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 111

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

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piping for irrigating systems, and the adoption of his plan throughout Southern California is proof of the correctness of his theories. In Farns- worth's History, P. M. Green writes: "The plan of conducting water for irrigation in under- ground pipes, and with pressure sufficient to carry the water into the upper stories of the highest houses, was the first of the kind adopted in the state. A system of irrigation that com- bines all the advantages of the best system of water works in the United States was a novel idea to the Californian accustomed to open ditches, but the method has proven eminently successful."

Since constructing the Pasadena water works Mr. Eaton has built similar works for Hermosa and Iowa colonies at Cucamonga, at Jacinto, Marengo, Glendale and North Pasadena, all of which have proved successful, and have re- claimed large tracts of land that otherwise would be untenable and valueless. Through the per- sonal efforts of Mr. Eaton the San Pasqual school district was formed.

The reader of this sketch will realize what an important part Mr. Eaton has taken in the build- ing of this commonwealth, the development of its resources and reclaiming its arid lands. A host of friends attest his genial personality.

OBERT A. LING was born in Canada, October 5, 1852, a son of George S. and Mary (Taylor) Ling. He was reared on a farm until twelve years of age, and attended school in Michigan. He then spent four years on the lakes in merchant service, and gained his first business experience in merchandising at Le Roy, Mich. In 1873 he was first married, but lost this wife in Los Angeles in 1891. Two years later he was united in marriage with Jennie A. Olmsted, of Hartford, Conn., where her father, a retired broker, and her sister still reside.

In 1873 Mr. Ling came to California, settling in Los Angeles, and for six years he was employed in the sheriff's office. In 1882 he was elected justice of the peace and police judge, serving for two years. Since 1886 he has successfully fol- lowed the profession of law. He has made a special study of criminal law, and has defended twenty-two murder cases, in which nineteen of his

D. D. Mott

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

clients were acquitted and three were committed for manslaughter. Over one hundred cases of felony were defended by him, out of which only two were convicted. He has been retained as at- torney in a large number of damage suits of va- rious kinds, several important will contests, nota- bly the Cohn case, which occupied fifty-seven consecutive days of the court, the contestant, whom he represented, winning. His success in civil cases has been no less marked than in those of the criminal class. He has been admitted to practice in all of the federal and state courts. His strong powers are especially apparent in making pleas before the jury.

Politically Judge Ling is a stanch Republican. Patriotic and enthusiastic, he has participated in numerous campaigns, his speeches being received with praise and thoughtful consideration by his associates. He is much sought after by those who conduct the campaigns of the Republican party. Fraternally he is a member of the Ma- sonic and Odd Fellows orders and is a Knight of Pythias. In religion he is identified with the Congregational Church. He has a daughter and son, both of whom are natives of California, and a credit to their parents.

ON. THOMAS D. MOTT. To the pioneers, the forerunners of civilization and pros- perity, a special debt of gratitude is owed, and the people of Los Angeles, who now en- ioy the delights and privileges of a country than which there is none fairer under the sunny skies, should never forget just tributes of praise to the few sturdy frontiersmen who made their pleasant life here possible. To the efforts of a few far- sighted, energetic citizens of the humble adobe village of Los Angeles of two or three decades ago, nearly all of her present proud pre-eminence is due, and as long as the city shall endure their names will be found closely associated with her early history and marvelous growth.

Of this number Hon. Thomas D. Mott un- questionably occupies a prominent place, and to all but a few of the later comers to this section he is too well known by reputation, at least, to require an introduction. Born seventy-one years ago, in Saratoga county, N. Y., at the age of fourteen he entered a canal grocery, where he

worked about a year. Afterward he obtained employment in a general merchandise store at $25 per year and board. He remained there for two years and up to the time of his departure for California. Naturally ambitious and full of enter- prise, he needed but the discovery of gold upon the Pacific coast to act as an incentive, and with a party of equally enthusiastic and hopeful young men he took passage in a steamship at New York City, and wended his way to San Francisco, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. The journey which then consumed four months of time, now is made in about as many days-a fitting type of the differences which are to be seen in the west of half a century ago, and the won- derful west of to-day. The industry and appli- cation of young Mott were rewarded in better measure than were the efforts of many of his friends, and at eighteen he found himself in the possession of a snug capital which he had made in the gold mines. He then embarked in a mer- cantile business at Stockton, where he remained until 1851, when, finding that the public was in great need of a good ferry across the San Joaquin river, he established some and won not only the appreciation of those concerned, but likewise reaped a golden harvest.

