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 121

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 121

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).

actively connected with the Knights of Honor in his home town. While living in Minnesota he was united in marriage with Miss Stella Stone- man, who for some years was a teacher in the Minneapolis schools and whose education and culture have been recognized in every circle of society.

YRON LISK. Since the year 1888 Mr. Lisk has made his home in Pasadena, where he is well known as a member of the Pasa- dena Milling Company and vice-president of the North Pasadena Land and Water Company. He was born in Cass county, Mich., February 25, 1850, and is a son of Anson Lisk, a native of New York state. When he was nine years of age the family removed from Michigan to Illinois and settled in Iroquois county, where he grew to manhood, meantime attending the common schools of that county. He was also privileged to attend, for two years, the Illinois State Uni- versity at Champaign. On finishing his educa- tion he began to teach school, which work he continued for five successive winters in Iroquois county. From there he moved to Roberts, Ford county, the same state, where he opened and car- ried on a general mercantile store. He also served as supervisor of Lyman township for two terms. Although he had ceased to make his home in Iroquois county, he still owned land and carried on a farm there.

After he had established his homein Pasadena, Mr. Lisk became interested in the dairy busi- ness. He also set out fruit trees, of citrus and deciduous varieties, and carried on a fruit-grow- ing business. In July, 1889, he became inter- ested in the milling business, which he conducted for one year. Since 1896 he has been in part- nership with Allen G. Lisk, under the name of the Pasadena Milling Company. Besides his other enterprises he is a director in the Pasadena Orange Growers' Association and in the Pasa- dena Deciduous Fruit Growers' Association. For several years he has been a director and officer of the North Pasadena Land and Water Company. He is now president of the North Pasadena sani- tary board.

The various enterprises with which Mr. Lisk is identified bespeak his activity as a business man, as well as his keen insight in matters of

FRANK M. CHAPMAN

891

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

commerce and his broad intelligence. His life has been given to business pursuits, aside from his early work as an educator. Having neither the time nor the inclination for politics he has never been active in such matters, although he is well posted concerning the issues of the age, and is a stanch Republican. He married Miss Alice Henderson, of Iroquois county, Ill., and they are the parents of eight children.

RANK M. CHAPMAN, of Covina, is a na- tive of Illinois, having been born in Macomb, McDonough county, of that state, on the first day of the year 1849. He is the eldest of a large family of children born to Sidney S. and Rebecca Jane Chapman. His father was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1826, and was a descendant of one of three brothers who came from England to Massachusetts about 1650. He came to Macomb when a young man and in 1846 was united in marriage with Rebecca Jane Clarke, the eldest daughter of David and Eliza (Russell) Clarke, natives of Kentucky and early pioneers of central Illinois.

Mr. Chapman's boyhood was passed at Ma- comb. Here he attended the common schools and engaged in various occupations until he answered the last call made by President Lincoln for sol- diers. Heenlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry. Though a mere boy in years he was accepted, and with his regiment went south, where he remained until after the close of the war, when he was honor- ably discharged.

Upon his return home our subject engaged at clerking in a store until 1868, when he went to the neighboring town of Vermont and engaged in business for himself. After the great fire at Chicago in 1871, there being a great demand for bricklayers in that city, and having learned that trade with his father, who was a builder, he went there, and for a while was foreman for a large building firm. Then for a time he engaged in building and contracting in that city, when he again drifted into mercantile life. This he fol- lowed with varying success until he began the study of medicine. Entering the Bennett Medi- cal College in Chicago, he was graduated with the

class of 1877, and immediately opening an office in that city he began the practice of the profes- sion he expected to make his life work, but was not destined to continue long in active practice and to wear the cognomen conferred by his di- ploma.

Though by nature well adapted for the medical profession, yet a business life seemed more at- tractive to Mr. Chapman; at least it offered a , better outlook for getting on in the world. We therefore soon find him closing his Chicago office and joining his brother Charles at Galesburg, Ill., and engaging in the publishing business. This enterprise proved successful, and with his brother he was soon able to return to Chicago and start a publishing house. Prosperity at- tended this enterprise and the business grew until Chapman Brothers (as the firm was known) erected their own building and owned a large printing plant. For a dozen years the firm of Chapman Brothers did an extensive and prosper- ous printing and publishing business, at the same time erecting several large buildings in Chicago. The firm invested heavily in hotel enterprises during the World's Fair held in that city, and, as is well known, the financial panic of 1893 crippled the great Fair and likewise every enter- prise in any way dependent upon it.

