went to Akron, Ohio, and followed his trade for some time, after which he went into Pennsyl- vania, and from there to Michigan, then to Ohio, and in 1843 he concluded he would like to see some of the rough side of life and its

hardships. Ile accordingly hired himself out to the Union Fur Company, and set out for the Rocky Mountains. They started from St. Lonis and went westward to the month of the Yellow- stone River, and there remained until the spring of 1844. At this time he asked and obtained leave to join Jim Bridger, in an expedition to California. They trapped in Montana and the Black Hills, then to Bridger's Fort, to Fort Laramie, to Fort Pier, Missouri, and back to Bridger. Then the company set out on a trapping expedition to Arizona in the fall of 1844. In the spring of 1845 they came to California, where our subject severed his con- nection with the company, and went to work for Don Louis Vignes, and continued with him till 1851, with the exception of two trips he inade to the mines. He then bought a piece of land located near Wolfskill's, and in 1855 took charge of William Wolfskill's property, and continned with him three years, when he bought 160 acres in what is now East Los Angeles. This was before there was any city here, and Mr. Moulton has been an eye witness of the wonderful growth of the City of the Angels. He was the first deputy sheriff of Los Angeles, under George Burrell. He was marshal of the city and a member of the city council in 1860 and 1861. Mr. Moulton served in the war with Frémont. and belonged to the Mexican veterans. He can relate some of the most in- teresting incidents of the war, and of the hard- ships they endured. For days at a time they were without food, and on one occasion he and another man used the stars and stripes as a seine to catch some fish to eat. Financially Mr. Moulton has been eminently successful. He was for some years in the dairy business. He has recently sold land and city property to the amount of nearly $100,000. He still owns several houses and lots in East Los Angeles, and also property in Santa Monica. He mar- ried a daughter of Mr. William Wolfskill, and by her had one child. Both mother and child died in 1861. He was again married, and has an interesting family. Their residence is on

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Lyle street in East Los Angeles. Mr. Moulton is a self-made man and highly respected by all who know him, and it is only justice to him, in writing the history of his county, to say that of the pioneers he is a true pioneer.

ICHARD T. MILLER was born is Cas- well County, North Carolina, in 1841, but was reared from early childhood in Vir- ginia. His father was Rev. John A. Miller, an itinerant preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, a native of Virginia, and of English origin. He married Jane B. Williams, of North Carolina, by whom he had a family of seven children. He died in Prince Edward County, Virginia, in 1849, well known and much be- loved by a very large circle of friends. His wife died in Virginia in 1888. Our subject was the third child and was quite young when his father died. His opportunities for an educa- tion were very limited. He was a soldier in the Confederate army, a member of the " Dan- ville Blues," Eighteenth Virginia Regiment, and was one of the first who went to Richmond. Ile was in the battles of Cloyd's Farm, Cold Harbor and around Petersburg. Was taken sick prior to the battle of Bull Run with typhoid fever, and sent to hospital, and was afterward discharged for disability. Having regained his health, he enlisted in the Ring- gold Battery, Thirteenth Virginia Battalion Artillery, and was appointed Commissary-Ser- geant, and held that position until March, 1865, when he was appointed Quartermaster-Sergeant; was captured on the 2d day of April, 1865, when General Grant broke the lines at Peters- burg, and was carried a prisoner to Point Look- out. IIe was released on the 15th day of June, 1865. He was married in 1869, to Ella R. Flippen, of Danville, Virginia, and they have an interesting family of nine children, whose names are as follows: Emery L., Janie E., Arthur, Edwin B., Minnie V., Edna T., Gracie, Grover Cleveland and Belle. When he first

started in life Mr. Miller learned the drug busi- ness, and after coming to California he clerked for three years in a store in Fresno County, and subsequently went to farming there and lost very heavily. Not discouraged, however, he came to Los Angeles, with nothing but two horses and a wagon, and his family. He bought thirty acres near Compton, which he soon sold. Then he rented for several years, till he pur- chased the twenty-acre ranch where he now re- sides.

ILLIAM C. MARTIN was born in what is now Red River County, Texas, Jan- uary 29, 1824. His father, Gabriel N. Martin, was a native of North Carolina, who went to Texas in 1812. His mother was for- merly Henrietta Wright. She was born in Ala- bama. Mr. Martin's father was a wealthy farmer and a prominent man in his section. He was for some years a judge and a leader in political circles. He also engaged largely as a contractor, furnishing supplies for the Indian agencies of the United States Government. He was killed by the Indians in 1834. The subject of this sketch was reared as a farmer, receiving limited educational advantages until the age of eighteen years, when he educated himself. December 31, 1843, he married Miss Rebecca C. Miller. She was the daughter of Richard G. and Re- becca (Bayless) Miller, who resided in Lamar County, Texas. Mr. Martin was engaged in farming and cotton-planting in the county of his birth until 1853. In April of that year he started overland for California, making the jour- ney by ox teams. After a short stay at War- ner's ranch, in San Diego County, he came to Los Angeles County, and located near El Monte, taking up what he supposed to be Government land, about a mile southwest of what is now Savannah. There he engaged in general farm- ing and stock-raising until 1865. In that year he abandoned his farm (the land having been decided as grant land) and located in El Monte,