It was in 1852 that Mr. Mott cast in his lot with the comparatively few inhabitants of Los Angeles, and thus, for nearly half a century, he has shared the disappointments and hopes, the downfalls and success which destiny has dealt to us. For some time after his arrival here he carried on a livery and sales stable, but ere long, it was found that he possessed just the qualities which are needed in a statesman and public man, and he was brought to the front by the many friends who had been attracted to him by his ster1- ing traits of character. In 1855 he became identi- fied with the Democratic party, to which he has given his allegiance principally, but voted for McKinley and the gold standard in 1896. In 1863 he was elected to the office of county clerk of Los Angeles county, and in 1865, 1867 and 1869 was re-elected, thus serving four terms in a position which at that period undoubtedly was one of the most complicated of any within the gift of the people of this locality, as it embraced the responsibilities of ex-officio auditor and re- corder. He administered the duties of this dif-

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ficult place with absolnte integrity and unswerv- ing fidelity to the interests of the public, and this led to his further preferment and honor. In 1871 he was chosen to represent this district in the state legislature, and there he was able to aid in the carrying out of a project which has been more effective in the upbuilding of Los Angeles than any other enterprise ever meditated. As is now well known, the matter of a railroad through this section was being agitated, and on the out- come of the matter undoubtedly depended our future. After a long and severe contest to repeal the five per cent subsidy law, through the efforts of Mr. Mott Los Angeles county was exempt from the repeal of that law, which enabled the people of Los Angeles to secure the Southern Pacific Railroad by granting the railroad com- pany the five per cent subsidy. Mr. Mott took a very active part in the local controversy, and also owing to his indefatigable efforts, a branch of the supreme court was established in this city. He was tendered the office of first resident deputy clerk, and served as such to the entire satisfac- tion of everyone until a change of administra- tion brought the usual political upheavals. Bnt, to revert to the important matter of the establish- ment of railroads in Southern California. It was a grave question, in 1870, whether or no the Southern Pacific, then being built through the San Joaquin valley, would be laid ont to embrace Los Angeles. Two diverging lines had been surveyed from Tehachepa pass southward, one line to the Soledad pass and over heavy grades and by costly tunnels to Los Angeles, the other down the Mojave desert, the route now traversed by the Santa Fe Railroad. Would the people liere, who were the chief ones to be benefited, rise to the occasion and meet the vast expense of building and equipping the road to this city, reaping their profits in later years ? A few pub- lic-spirited citizens here, among whom was our subject, were alive to the importance of the mat- ter and spared no pains to place it in the proper liglit before the people. In this connection a letter which appeared in the Del Monte Wave, a montlily magazine, explains itself:

LOS ANGELES, May 5, 1872,

"HON. LELAND STANFORD:

"Dear Sir :- Our personal relations are of such a character that we have deemed it proper to ad-

vise yon in advance of movements which, if carefully attended to, may redound, not only to your benefit, but may be also of material service to our country. We expect to call a meeting of tax-paying citizens of the county in a few days for the purpose of selecting from amongst them an executive, giving the said committee full power to meet the representatives of any rail- road company that may visit our place for the purpose of agreeing upon some plan whereby we may have a railroad running through our coun- ty, or, at least, to our city. We apprise you of the movements soon to take place here, that you may, if you deem it proper, take steps so as to act in harmony with our citizens, and in that mat- ter subserve the public benefit to be derived from our mutual undertaking. With the greatest as- surance of our personal regard, and our co-opera- tion in any move which may promote the best in- terests of the county and your own, and hoping you may find it convenient to pay us a visit soon, we remain, yours sincerely,"

