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 40

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 40

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In Dayton, Ohio, Mr. Stewart was born Au- gnst 27, 1847, the eldest of eight children com- prising the family of Henry B. and Sarah (Thomas) Stewart, natives of Pennsylvania. His father was orphaned at seven years of age and from that time made his own way in the world, during most of his active years following the oc- cupation of a contractor, althoughi since 1876, when he settled in California, he has given his attention principally to fruit farming. The boy- hood days of our subject were spent in various cities, but principally in Dayton, Ohio, Rochester, N. Y., and Philadelphia, Pa. While still a lad he went to Illinois, where he spent some years

on a farm. However, agriculture was not a con- genial occupation and was used by him only as a stepping stone to other work. In 1873 he was graduated from Shurtleff College, an old-estab- lished institution at Upper Alton, Il1. After his gradnation he remained for several years in the college as professor of mathematics, a chair for which his fine mathematical ability admirably qualified him. Meantime he took up the study of theology and in 1876 completed the regular course in Newton Theological College.

The first visit of Mr. Stewart to the Pacific coast was in 1876, the year of his father's re- moval west. He accepted a position in the Cali- fornia College, where he held the chair for sev- eral years. From 1881 to 1884 he was acting president of Ottawa (Kans.) University, after which he was engaged in the practice of law in Blackfoot, Idaho, until December, 1893. During the latter part of those years he took a leading part in prohibition work there. He was a promi- nent member of the Prohibition party in the state and was honored by his party by nomina- tion for supreme judge; the party being largely in the minority, he made the contest without hope of success, but believing it to be his duty to do all within his power to advance the canse to which he was devoted. During the latter part of 1893 he left Idaho and settled in Los Angeles, where he has since carried on a general practice, having his office at present in the Bradbury block. In this city he stands among the best- known men of his profession. His course as a lawyer and as a citizen has been such as to com- mend him to his associates. He has contributed to the extension of religious movements, and especially to the Baptist Church, with which he is identified. As a Prohibitionist he worked for the interest of a grand cause, believing that only by personal sacrifice and party movement can the growing evil of the liquor traffic be held in check, and he furthermore thoroughly opposes the pres- ent system of government revennes to be derived from the sale of intoxicants.

The marriage of Mr. Stewart, in 1876, united him with Miss Anna Burchsted, who was born in St. Louis, the daughter of a seafaring man. Their family is composed of three sons, Henry B., Arthur T. and Paul, the eldest of whom is a law student in his father's office.

W. A. HARRIS

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ILL A. HARRIS. A fearless champion of the right as he believes it; a man of deep sound common-sense and strong convic- tions founded upon thorough investigation and study, a patriot worthy of the name, Will A. Harris, of Los Angeles, is recognized as a power in the legal profession, which he adorns, in the field of politics, where he excels, and in all of the varied relations of life. His career at the bar has been one of the highest honor, and at no time has he sacrificed his high standard of professional ethics for the sake of the temporary advantage which might be gained thereby.

Mr. Harris comes of stanch old Revolutionary stock and his nativity occurred upon a fine old southern plantation in Tennessee in the year 1854. His father, A. G. Harris, a citizen of high standing in that state, espoused the cause of the Confederacy, and during the Civil war rose from the rank of first-lieutenant to the colonelcy of his regiment, making a fine record for bravery and gallant service.

As a student, Will A. Harris early manifested unusual ability and by the time that he had reached the age of nineteen years he not only obtained an education in the Cumberland University at Leb- anon, but also had been admitted to the bar. He continued to engage in practice at Memphis for about a year, laying the foundations of his future success by earnest, indefatigable work in the preparation of his cases and in pleading be- fore the local courts. His health at that time not being of the best, and, as he had a desire to see something of the great and growing west, he went to Texas and the Indian territory, where he spent several months in the active, out-door life of the frontier. He not only became robust in body, but also more strong and fearless in deeds of enterprise and daring, and this fine courage has never left him. Indeed, only a few years subsequently he imperiled his life in rescuing a drowning youth of fifteen, who, in battling with the surf on the seashore in San Diego county, was being carried out by the strong under-tow. For his gallantry on this occasion Mr. Harris was awarded a first-class life-saving gold medal by the United States government, the same being accompanied by a glowing tribute from the pen of the secretary of the treasury, Mr. Fairchild.

