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 126

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 126

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HARLES F. HARPER. As an honorable, straight-forward citizen, Mr. Harper holds a high position in the commercial circles of Los Angeles; and in devotion to the moral and monetary interests of his home town he has al- ways been in the front ranks. Such qualities shape the highest welfare of intelligent com- munities, and while the man must in time pass from out of his associations, his good works fol- low on and enweave themselves into other be- ings who can and will use thein for still more ex- tensive enterprises. By right and honorable dealing, a strict adherence to right and justice in business transactions, and by following a con- servative policy in all enterprises, he gradually built up for himself a name as a keen, far-seeing and judicious business man.

The descendant of a long line of southern ancestry, Mr. Harper was born in Greene county, N. C., July 14, 1832, and is the only survivor of the two children of John S. and Nancy (Gibbons) Harper, natives also of Greene county. In the war between the States his father was among the missing and the place of his death is therefore unknown. The mother came to Los Angeles a long time after that and died here when sixty- one years of age. She was a daughter of John N. and Polly Gibbons, and a niece of a former United States senator from Mississippi. Mr. Gibbons was a native of North Carolina and an

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old-time Methodist preacher, as well as a tiller of the soil. The paternal grandfather of our sub- ject was Charles Harper, who was a lifelong resi- dent of North Carolina.

In 1839 Charles F. Harper was taken by an uncle to Columbus, Miss., where he later learned the tinner's trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years and then entering business with a partner. In 1860 he was employed by the Con- federate government in detached service. He remained at the front until the close of the war, when he resumed business in Columbus, Miss. In 1868 he went to New York, and there took a steamer for San Francisco, coming from the latter city to Los Angeles, and opening a hardware store on the corner of Spring and Temple streets, as a member of the firm of Bryden & Harper. After a few months he purchased his partner's interest in the business, which he conducted alone for some time. In 1883 the Harper & Reynolds Company was organized, with Mr. Harper as president, a position that he has since held. However, he is practically retired from business pursuits, as his son, Arthur C., has his interests in charge. The company is one of the largest dealers in hardware on the coast and oc- cupies a store at Nos. 152-154 North Main street, which is equipped with a complete assort- ment of everything in this special line.

Politically Mr. Harper is a Democrat and cast his first vote for James Buchanan in 1856. He has been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1854. He and his wife are charter members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of Los Angeles. He took the first steps on the part of the laymen to secure a foundation for that church here, and his business tact and liberality have been large factors in securing for the congregation their fine property.

The marriage of Mr. Harper took place No- vember 5, 1857, and united him with Martha Wheeler Mullen, a descendant of the Wheeler family, of whom Gen. Joe Wheeler is the pres- ent famous representative. Mrs. Harper was born in Columbus, Miss., a daughter of George M. and Mary (Cross) Mullen, natives respect- ively of New York and North Carolina. Her father, who was a merchant by occupation, died in Alabama when eighty years of age; and hier mother was thirty-seven at the time of her death

in Columbus, Miss. Mr. and Mrs. Harper are the parents of ten children, five of whom are now living, namely: Edward J., who is a prominent minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church South; Arthur C., who is connected with the company of which his father is president; Albert G., Augustus D. and Benjamin W. There are also five grandchildren.

R. WARNER, the genial and business-like proprietor of Hotel Redondo, situated at

· Redondo Beach, is the third Warner in the direct line of descent actively associated with the management of hotels, and doubtless he in- herited much of the special ability which is nec- essary to the successful control of an enterprise of the kind. Certain it is that he is considered one of the best hotel men upon the Pacific coast, and his long experience renders him just the right one for so important a hostelry as the hotel with which he is now connected.

The Warner family settled in Vermont in 1812 and our subject's grandfather kept a hotel for many years. The father of H. R. Warner early became familiar with the business in which his senior was engaged, and when he embarked in an independent career he decided to give his at- tention to the same calling.

The birth of H. R. Warner occurred in his father's hotel in Danville Green, Vt., and in that town he obtained his education and early busi- ness training. He was graduated in the high school at Newbury, Vt., when he was about twenty years of age, and thence went to Boston, where he obtained a position on the state engi- neering corps. Later he was sent to New Mex- ico with a party of government surveyors, with whom he spent six years -a period replete with incident, hardships and, withal, much of interest. and profit.

