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 115

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

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 115

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For ten weeks Mr. Teed stayed at the strag-

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gling hamlet in New Mexico, recuperating and doing as much work as he could do, and, as the Pike's Peak gold excitement was at fever heat at this time, he soon started for Denver. Arriving there, he found a camp comprising about twenty- five miners, and he it was who built the first log- cabin on the site of the present proud and beauti- ful city. Then he was occupied in mining and contracting until 1862, when he went to Mon- tana, as gold had been discovered at Elk City, so the reports came. This was one of the most dangerous trips ever made by him, chiefly owing to the perilous mountain torrents and deep and rapid streams which are so numerous on that route. For fifteen days the party endeavored to ford the Snake river, for instance, and when one hundred and fifty miles of the journey had been made the wagon-trains had to be abandoned, and the rest of the way, three hundred miles, was traversed on foot.

Reaching Elk City, it was found that there was neither work nor gold to repay them, and Mr. Teed set out for Walla Walla, some two hun- dred and forty miles further. Thus he walked five hundred and forty miles through a wild and trackless region, and penetrated into places where man probably had never been before. From Walla Walla he went to Stockton, obtain- ing employment in both towns, and it was not until 1863 that he entirely abandoned his jour- neys on the deserts and into new and unexplored localities.

In 1863 he came to Los Angeles county, and in January, 1864, he settled in the city of Los Angeles. In 1865, with six companions, he made a trip across "Death Valley" into Nevada. It was in the month of February, and yet the scarcity of water was terrible. They went as far as Perani- gat, Nev., where the gold excitement was high. They remained only a short time. Wood being scarce in the desert, they boiled all their beans, and later dried them. The return trip was not so eventful, but exciting enough. The Indians were constantly on the war-path, and a constant men- ace to them.

Since his return to Los Angeles Mr. Teed has been extensively engaged in building and con- tracting, and many a beautiful residence or pub- lic structure stands as a monument to his skill. He was associated with others in the erection of

the Temple block, the Holmes and Downey buildings, and other well-known business blocks, and bears a justly-earned reputation for integrity, skill and adherence to every detail of his con- traets.

In 1868 Mr. Teed married Miss Toner, of Iowa, whose death occurred in 1881. Later he was united in marriage with Mrs. Wyatt, of this city, and their pleasant home is located at No. 513 California street.

The high respect in which Mr. Teed is held by his fellow-citizens has been frequently manifested by them. Five times have they elected him to serve in the city council, knowing that he repre- sents the progressive element, and that he hon- estly strives to promote the welfare of the people. During the nine years of his service on the board some of the most noteworthy steps taken for the lasting benefit of the city have received his loyal support, and for the past six years he also has been a member of the board of park commission- ers. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, and is a member of the Pioneers' Society, which or- ganization he was instrumental in founding.

JOHN L. SIMMONS. At the foot of the Sierra Madre range of mountains lies Alta Vista ranch, owned and occupied by Mr. Simmons, who has resided here since 1884, and is therefore entitled to be called one of the early settlers of this locality. In fact he was among the earliest to settle in what is now known as the first North Pasadena precinct. The twenty-seven acres comprising his ranch are very valuable, both on account of the richness of the soil, the high class of improvements and the desirability of the location. Almost the entire property is planted to orange trees of the very best varieties, the fine quality of the oranges being a well known fact.

The family of which Mr. Simmons is a mem- ber has proved its patriotism in more than one of our country's wars. His grandfather, Noble Simmons, took part in the war of 1812 and the latter's father, Daniel Simmons, fought for inde- pendence during the Revolution. Our subject's father, Daniel Simmons, Jr., engaged in farming in Delaware connty, N. Y. He married Miss Ann E. Lamport, who was of English descent.

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Their son, John L., was born in Delaware county February 24, 1852, and spent the first nineteen years of his life in that county. On starting out for himself he went to Wisconsin and settled in the central part of the state, in Juneau county, where he carried on lumbering pursuits for five years. While he was there he married Miss Grace Thompson, and they became the parents of a son, J. Edward.

