USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > 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 102
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127
உ ROF. JOHN HARVEY STRINE. One of the foremost workers in the educational field in California is Prof. John H. Strine, super- intendent of the Los Angeles county schools. In the prime of life, and with many years of invalu- able experience in his chosen profession, added to which is a marked executive ability, he is specially qualified for his responsible office and is giving universal satisfaction to the public. Believing that a review of his life and work will prove of interest to his numerous friends and co- workers, the following facts have been gleaned from various sources:
Some of the best blood of England, Holland and France flows in the veins of Prof. Strine, and from those countries a few generations ago his ancestors emigrated to America. Hisgreat-grand- parents, upon both the paternal and maternal sides of the family, were natives of Pennsylvania and spent their entire lives in that state. The same can be said of his paternal grandparents, for their homes throughout life were in Franklin county. The grandfather died at the age of sev- enty-six years, while his wife was only thirty-eight when she received the summons to the silent land. The maternal grandparents of Prof. Strine were life-long residents of Lancaster county, Pa., and each was forty-nine years of age at death. Both grandfathers were farmers by occupation, the maternal grandfather also being interested in milling.
The Strine family bears an enviable reputation for patriotism, as may be seen from the following:
746
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Peter Strine, a grand-uncle of the professor, en- listed at the beginning of the Civil war, was assigned to the army of the Potomac and fought until the close of the mighty conflict between the north and the south; Samuel G. Strine, an own uncle of Prof. Strine, was a soldier in the Eighty- third Illinois, army of the West, from the com- mencement until the completion of the war; Jacob Strine, another uncle, who first enlisted for nine months in 1861, and then re-enlisted for three years more upon the expiration of his first term of service, was killed at Petersburg, just two days prior to Lee's surrender; and Jonathan G. Strine, a third uncle, who enlisted at the same time as did his brother Jacob for the three years' term, was shot in the head at Petersburg, where his brother's life was lost, and in spite of his wound is yet living, his home being in the vicinity of Greencastle, Pa.
The parents of Prof. Strine are John and Maria Catharine (Long) Strine, now residents of Dow- ney, Cal. The father was born in Franklin county, Pa., February 28, 1829, and the mother in Lancaster county, Pa., on Christmas day of 1832.
The birth of John Harvey Strine occurred in Newburg, Franklin county, Pa., October 26, 1858. His first schooling was obtained in Rox- bury, Pa., when he was five years old, and when he was about six his parents removed to Martins- burg, W. Va. There the father conducted a brickyard, and when the lad was in his twelfth year he began working there during his vaca- tions. A year or two later his father purchased a farm near Martinsburg, and at times, when he was especially busy in the manufacture of brick in the town, the sons were left to manage the farm.
Until he was nineteen years of age the educa- tion of Prof. Strine had been limited to the coun- try schools, but, when in 1877 the family removed to Missouri, he entered the state university and in 1882 completed the teachers' course, having kept up his expenses by teaching a part of the time. The same year he passed an examination whereby he was granted a life diploma in that state as a teacher, and since coming to California he has been given a similar certificate as a high school instructor. After teaching for a short time in the district schools of Missouri he be-
came the principal of the Rolla public schools, a position which he resigned two years later in order to remove to California.
Arriving at Downey, Los Angeles county, on the evening of July 30, 1887, Prof. Strine entered upon his new duties as head of the school on the following Monday morning. Under his able su- pervision notable improvement was soon observed in the school, and within a few years its standing was such that its pupils were accepted in other and higher schools without examination. Sev- eral of the most successful young teachers in the county went from the Downey school to their new posts of duty, after duly passing the required county examinations, and no other testimony than that afforded by the Downey school has been necessary to support the claims of Prof. Strine's friends when he has been a candidate for higher honors. When the Downey Bank was re-organized July 1, 1891, he was elected a di- rector by a unanimous vote of the stockholders, and was at once placed upon the auditing com- mittee. In 1890 he was appointed a member of the county board of education, and ever since has been active in the interests of the schools of this section in general. In 1892 he was honored by being made president of the board mentioned, and the following year was re-elected. In July, 1893, Prof. Strine was elected principal of the Monrovia high and grammar schools, which po- sition he was unanimously elected to each year until he tendered his resignation in January, 1899, in order to enter upon his duties as super- intendent of the county schools. The Monrovia high school was placed upon the accredited list of the state university before it was two years old, and still maintains its enviable reputation among the high schools of the state.