In 1885 Mr. Warner resumed the occupation with which he always had been familiar, and lo- cating on Coronado Beach, then but sparsely set- tled, he took charge of the Josephine hotel, which he managed with fair success. Later he went to San Gabriel and there was engaged in the liotel business for some five years, after which he was the proprietor of the leading hostelry at Bartlett Springs for a similar period. During all of these

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years he had made a special study of the wishes and demands of the traveling public, and had given such general satisfaction that it was deemed a very wise move on the part of those having the interests of Redondo at heart, that he was re- quested to assume the management of the hotel, which, in itself, is one of the great attractions of this beautiful sea-side resort. The building, which is a handsome modern structure, thor- onghly equipped with every comfort and con- venience, stands upon a sightly eminence over- looking the broad Pacific. The grounds are beautiful and well kept, and broad cement walks lead in various directions. Everything calculated to conduce to the pleasure and well-being of the guests of the hotel is provided, and its reputa- tion is becoming more and more favorable as the seasons come and go.

The marriage of Mr. Warner and Miss Emma Noddin, of Independence, Minn., occurred in 1883. She was born in New York state, but was reared chiefly in Minnesota. To Mr. and Mrs. Warner one child was born, Alice, now eight years of age.

Mr. Warner, naturally, is a very busy man and has little time for politics or outside inter- ests, yet he attends to his duties as a citizen and uses his franchise in behalf of the nominees of the Republican party. He keeps posted upon the leading issues of the day and is a gentleman of wide reading and observation. In all of life's relations he is sincere and upright, deserving the respect of all.

ARRY B. AINSWORTH. The march of improvement and progress is accelerated day by day and each moment seems to de- mand of men a broader intelligence and greater discernment than did the preceding. Successful men must be live men in this age, bristling with activity, prompt in seizing every opportunity in the "nick of time," fertile in expedient and not

easily discouraged. Fortunes are not often ac- quired in a day or year, as sometimes happened a few decades ago; on the contrary, it seems that every step towards prosperity must be fought with all the vigor and strength of purpose that can be mustered, but in the end the victory is all the more desirable.

In some respects Harry B. Ainsworth, of Redondo, has been more blessed by fortune than was his father before him, and certainly he owes a great deal to the worthy example which his senior set, but, on the other hand, he has had to bring to bear upon his business qualities of con- centration and diligence which were not as vitally necessary when his father was a young man. The latter, J. C. Ainsworth, was one of the best known citizens on the Pacific slope, and for years was actively associated with some of the leading enterprises of the coast. More than thirty years he was president of the Oregon Steamship Navi- gation Company, which he assisted to found, and which, under his splendid management, became one of the foremost factors in the development of this coast. He was actively interested with many other business enterprises, in which he had as a ·partner R. R. Thompson, a San Fran- cisco gentleman of wealth and high standing. Long before Redondo, as it appears to-day, was dreamed of, they purchased land here and com- menced making great improvements, building docks for large steamers, erecting one of the finest hotels along the Southern Pacific Railway, and investing in every direction. Among the many things which they originated was the famous carnation farm, where the finest and most varied kinds of the flower are grown in enormous quantities, and shipped to important towns and cities. In 1880, after just three dec- ades spent in active labors on the Pacific coast, the senior Ainsworth retired from business, and, taking up his residence in Oakland, there passed the rest of his life. He was a Mason of the thirty-third degree, and his friends in commercial and social circles are legion.

The birth of Harry B. Ainsworth occurred in Portland, Ore., in 1870, and in that city he was reared and educated. After his father's death the brother, J. C. Ainsworth, Jr., a Portland banker, became the head of the various business concerns above referred to, including the Los Angeles & Redondo Railroad, the Redondo Hotel Company and the Redondo Improvement Company, while our subject became the secre- tary and treasurer of the same. The main share of the actual management of these large and thriving organizations falls upon Harry B. Ains- worth, as he makes his home at Redondo, and

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thus is in a position to attend to the business in person, while the elder brother lives in the north. Though he has been identified with those com- panies only five years he has given abundant evi- dence of his executive ability, and judging by what he has accomplished prior to reaching thirty years of age, it is safe to predict for him a brilliant future. Personally he is extremely popular with business men and with everyone with whom he has dealings, and in society he is a general favorite.