The year 1875 found Mr. Simmons in Califor- nia. His first experiences in this state were in Humboldt county, where for eight years he gave his attention principally to the lumber business. In 1884 he came to Los Angeles county and set- tled on the ranch where he now resides. He has made a thorough study of the fruit-growing busi- ness; and his habits of close observation, as well as his long experience of the condition of this locality, have made his opinion valnable concern- ing horticulture. In politics he favors the Demo- cratic party and votes that ticket.

HADDEUS S. C. LOWE. Of the many men of gifted attainments whom California proudly claims as citizens there are few who have attained a fame greater than that which Prof. Lowe enjoys. His name is perpetuated in the nomenclature of this state and in the annals of Sonthern California he is accorded the dis- tinctive place which his talents deserve. While he is a man of varied talents and achievements, perhaps the crowning feat of his whole life has been the building of the railroad from Pasa- dena to the top of Mount Lowe, a feat of engi- neering which stands unsurpassed in the world's history. The road is operated by electricity, and is visited by almost every tourist from the east, by all of whom it is regarded as one of the great- est attractions offered by the Pacific coast region. Besides its prominence as a feat of engineering skill, it is well worthy of a visit on account of its scenic beauties. Nothing grander could be con- ceived, and those who take the trip are a thou- sandfold repaid for the outlay of time and money, by the lofty grandeur and sublimity of the view gained from the heiglits.

Referring to the history of the Lowe family, we find that Prof. Lowe's parents, Clovis and Alpha Abigail (Green) Lowe, were natives of New

Hampshire. The ancestors of his maternal grand- father, Thomas Green, came from Scotland to New England and bore a part in the wars of the Revolution and 1812. Thomas Green was a man of splendid physique, six feet and two inches in height, with broad chest and stalwart frame; he withstood the ravages of time, and when he died, at ninety-seven years, he was in possession of his mental and physical faculties. His son-in-law, Clovis Lowe, was a merchant and a dealer in real estate, and took a prominent part in the local leadership of the Whig party of that day, also served his county in the legislature, and for years held the office of justice of the peace. He died in Coos county, N. H., when eighty-six years of age. The family of Clovis Lowe consisted of five children, four of whom were sons. Of these, Oscar died in Cambridge, Mass., in 1898. Pem- broke, who was in the quartermaster's depart- ment during the Civil war, is now living in Phil- lips county, Kans. Percival G. was a member of the United States army from October 17, 1849, until 1854, and afterward was employed as mas- ter of transportation across the plains. In De- cember, 1860, he settled in Leavenworth, Kans., where he still makes his home. In 1884 he was elected to the Kansas senate and served in the sessions of 1885, 1886 and 1887. One of his sons, Wilson G. S., is now an instructor in the Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake, Mich .; and another, Capt. Percival G., is now commanding Company F, Twenty-fifth United States Infantry, stationed in Manila.

T. S. C. Lowe was born in 1832 in New Hamp- shire, in the village of Jefferson. His boyhood was uneventfully passed, with little to distinguish it from the lives of those around him. His edu- cation was begun in the common schools, but the broad information he now possesses is the result of self-culture. He has always been of an inves- tigating turn of mind, fond of probing into the unknown depths of science, and never happier than when investigating some difficult scientific problem. While still young he came to be known as a man of genius, with gifts far above the av- erage. A constant student, it was his aim to develop his talents, so that he might be helpful in the particular field he had chosen for his life work. He came into national prominence during the Civil war, at which time heoriginated a plan

Photo by Marceau.

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of signaling with balloons and of generating gas in the field. His ability was recognized and he was placed in charge of the balloon corps in the army of the Potomac. Some years later he in- vented water gas and the ice and refrigerator process. In 1867, by artificial means invented by him, some years before he refrigerated the first steamship (the William Taber of New York) for the transportation of meats and other foods, which system since then has revolutionized the food supply of the world. In 1888 he came to California and established his home in Pasadena, where he built, on Orange Grove drive, one of the most beautiful residences of this fair city. Since then he has given much of his time and thought to the consummation of his plan to build a road to the top of the mountain named in his honor-a plan, the successful consummation of which may well be a source of gratification to him. He has also for some years past been pres- ident and general manager of the Los Angeles City Gas Company, and at the same time has been identified with other measures, which he has assisted in bringing to a successful issue. He is now as hale and rugged as at any time in his life, and has at the present time new enterprises in hand, which promise to be of great benefit to mankind.

