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 98

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 98

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is now the senior proprietor, has carried on the business since 1868, and is the pioneer soda manufacturer in the city. He began on a small seale and increased the capacity of his business from time to time to meet the demands of their trade. Their immense establishment contains the latest and most complete and expensive ap- paratus on the Pacific Coast. Besides genera- tors, bottling machines, reservoirs, syrup tanks, flavoring extraet distillery, a large force of men are constantly employed, with a capacity of turn- ing off 3,000 to 5,000 dozen per day of sarsa- parilla, soda mineral water, syrups, cordials and other temperance beverages. Mr. Stoll is a prominent member of the Board of Trade and enjoys an enviable reputation. In 1873 Mr. Stoll married Miss Louisa Behn, a native of Los An- geles. Iler father, John J. Belin, was one of the carliest pioncers, coming here in the '40s. Ilis wife was a danghter of General Castello, of Ensinado, Lower California. Mr. and Mrs. Stoll have seven children, four daughters and three sons.

P. SWITZER is a native of Hardy County, Virginia, where he was born September 5, 1826. His paternal ancestors were German, and his ancestors on the maternal side were English. On reaching his majority in 1847, the subject of this sketch moved to Lick- ing County, Ohio. In 1853 he set ont for Cali- fornia, overland. with Colonel W. W. Hollister, who started with a large flock of sheep of about 7,000 head, and arrived one year later in Los Angeles with 3,000 head. A sister of Colonel Ilollister, Mrs. Brown, now a resident of Santa Bárbara, was a member of the party, as was W. II. Perry, of this city. Colonel Hollister settled in Santa Barbara County, where he engaged for many years in the sheep business, improving his breeds and making n fortune thereby. Mr. Switzer has made Los Angeles County his home ever since his arrival. ITis business has been mainly that of contractor and builder. In 1884

he moved to his mountain resort, thirteen miles north of the town of Pasadena, known as "Switzer's Camp." This romantic spot is about 3,300 feet above the sea-level, and is compara- tively easy of access by the "Solidad Grade," mnade many years ago. The top of the nearest mountain, which is accessible by trail from Switzer's, is abont 6,800 feet above the sea Switzer's Camp is much resorted to by persons who need a rare and dry atmosphere and pure mountain water. The view from there of the immense Los Angeles Valley, which spreads out like a great panorama below, is most charming. Mr. Switzer is held in the highest esteem by all who know him, for his genial sterling qualities.

M ARK SIBLEY SEVERANCE, Los An- geles, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, October 28, 1846. Ilis father, T. C. Severance, is a native of Shelburne Falls, Massa- chusetts, and his mother, Caroline (Seymour) Severance, a native of Canandaigua, New York, is well known in literary circles throughout the country. He pursued his college-preparatory studies at the Roxbury Latin School in Boston; after leaving this school one of his tutors was Wendell Phillips Garrison, a son of the cele- brated leader of the Abolitionists, William Lloyd Garrison. In 1869 he graduated at Harvard College. After spending a year in the South, he was appointed assistant librarian of Congress, under A. R. Spofford, the present librarian, and held that position three years. In 1872 he went on an exploring expedition cor.dueted by George M. Wheeler, in Utah and Nevada; was a mem- ber of the engineer corps. In 1874 he came to Santa Bárbara, where he acted as president of the Santa Bárbara College for one year. Then he came to Los Angeles and invested in land in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. In 1878 he went to San Francisco and entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Com- pany, in which position he remained nine years. In 1883 he was appointed general agent for the

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company at Salt Lake City, and held that posi- tion four years, then resigning to give his at- tention to his vast interests in this part of California: Mr. Severance, being a literary man, has contributed articles to various magazines‘ and is the author of " Hammersmith," a book on college life. He has one of the most elegant homes in Los Angeles, on Adams street, sur- rounded and characterized by every pleasant feature that culture and taste can suggest. IIe was married November 1, 1879, to Miss Annie, daughter of Hiram Crittenden, of St. Louis, and niece of Mrs. Mark Hopkins. Their two chil- dren are: Hattie, four and a half years old, and Marjorie, one and a half years of age, at this writing (March, 1889).

