Historical and biographical record of Los Angeles and vicinity : containing a history of the city from its earliest settlement as a Spanish pueblo to the closing year of the nineteenth century ; also containing biographies of well known citizens of the past and present, Part 100

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 996

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cember, 1872, he was elected, by more than five times the votes of his opponent, city attorney of Los Angeles. In December, 1874, he was re- elected, being the first person chosen twice in succession. At this election he was the only candidate voted for on the general city ticket who was elected, and yet he had more votes than his two opponents combined. There were no political city conventions or tickets in those days. As city attorney he drafted the first special charter, (that of 1874) for Los Angeles. The city had been incorporated under a general law, and vari- ous special acts had been passed by the legislature down to that period. In 1876 the charter was revised by him and the city council. There have . been two other city charters since then, but in both may be found many of the wise provisions laid down in that of 1874. He has recently been elected by the people one of a board of fifteen freeholders to prepare and submit to the electors of the city a new city charter under the pro- visions of the constitution of the state. At this writing the work is yet to be completed. As city attorney he assisted in drafting the ordin- ance granting the first franchise for a street rail- way, and conducted the legal proceedings for the condemnation of lands donated by the city to the Southern Pacific Railway Company, in pursuance of the vote of the people for rights of way into the city. Prior to his incumbency, so far as can be learned, there had never been used in the mayor's or municipal court any complaints, war- rants or commitments. After some efforts he suc- ceeded in convincing the proper officials that the law required such formalities.

In February, 1887, the number of superior judges of the county was increased from two to four, and a full meeting of the bar was held to select two attorneys for recommendation to the governor. There were six applicants. On the first ballot, two being voted for at once, Mr. Hutton received a four-fifths vote. Governor Bartlett appointed him to one of the positions. On the distribution of the business of the courts, recommended by a committee of prominent at- torneys, assisted by the late Judge Brunson, who had resigned as superior judge, there were as- signed to Judge Hutton's department, three- fourths of all the common law and equity cases tried without juries, and nearly all the law and

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motion calendar. He presided for some of the other judges and tried a few cases with juries, but never in his own department did he have a jury. He gave general satisfaction, as was evidenced by the support given him in the elec- tion of 1888. In the celebrated issue between the Southern Pacific Railway Company and one Coble, with reference to the overlapping land grants, Judge Hutton, in a case involving one hundred and sixty acres found for the defendant, thus declaring the land grants forfeited, and opening them to settlement. This was the first decision by any court of this important question. Subsequent cases involving the same question were instituted in the United States circuit court, and Judges Ross and Sawyer decided them in favor of the railroad company and against the government and the settlers. An appeal to the United States supreme court was next had, and this court reversed the rulings of Judges Ross and Sawyer (See 146, U. S. R. p. 570-615) and laid down the law as Judge Hutton had done in the Coble case.

In 1888 he was one of the nominees of the Democratic party for superior judge, and because of his strict rulings affecting the admission of foreigners to citizenship he was endorsed by the American party. At the election in November, the election being a presidential one, the county was carried by the Republicans, Harrison beat- ing Cleveland by nearly four thousand votes. Not a single Democrat voted for throughout the county was chosen. In August, 1889, there being a temporary vacancy in the office of United States district attorney for the southern district of California, Judge Hutton, without his solicita- tion, was appointed to fill the vacancy by Justice Field. He continued in the office six months of President Harrison's term.

In January, 1891, the revolution of Chili broke out, and one Trumbull came to the United States and purchased a cargo of ammunition and arms for the insurgents. These were put ou board a vessel in San Francisco and carried to a point near the Island of San Clemente, and placed on board the Itata, a vessel of the insurgents, which immediately proceeded to Chili. The United States cruiser Charleston was sent after her, and brought her back with the cargo. Prosecution was instituted against Trumbull and the vessel

and cargo for violation of the neutrality laws. Judge Hutton was employed in these cases as special counsel in behalf of the United States.

More recently Judge Hutton has been the local solicitor for the United States Trust Company of New York, the trustee for the holders of the first mortgage bonds of the western division of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Company in the sev- eral foreclosure suits in the United States circuit courts of Northern and Southern California. The amount of the bonds thus involved was over $16,000,000. The property was sold and merged into the Santa Fe system.