On the 2d of December, 1894, Mr. Chapman landed with his family in California, taking up his residence in Los Angeles. Here he lived for a year, when he came to the Palmetto ranch at Covina. Since taking up his residence here he has been identified with almost every local enter- prise inaugurated by its people, and is regarded as one of the substantial and highly respected citizens of the community.

Mr. Chapman was united in marriage with Miss Wilhelmina Zillen in 1886. To them have been born four children: Frank M., Jr., born July 17, 1888; Grant, June 11, 1891; Grace, Oc- tober 18, 1895; and Clarke, February 21, 1898. Mrs. Chapman was born in Friedrichstadt, Schles- wig-Holstein, Germany, July 2, 1861. She is the daughter of Wilhelm Ferdinand and Louise (Fencke) Zillen, and came with her father to the United States in 1866.

Politically Mr. Chapman has been a life-long Republican, and has taken more or less active part in politics. He has been sent as a delegate

892

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to various county and state conventions, and was elected to represent the twenty-fifth ward in the Chicago city council. Both Mr. and Mrs. Chap- man are members of the Christian Church, and not only take an active part in church work, but are identified with every movement for the moral and social advancement of the community.

ABEZ BANBURY, whose name is insepara- bly associated with the pioneer days of Pasa- dena, is a member of an old English family, concerning whom tradition says that it is de- scended from General Banbury, who accompanied Julius Cæsar, as an officer, during the celebrated invasion of Briton. For generations people of the name lived and died in England, and it was not until comparatively recent times that the family was established in America. The reason of the emigration was the act of our subject's grandfather, who owned a large landed estate that was not entailed. This he willed to the youngest of the three sons, thereby giving um- brage to the other two, who, deeming their treat- ment unjust, resolved to seek a home in the United States. The elder brother carried out his resolution at once and settled in Knox county, Ohio, where a large number of his descendants reside. The younger brother, Thomas, on ac- count of the illness and death of his wife, did not leave England until 1841. He was born in Corn- wall and died in Iowa City, Iowa, when about eighty-five years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Lysle, died at Buttsbeer, England, at the age of about fifty years.

The first eight years of our subject's life were spent on a farm in Cornwall, England, where he was born March 4, 1830. He attended school in Launceston. When he was eleven years of age he accompanied his father to the United States and settled at Gambier, Ohio, where he attended public schools during the winter months. At the age of sixteen he began an apprenticeship to the cabinetmaker's trade, in Mount Vernon, Ohio, where he remained for four years. In the fall of 1851 he came as far west as Iowa, where he worked at carpentering in Iowa City. Three years later he settled in Marshalltown, Iowa, and for three years engaged in erecting buildings, af-

ter which he followed mercantile pursuits until the outbreak of the rebellion. From the first he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Union. He assisted in raising a company of volunteers and was mustered into the United States service July 15, 1861, as first lieutenant of Company D, Fifth Iowa Infantry. His company was assigned to active service under Gen. John Pope, whose operations consisted more in marching than in fighting and extended over a large part of Mis- souri. As a result of their movements, the Con- federate commanders were driven out of the state with their troops and New Madrid and Island No. 10 were captured, together with five thou- sand soldiers. December 26, 1861, he was pro- moted from lieutenant to captain of his company, after which his line of operations extended down the Mississippi to Fort Randolph, thence to Cairo and up the Ohio and Tennessee rivers to Pitts- burg Landing, from there to Corinth, Miss., in the siege of which he bore a part, as well as in the battle of Farmington. Afterwards he was commissioned major of the Fifth Iowa Infantry. In the battle of Iuka, Miss., July 19, 1862, one- half of his men were killed or wounded. On the 3d of October he was ordered to take command of the Seventeenth Iowa Infantry, then in line of battle for the engagement at Corinth, which lasted two days. In this engagement the regiment captured about fifty prisoners and the flags of an Alabama regiment. He continued to command the regiment until the return of Lieutenant-Colonel Weaver, who had been absent in recruiting ser- vice in Iowa. Later he was connected with the Grant campaign down the Mississippi up to and including the siege and capture of Vicksburg, and his regiment was among the first to enter Vicks- burg after the capitulation. He was given the command of the post guard, which he held until his regiment was sent to Helena, Ark. Meantime he had been commissioned colonel of the Fifth Iowa Infantry, April 23, 1863. From Helena he and his men were transferred to Memphis, thence to Chattanooga, where he took part in the battles of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, No- vember 24 and 25. At this battle the brigade commander was severely wounded and Colonel Banbury had charge of the brigade until his reg- iment was mustered out at the expiration of their service. Later, under General Thomas, he was