G EORGE S. BECKWITH. Among his cir- cle of acquaintances Mr. Beckwith is known as a public-spirited citizen and successful walnut-grower, whose success is due not to luck but to a steady persistence and energetic deter- mination that have been his leading characteris- tics. Since he came to Los Angeles county, in 1887, he has been identified with the ranching interests of this locality, and has been particu- larly interested in the nursery business and in the raising of walnuts aud oranges for the eastern markets. Heis a member of the Los Nietos and Ranchito Walnut Growers' Association, incorpo- rated, an organization that has proved most help- ful to the fruit and nut-growers of this commu- nity.

In New Britain, Conn., Mr. Beckwith was born October 25, 1830, the son of Chauncey and Abi- gail (Smith) Beckwith, natives respectively of Hartford and New Britain, Conn. He comes of patriotic lineage. His grandfather, Samuel Beck- with, served the country in the war of 1812, and the latter's father enlisted in the American army at the opening of the Revolutionary war, and con- tinued in the service until he was killed by a can- non ball.

The childhood years of Mr. Beckwith's life were passed quite uneventfully. Going to school during the winter months and working on the home farm in the summer, the months and years quickly passed, until he reached man's estate. When he was a young man, in 1857, he went to Kansas, desiring to identify himself with the forces that were settling there, to hold the state for the Union. He secured a claim in Wabaunsee county and began to break the sod, clear the land and begin the task of improvement and cul-

tivation. For many years le engaged in stock- raising and general farming, which occupations he found more to his liking than the jeweler's trade he had followed in the east. During the Civil war and for years afterward he continued to make Kansas his home, but finally continued dis- appointments in crops led him to decide to change his location. He then came to California and set- tled near Rivera, where he has ten acres under walnuts and oranges.

Before leaving Connecticut Mr. Beckwith mar- ried Miss Hannah W. Sharpe, of New Britain, an estimable lady, whose death in 1876 was a deep bereavement to her husband. They had 110 children of their own, but adopted and reared a boy, Weldon E. Beckwith, who is now living in Wabaunsee county, Kans.

No one who knows Mr. Beckwith well is in doubt as to his political views. He is a stanch Republican, and has never failed to cast his vote for the presidential candidates of his party since the time he supported John C. Fremont for the highest office within the gift of the people. His interest in public affairs is deep and constant, and in Los Angeles county, as in Kansas, he has proved himself a true and model citizen. De- servedly he enjoys the confidence of his associates and the esteem of his nearer circle of friends.

Ň ILLIAM R. ROWLAND. The past few years have witnessed a remarkable devel- opment of the oil industry in California. Hundreds of new companies have been formed, new wells have been bored, and new regions opened up. Nor has the progress of this industry been helpful alone to such as are directly con- nected with it. Almost every line of business has been promoted indirectly, for the possibility of securing cheap fuel has stimulated all indus- tries and has inaugurated a wave of prosperity highly appreciated by business men of all classes.

Among the names intimately associated with the growth of this industry, mention belongs to William R. Rowland, of Los Angeles and Puente, president of the Puente Oil Company. He is a native son of the golden west, and was born at La Puente Rancho, Los Angeles county, Novem- ber 10, 1848, a son of John and Dona Incarnation (Martinez) Rowland. He was educated in the

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private school of William Wolfskill and in Santa Clara College, where he spent the years of 1858, 1859 and 1860. From 1871 to 1876 he acceptably filled the office of sheriff of Los Angeles county. In 1871 he married a daughter of Col. Isaac Williams, of El Rancho de Chino, and Dona Jesus Villaneuva de Williams. Three children are theirs.

Believing that the Puente hills near his home contained petroleum oil, in 1884, in connection with Burdette Chandler, Mr. Rowland began prospecting. The shallow wells yielded crude oil. After a time Mr. Chandler sold his interest to Mr. Lacy, and the new firm employed expe- rienced borers from the Pennsylvania oil districts. The business has been made financially profitable. Pipe-lines have been laid to the Chino sugar factory, and that great manufacturing industry is now supplied with fuel oil from the Puente hills. This discovery awakened interest in the oil-bearing strata, and now the Puente hills are not only supplying this trade, but the hill regions of Los Angeles are pouring out millions of bar- rels of oil which is used in manufactures and in transportation services, the main railroads using great quantities of the oil in their locomotives. In thus being a pioneer in the cheap fuel indus- try, Mr. Rowland has earned the gratitude of his fellow-citizens.