P. MULFORD. In selecting a field for the application of his ability and qualifications, Mr. Mulford wisely chose the profession of law. There is much in this profession to appeal to a thinking man. Throughout all the changes in other spheres of thought, the law alone remains unchanged, and its unvarnished delineation has ever been founded on the principles of justice and humanity. Hence he who enters it finds abundant scope for his intelligence and logical faculties. Since opening an office in Los Angeles, Mr. Mulford has built up an important and ex- tensive practice, extending into the various courts, and bringing him into contact with the brightest intellects of the west.

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Mulford was born August 26, 1850, and is the only surviving child of David Mulford, who was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1812, and is still living. His mother, Sarah Ann Mulford, who died six weeks after his birth, was the daughter of Shobal and

Mary Vail, of Middletown, Butler county, Ohio, who were Quakers and early settlers in the southern part of the state. The motherless boy was taken charge of by his dead mother's sisters, Mrs. Elizabeth Patton and Mrs. Catherine Dean, who undertook his early training.

The time between his sixth and eighteenth years was spent in Henry county, Ill., on a farm where the tasks were arduous and long, continu- ing for nine months in the year, which left him but three months for attendance in the public schools. When eighteen years of age he re- turned to Ohio, to be educated by his father; with conscientious diligence he applied himself to the pursuit of knowledge, and in 1876 gradu- ated with honors from the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity, at Delaware, Ohio. Subsequently he read law with Col. M. C. Lawrence, of Union county, Ohio, and in December, 1878, was ad- mitted to practice by the supreme court of Ohio, at Columbus, and, two years later, in the United States courts.

In 1880, owing to failing health, Mr. Mulford was compelled to temporarily abandon his law practice and to seek a change of location and surroundings. For two years he traveled through the south in search of renewed health, and in 1883 came to Los Angeles, and the land of flowers and sunshine, with boundless faith in the natural restoratives of this beautiful "city of the angels." He wisely concluded that an outdoor life would aid in the work of recuperation, and for a time engaged as a salesman and financial agent for Porter Bros. & Co. After three years, fully con- valescent, he resumed the practice of his profes- sion, being largely benefited by his mercantile experience, which had given him an extended acquaintance in the city. With this advantage, he entered upon his successful career in the world of law in Los Angeles, which has since been a source of gratification and pride.

August 26, 1885, Mr. Mulford married Helen B. Farrar, a college classmate and a daughter of Capt. William M. Farrar, of Cambridge, Ohio, a prominent lawyer, and a member, during the war, of General Garfield's staff. Of this union there are nochildren. In politics Mr. Mulford lias ever been a stanch Republican, and identified with many of the important undertakings of his party. Because of natural disinclination he has never

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been a candidate for office, although the nomina- tions for both city and state offices have been urged upon him. He has been prominent in the religious world of his adopted city, and has for years been an active member and officer of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Los An- geles, and is at the present time secretary of the board of trustees.

Through his own untiring efforts, incessant hard work and close application to the best tenets of his profession, Mr. Mulford has gained a prom- inent position among the best legal exponents of Los Angeles, and has at the same time accumu- lated considerable of this world's goods. Among his property interests may be mentioned a beautiful and artistic home, located on the north- east corner of Eleventh and Hill streets, which is set in a frame work of cultivated grounds, and is in every way worthy of the enterprise of its owner, and an ornament to that locality of the city. He is a stockholder of the First National Bank of Los Angeles. In innumerable ways also he has evinced his interest in all undertakings for the advancement of his city, and is a generous contributor towards all that aids in the uplifting of his fellow men. To such citizens Los Angeles is indebted for her largest growth and widest de- velopment. Much of his success in life is at- tributed to the able assistance and good fellow- ship of his wife, to whom he readily accords a large degree of unstinted credit.