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where he opened a hotel which he conducted until 1872. He then purchased a squatter's right to 160 acres of land located just north of the San Dimas Canon. There he took up his residence and engaged in general farming and the bee business, until 1887, when he sold out and moved to Pomona, and took up his resi- dence on the corner of Seventh street and Town avenue. Mr. Martin also owns other property in Pomona, among which is a ten-acre tract in block 197, twenty acres in block 212, and two houses and lots on Third street in block 52. He has been a resident of Los Angeles County for more than thirty-five years, and is well known throughout the San Gabriel and San José vallies. Politically he is a Democrat. In 1854 he was elected justice of the peace, serv- ing as such for several years; and for more than twenty years he has served as a school trustee. He is a consistent member and a steward of the Methodist Church, South; is a charter member of Pomona Lodge, No. 246, F. & A. M. Two chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Martin: William T. (a sketch of whom is given in this volume), and Henrietta Jane, who died in 1853, aged seven years.

LARENCE S. MARTIN, of Pasadena, was born in Brooklyn, New York, February 12, 1852. After a three years' course at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, he graduated there, and then went to Boston, where he learned the printer's trade. For a time he was employed on the Boston Herald, and for another period he was engaged on the Congre- gationalist. After a six years' residence in Bos- ton he was absent a year and a half in South America, during which time he visited Peru, Chili and other places of note. He returned to Boston, and in 1876 came to California and set- tled in Pasadena. He built the first house east of Fair Oaks avenue, the present site of E. C. Webster's residence. Purchasing twenty acres of land, he stocked it with fruit trees, and since

then he has operated considerably in real estate. To-day he is in possession of a large fortune. He built an elegant residence on Orange Grove avenne, costing over $10,000, which. he now occupies. He has been a director in the San Gabriel Valley Bank ever since its organization ; is also a part owner of 160 acres on Wilson's Peak, the site for the new observatory. He is not at present engaged in active business-only attending to his investments. Mr. Martin mar- ried a daughter of Lucy Gilmore; she died in 1888, and he now lives with his mother. Mr. Martin is a genial gentleman, who will always have many friends.

AMES W. McGAUGH was born in Da- vidson County, Tennessee, in 1813. His father, Robert McGaugh, was a native of Virginia. His mother, Elizabeth (Miller) Mc- Gaugh, was born in Georgia. In 1819 his par- ents emigrated to Missouri, first settling in St. Louis and afterward in St. Charles, Rice and Daviess counties, where his father was engaged in farming and stock-growing. Reared upon frontier farms of that State, he received such a limited education as the pioneer schools afforded. On arriving at his majority he entered into farming upon his own account, in Daviess County. In 1836 he married Miss Sarah J. Edwards. She was born in Kentucky, of which State her father also was a native. Mr. Mc- Gaugh continued his residence in Missouri until 1850, when he decided to seek his fortune in the new El Dorado of the West. In the spring of that year, accompanied by his family, he started across the plains for California. His journey was made by the typical ox team of that period, and the "prairie schooner of the plains." Arriving in due season in the Golden State, he located in the mining districts of Placer County and. engaged in mining enterprises. Here he had the misfortune to lose the faithful wife who had so cheerfully followed his fortunes and shared in his labors and hardships. She died

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in 1850. Mr. McGaugh labored in the mines until 1853, and then with his children returned to his old home in Daviess County, and resumed his agricultural pursuits. In the same year he married Miss Emma Ann Scott, who was born in Lexington, Missouri, a daughter of John and Charlotte (Meek) Scott, natives of Virginia. In 1857 Mr. McGaugh made his second over- land trip to California and located in Yolo County, and for the next three years engaged in grain raising. He then moved to Lake County, and entered into general farming and stock-raising, which he continued until 1870. In that year he visited Southern California, and, selecting Los Angeles County for his home, he purchased fifty acres of land, a portion of the Pico Ranch, in the Ranchito school district, about two and one-half miles from Rivera. The land was then in a wild and uncultivated state, but with his characteristic energy he set to work cultivating the soil and building him- self a home. In this he has been successful, and now has a fine farm under a high state of cultivation, yielding abundantly the various pro- ductions to which he is devoting his acres. A plentiful supply of water is available from the San Gabriel River. His fine orchards show care and attention, and are producing both citrus and decidnous fruits, such as oranges, lemons, ap- ples, pears, peaclies, apricots, quinces, prunes and pomegranates. Alfalfa gives large yields; also hay, grain and corn. He takes a well-mer- ited pride in his live-stock, having some fine Jersey, Holstein and Durham cattle, and re- inarkably fine specimens of horses from the famous "Echo" stock. Mr. McGangh's con- sistent manner of life and straightforward dealings have gained him the respect and es- teem of his neighbors and a large circle of friends. He is a consistent member of the Methodist Church, South, and an honest sup- porter of churches and schools. He has for many years been a school trustee in his district. In politics he is a Democrat, but is liberal and conservative in his views .. By his first marriage there are three children living: Matthew J.,

who married Miss Harriet Goodwin; Phillip G., who married Miss Martha Speigle; and Mary J., the wife of Judge J. B. Hollaway. All of the above are residents of Los Angeles County. Five children have been born by the second marriage, three of whom are now living, namely: Sarah Belle, now Mrs. J. F. Goodwin, of Santa Barbara County; Sue L .; and William G., who married Miss Lydia Pierce and resides in Los Angeles. His son, Wesley Preston, died in 1879, aged twenty-two years, and one danglı- ter, Nancy Ellen, died in 1880, at the age of twenty years.