At one time Judge Hutton was associated with Hon. Olin Welborn, the present United States district judge, in law practice. He is still en- gaged in professional work and has his office in the Temple block, in which building he has had his office for more than thirty years. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Camp 770, United Confederate Veterans.

Of his children Judge Huttou says: "Our eldest child, Kate, though better known as Blos- som, was married in 1896 to Mr. Raphael W. Kinsey, then and now of the California Bank. She died leaving an infant son, April 11, 1897. Our second child, Aurelius W. H., Jr., died at the age of nineteen years, April 13, 1895. He gave the strongest evidence of making for him- self an honorable name in the broad field of electrical discoveries and inventions and their application. Our seventh child, Irene, died May 22, 1895, aged eight years. Our tenth, a little daughter, was never named. Our living children are: Mignonette; William Bryan, named for one of my brothers, who as lieutenant in Company A, Fifth Alabama Battalion, was killed at the battle of Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863; Helen; Elizabeth; Travis Calhoun; and Eugenia F., the last being named for my sister."

AMUEL BRADFORD CASWELL. This California pioneer of 1855 was born in Taun- ton, Mass., January 3, 1828. His ancestors were of English extraction and were among the earliest settlers of Taunton, having settled there in 1630, about ten years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. His maternal ancestors were Leonards. He lived at Taunton until about

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seventeen years of age and then removed to Fall River, the same state, but soon thereafter settled in Wareham, where in 1849 he married Miss Mary B. Gibbs. From 1852 to 1855 he engaged successfully in merchandising at Wareham. The year 1855 found him going, via the Isthmus of Panama, to California. From San Francisco he journeyed to the gold mines of Nevada county. He was among the pioneers of the Yuba river district and one of the originators of the system of hydraulic mining, which worked such a revolu- tion in mining in those days. In 1864 he re- turned to Massachusetts, where he made an ex- tended visit. June of the following year found him in Los Angeles, where he formed a business partnership with John F. Ellis. They carried on an extensive and profitable business in merchan- dising at the corner of Arcadia and Los Angeles streets up to 1875.

From 1875 to 1878 Mr. Caswell was a clerk of the city council. He served for one term as councilman and also as a member of the county board of supervisors. In 1879 he was made audi- tor of accounts by the Los Angeles City Water Company and served as such until the time of his sudden death, February 3, 1898. He always took a lively interest in the affairs of his adopted city and contributed much to its welfare and progress. He was one of the founders of the pub- lic library, fostered its interests during its days of struggling uncertainty, watched its growth with personal pride and lived to see it one of the finest institutions of its kind in the country. While evincing always a becoming interest in public matters, he was retiring in his tastes and manners, and did not aspire to public positions or prominence. The offices he held came to him practically unsought, and he was chosen because of his peculiar fitness for the positions tendered him. He was a man of affairs, held broad views upon all matters of issue and possessed the keen discrimination of an astute and successful busi- ness man. His sterling integrity and many noble qualities of mind and heart drew to him a wide circle of lifelong friends. His sad and sud- den demise was a genuine loss to the community in which he had lived almost thirty-five years. He passed away at his home, corner of Grand avenue and Fifth street, his death being caused by heart failure. Mrs. Caswell survived him but

a short time, going into physical decline and died February 15, 1899. She was born in Wareham, Mass., April 9, 1830, and possessed many woman- ly graces and social accomplishments. They left a valuable estate and an honorable and untar- nished name to their only son, William Mitchell Caswell, a prominent banker of Los Angeles, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work.

HARLES WINTHROP FISH, A. M., M.D. The medical profession in Los Angeles is represented by many men of long experi- ence, broad culture and eminent skill. Among them no one holds a more honorable position than Dr. Fish, whose office is in the Homer Laughlin building, No. 315 South Broadway. Although still a young man he has given abun- dant evidence of the ability which qualified him for a high place in his profession.