B ASCOM ASBURY STEPHENS was born in the town of Lockington, Shelby County, Ohio, on March 5, 1855. His father was William Humphreys Stephens, and his mother was Eleanor, daughter of Judge William Wirt Cecil, a lineal descendant of Sir William Cecil, the premier of Queen Elizabeth. Ilis paternal grandfather, E. David Stephens, was a soldier in the war of 1812, serving in an Ohio regiment, and was a pioneer of Western Ohio. His great- grandfather was Joshua Stephens, who was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1733, of Welsh parents; was a soldier in the Revolution- ary war, after which he followed his kinsman, Daniel Boone, to Kentucky. In August, 1855, W. H. Stephens and family moved to Grundy County, Missouri, where they lived on a farm near the town of Trenton. In April, 1857, they started for California overland, making the trip in six months in ox teams, and while on the way suffered loss of considerable property from Indians and Mormons. Arriving in California in October, 1857, they lived a while in Amador and Solano counties, but finally settled in the town of Santa Clara, in order to give their chil- dren the advantages of the good schools at that place. His mother died in Portland, Oregon,

June 12, 1866, while on a visit to that city, and his father died in Santa Clara, December 9, 1879, at an advanced age, and possessed of a good estate. Ilis father was married three times. By his first wife, nee Julia C. Lenox, he had two children, who still live. They are: Mrs. S. E. Frambes, of Alila, Tnlare County, who, with her husband, Rev. O. S. Frambes, founded the Los Angeles Academy in 1876, that afterward became the University of South- ern California; II. W. Stephens, of San José, ex-county recorder of Santa Clara County. By his second wife, nee Eleanor Cecil, his surviving children are: C. C. Stephens, Esq., an attorney of Los Angeles; Mrs. V. P. S. Zumwalt, a school teacher, residing in Los Angeles; B. A. Stephens, of the same place. The last named graduated from the Santa Clara public schools in 1870; attended college a short time; served nearly three years as assistant postmaster of Santa Clara, and then entered journalism in 1873, to which profession he has ever since been attached. Of late he has been devoted to his- torical work. September 8, 1878, he married Minerva M. Overshiner, by whom he has three children: Bascom Albert, born October 11, 1879; Minerva Eleanor, born January 3, 1882; William Asbury Gideon, born September 6, 1886.

R. JOSEPH SHAW was born in Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating froui Yale College he came to California, in 1849, via the Isthmus. He was engaged in orange culture in Los Angeles for many years, having been a pioneer in that profitable and fascinating industry. Hle early went to Central America (Nicaragua) and brought orange seeds to Los Angeles to plant a nursery. From this nursery he planted and brought to bearing a large orchard, which for many years was very profit- able; besides selling to other orchardists a great unmber of young orange trees. He also was a successful grower of other fruits. February 1,

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1860, he married, in Philadelphia, Miss Harriet Fitzsimmons, daughter of John Fitzsimmons, long a resident of that city. Dr. and Mrs. Shaw had only one child, Augusta, now the wife of John Weber, who, with their two children, live near their mother. The Doctor died about 1880. June 8, 1887, Mrs. Shaw was married to Mr. G. P. Cuddeback, of Orange.

ILLIAM W. SEAMAN was born in the village of Castile, in Western New York, in July, 1855. His father, Ezekiel Sea- man, was a physician, and a native of New York City; his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Akin, was a native of Delaware County, New York. When tlie subject of this sketch was in his sixth year, his parents removed to Scio, Allegany County, New York, and there, five years later, the father died. A year afterward the mother returned with her children to Cas- tile, and there William resided, attending the village school until he reached the age of six- teen. Then, anxious to seek his fortune in the West, he spent some time in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. After an absence of over a year, he returned to the East, and in 1875 he entered the New York State Normal School at Albany, from which he was graduated with honor in 1877. After two years, spent chiefly in teaching, he went to Colorado in search of a climate better suited to his health; and he was then for some time engaged in business, first at Fort Collins, Colorado, and afterward with his brother at Belvidere, Illinois. In the summer of 1881 Mr. Seaman came to California, and in January, 1882, he was appointed principal of the public school at Santa Monica. This posi- tion he retained until his eleetion as county superintendent of schools, in the autumn of 1886. In the summer of 1884 he visited his native State, and on his return he brought a bride to his California home. IFe has one ehild, a daughter two years old. Mr. Seaman has been a very successful teacher, and an efficient

superintendent, and all measures adapted to raise the standard and increase the efficiency of our public schools find in him a hearty supporter.