For eighteen years after his arrival in Califor-

nia Mr. Harris was busily engaged in the prac- tice of law in San Bernardino, and in 1877 was elected to the position of district attorney of his county, in which office he served to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. For the past seven years he has been a resident of Los Angeles and has built up a large and remunerative practice among our representative citizens. His field of endeavor has been larger than that of most law- yers of the day, as he has not confined his talents to any particular branch of professional work. While for the most part he has devoted his time to civil law, there have been a few notable excep- tions, and he has proved his superior ability in the criminal courts no less than in others. While in San Bernardino, as previously mentioned, he was the public prosecutor, and later he defended those charged with crime, in a few notable in- stances, winning fresh laurels for himself in every case. He has given special attention to the law as applied to mining property, and among others conducted the famous Silver King case. He was connected with the litigation growing out of the first locations in Randsburg and is counsel in the very important litigation growing out of the recent discoveries of oil in California. In a number of very important cases where the inter- state commerce act was involved he displayed remarkable knowledge of constitutional law, go- ing to the very root of the subject.

Coming from one of the representative families of the south, it is not strange that Mr. Harris early imbibed the principles of Jefferson or that he firmly adhered to the Democratic party so long as he believed that it was sensible and consistent. When, however, in convention assembled, in 1896, the majority declared themselves in favor of "free silver" and Bryan, his independence of thought asserted itself and he championed "sound" money, as he always had done, believ- ing that the financial policy which this nation has thus far maintained is founded upon the basic rock of well-tested, wise and beneficial principles. Then (for the time demanded men of conviction and powers of expressing the same) he went up- on the rostrum and during the ensuing campaign made no less than twenty-six forcible, eloquent speeches. He was the first to deliver an address upon the subject of sound money in Los Angeles, and that he carried conviction to the minds of his

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

learers cannot be doubted by any one who had the pleasure of listening to his impressive argu- ments. Many who had hesitated between the allegiance which they desired to give to their party, and the duty which they felt was due their country, no longer wavered, but followed his ex- ample and placed the welfare of their fair land foremost.

After his settlement in San Bernardino Mr. Harris made the acquaintance of Miss Nettie Allen, a native of Ohio, and in the centennial year they united their destinies. Their marriage was blessed by the birth of two sons, now nearly arrived at maturity.

C AMES MILLER GUINN, of Los Angeles City, was born near Houston, Shelby county, Ohio, November 27, 1834. His paternal and maternal ancestors removed from Scotland and settled in the north of Ireland in the latter part of the seventeenth century. His father was born near Enniskillen, in County Fermanagh, and his mother, Eliza Miller, was born near Lon- donderry. His father came to America in 1819, and after ten years spent in the lumber business in the province of New Brunswick he migrated to Ohio, in 1830, and located on a tract of land covered with a dense forest.

James M. Guinn spent his boyhood years in assisting his father to clear a farm. The facili- ties for obtaining an education in the backwoods of Ohio fifty years ago were very meager. Three months of each winter he attended school in a little log schoolhouse. By studying in the even- ings, after a hard day's work, he prepared him- self for teaching; and at the age of eighteen be- gan the career of a country pedagogue. For two years he alternated teaching with farming. Ambitious to obtain a better education, he en- tered the preparatory department of Antioch Col- lege, of which institution Horace Mann, the emi- nent educator, was then president. In 1857 he entered Oberlin College. He was entirely de- pendent on his own resources for his college ex- penses. By teaching during vacations, by man- ual labor and the closest economy, he worked his way through college and graduated with honors.