In common with the majority of men promi- nent in Los Angeles professional circles, Dr. Fish is of eastern lineage, birth and education. Both his paternal and maternal ancestors were identified with American history from a very early period. The former were residents of New England, the latter of Pennsylvania. Without exception they were men and women of intelli- gence, energy and a high sense of honor. His fa- ther, Ezra Thayer Fish, was a native of West Swanzey, N. H., and from there went to Penn- sylvania, where he married, reared his family and spent the remainder of his life. He was a business man and his mercantile interests were various and important. He died in Meadville, Pa., at the age of seventy-three. His widow, whose maiden name was Sarah Jane Campbell, was born in Mercer county, Pa. A few years after the death of her husband she came to Cali- fornia and for several years has made her home in San Diego.

Charles Winthrop Fish was born at Mount Hickory, Mercer county, Pa., July 23, 1860. He attended the public schools until twelve years of age, after which he attended private educa- tional institutions, and was graduated from Al- legany College in 1881. In 1882 he entered the medical department of the Western Reserve Uni- versity at Cleveland, Ohio, and was graduated from there in 1884. After his graduation he

ID Woodworth

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL, RECORD.

settled at Meadville, Pa., and for ten years en- joyed a large and successful practice. During that time, in 1886-87, he made an extensive European tour, studying while abroad in the clinics of Berlin, Vienna and London. In 1892 he made his first visit to California, coming for rest aud recreation. Being impressed with the great possibilities that lay in the near future of Southern California and of Los Angeles in particular, he decided to make his home here, and in 1895 opened his office in Los Angeles, where he has since resided, and successfully practiced his profession. He is a member of the Los Angeles County Medical Society and of the Academy of Medicine, and is associated with Dr. J. Y. Stewart in the Woman's Surgical Hos- pital.

At Oakland, August 1, 1894, Dr. Fish mar- ried Miss Catherine Goodfellow, who is a Cali- fornian, her father having been Milton J. Good- fellow, a prominent and honored pioneer of the state. They have two children: Winthrop Good- fellow and Farnum Thayer Fish.

AFAYETTE D. WOODWORTH is one of the old settlers and successful horticulturists of lower Azusa, in the San Gabriel valley, and owns in his home ranch sixteen and one-half acres, mostly under orange culture. He was born iu Chittenden county, Vt., May 13, 1824, being a son of Jabez and Mehitable (Shaw) Wood- worth, both natives of New England, the former of Scotch extraction, and the latter of English lineage. When a small boy Lafayette Wood- worth accompanied his parents from Chittenden county to Franklin county, Vt., where he passed his childhood days in a manner similar to other farmer boys, learning every department of farın work and going to the district schools during the winter time.

When about twenty-two years of age Mr. Woodworth started out in the world for himself. Believing he could accomplish more in the mid- dle states thau in the east, he settled in Kenosha county, Wis., where for some years he engaged in general farming and stock-raising. Not con- tent, however, with the prospects of a permanent residence in Wisconsin, in 1852 he set out, in a wagon, across the plains, with California as his

destination. For a time he tried his luck at min- ing in the neighborhood of Hangtown. He was also employed in Oakland as head-sawyer in the redwood mill owned by James Henry Howe. During his gold-mining experience he was for a short time employed in the old world-famed Sutter mill, where California gold was first discovered. Returning, via Nicaragua and New York to Wis- consin, he resumed farming, in which he contin- ued for many years, meeting with success. How- ever, his old love for the Pacific coast continued and in 1887 he returned to California and took up his permanent residence on his present ranch, two and one-half miles west of Covina.

While living in Wisconsin Mr. Woodworth married Miss Eliza Smith, who was born in Madison county, N. Y., but at the time of her marriage made her home in Kenosha county. Of this union there are eight children living, three of whom reside in California. The names of the children are as follows: Mrs. Frances Patterson, of Sioux City, Iowa; Mrs. Mary Vincent, of Cal- ifornia; Joel N. Woodworth, of Sioux City, Iowa; Mrs. Emma Larrabee, of Kenosha county, Wis .; Harvey P .; William C .; Mrs. Lillie Hoskins, of Detroit, Mich .; and Lafayette D. Woodworth, Jr.