Recognizing the fact that Prof. Strine has been an earnest and efficient worker in the interests of the schools of this county ever since his arrival here, in 1887, he was elected to the presidency of the Los Angeles Pedagogical Society at the time of its organization in 1895, and was re-elected until his nomination for his present position. A local circle of this society, comprising the teach- ers of Monrovia, Duarte and Sierra Madre, hav- ing been organized, he was chosen as its presi- dent, and remained in that capacity until after his election as county superintendent. Nor has
747
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
he confined his attention to educational mat- ters solely, though naturally his heart and mind are chiefly in that line of progress. Being fond of music and possessing some talent in that di- rection, he was one of a number of music-loving people of Monrovia, who, about six years ago banded themselves together in a delightful and profitable society, called the Apollo Club, for the purpose of cultivating whatever latent talents might rest in their midst. Within a short time he was elected as president of the organization, and each succeeding year he has been honored with re-election to the same position. Another manifestation of his public spirit was shown in December, 1896, when he was very instrumental in the organization of the Monrovia Opera House Company. The chief purpose of this company was the providing of a suitable hall for public assemblages, and the enterprise, as carried out, has been of untold benefit to the community. Prof. Strine was then made secretary of the or- ganization, and in 1897 and again in 1898 he was re-elected to that important office. He stands high in the Masonic order, and has served as worshipful master of Monrovia Lodge No. 308, F. & A. M. Sincerely devoted to whatever makes for progress, and being possessed of a broad and liberal mind, he casts his influence for righteous causes and is a power for good in his community. Throughout the county marked improvement in our educational system within the term of his supervision is noted, and many additional plans for the welfare of our schools and pupils are being introduced as rapidly as is prac- ticable.
ILLIAM M. CASWELL. well known iu business and banking circles of Los An- geles, is a son of the lamented Samuel B. Caswell, a California pioneer, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this volume. A na- tive son of California, William M. Caswell was born in French Corral, Nevada county, June 24, 1857. From 1863 to 1867 he attended the pub- lic school in San Francisco, and later studied in the Los Angeles schools, after which, in 1871, he entered the California Military Academy at Oakland, graduating from that institution in 1873. Shortly afterward, in June, 1874, he re- ceived an appointment to the United States
Military Academy at West Point, N. Y., where he remained until he resigned his cadetship in March, 1877, returning immediately to Los An- geles.
After a brief vacation Mr. Caswell accepted a position as accountant in the Farmers and Mer- chants' Bank of this city. Later, under the gov- ernment, he received an appointment in the United States railway postal service and as such ran between Los Angeles and Deming, N. M. In April, 1882, he entered the counting room of the First National Bank and remained there until July, 1887, when he was chosen cashier of the Los Angeles Savings Bank, which position he has since filled with marked ability. It is noticeable that from the outset of his business career he has filled positions of the higher. class, requiring a superior order of business abilities. The banking house with which he is so promi- nently identified is the leading institution of its class in Southern California, a fact which is due to its wise and conservative management.
October 29, 1890, Mr. Caswell married Miss Cora, daughter G. W. Tubbs, a pioneer of 1870 in Los Angeles. She was born in St. Paul, Minn., and is a lady of charming personality, who holds a high position in the best society circles of the city. One son has been born to them, George B. Mr. Caswell is personally a conservative man, with quiet, unassuming man- ners, of cheerful, even temperament, and a dignity that bespeaks a just pride. In Masonry he is a member of Pentalpha Lodge No. 202, F. & A. M., and Signet Chapter No. 57, R. A. M. He is a member of the order of N. S. G. W., Romona Parlor No. 109, and the Society of Los Angeles Pioneers.
M ARTIN H. WEIGHT. Every prosperous city owes its growth and development to its public-spirited and far-sighted citizens. Even with all the scenic and climatic advantages that Pasadena possesses it doubtless never would have attained more than a merely local promi- mence had it not been that certain of its pioneers were progressive and energetic and devoted to the public good. In the list of such men the name of Martin H. Weiglit stands high. He was one of the earliest settlers of what was at first called the Indiana colony, having arrived from Utah in
748
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
March, 1876. He found eighteen families, mostly from Indiana, but a few from New York. He at once identified himself with the infant colony, planted an orange orchard and began the career of activity in all that pertained to the np- building of Pasadena that has continued up to this time, and that has placed him among those to whom the city is most truly indebted for its present enviable reputation throughout the country.