893

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL, RECORD.

for two months inspector of dismounted cavalry in the army of the Cumberland. September 28, 1864, he was honorably discharged at Camp Crucks, Ga., near Atlanta.

Returning to Marshalltown, Iowa, Colonel Banbury engaged in the mercantile business for four years. He was also United States revenue collector for that district during the same time and treasurer of the Marshalltown schools. However, his health was constantly failing, and its precarious condition rendered it advisable for him to seek a different climate. He sold out his business with a view to coming to Southern Cali- fornia, but was induced to change his plans. He was elected auditor of Marshall County, in which office he continued for three and one-half years. On resigning the position he carried out his long- cherished plan of settling in the west. October 13, 1873, he and his wife started for Los Angeles, where they arrived December 20 of that year. After having made a thorough examination of the then noteworthy parts of Southern California, he decided to locate where the beautiful city of Pas- adena now stands. Accordingly he purchased an interest in the San Gabriel Orange Grove Asso- ciation, of which he was a director for eight years. After a survey and division of the prop- erty had been made, he built the first residence on the colony grounds. Into this home he moved his family March 10, 1874. For twelve years he engaged in fruit ranching, in which he was deep- ly interested. About 1883 he embarked in the lumber business, but after four years sold out and turned his attention to the buying and selling of real estate and the transfer of property, in which he continued for four years.

Since coming to California Colonel Banbury has been interested in politics and, as in Iowa, an ac- tive worker in the Republican party. For four years he was city treasurer of Marshalltown and for a similar period city treasurer of Pasadena, also county treasurer of Los Angeles county. For two years he was a member of the legislature of California, where he took a warm interest in movements looking toward the public good. Fra- ternally he is connected with the Masons and the John F. Godfrey Post, G. A. R., of Pasadena. In an active career extending over so wide a field of public trust he has won many friends, and by his integrity and sterling business qualities has

gained a high place in the citizenship of Pasa- dena.

In November, 1854, Colonel Banbury married Sarah Elmira Dunton, who was born in Worth- ington, Ohio, in 1834, and was the eldest daugh- ter of Rev. Solomon and Lucretia Smith (Janes) Dunton. Her father, a native of Vermont, born January 15, 1807, became a minister of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and died at Pasadena, Cal., February 19, 1891, at the age of eighty-four years. He was a son of William Dunton, who was born, of Scotch ancestry, in Vermont, July 6, 1776, and who was living at St. Albans at the time of the battle on Lake Champlain, in which he took part. His life occupation was that of farming. In religion he was a Methodist. He died in Williamsville, Ohio, August 27, 1848. His wife, whose maiden name was Zerviah Mc- Worthy, and who was of Scotch-Irish descent, was born in Vermont, November 10, 1778, and died October 31, 1859, at Worthington, Ohio.

The mother of Mrs. Banbury died in Marshall- town, Iowa, September 5, 1860, at the age of fifty-one. She was a daughter of Obadiah Janes (this name having originally been Dijon), who was of French lineage, and was a man of great physical strength, hopeful, genial, brave and gen- erous to a fault. During the war of the Revolu- tion he was one of the Green Mountain boys who rendered such brave service in behalf of the struggling colonies. He married Harmony Bingham, who was of English descent.