As to the politics of the administration Mr. Woodworth entertains unusually liberal views, although he usually votes the Republican ticket. During his residence in Wisconsin he gained considerable prominence in a political way and held most of the offices within the gift of the peo- ple of Bristol and Pleasant Prairie townships, Kenosha county. His rise in life is due to his own untiring efforts. He has surmounted many obstacles in a courageous manner and has won the confidence of his friends and associates.

HARLES R. FICKETT. There is no oc- . cupation of more vital importance to the progress and welfare of a community than that of contracting and building. In the hands of the builder, to some extent, lies the health of a city or county. Nor is this his sole influence upon his town, for he also affects the local views in regard to art as represented in architecture, and therefore his importance cannot be exagger- ated. It may be said, concerning the buildings erected by Mr. Fickett during his long career as

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a contractor and builder, that they have uniform- ly been substantial and adapted to their various purposes. His work has been of a permanent nature. Into his buildings nothing that is of poor material has ever been tolerated. Hence, his workmanship is conceded to be first-class.

A pioneer of California, Mr. Fickett came to this state in the fall of 1860. His first location was in San Francisco, where he engaged in con- tracting and building until 1874. He then set- tled in Los Angeles, where he successfully fol- lowed his chosen occupation. In 1891 he came to El Monte district and settled on a ranch of thirty-six acres, which he now owns and occu- pies. This property he has planted partially to walnuts. He is a member of the Mountain View Walnut Growers' Association. However, he has by no means retired from his chosen calling, and still takes contracts for the erection of dwellings and business blocks.

In the far-away state of Maine Mr. Fickett was born, in Cumberland county, September 6, 1837, a son of Daniel and Paulina (Turner) Fickett, also a native of Maine, and descendants of pioneer settlers of that state. The maternal grandfather, Isaac Turner, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Both the Turners and the Ficketts are of English extraction. Daniel Fickett was a prom- inent citizen of Cumberland county, and stood very high in farming and business circles. He was interested in military matters, and as a militia officer, trained the members of the state guard at frequent intervals.

As a boy Mr. Fickett lived on a farm. His educa- tion was obtained in public schools, supplemented by reading, observation and practical experience in the years of manhood. At the age of niueteen he began to learn the trade of a carpenter and builder in Portland, Me., where he served an ap- prenticeship of three years. Next he worked as a journeyman for a short time. In 1860 lie es- tablished himself in California, where lie soon secured work at liis trade, and from that time to this he has been busily engaged in following his chosen occupation.

His political views are strictly Republican. During his residence in San Francisco he was connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Oakland. In 1889, in Los Angeles, he married Mrs. Agnes Davidson, who was born in

Nova Scotia, and by her first husband, Andrew Davidson, had two children, Lewis H. and Les- toque D.

M YER JOSEPH NEWMARK. The New- mark family was founded in America by Mr. Newmark's father, Joseph, who was - born in Germany and came to the United States about 1830, settling in New York, where he en- gaged in business for many years. In 1854 he came to the then small city of Los Angeles, and here he passed his remaining years until his death, at the age of eighty-three. His wife was about sixty-seven years of age at the time of her death. Of their six children, all but one are living.

Myer Joseph Newmark was born in New York City August 4, 1838. His primary education was obtained in the schools of that city, but soon he was sent to England, his mother's native land, and for three years he was a student in the gram- mar schools in that country, returning to the United States when thirteen years of age. For a time he was a student in the grammar depart- ment of Columbia College. In December, 1852, he left the east with his mother, brother and four sisters (his father having preceded his family in 1851), and reached San Francisco in April, 1853, via Cape Horn. In the mad scramble for the precious metal, which engrossed everybody on the western slope, he found no opportunity to re- new the study of law, at which he had spent eighteen months previous to leaving New York. He therefore embarked in mercantile pursuits.