Mr. Weight was born of English parents at Salt Lake City, Utah, April 7, 1854. He grew to manhood in his native city and was educated in its schools, his student days covering a period in the Utah University. He was married in 1876 to Miss Mina Jack, of Salt Lake City, and came to Pasadena the same year. They have one son, born in Pasadena, Erle M., now a young student of promise in the University of California at Berkeley. In fraternal relations Mr. Weight is an Odd Fellow. In business he has mainly confined himself to orange growing and building, his interest in the latter being at present restricted to a connection with the Pasadena Manufacturing Company. In the promotion of the citrus fruit industry he has for years been a leading and en- thusiastic participant, especially as an advocate of the co-operative plan of marketing fruit. As one of the founders of the Southern California Fruit Exchange and manager of the Pasadena Orange Growers' Association his efforts to popu- larize and make profitable this method of ship- ping and selling the products of the Southern California orchards have been most successful.
The general recognition of Mr. Weight's ex- ecutive ability, his rigid integrity and his de- votion to public interests have resulted in calling him to many positions of trust and responsibility. Always a stanch Republican in politics, he has in numerous local and national campaigns been charged with the duties of leadership; while in enterprises for the upbuilding of his city and the furtherance of its varied interests his wise counsel and energetic management have been frequently depended upon. Most markedly las this been so in carrying to a brilliant conclusion Pasadena's annual preparations for her famous floral fete, the Tournament of Roses. For several years Mr. Weight has been one of the directors of the Tournament Association and twice has acted as
its president and director-general. In other capa- cities his talent for organization has been made available by the public for the benefit of the city, and no citizen has a greater degree of pride than he in all that it has become and achieved during the past twenty-five years.
M ATTHEW SLAVIN. Through his suc- cessful work as a contractor and builder Mr. Slavin has contributed to the develop- ment of Pasadena, his home city. Among the most important contracts he has had may be men- tioned those for the annex of the famous Hotel Green, one of the finest hotels in the west; the buildings comprising the Throop Polytechnic In- stitute in Pasadena; the Masonic building of this city; the Martha block and the Slavin block (both of which he owns); and the Zahn building in Los Angeles. Many of the finest residences in this region have been built by him, under con- tract. During busy seasons he employs as many as thirty hands in the various departments of his building business.
Mr. Slavin was born in Saratoga county, N. Y., January 6, 1853, a son of Patrick and Margaret Slavin, natives respectively of Dublin, Ireland, and New York state. His early boy- hood years were passed on his father's farm in Saratoga county. When he was fourteen he be- gan to serve an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade under George Ostrander at Burnt Hills, N. Y. He remained with that employer for three years, meantime learning the business in all of its details and gaining considerable proficiency as a carpenter. Later he worked as a journey- man for four years in New York state. Leaving there he went to Indianapolis, Ind., and ac- cepted employment as foreman, superintendent and draughtsman with Shover & Christian, lead- ing builders of that city. In these capacities he remained with the firm for nine years.
The year 1887 found Mr. Slavin in Pasadena, where he began to take contracts for erecting private residences and public buildings. From that time to this he has had a steadily increasing business. His reputation as a builder is the highest. By his reliable dealings with all and his efficiency and intelligence he has gained a high position in his chosen calling. He is
ر
751
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
recognized as one of the competent builders of Pasadena. Several times he has been given con- tracts in other towns, all of which have been car- ried out faithfully and well. He is interested in the progress of his home city and is a member of its board of trustees, also a member of the board of trade.