Possessing a genial nature and practical com- mon sense, with honesty and enterprise, Mr. Rowland could not be otherwise than esteemed by those who admire these qualities. At his home on the Puente ranch all of the elements of happiness and comfort are to be found, and here much of his time is spent with his family and in looking after his stock and oil interests. In poli- tics he is a Democrat. He was appointed by Governor Budd a member of the board of trustees of the Whittier school, and this position he is now filling. He has done much to bring that institu- tion to a higher place, and is ever ready to assist the boys in any effort toward a better, more use- ful life. His work in this connection has brought him much deserved praise.

P EORGE NADEAU. During the half cen- tury which marks the span of George Na- deau's life he has experienced many of the vicissitudes common to the pioneer and has been

influential in the upbuilding and development of Florence, where he has dwelt for the greater part of three decades.

Remi Nadeau, who is a well-remembered early settler of Los Angeles county, was born near Quebec, Canada, in 1820, a son of Joseph Nadeau, who likewise was born in Canada. In 1860 Remi Nadeau began his career as a frontiersman by crossing the plains on his way to distant Cali- fornia. He was plucky, but his ambition was greater than his wealth or his good fortune, for one of his yoke of oxen was lost before he reached Omaha and he then sold his wagon and outfit, perceiving that the better way for him to do was to obtain a position as a driver of a team in one of the numerous large and well-protected trains which were constantly setting out for the west from Omaha. He had no difficulty in getting such a place, and sending all of his money home to his family he proceeded on his journey, and was considered one of the best men of the company.

Arriving in Sacramento in the spring of 1862 he followed his trade, that of a millwright, there, as he had done the winter before in Salt Lake City. Then he bought and sold produce in the mining regions of Northern California, and in the autumn of the same year came to this part of the state. Here he kept five or six ox-teams busy, transporting goods and supplies from the sea-board. Later he employed mules for the con- veying of the freight which he distributed at va- rious points, as desired; and at one time he had" eight hundred mules in the different departments of his business. For fifteen years lie continned to devote his energy to his chosen field of enter- prise, but at the end of that period the new rail- roads rendered useless much of the heavy freight- ing which had hitherto been necessary. As stated above, he came to Los Angeles in 1862 and in 1864 took up his permanent residence there, his family joining him in 1868. He be- came wealthy and was enabled to retire many years prior to his death, which event took place January 11, 1887. A strong Republican and a man who had the courage of his convictions, he took an active part in elections, but for himself never desired public office. Of his seven chil- dren, three sons and four daughters, only two sons and a daughter survive.

George Nadeau, son of the worthy pioneer

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whose history has just been outlined, was born near Quebec, Canada, March 27, 1850. For sev- eral years in his boyhood he lived in Faribault, Minn., and was educated in the common schools. In his youth he worked for twenty-five cents a day and gradually was promoted for his real ability and merit. When he was eighteen years old he came to this section and here found employment along the same lines as his father had done. At the end of seven yaars, when his father sold out, he went to Neveda, where he turned his atten- tion to the raising of live stock. In 1880 he re- turned to Florence, where he has since dwelt. He bears an enviable reputation as a citizen and is accounted one of the truly successful and pro- gressive agriculturists of this county. Politi- cally he votes for the candidates of the Republi- can party.

Mr. Nadeau married Miss Nellie Tyler, a daughter of Jerry Tyler, who crossed the plains from Iowa to California in 1857 and about three years ago died in Nevada.

AJOR GEORGE H. BONEBRAKE was born in Eaton, Preble county, Ohio. His early years were spent upon the ancestral farm, and he attended the village school two or three months each winter. When seventeen he entered the Otterbein University at Westerville. After six years of hard study he was gradnated, and so proficient was he in Latin and Greek, German and French, that he was immediately elected professor of languages in au academy in a neighboring town.