OSEPH MULLEN, of the firm of Newman & Mullen, retail grocers, whose store is located on the south side of Second street, west of Gordon street, was born in Grant County, Wisconsin, in 1845. His father, John Mullen, a native of Ireland, settled in Grant County in 1834. Ilis mother was also a native of Ireland. Her name before marriage was Margaret O'Con- nell. She was a niece of the great Irish patriot, Daniel O'Connell. In 1852 Mr. Mullen's father, with the family, crossed the plains to California and located where Redding now stands, in Shasta County, and engaged in farming and stock-grow- ing. There the subject of this sketch received his education, and became schooled in the prac- tical knowledge of agricultural pursuits. When eighteen years of age the death of his father oc- curred, and he then took the care and control of the farm, and conducted the same until 1875. Ile then engaged in the livery-stable business in Redding until 1882, when he came to Los Angeles County, and located near Los Angeles and engaged in farming and fruit-growing. In October, 1883, he moved to Pomona and estab- lished a livery and sale stable on Second street, just east of Thomas street. After conducting that enterprise for some months, he sold out and devoted his attention to real estate and building operations, in which he was largely engaged for several years, purchasing lots and erecting both

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business and residence houses for rent in the rapidly growing city. In 1888 Mr. Mullen entered into partnership with Mr. O. G. New- man and established his present business. He is the owner of the brick building in which his business is established, and also of his pleasant residence on the corner of Fourth and Main streets; and of other improved residence prop- erty, which he rents. He is one of the pro- gressive and energetic men to whose efforts and enterprise is due the rapid growth and building up of the city of Pomona during the four years preceding 1889. In political matters Mr. Mullen is a Republican. He is city assessor of Pomona, and also deputy assessor of the county. He is a member of Pomona Lodge, No. 225, A. O. U. W., and of Redding Lodge, F. & A. M. He was a charter member of the Redding lodges of I. O. O. F. and A. O. U. W. He is a supporter of the Episcopal Church, of which his family are members. In 1878 Mr. Mullen married Miss Lillian G., the daughter of Henry and Mary E. (Davis) Garuham. Her father was a native of Scotland, and her mother of New York. The children from this marriage are Frank B. and William, both members of their father's household.

D UNCAN McGREGOR .- Among the men who have sought the genial climate of the foot-hills in the Sierra Madre Colony, as a desirable place of residence, is the above-named gentleman. Mr. McGregor is a native of Scot- land, dating his birth March 4, 1821. His parents were Peter and Clementina (Sems) McGregor, both natives of that country. In 1822 his parents emigrated to Canada East and located at Cornwall, where his father engaged in farming and lime-burning. Mr. McGregor was reared as a farmer until eighteen years of age. He then learned the trade of a bricklayer and mason. In 1837 and 1838, when the Pa- triot Rebellion broke out in Canada, Mr. Mc. Gregor, despite his youth, enlisted in the British 36

army, or the Canada Loyalists, and served nntil the Rebellion was ended. In 1843 or 1844 he came to the United States and worked at his trade in New Orleans, and also worked in Pitts- burg soon after the great fire of 1845. In the fall of the latter year he returned to his home. In 1848 he married Miss Jane Moss, a native of Canada, and the daughter of Thomas and IFannah (Hill) Moss. Her father was a native of Canada, and her mother of Scotland. Mr. McGregor remained in Canada until 1849 and then decided to try his fortunes in the United States. In that year he located in St. Croix County, Wisconsin, which at that time was an unbroken wilderness; and he was the second set- tler who located in the county. He took up his residence near what is now the thriving town of River Falls, on the Kinnickinnick River. There he took up prairie land and commenced the life of a farmer. As the settlement of the great Northwest increased he engaged in work at his trade in St. Paul, and other points. He saw cities spring up as if by magic, where he had first found nothing but small trading posts, and thriving and populons towns take the place of the wilderness. Mr. McGregor prospered in worldly goods, and took a leading and prominent part in developing the resources of his section. He was called upon to fill many positions of trust and responsibility in the community in which he resided. In 1851 he was the first as- sessor ever elected in his district. In 1853 he was elected the chairman of the town board of councilinen, of Hudson, and was also chairman of the county hoard of supervisors. In 1855 he was the chairman of the Kinnickinnick board of councilmen, and a member of the county board of supervisors, and in 1857 was the first chairman of Troy board of councilmen, and a member of the county board. He was univer - sally respected and esteemed for his manly qual- ities and straightforward, honest dealings. In 1876 Mr. McGregor entered into mercantile pursuits and established a hardware store in River Falls. This enterprise he conducted un- til 1883, when his failing health admonished

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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