Prior to coming to California Mr. Slavin mar- ried Miss Martha J. Foster, of Indianapolis, Ind. They have three children, Matthew, Jr., Sarah and Edith R. The family occupy a comfortable home at No. 774 North Marengo avenue, which Mr. Slavin built and has since owned. The resi- dence is surrounded by five acres of ground, with shrubbery, flowers and fruit trees, and is one of the most beautiful places in Pasadena. Frater- nally he is a member of the Mystic Shrine of Masonry. He has not taken an active part in politics, although he is interested in securing good government for city, state and nation, and votes for those who, in his opinion, are best fitted to promote the welfare of the people. His views concerning tariff, currency and expansion are those of the Republican party, and he supports them with his ballot, but in local matters, where political belief is of less importance than a com- mendable spirit of local pride, he gives his vote to men of progressive views and sound judgment.
c AMES A. JOHNSTONE. To some extent California is a cosmopolitan region, number- ing among its citizens people from almost every part of the globe. A large number came from the province of Ontario and have found in this equable climate a delightful change from their own snow-bound and wintry land. Mr. Johnstone is a Canadian by birth, having come from the county of Prince Edward, which projects in peninsular form into Lake Ontario, and is situated in the province of Ontario. His father, William A. Johnstone, was born in county Ty- rone, north of Ireland, and descended from Scotch ancestors of the Lowlands. When sixteen years of age he crossed the ocean to Canada and settled in Prince Edward county, where he became one of the best-known agriculturists and leading citizens. He married Rachel Bonter, who was born in that county, of mingled Dutch and Irish extraction.
Reared to agricultural pursuits in his native county, James A. Johnstone passed the years of his life, from his birth, February 10, 1837, to his removal to the States, in a comparatively un- eventful manner. In the winter of 1861 he first came to California, settling near San José. Thence he went to Nevada and worked in Virginia City for a short time. From there he went back to his old Canadian home, where for many years he followed general farm and business pursuits, be- ing for a time engaged in mercantile business. From Ontario he went to Manitoba, as a pioneer of that then sparsely settled region, where he en- gaged in clearing farm land for twelve years. The change from Manitoba to California, in 1890, was a striking one in respect to climate, but he has found the air and sun of our western state so genial and balmy that he has had no desire to return to his old home. Since 1890 he has made his home in San Dimas and has engaged in horti- culture, being the owner of a fruit farm of fifty acres. He is also president of the San Dimas Irrigation Company, and a director in the same.
By the marriage of Mr. Johnstone to Elzina S. Way, of Prince Edward county, Ontario, he has six children, viz .: Anna M., wife of Dr. E. W. Montgomery; Herbert W. and William A., both living in San Dimas; Donald W., who is in Chi- cago, Ill .; Ernest M., a student in Pomona College at Claremont; and Havelock P.
Since becoming a citizen of the United States Mr. Johnstone has posted himself concerning our governmental affairs, striving to gain a com- prehensive knowledge of such matters as relate to the well-being of the people of this country. In politics he has adopted Republican views. He is identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church at Lordsburg and contributes to its maintenance, while at the same time he also aids other meas- ures for the benefit of the people, whether from a religious, moral or educational point of view.
ON. LUCIEN SHAW. On the ist of March, 1845, in the then far western state - of Indiana, a son was born to his parents at a farm house near Vevay, Switzerland county. In honor of an uncle he was named Lucien. As a boy he attended the public schools of the town- ship, worked on the farm during the long inter-
752
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
vals between the short three or four months' terms of the schools then provided, and finished his general school education with two short termis at an academy at Vevay. Owing to a supposed delicacy of constitution his parents decided not to risk his health at a distant college and did not give him a collegiate education. Naturally in- clined to reading and study, he continued at home the study of Latin and higher mathematics, and supplemented it with an extensive course of reading. After two or three years on the farm he decided to follow the profession of law. With that end in view, after some preliminary reading at home, he entered the Indianapolis law school at the age of twenty-three. By close application he succeeded in taking the two years' course of study in one year and graduated in 1869 with the honors of his class. He then took up his resi- dence in Bloomfield, Ind., where he practiced as an attorney for fourteen years. Although he had by that time attained a good practice and an honorable reputation as a lawyer he concluded to go west, and one day in December, 1883, found him in Los Angeles.
During his residence in Bloomfield, July 29, 1873, Mr. Shaw married Miss Hannah Hartley, who was born in New York, a daughter of Edwin A. and Ruthı M. Hartley, natives of New York, both of whom followed him to Los Angeles and died there.