A man not possessed of great ambition would have found enough in the duties of this position to absorb all his energies. Prof. Bonebrake found time simultaneously to study law. In 1862 he volunteered as a private in au Indiana infantry regiment. By the close of the war the private had won his way to be major of his regi- ment, with the brevet of lieutenant-colonel.

Major Bonebrake returned to Indianapolis and formed a law partnership with his former in- structor under the style of Brown & Bonebrake. About the same time he married a former school- mate, Miss Emma Locke. In 1869 he was made cashier of the Citizens' Bank at Noblesville, Ind.

He held this position until 1878, when consump- tion attacking the health of Mrs. Bonebrake, the family came to California, hoping the climate might restore her. The hope was vain. The insidious disease had obtained too firm a hold; she declined little by little, finally dying. In ac- cordance with her request she was laid to rest beneath California's sunny skies.

Too energetic of mind to be idle long, Major Bonebrake soon went into business with all the intensity of his nature, and for nearly twenty years he has stood in the foremost ranks of the little army of courageous and enterprising men who have so marvelously developed the resources of this section and built up the city of Los An- geles. Away back in the early 'Sos he was in- strumental in tearing away the old shanties at the corner of Spring and First streets and replac- ing them with the handsome bank building. Directly afterward he was the main spirit in re- placing the old Spring street brick school with the magnificent Bryson-Bonebrake block. Dur- ing all this time he was one of the active finan- ciers of this section. His masterly hand has been busy in organizing bank after bank in the towns as they have grown and multiplied, until he is a director in half a score of these institutions, being vice-president of most of them, as well as president of the Los Angeles National. Every bank which has had the advantage of his wise direction has proven a gratifying success.

Meantime Major Bonebrake has established carriage repositories all the way from here to Puget Sound. He is a successful patrou of hor- ticulture, planting, owning and supervising nu- merous groves of walnuts, olives, lemons and oranges.

AMES ARNOLD BARROWS was born Feb- ruary 25, 1830, in Mansfield, Tolland coun- ty, Conn. His younger days were spent upon a farm. After he became of age he went to Massachusetts and spent several years in a shoe manufactory. In 1855 he married Abby Bar- rows, and in 1858 returned to his old home in Mansfield, Conn., where his wife died. In July, 1860, he married Cornelia Storrs Swift, and in 1862 he enlisted in the Twenty-second Connecti- cut Volunteers and served for ten months, till

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discharged on account of expiration of time. He again returned to the old farm and remained till 1868, when his father sold his farm, and in April he and wife and two children left New York on the steamer Ocean Queen for Califor- nia. He came by the isthmus. On his way he stopped at Manzinillo and Acapulco. At Pan- ama he took the steamer Golden Age for San Francisco.

In just a month from the time of starting he

arrived in Los Angeles-May 16, 1868. He clerked for his brother (then J. D. Hicks & Co.) the first year. After that he and his brother bought the dairy (one hundred head) of L. J. Ross, and he had charge of that for seven years, when they sold out. After his brother went out of the hardware business he took it up, and with his brother's assistance followed that for ten years, since which time he has been in 110 business.

INDEX HISTORICAL

CHAPTER I

SPANISH DISCOVERIES ON THE PACIFIC COAST OF NORTH AMERICA. ... 15 Spanish Enterprise and Adventure-Scurvy, the Scourge of the Seas-Herman Cortes-Fortuño Ximenez discovers Baja California-Origin of the name California-Discovery of the Rio Colorado-Ulloa's Voyage-Mendoza sends Cabrillo on a Voyage of Discovery to the North- west Coast.

CHAPTER II

THE DISCOVERY OF NUEVA OR ALTA CALIFORNIA. 18

Cabrillo's Voyage-Discovery of the Bay of San Diego-Islands of San Clemente and Santa Catalina-San Pedro Bay-Santa Barbara Islands-Death of Cabrillo-Return of his ships- Drake's Voyage through the Straits of Magellan-Plunders Spanish Settlements on the South Pacific Coast-Search for the Straits of Anian-Refits his ship at Point Reyes-Names Cali- fornia New Albion-Returns to England-Sebastian Viscaino's Voyage-Changes the names of bays and islands discovered by Cabrillo-First Boom Literature-Failure of a California Coloni- zation Scheme-Death of Viscaino.

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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 126

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