On the breaking out of the Civil war, in 1861,

he was among the very first to respond to Presi- dent Lincoln's call for volunteers, enlisting April 19, 1861, four days after the fall of Fort Sumter. He was a member of Company C, Seventh Regi- ment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Later he enlisted in the same regiment for three years. This regiment was one of the first sent into West Vir- ginia. He served through the West Virginia campaign under McClellan and afterwards under Rosecrans. The Seventh Regiment joined the army of the Potomac in the fall of 1861, and took part in all the great battles in which that army was engaged up to and including the battle of Gettysburg. In September, 1863, the regiment, as part of the Twelfth Army Corps, was sent to the west, and was engaged in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Ring- gold. Its three years being ended, it was mus- tered out the Ist of June, 1864, in front of At- lanta.

In August, 1861, while the Seventh Regiment was guarding Carnifax Ferry, on the Gauley river, it was attacked by three thousand Con- federates under Floyd and Wise. After a des- perate resistance it was forced to retreat, leaving its dead and wounded on the field. On the retreat the company of which Mr. Guinn was a member fell into an ambush and nearly one-half of those who escaped from the battlefield were captured. Mr. Guinn, after a narrow escape from capture, traveled for five days in the moun- tains, subsisting on a few berries and leaves of wintergreen. He finally reached the Union forces at Gauley Bridge, almost starved. At the battle of Cedar Mountain his regiment lost sixty- six per cent. of those engaged-a percentage of loss nearly twice as great as that of the Light Brigade in its famous charge at Balaklava. Of the twenty-three of Mr. Guinn's company who went into the battle only six came out unhurt, he being one of the fortunate six.

Of his military service, a history of the com- pany written by one of his comrades after the war, says: "Promoted to corporal November I, 1862; took part in the battles of Cross Lanes, Winchester, Port Republic, Cedar Mountain, second Bull Run, Antietam, Dumfries. * * On every march of the company till his dis- charge."

After his discharge he was commissioned by

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Governor Tod, of Ohio, captain in a new regi- ment that was forming, but, his health having been broken by hard service and exposure, he was compelled to decline the position.

In 1864 he came to California (by way of Panama) for the benefit of his health. After teaching school three months in Alameda county he joined the gold rush to Idaho, packing his blankets on his back and footing it from Umatilla, Ore., to Boise Basin, a distance of three hundred miles. For three years he followed gold mining with varying success, sometimes striking it rich and again dead broke. His health failing him again, from the effects of his army service, he returned to California in 1867; and in 1868 went east and took treatment for a number of months in Dr. Jackson's famous water cure, at Danville, N. Y. He returned to California in 1869, and in October of that year came to Los Angeles. He found employment as principal of the schools of Anaheim-a position he filled for twelve consecutive years. He reached the town with $10; hy investing his savings from his salary in land, at the end of twelve years he sold his landed possessions for $15,000. During the greater portion of the time he was employed in the Anaheim schools he was a member of the county board of education. He helped to or- ganize the first teachers' institute (October 31, 1870) ever organized in the county. In 1874 he married Miss D. C. Marquis, an assistant teacher. To them three children have been born: Mabel Elisabeth, Edna Marquis and Howard James.

In 1881 Mr. Guinn was appointed superin- tendent of the city schools of Los Angeles. He filled the position of school superintendent for two years. He then engaged in merchandising, which he followed for three years. Selling out, he engaged in the real estate and loan business, safely passing through the boom. He filled the position of a deputy county assessor for several years.

Politically he has always been a stanch Re- publican. He was secretary of a Republican club before he was old enough to vote, and, ar- riving at the voting age, he cast his first vote for John C. Fremont, in 1856, and has had the

privilege of voting for every Republican nominee for president. In 1873, when the county was overwhelmingly Democratic, he was the Repub- lican nominee for the assembly and came within fifty-two votes of being elected. In 1875 he was the nominee of the anti-monopoly wing of the Republican party for state superintendent of public instruction. For the sake of party har- mony he withdrew just before the election in favor of the late Prof. Ezra Carr, who was triumphantly elected. He served a number of years on the Republican county central com- mittee, filling the position of secretary from 1884 to 1886.