After a month in Los Angeles prospects of more immediate success took Mr. Shaw to Fresno, where for two and a-half years he prac- ticed law with success. Returning to Los An- geles in July, 1886, he has been a resident of that city ever since. Until Marchı, 1889, he had offices in that city and pursued his calling suc- cessfully. At the request of the bar of the county he was then appointed judge of the superior court, to fill a vacancy. In 1890 he was elected to the office for a term of six years, at the expiration of which, in 1896, he was re-elected. Politically he is a Republican. He is a member of the Sunset Club and the California Club, of Los Angeles, and the Southern California Lodge of Masons, and, with his wife, belongs to the Congregational Church.
The fatlier of Judge Shaw was William Shaw, a native of Paisley, Scotland, and who emigrated to America in boyhood and found his last resting
place at Vevay, Ind., at the expiration of his allotted tliree score years and ten. The father of William Shaw was John Shaw, who died in In- diana in 1866, at the age of ninety-one. Mrs. William Shaw's immediate antecedents were of England, where she was born, although the family originated in Holland; her maiden name was Linda Rous.
At the bar Judge Shaw early earned for him- self the reputation of an able lawyer, but it is as a jurist that he is better known to the people of Los Angeles and California. There is an old adage that it belongs to a judge to hear cour- teously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially. Judge Shaw not only possesses this rare combination of mind, method and manner, in an eminent degree, but he also brings to the bench a profound knowledge of the law and a mind enriched with the best thought of the day in literature, no less than habits of in- dustry, which official life has not destroyed. He is impartial in his decisions and fearless of friend or foe. Apt in laying bare the false premises of an argument, quick in discovering the truth from the evidence and prompt in applying the correct principles of law to the facts, Judge Shaw is recognized as an able jurist.
ON. R. H. F. VARIEL. The subject of this sketch, Robert Henry Fauntleroy Variel, was born November 22, 1849, and is the oldest of five children, two sons and three daughters, all living.
In 1852 he emigrated with his parents across the plains, via ox-team, to California, which was reached in September of that year after many hardships and privations. The family spent the following winter (one of the hardest ever known in California) in a log cabin in the lonely moun- tains on a branch of the North Fork of the Yuba river, and early in the following spring settled at Camptonville, then just started as a prosperous gold mining camp in the gravel mines on the ridge between the North and Middle forks of the Yuba river, in Yuba county, where they re- mained for a number of years. The father was a man of excellent habits and character, and of diligent industry, but without business training
753
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
or the faculty of accumulating wealth, although possessed of a clear and vigorous understanding. Finding that he could not stand the work of mining he took up and followed his trade of car- penter and millwright, at which he was an ex- cellent workman, and by means of it he suc- ceeded in providing comfortably for his family, but varying his occupation with holding the office of justice of the peace, which he did for twelve years, and after that practicing law with quite uniform success in justices' courts. His eldest son, Robert, soon evinced a taste for knowledge and study and a promising capacity for success in a professional career; and it was early deter- mined that he should follow the law. But the frontier schools of that day in the rough mining towns of California afforded but scant oppor- tunity for the ambitious boy; while the want of means prevented his being sent away from home to school, except at one time for six months dur- ing the winter of 1865-66. From 1866 to 1868, however, he made such progress in his studies under the direction of A. G. Drake, an accom- plished instructor, who was fortunately em- ployed to teach the ungraded public school at Camptonville during that time, and later under the instruction of Hon. E. A. Davis, now su- perior judge of Yuba and Sutter counties, that immediately after he became eighteen he applied for and, upon examination, obtained a second grade certificate, entitling him to teach in the public schools of that grade in Yuba county, and, immediately obtaining a school, went to teaching. From the very first he met with grati- fying success as a teacher, which profession he followed for five years, teaching in different country districts, at one time teaching in an ad- joining district to one taught by ex-State Super- intendent Samuel T. Black. In the meantime he was diligently pursuing his studies and doing a large amount of miscellaneous reading. In 1870 he obtained a first grade state certificate, and in the spring of 1871 he removed to Plumas county, where he taught the public school at Crescent Mills until the fall of 1873, when he was nominated on the Republican ticket for district attorney of Plumas county. Through the influ- ence of personal friends, and without regard to political views, he was elected in a strongly Dem- ocratic county by a handsome majority. This
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.