ON. E. F. SPENCE, one of the leading bankers and business men of Los Angeles County, was born at Enniskillen, Ireland, December 22, 1832. His father, Gabriel Spence, was an owner of large tracts of farming lands and herds of cattle in the north of Ireland, and a man of influence and held various local posi- tions of trust and honor. Edward F. Spence re- ceived his early schooling from a private tutor, and when a youth acquired a practical know]- edge of business affairs by assisting his father in the management of his extensive business. He emigrated to America in 1852, landing at New York. He soon went to Philadelphia, and near that city found employment on a farm at $10 a month. He soon renewed his journey westward and shipped for California via Nicara- gua, arriving in San Francisco in December, 1852. He later visited Sacramento, Marysville and Nevada City, at which latter place he spent seventeen years, where he for a time engaged in mining. He became physically impaired, how- ever, abandoned mining, studied pharmaey, entered the drug business and controlled an ex- tensive trade throughout that region of country for thirteen years, and took an active part in the local publie affairs. In 1860 he represented his district in the California Legislature, and he also held the office of treasurer of Nevada County. After an extended trip to Europe he located at San José in 1869 and re-engaged in the drug trade. IIe became largely interested in the San José Savings Bank as a stoekholder and took an active part in its management. In 1872 he be- came one of the organizers of the Commercial Bank of San Diego and its cashier, which under his management it is needless to say was soon made a success. This institution was afterward merged into the present Consolidated National Bank of San Diego. In 1875 Mr. Spence with

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

others established the Commercial Bank of Los Angeles and he became its cashier. The First National Bank of Los Angeles was organized in 1880, which enterprise absorbed the Commer- cial Bank of Los Angeles. Mr. Spence in 1881 resigned his position of cashier to succeed Mr. J. E. Hollenbeck who, owing to failing health, resigned the presidency, and since that time Mr. Spence has been at the head of its affairs. Mr. Spence is also president of the Savings Bank of Southern California, president of the Southern California Insurance Company, vice-president of the Pasadena Na- tional Bank, vice-president of the State Loan and Trust Company of Los Angeles, and stockholder and director in several other banks of Southern California. In politics Mr. Spence is a Republican; has represented the third ward of Los Angeles in the city council, and served as chairman of the finance committee during his first term, and was president of the council the second year. In the fall of 1884 he was elected mayor of the city by a handsome majority, and made a most efficient and popular executive. Mr. Spence is largely interested in Los Angeles County real estate ontside of the city, and now resides at Whittier, where he is a heavy property holder, and has a beautiful home. He is a lib- eral and public-spirited man. Among his acts of public beneficence is the contribution of $50,000 for the mounting of the greatest teles- cope in the world on the summit of Wilson's Peak, over 6,000 feet above-sea level, and the nearest peak to Los Angeles.

DULJEE SORABJEE, the Parsee, is a native of Bombay, East India, where he was born March 16, 1852. His ancestors were driven out of Persia by the Saracens over 1,250 years ago; and a few hundred people of the Parsee faith fled to India, where they were permitted to settle by the Hindoo king, only on condition that they would change their language and dress and adopt the customs of the Hindoos

in regard to the marriage ceremony, and prom- ise not to kill the cow, and promise also to fight the Mahomedans whenever they invaded the country. These promises, made by their fore- fathers so many hundred years ago, the modern Parsees of India claim their race have ever kept in good faith. Mr. Sorabjee, the subject of this sketch, who has become a permanent settler of Los Angeles, and who is besides a naturalized citizen of the United States, and, as lie believes, the only person of the Parsee faith and Per- sian origin, was educated in Bombay, where there are schools in which the Oriental lan- guages are taught. He speaks five languages, viz .: Goozrati, Deccan (Mnrathi), Hindoostani, Persian and English. When still a young man he was sent to Manchester, England, where he lived nine years, to learn mechanical engineer- ing and cotton-spinning, by his god-father, Sir Dinshaw Manockjee, Petit, C. S. I., who is one of the chief manufacturers of Bombay, and a man of great wealth and intelligence, and of high social standing. The latter owns several large cotton mills, one of which contains 100,000 spindles and 3,000 looms, and employs over 2,000 operatives. This enlightened Parsee is renowned in India for his princely charities, which he dispenses to the needy withont regard to their race, caste or creed, and for which Queen Victoria created him a baronet. Mr. Sorabjee, after finishing his education in England, went back to India three times to superintend the shipment of machinery that he had been an- thorized to purchase in England for his god- father's mills. His shipments included mam- moth Inglis & Spencer's Corless Engines, one of which was of 4,000 horse-power. Mr. Sorabjee's health giving way in the damp climate of Lan- cashire, his doctor ordered him to quit England and return to Bombay, which Mr. S. says is healthy, but not at all equal to the all-the-year- ronnd healthful and agreeable climate of Los Angeles, which he thinks is the most perfect in the world. Since he came here he has en- tirely recovered his health without the use of medicine. Having heard of Los Angeles in