Colonel and Mrs. Banbury had three children, of whom two (twins) are living, namely: Mrs. Jesse B. Crank, of Pomona, and Mrs. Jennie B. Ford, of Pasadena.

ERRY M. GREEN. Perhaps among the citizens of Pasadena no one wields a wider influence in financial circles than does Mr. Green, who, in the capacity of president of the First National Bank, stands at the head of the banking interests of the city. Mr. Green was born in Rush county, Ind., May 7, 1838, and is a descendant of Revolutionary ancestry. His father, Lot Green, was a native of Kentucky, a state that has produced many men of distin- guished character and progressive spirit. Born in 1800, he grew to manhood in Kentucky and

894

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

became a leader in the rural community in which he lived, a man of sterling character and enter- prising disposition. During middle life he moved to Rush county, Ind., where he soon attained local prominence. His ability was recognized by his neighbors, whom he served as justice of the peace, conveyancer and general counselor. He died in Rush county July 12, 1845, while still in the prime of life. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Anna Cooper, was born in 1804 and died October 3, 1841. They lived useful lives and died regretted by all who knew them. Their son, Perry, was very young at the time of their death. He was reared on the home farm, on which he worked during the summer months, and during the winter he attended the country schools for three months. Having a leaning toward mercantile pursuits, at the age of four- teen he secured a position as clerk in a village store, but the confinement was not congenial to him, and he turned again to farming, this time as a hired hand, for which he was paid $7 per month. This was his first salaried position, and the money thus earned formed the nucleus of his present large holdings. · After a time he resumed clerking, continuing in this line of occupation until he was eighteen. He then took a two years' course in Richland Academy, in Rush county. Afterward he studied law in Shelbyville, and at the age of twenty-one was admitted to the bar. He participated in the organization of the city of Shel- byville and was elected the first clerk of the board of trustees. After serving two terms in that office he was elected city attorney and public prosecutor of pleas, which office he filled as long as he remained in the town.

October 30, 1860, Mr. Green married Miss Henrietta, daughter of John S. Campbell, the postmaster of Shelbyville. Mr. Campbell was a native of Delaware, but grew to manhood in Philadelphia, Pa., and early in the history of Shelbyville became identified with its interests, holding numerous offices of trust, including re- corder of deeds, mayor and postmaster, this last being by appointment from President Lincoln. Mr.and Mrs. Green are the parents of one child, a daughter, Miss Mary Green.

In 1866 Mr. Green removed from Shelbyville to Indianapolis, Ind., where he invested his cap- ital in a wholesale and retail drug business.

Seven years of diligent application of correct business principles brought to him satisfactory accumulations of wealth. On account of the fail- ing health of his wife he deemed a change of climate advisable, and in 1873 disposed of his business and came to Southern California. Being a keen observer of conditions and possibilities of climate, soil, etc., he at once saw the wonderful opportunities offered by this region. With others he laid hold of the region where now sits the Crown of the Valley and transformed the desert into a spot whose magnificent grandeur thrills every appreciative soul. He became a charter member of the San Gabriel Orange Grove Asso- ciation (the Indiana colony as it was then called). In 1874 he settled at the place where he now re- sides. His dwelling is in the midst of a beautiful orange grove which he planted and cultivated, and which furnishes another evidence of the hearty response of Southern California soil to the invitation of diligence.

Before he had long lived in Pasadena Mr. Green became identified with public affairs. In 1879 he was elected a member of the lower house of the California legislature. He served through the long term of 1880, the first session after the adoption of the present constitution, which in- volved a vast amount of labor in the adaptation of the laws to the constitution. At this session he introduced a bill to establish a state normal school at Los Angeles. The bill failed to pass at the time, but became a law during the next ses- sion. In politics he is a Republican, and has voted for every Republican candidate for presi- dent since casting his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

In 1885 Mr. Green organized the Pasadena Bank, which was the first bank here to be incor- porated under the laws of the state. From the first the institution met with success, receiving a large share of the accounts of the Pasadena citi- zens. In 1886 it was merged into the national system and became the First National Bank of Pasadena, of which he was the first and is the only president. The credit of the bank has, un- der his able management, continued unimpaired through all the depressions of business the coun- try has known, and the institution now has a standing among the most substantial in the state.