Mr. Mulford is a prominent Mason and is at present a member of Pentalpha Lodge, F. & A. M., Signet Chapter, and Los Angeles Com- mandery No. 9, of Sir Knights, and one of the Mystic Shriners.

& APT. TERRELL B. THOMAS has for sev- eral years been associated with the Kerck- hoff-Cuzner Mill and Lumber Company, the past two years having been manager of its busi- ness in Covina. A native of Sauk county, Wis., he was born January 30, 1871, a son of the late Capt. Thomas C. and Belle C. (Case) Thomas. His father removed from Wisconsin to California in 1882, in that year settling with his family in Pomona.

Terrell B. Thomas obtained the rudiments of his education in Wisconsin, where he lived until eleven years of age. Coming then to Pomona,

Cal., with his parents he there continued his studies in the public schools, subsequently enter- ing the Los Angeles Business College, from which he was graduated in 1892. In 1894 he accepted a position with the Kerckhoff-Cuzner Mill and Lumber Company at Pomona, where he remained until the ist of January, 1899, when he became manager of their business in Covina, where he is faithfully attending to the responsible duties con- nected with his office.

M ORONI M. GREEN. The history of M. M. Green, a veritable "forty-niner," and for more than three decades an honored citizen of Los Angeles, possesses much of interest to the general public and to those acquainted with this sterling pioneer, for it breathes forth the dauntless spirit and hardihood of character, under the most trying circumstances, of frontier life, which has been the secret of our success as a nation. To him and to all possessing his strong traits and unswerving integrity of soul every right-minded person should do homage; especially should this be true of the younger generation, now entering into the fruits of the labors of these heroic spirits who paved the way to the prosperity and peace which we now enjoy as a people.

A son of Charles C. Green, a native of New York, our subject was born in the town of Pike, N. Y., November 8, 1835. He removed with his father's family to Nauvoo, Ill., when he was six years of age, and in 1843 they located at Montrose, a town on the west bank of the Missis- sippi river, nearly across from Nauvoo. Three years later the family located in Ferryville, now known as Omaha, Neb., and in 1848 Asa M., the twenty-year-old brother of our subject, died and was buried on the hill west of the town. On the first day of May, 1849, the family, which now comprised eight members, started on the long and perilous overland journey across the plains. Small-pox was devastating the land and at the place where the Greens crossed the Big Elkhorn river they learned that three or four hundred of the Omaha Indians who had died with the dread plague the previous year were buried, and the Green children picked up innumerable trophies at the Indian burying-ground, bears' teeth, birds'

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claws, beads, etc. As the immigrants continued their journey they at last came to the Platte river, and were two days in crossing that stream, on account of quicksands and deep holes in the bed of the river. Among the Black Hills, whither their road next led, a party of Sioux In- dians overtook them, and one of the braves tried to buy little Catharine Green, offering a pony in exchange. So determined was he to possess the little maiden for his squaw that he followed the cavalcade several miles before he abandoned the quest. At Fort Laramie the Greens stayed two or more days, that their faithful oxen might rest, and thence the party proceeded towards Pike's Peak. Camping at Devil's Gate, M. M. Green and some of his boy companions explored the grim, gloomy cañon, and decided that it was rightly named. The next incident remembered by him occurred on the Sweetwater river, when he and one James Smith strayed from the train with the idea of catching some fish. They leisurely tried one pool after another, with little thought of how the afternoon sun was gradually sinking in the west, and suddenly they awoke to the sense of possible danger. Dusk was closing in upon the lads, and the grewsome howling of wolves and coyotes became more and more fre- quent. Somewhat alarmed, they hurried along the trail, but could see nothing of the wagons, and two of the great gray wolves of the plains now confronted them. The boys had no weapon save a small smooth-bore gun, suitable only for squirrels or rabbits. Our subject had not lived in the west without learning much of the wisdom of the frontiersman, and when his comrade urged him to shoot one of the beasts he demurred, say- ing that if the other wolf should thus get a smell of blood their own lives would certainly pay the penalty. Needless to say, the lads gave the road to the gaunt animals and made a wide detour. Wolves are cowardly, save when in large num- bers, and though they watched the boys closely for a sign of weakness or wavering upon their part, they did not attack them. Luckily for the children, they soon found a fresh wagon track, and following it away from the main road they reached a camp, where they were welcomed and cared for through that night. In the early morn- ing they were found by their fathers, who had been searching for them, and thenceforward they

had strict injunctions not to leave the wagons. One of the causes of their anxiety had been that huge fires had burned upon several mountain peaks, and it was feared that the Indians of that region were thus signalling to one another, and that they were on the war-path.