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England, and having a liking for liberty and equality and a republican form of government, he came to Los Angeles instead of going back to live in India. He came in 1885, and expeets to make Los Angeles his future home. Mr. Sorabjee has been twice married, both times to Christian women, although he himself remains true (in essentials) to his hereditary faith. After the death of his first wife (who was an English woman) and their child, both on account of the climate of England, he married in Manchester, in 1883, Miss Mary Norris, his present wife, by whom he has two children, one born in Eng- land and one born here in East Los Angeles, where he has a beautiful home, surrounded by flowers and shrubbery. Over the entrance to his grounds is inseribed, " Bombay IIonse." Mr. Sorabjee is a thorough man of the world, and there is little in his manner or speech to distin- guish him from a cultured Englishman or Amer- ican. In regard to the religions creed of the Parsees, Mr. Sorabjee says they believe in one, and one only, Supreme Being. They have been called the Unitarians of India. "Think well, speak well, do well," are the fundamental max- ims of Zoroasterism, for they are followers of Zoroaster's teachings, who flourished 2,000 years before the Christian era. Prof. Max Müller, the oriental seholar, calls Zoroaster " the great health officer," because his teachings seem to have had special reference to the good health of the people. According to the creed of the Parsees, the four elements, fire, air, earth and water, are sacred. F'ire, or the sun, which in prayer they face, are kept saered by them, as symbols only of God; they are not fire-worshipers any more than Christians are worshipers of their sacred symbols; in each ease the worshiper looks beyond the symbol, to the great Intelligence thereby faintly typified: The Parsees believe that the four elements should not be contaminated, there- fore they do not dispose of the bodies of their dead by eremation, aquation or inhumation, but place them in "Towers of Silence," to perish by desiceation, as being the most innocuous mode of resolving them into their original elements.

Parsees in India are not eaters of the fleslı of the cow only in deferenee to the promise made by their ancestors to the Hindoos, who hold that animal as sacred, which they are forbidden to kill. But the Parsees, even in India, do eat the flesh of other animals, the same as the Hebrews. If Mr. Sorabjee were to return to Bombay he eould enter the service of his god-father at a very high salary, but he likes America too well; he prefers liberty to easte, and the climate of Los Angeles to that of any other part of the world.

ILLIAM A. SPALDING was born in Ann Arbor, the university town of Michigan, October 3, 1852. His early years were passed in that place, and, at the age of thirteen, he removed, with his parents, to Kansas City, Missouri. He became a pupil in Spalding's Commercial College, an institution founded by his father and elder brother, and, after graduating, with the degree of R. M., as- sumed the position of tutor in the college. His first essay in the field of newspaperdom was in connection with the Kansas City Journal of Commerce, taking the position of mailing elerk while he was still a mere lad. By steady appli- eation to business for several years he worked his way to the position of book-keeper and cashier. This was finally given up to enable him to resume study, and in the fall of 1871 he matriculated in the University of Michigan for the Latin-scientifie course. IIis University studies were interrupted, however, before grad- uation, by siekness and financial reverses, and, returning to Kansas City, he applied himself for some years to book-keeping for a manufaet- uring establishment. In February, 1874, follow- ing the great financial erash throughout the East, he migrated to California, figuratively hang- ing tow on the bushes and seeking his fortune on the Pacific Coast. Directly upon his arrival in Los Angeles, in March, 1874, he found em- ployment on the Herald in the capacity of re-

A LOS ANGELES COUNTRY HOME. THE PROPERTY OF A. J. SPENCER, ESQ., NEAR LONG BEACH.