(Signed) T. D. MOTT, B. C. WILSON. The result of the letter was the dispatch of an agent by the company to Los Angeles, to confer with the people here, and, after various public meetings, committees were appointed and con- ferences with Messrs. Stanford and Huntington ultimately resulted favorably. The election took place, and a railroad subsidy was made, sixty acres of land were donated for railroad purposes, and the work was commenced. The entire rail- road was completed September 8, 1877, a golden spike being driven, with appropriate ceremonies, in the Soledad cañon, in the presence of the mayors of San Francisco and Los Angeles, and a multitude of people. Fifteen hundred men were employed for a twelvemonth on the world-famous San Fernando tunnel, which is nearly seven thonsand feet long and cost two and a-half mil- lions of dollars. The influence and indefatigable energy exercised by Mr. Mott in this great achievement entitles him to the respect and con- fidence of everyone who has the welfare of his country at heart, and even a chance visitor in Southern California may well bless his name, for without him its interests must inevitably have been at least retarded, perhaps a whole decade.

In his private life our subject has an nin-

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blemished record, he has been as true to his friends and loved ones as in his public relations. Broad- minded and liberal, he is of the highest type of the California pioneer, and his conversation and reminiscences of early days are unending themes of interest to his friends. Kindly by nature, he has aided many a poor stranger on the Pacific coast, and many an unfortunate in health or circumstances, his benevolence being of a prac- tical, unostentatious kind. In 1861 he married a sister of Judge Sepulveda, a brilliant member of the bar, and a distinguished representative of one of the leading native families of this locality. At the beautiful, cultured home of Mr. Mott the wise and honored, in all of the professions and arts, have been royally entertained, and his memory will be treasured when death crowns him with peace.

NDREW A. BOYLE. The record of the life of Mr. Boyle is a record of hardships bravely horne, reverses courageously met, thrilling experiences encountered and success worthily won. In the suburb, Boyle Heights, his name is perpetuated in the annals of Los An- geles, and there could be no memorial more fit- ting or more worthy of a man who was brave and strong and true. His life began in County Gal- way, Ireland, in 1818, and ended in Los An- geles.

When he was fourteen years of age Mr. Boyle came to America and for two years was employed in New York. January 7, 1836, he enlisted in Westover's Artillery of the Texan army, and his command was ordered to Goliad, where it was in- corporated with the forces of Colonel Fanning. After various engagements the Texans were captured, and Mr. Boyle, who had been wounded, expected to be shot by the enemy-a fate which four hundred of his comrades met. However, it chanced that Gen. Francisco Garay, second in command in General Urrea's division, was the officer in command of the Mexicans, and when he learned Mr. Boyle's name he at once assured him that his life would be spared; adding that some time before he had been hospitably enter- tained at San Patricio, Tex., by Mr. Boyle's brother and sister, and had promised them that, if their brother should fall into his hands, he would treat him kindly. General Garay after-

ward took Mr. Boyle to Matamoras and invited him to go with him to the City of Mexico, but the many exciting experiences of his army life had made the youthful soldier homesick, and he preferred to return to the States. He landed in New Orleans without money or friends, and se- cured work at $2.50 a day, thus securing the means to buy necessary clothing. He then availed himself of the Texan consul's offer of a free passage on a schooner to the mouth of the Brazos river, and from there walked one hundred and fifty miles to the camp of General Rusk, where, on account of impaired health, he was honorably discharged from the army. After re- covering from a severe illness, he returned to New Orleans. From that time until 1842 he engaged in the mercantile business on the Red river.

In 1846 Mr. Boyle married Elizabeth Christie. After closing his business on the Red river he went to Mexico, where he was a successful mer- chant. In 1848 he started to return home, bring- ing $20,000 in a claret box. At the mouth of the Rio Grande, in attempting to board a steamer, his skiff capsized and his money went to the bot- tom, he barely escaping with his life. Thus the savings of years were lost in a moment. Return- ing home, a further calamity awaited him. His wife had died from a fever caused by the report that he had been drowned at the mouth of the Rio Grande. There was left to him an only daughter, and in her his affection centered. From that time until his death she was his idolized companion.