About the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs.

Е. Е. Епаршам

897

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Green identified themselves with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in 1875 they transferred their membership to the church of that denomi- nation in Pasadena, of which Mr. Green has since been a trustee.

There are indeed few organizations of a public character that have been, or are now, in exist- ence in Pasadena with which Mr. Green has not been in some way connected. He was an earn- est and active promoter of the great task of con- verting the lower end of San Gabriel Valley from a barren waste into a beautiful crown at the foot of the Sierra Madre Mountains. How true that in this wondrous development (whose marvelous results awaken admiration from those who have visited earth's most favored and beautiful spots) Mr. Green has "all of this seen and. part of it been." In transforming the desert into a veri- table paradise he has borne a part that entitles him to the gratitude of all who love this spot; and, indeed, not only has he seen all of this re- markable development, but, like all agents who bring harmony out of chaos and values out of latency, he has been the thing itself. Justly, therefore, his name occupies an honored position in the record of Pasadena pioneers.

r HARLES C. CHAPMAN, of Los Angeles, was born in Macomb, McDonough county, Il1., July 2, 1853. His father, Sidney Smith Chapman, was a native of Ohio, having been born in Ashtabula county in 1826. He was a descendant of one of three brothers who came from England to Massachusetts about 1650.

Sidney S. Chapman went to Macomb when about eighteen, and two years later was united in marriage with Rebecca Jane Clarke, eldest daughter of David and Eliza (Russell) Clarke, both natives of Kentucky, where the daughter was also born. To Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Chap- man were born ten children, seven of whom grew to maturity and six of whom are still living, as follows: Frank M., of Covina; Charles C .; Christopher C .; Dolla, wife of W. C. Harris, of Los Angeles; Samuel James; and Luella, wife of Charles J. Thamer, of Chicago. Emma E., who became the wife of L. W. B. Johnson, died in 1888, leaving two children. The mother of

Charles C. passed away at the family residence, No. 263 Walnut street, Chicago, January 2, 1874. The father died in October, 1893. He had ledan active business life and was highly esteemed wherever known. Both were members of the Christian Church and charter members of the West Side Church of Chicago.

Charles C. Chapman received his education in the common schools of his native town and early began to make his way in the world. He was messenger boy in 1865, and remembers well carrying the message announcing the death of President Lincoln. For a time he was employed as clerk in a store. In 1868 the family moved to the village of Vermont, Ill., where Charles went early the following year. Under the instruction of his father, who was engaged in the building business, he learned the bricklayers' trade. De- cember 19, 1871, he went to Chicago, where for a time he followed his trade. In that city, when only twenty, he superintended the construction of several buildings. In connection with his father and brother, Frank M., he followed mer- cantile life for a time, and subsequently alone for a year.

During the years 1876-77 Mr. Chapman en- gaged in canvassing in the interest of a local his- torical work in his native county, and in 1878 inaugurated this business for himself at Gales- burg, Ill. He was soon joined by his brother, Frank M., but for a few years the firm name re- mained C. C. Chapman, when it was changed to Chapman Brothers. They engaged extensively in publishing local historical and biographical works. The company was subsequently merged into the Chapman Publishing Company.

I11 1880 Chapman Brothers moved their office to Chicago, where for a dozen years the firm en- joyed prosperity, enlarging its business until it had an extensive printing and publishing plant. Several large buildings were also erected during this period. Among them were those at Nos. 87- 93 South Jefferson street, 71-73 West Monroe street, and 75-77 of the same street; the Kenmore apartment building at Loomis and Plum streets; and the Vendome hotel building at Oglesby ave- nue and Sixty-second street, all in Chicago. Be- sides, there were over twenty dwellings. During the World's Fair, in 1893, Chapman Brothers en- gaged quite extensively in the hotel business.

898

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Owing, however, to the financial panic which swept the country, crippling the attendance at the car of oranges shipped from California.

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.

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 121

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