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porter. He remained with that paper several years, becoming successively city editor, book- keeper and business manager. Subsequently he did service on the Evening Express as city ed- itor and pro tempore editor and manager. His health breaking down under the strain of ex- cessive and nnremitting work, he resigned his position on the Express in 1880 and devoted himself to improving a fruit farm on the Sierra Madre foot-hills. Here he accomplished the double purpose of making a beautiful country home and regaining his health. Some of his experiences are embodied in a treatise entitled, "The Orange; its Culture in California." This was published serially and in book forın; has been extensively circulated and is still regarded as a standard work on orange culture. In 1884 Mr. Spalding resnmed his connection with the daily press, becoming a member of the staff of the Los Angeles Times. His fortunes are still allied with that paper, toward the building up of which he has lent his best energies. He is a stockholder, director and secretary of the com- pany and fills the position of city editor. Dur- ing the sunshine of the great boom Mr. Spald- ing made a fair crop of hay, and he is therefore in very comfortable circumstances. He has a pleasant home on Temple street, graced and made happy by a wife and five children. Mr. Spalding is scholarly, very industrious, and has done good and exceedingly valuable editorial and literary work during his residence in Los Angeles.

H. SCHENCK, corner of Euclid avenne and Willie street, Los Angeles, was born in the city of Brooklyn, New York, son of Peter and Jane (Meserole) Schenck. His an- cestors were of the old Knickerbocker family, and for six generations have lived on Long Island. The subject of this sketch received his education in his native State, came to Califor- nia in 1874 and engaged in business here, re- maining five years; then he went to San Diego

and remained one year, and finally came to Los Angeles. He returned to New York and for several years was engaged in business there and next went to Colorado, where he was superin- tendent of mines for three years. In 1884 he came to Los Angeles, where he has carried on mercantile business until the present year. IIe purchased a tract of land at Boyle IIeights, one of the most eligible locations in Los Angeles, and erected a large, commodious and attractive house. Mr. Schenck's first wife was Miss Susan Hall, a native of London, England, but reared from infancy in Boston. She died, leaving one daughter, Ada. His present wife was Miss Celia Magnus, a native of London, England.

J. SPENCER, a farmer near Long Beach, has been closely identified with the best interests of Los Angeles County since 1876. He is a native of the " Keystone State" and was born in Warren County, September 3, 1824. Mr. Spencer traces his origin back to the English, and is the youngest and only living child in a family of thirteen children, the son of Abner and Betsey (Lawrence) Spencer, na- tives of New York State. His father was a worthy citizen and tiller of the soil. He died in Oil City, Pennsylvania, aged eighty-six years, having been born February 7, 1777. The sub- ject of this sketch had the advantages of the common schools of his native State. He is one of the few natural-born musicians, and has taught vocal music. On the 13th day of March, 1845, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah B. Olliver, a native of England, born March 24, 1826, and the daughter of John and Mary (Chapman) Olliver. They came to America when Sarah was but a child, and located in Syra- cuse, New York, where Mr. Olliver farmed and gardened for a number of years, when he moved from Syracuse, New York, and subsequently to Warren County, Pennsylvania. He died in Ce- dar County, Iowa, at the residence of his son, George C. Olliver. Mr. and Mrs Spencer have

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had an interesting family of nine children, all liv- ing but the oldest. They are: Delwin W. who died in the hospital at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, having enlisted in Company D, One Il undred and Eleventh Pennsylvania Infantry; Ellen A., now the wife of H. W. Timmons; Jane H., wife of John T. Narramore; Clara S., wife of Richard King; Flora B., wife of C. K. Matteson; Sum- ner L., who married Neoska M. Garrison; El- mer E., Willoughby D. and Myrtle A. Both Mr. Spencer and his wife are highly esteemed members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is one of the true benefactors of the race, kind to the suffering, and helpful to those in need. The hospitality of his home has been shared by many, and he has a welcome for all. Mr. Spencer has recently ereeted a very neat and commodions residence on his land near Long Beach. The location is one of the most beautiful on the coast, overlooking, as it does, the town and the ocean with its shipping be- yond. The writer's attention was called to quite an interesting faet in connection with the nurs- ery business as condneted by Mr. Spencer in San Bernardino County. He relates that he grew 8,000 peach trees from the seed, thirteen feet high in six months. This fact was attested to by hundreds who came to see it. Many lead- ing journals in this country and in England published accounts of this. The London Times and News had thousands of letters seeking in- formation of this wonderful country, all express- ing astonishment that such a thing was possible.

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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