The family came to Los Angeles in September, 1854, but soon afterward Myer returned to San Francisco, remaining there until 1857, when he came again to Los Angeles and resumed his long- interrupted studies. He had established a profit- able business, but disposed of his interests for an amount sufficient to enable him to devote his en- tire attention to his hooks. When he had barely attained his majority, in 1859, he was admitted to practice before the local courts, and the next year was admitted to the state supreme court, liis sheepskin, which he proudly cherishes, bearing date of January 14, 1860. He formed his first law partnership with E. J. C. Kewen, but dis- solved it shortly, and became a partner of J. L. Brent. The latter, at the opening of the Civil war, joined the Confederate service, in which he

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

rose to the rank of brigadier-general. The third partner of Mr. Newmark was Volney E. How- ard. In 1862 he was elected city attorney, but resigned his office in a few months, relinquished his practice and went to Nevada. Later he prac- ticed law in San Francisco until 1865, when he retired because of pressing business interests.

The business career of Mr. Newmark has been remarkably successful. He became a member of the firm of H. Newmark & Co., of Los Angeles, and for them opened a branch house in New York, where he purchased goods for western houses, and at the same time he handled Califor- nia products, including wool and hides, on com- mission. He remained in charge of the New York branch until 1871, when he returned to Los Angeles and joined the firm here. Soon after- ward he assisted in organizing the first chamber of commerce in Los Angeles, an organization that assisted materially in advancing the com- mercial prosperity of the city. In 1879 he re- tired from the business and removed to San Fran- cisco, where he remained some years. In 1885 he accepted from President Cleveland an appoint- ment as consul to Lyons, France. For three years he and his family remained abroad. After his return to San Francisco, in 1888, he devoted a few years to the management of his personal interests.

However, Mr. Newmark had always looked upon Los Angeles as his home, and in 1894 he returned to this city and identified himself with the firm of K. Cohn & Co., one of the best-known wool and commission houses in the south. He was a member of the board of freeholders that drafted the charter in 1898. The same year he was elected vice-president of the chamber of com - merce, which position he held until February, 1900, when he was chosen president. He is also vice-president and a director of the public library. Interested in politics, in 1875-76, he was chair- man of the Democratic county committee, Hon. Stephen M. White being its secretary.

Mr. Newmark was married in San Francisco in 1874, and is the father of a son and daughter.

The following character sketch of Mr. New- mark, which appeared in the Los Angeles Herald May 20, 1900, is a graphic portrayal of the man, and we quote from it as follows: "Myer Joseph

Newmark is the happy victim of circumstances. With a strong predilection for the bar, and self- educated for the legal profession, he has never- theless devoted the greater part of his career to commercial pursuits. That he has achieved marked success is best attested by the position he occupies in the business world on both sides of the continent, for Mr. Newmark is as well known in the trade centers of New York as he is in San Francisco or Los Angeles.

"M. J. Newmark impresses one instantly as possessing every qualification that enters into the composition of a successful man of affairs. Rather under medium height, his slight but strongly- knit figure, tastefully, though unassumingly, clad, betrays nervous energy in every movement. He is a restless being, one of those high-strung men who must ever be on the move. Five min- utes of entire repose would be actual punishment to him. The very way in which he sets about to write a letter or sign a check shows the tension he is under every minute during the day. One hand makes a grab for the pen, while the other is arranging the paper. An energetic stab at the ink-well, and then it would take an expert with a typewriter to keep up with him until his effort is finished. When he talks, voice and gestures dis- play the same abrupt, decisive manner. All the time his restless, clear, gray eyes are taking a quick but accurate inventory of his auditor, not a detail escaping his mental summary. He never Wastes words any more than he wastes his min- utes. That he ever managed to hold himself down to the plodding drudgery of his books long enough to master the dry details of law is a mystery to those who know him best. Mr. New- mark impresses you at once as one who recog- nizes instantly what he wants to do, what action is to be taken, and he does it without loss of time or words.

"A good-shaped head, its outlines unconcealed by hair, except where a thin grayislı fringe sur- rounds the base, sets squarely on a pair of rather slender shoulders, erect and well poised. The eyes, apparently, have little need of artificial aid, the occasional lifting of a pair of gold-bowed glasses to the bridge of the shapely nose seeming to be more of a habit than a necessity. A square-cut mouth, fringed with a neatly-trimmed gray mus-

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

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Historical and biographical record of Los Angeles and vicinity : containing a history of the city from its earliest settlement as a Spanish pueblo to the closing year of the nineteenth century ; also containing biographies of well known citizens of the past and present, Part 100

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 996

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 996