Early in 1851 Mr. Boyle arrived in San Fran- cisco, where he started in the boot and shoe business, but suffered materially in the two fires of that year. Later he built up a large trade in the wholesale boot and shoe business. In 1858 he came to Los Angeles and bought a vineyard (planted in 1835) on the east side of the river, under the bluff. He made his home on the edge of the bluff. About 1862 he began to manu- facture wine, previous to which time he had shipped his grapes to the San Francisco market. As a wine merchant he met with success. The quality of his manufacture was the best, hence his sales were limited only by the quantity of his output. His home on the bluff was the scene of many pleasant gatherings, for he was of a most

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hospitable nature and was never happier than by George D. Blake, her guardian, plaintiff, vs. when friends sought his comfortable home. He Frank J. Martin et al., defendant," which was was also active in city affairs, and was a member of the city council several years. No one was more interested in local development than he, and no one to a greater degree rejoiced in the constant growth of the city and its progress in commerce, horticulture, education and all those things which go to make up the culture and refinement of existence.

G EORGE D. BLAKE. During the years of his active professional life in Los Angeles Mr. Blake has established a reputation as a lawyer second to none. Like the majority of our citizens, he was born east of the Mississippi river. Cornell, Il1., was his native town, and 1863 was the year of his birth. While he was yet small his father died, and from an early age he was thrown upon his own resources. This fact, how- ever, instead of being a detriment to him, was ben- eficial, for it developed his powers of self-reliance and determination. It was his purpose to obtain a good collegiate education, and every effort was bent toward that end. He studied for a time at Knox College, one of the old established and thorough institutions of Illinois. From there he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, where he took the complete course, graduating in 1885. After the completion of his course he opened an office in Chicago and began the building up of a practice in that city. Soon, however, he found that to gain success in so great a city, with its hundreds of famous lawyers, meant years of patient waiting on his part. He believed that success would come more quickly in the great west, with its large fields of effort and its magnificent opportunities for the young. Accordingly, in 1888, he opened an office in Seat- tle, Wash., where he remained for five years. From there he came to Los Angeles in 1893. His subsequent career at the bar has been remarkable. It is said by many who are qualified to judge, that as a pleader before judge and jury he has few equals. He can cope with the ablest minds, and stands as a peer of our most eminent lawyers. Frequently he has been retained as counsel in cases involving large interests. Notable among these was the case entitled "Manuela Ornelas, a minor,

tried in the superior court in 1897 by Judge Allen, sitting without a jury. The many complications and seemingly insurmountable obstacles that lay between Mr. Blake and success made this case a notable one. The property involved was a large mortgage on a valuable tract of real estate which the guardian of Manuela Ornelas, a twelve-year- old girl, had fraudulently retained. Mr. Blake was appointed her guardian and attorney by the superior court, for the purpose of recovering on the mortgage. The case occupied a week, and was decided in the girl's favor. The seven hours' argument of Mr. Blake, with its display of learn- ing, logic and eloquence, won for him from both the court and the opposing counsel many compli- mentary notices, and established the fact that in the arena of intellectual combat he is a giant. His mental powers are of an unusually strong and vigorous order. On questions of law he discrim- inates forcibly and clearly. In argument he is sagacious and convincing. By careful analytical processes of mind he reaches his conclusions methodically and surely. In questions apper- taining to jurisprudence his judgment is sound and well defined. He is well versed in the prin- ciples of the law, grasping its technicalities so thoroughly that they remain thenceforward in- delibly imprinted upon his mind.

The lady whom Mr. Blake married was a woman of rare gifts of mind. Her life, though brief, was remarkable in its results and striking in its individuality. Miss Alice R. Jordan was born in Norwalk, Ohio, October 10, 1864, and received a high-school education in Coldwater, Mich., where from a child she was considered a prodigy in learning. She graduated from the high school the youngest member of her class. At the age of sixteen she entered the University of Michigan, being the youngest student who had ever entered upon the classical course. At the expiration of four years she graduated from tlie literary department. She then entered the law department, where she prosecuted her studies under the preceptorship of Hon. Thomas M. Cooley. At the end of the first year, before she had entered the senior class, she passed a most rigid examination in open court and was admit- ted to practice in all the courts of Michigan.