The last time that the Greens had to cross the Sweetwater they had another experience never forgotten by them. It had now reached about the first of December, and one evening one of the dreadful sudden blizzards and heavy snow-storms of the great northwest swept down upon them. Within an hour six inches or more of snow had fallen, and if it had not been that a thicket of willows near the camp afforded slight protection to their cattle, they must have perished. The one wagon could not contain the eight members of the Green family, so, after stowing away the mother, girls and youngest son, the father said to his elder boys, "We must make a fire in the wil- lows and do the best we can through the night." The cattle also hovered as close to the bonfires as possible, and if it had not been for this fore- thought on the part of the father, who kept up a good fire in spite of the storm, it is doubtful if daylight would have found men or beasts alive. A coop of chickens attached to the wagon was so filled with snow that several of the occupants were frozen. The snow was so deep at points on the summits of the Rockies that other wagons and teams had to come to their assistance, but at length Salt Lake City was reached, late in De- cember. The father determined to remain there until spring and located about ten miles south of the city named, and eventually he stayed there, buying a small farm on the Cottonwood river and building a house and making other improve- ments. He died in Salt Lake City in 1885, at the ripe age of seventy-five years. His wife, whose maiden name was Emmaliza Ellis, and who like- wise was a native of New York state, lived to at- tain her sixty-sixth year. They were the parents of sixteen children, only four of whom are now living.

A brother of our subject, A. M. Green, con- tinued on his way to California the winter of 1849-50, and when he had made arrangements for his family, who had been left with his father, he returned for them, and was accompanied west by his brother, Nathaniel. Our subject was very

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anxious to go, too, but his father objected strongly, and when the youth persisted in talking of California the elder man promised him a regu- lar "horse-whipping" if another word was said by him on the subject. The stern and unflinch- ing severity of his generation prevailed, and when, one day long afterward, in January, 1853, he unfortunately overheard his son talking to the mother about California he carried out his threat, and, of course, thereby so endeared himself to his son that the latter resolutely determined to leave home at the first opportunity and told his father that he should do so. In February, 1853, Ben Holliday and a Mr. Warner, who were in partner- ship, were to start from Salt Lake City for Cali- fornia, and, hearing that he might go with them as a teamster, Mr. Green made arrangements with them. He told his mother of his plan and quietly slipped away from the little church just before time of dismissal on a certain Sunday. The party which he was to join was to camp that night at a point twenty-five miles north of Salt Lake City, and thus he had thirty-five miles to cover that peaceful Sunday afternoon, but he reached the camp about six or seven o'clock. The next day the party proceeded towards the Weber river and then, finding that the water was very high, they were compelled to go to the "upper" ford. Here, too, they foresaw unusual danger, and spent two days in raising the wagon boxes and making things secure, ere they tried the ford. A man named Williams, whose wife and five children were traveling in a small family wagon with a low box, refused to take advantage of Mr. Holliday's kind offer to let the woman and little ones cross the river in one of his high, strong freight wagons, and when half way across the swift current capsized the Williams wagon and the word went from one to another that six persons were drowning. Young Green was about one hundred yards from the river, attend- ing to his team. Without taking time for a sec- ond thought he yelled to his informant to take charge of the horses, and away he ran, throwing aside his clothing as he ran, and only stopping to pull off his shoes. In the meantime one Rodney Badger, reputed to be one of the best swimmers in Utalı, had leaped into the stream, and after swim- ming about half a mile, had apparently become so thoroughly chilled and confused that reason must

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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 115

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