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Being ambitious that the foundation of her legal practice should be thoroughly assured, she de- sired to continue her studies, and applied for ad- mission to the law department of Columbia Col- lege, but was refused because she was a woman. Undaunted, she applied to Harvard, but met with a similar disappointment. She then applied to Yale, and though at first she was not encouraged, finally the doors were opened and she entered the senior class, being the first woman admitted to its law department. The case was considered so re- markable that some of the more conservative pro- fessors anticipated dire results. However, in a short time everyone became accustomed to the · sight of a woman passing to and fro in the reci- tation halls. As the collegiate year drew near a close, and she had with credit passed the final ex- amination, the question arose whether or not the corporation should exceed the powers granted by the constitution and confer upon her the degree of LL.B. As a compromise, they offered her a certificate, but this she declined. The excite- ment was intense. Professors, students and trus- tees were agitated upon the subject, and the re- tiring president, Noah Porter, remarked: "I wish I had never been called upon to sign a college degree granted to a woman."

Finally, a special session of the corporation was called, and the president was instructed to grant the degree with full honors. After leaving col- lege she studied for two years in California, and then became the wife of Mr. Blake, to whom she bore a son, Jordan Blake. She died in 1893 in Los Angeles, which had been her home during the years of her married life.

DGAR B. OWENS. Though not one of the early settlers of Glendora Mr. Owens has been identified with its interests for a period sufficiently long to enable his fellow-citizens to accurately gauge his ability and recognize his merits. With justice he is said to be one of the leading men of his locality. During 1891 he came to California and settled on the land he has since owned. On his orchard of twelve acres there are six hundred and fifty orange trees, the balance being deciduous fruits. Besides the management of this tract he has been connected with outside enterprises. At the organization of

the Glendora Citrus Association he was a charter member and was elected the first president, serv- ing in the office for three years, and at the same time he was also a director. He was also a char- ter member of the A. C. G. Lemon Association and for several years was a director of the same.

In Delaware county, N. Y., Mr. Owens was born March 17, 1840, a son of William K. and Eliza (Chamberlain) Owens, natives of Delaware county. His paternal grandfather, John Owens, was a tiative of Connecticut and of Welsh ex- traction. The business career of our subject began when he was eighteen, at which time he became interested in mercantile pursuits in Can- nonsville, N. Y., where he was a well-known business man from 1858 to 1878. For the first five years of that time he was a member of the firm of W. K. Owens & Co. Subsequently the firm name was Owens & Tanner, after which the title became E. B. & M. W. Owens, and the latter firm continued in business for many years. After a service of some years as deputy post- master of Cannonsville, during the first adminis- tration of President Grant he was appointed post- master, holding the two offices altogether for about twenty-five years. When twenty-four years of age he was elected supervisor of the town of Tompkins, Delaware county, being the first Republican supervisor elected in that town. He filled the office for four years. For years he was an active factor in the political life of his town and county. In 1878 he sold his interest in the mercantile business to his brother, M. W. Owens, but he continued to make his home in Cannons- ville until the fall of 1890. Afterward he spent a short time in Iowa and Nebraska, and was then induced to come to California, in the hope that the invigorating climate might aid him in regain- ing his health-a hope that was not disappointed.

In 1866 Mr. Owens married Catherine Mc- Gibbon, a native of Delaware county, N. Y., and a daughter of William and Isabella McGibbon, both deceased. Six children were born of this marriage, four of whom are living, namely: Isabella E .; Katherine, wife of George H. Given, of Des Moines, Iowa; Ernest B., of Glendora; and Robert C., a graduate of Pomona College at Claremont, and now living in Glendora. The older daughter is a graduate of Elmira (N. Y.) College, from which she graduated in 1889 with

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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 111

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