Mr. Guinn took an active part in the organiza- tion of the Historical Society of Southern Cali- fornia, in 1883, and has filled every office in the gift of the society. He has contributed a num- ber of valuable historical papers to magazines and newspapers and has edited the Historical Society's Annual for the past ten years. He is a member of the American Historical Association of Washington, D. C., having the honor of being the only representative of that association in Southern California. While engaged in the pro- fession of teaching he was a frequent contributor to educational periodicals and ranked high as a lecturer on educational subjects before teachers' institutes and associations. He is a charter member of Stanton Post No. 55, G. A. R .; also a past post commander, and has discharged the duties of post adjutant continuously for eight years. In Southern California Lodge No. 191, A. O. U. W., he has held the office of recorder for fourteen years. When the Society of the Pioneers of Los Angeles County was organized he was one of the committee of three selected to draft a form of organization and a constitution and by-laws, and has filled the position of secre- tary and that of a member of the board of directors continuously since the society's organi- zation.

Besides the historical portion of this volume, he has written a brief history of California, and is now engaged in collecting material for a more extended work on California history.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

G ON. JOHN D. WORKS. With justice the subject of this article is conceded to fill a most important position among the prominent professional men of Southern California. Al- though he had but limited means when a young man, and had no influence to aid him except his own good name and his upright conduct, with these, and by indomitable perseverance and the exercise of wise judgment he has steadily risen until he now occupies a place of marked consid- eration both on the bench and at the bar. Since he came to the Pacific coast he has enjoyed unin- terrupted success, and these years of his life have been a fitting climax to his career as statesman and attorney in Indiana. Until he came to Cali- fornia in 1883 he made his home in Switzerland county, Ind., where his father, James A. Works, a Kentuckian by birth, was long a leading lawyer. His mother, Phoebe (Downey) Works, was a na- tive of Indiana. He was born in Indiana in 1847. When sixteen and one-half years old he enlisted in the Tenth Indiana Cavalry, which he accom- panied to the front, serving for more than two years with the army of the Cumberland.

At the close of the war, receiving an honorable discharge from the army, he returned home and began to read law in the office of Hon. A. C. Downey, a relative. The latter was for years one of Indiana's most distinguished jurists. For six years he served as a judge of the supreme court of the state, and for sixteen years was a judge of the circuit court, his last election as cir- cuit judge being when seventy-four years of age. It was under such a distinguished and able pre- ceptor as Judge Downey that John D. Works acquired his rudimentary knowledge of the law. He enjoyed exceptional advantages, therefore, for the acquiring of important professional knowl- edge. He was admitted to the bar and engaged in practice in Indiana, where he soon gained a high reputation for his knowledge of the law. His ability led to his selection as a member of the state legislature, in which he served during the session of 1879.

During his residence in Indiana Judge Works wrote two law works. One of these, treating of the practice in that state, was issued in three volumes.

On changing his residence from Indiana to California Judge Works opened a law office in

San Diego. He soon became prominent in that city. In 1886 the governor of the state, on the petition of the bar, appointed him superior judge of San Diego county, and at the next election he was chosen for the same office without opposi- tion. His appointment was a tribute to his ability, for he possessed stanch Republican prin- ciples, yet the appointment came from a Demo- cratic governor. After one year of service as superior judge he resigned and entered into law practice in San Diego with Hon. Olin Wellborn, now judge of the United States district court at Los Angeles. A year later he was appointed a justice of the supreme court of California, to serve until the ensuing election. At the election following he was chosen to serve as a supreme court justice to fill the unexpired term of Judge Mckinstry, which office he filled with the same dignity and impartiality noticeable in his every act, public or private. When the term expired he declined to be a candidate for re-election, and returned to San Diego, taking up the practice of law with Hon. James A. Gibson and Harry L. Titus, under the firm name of Works, Gibson & Titus. He made a specialty of the law relative to water rights and water companies; few attor- neys in the state are more familiar than he with this most important branch of the profession. He is now and has been for years attorney for the San Diego Water Company, and acts in the same capacity for the San Diego Flume Company and the San Diego Land and Town Company. In 1896 he removed from San Diego to Los Angeles, his present home, but he still retains his office in San Diego, where his son represents the firm of Works & Works. In Los Angeles he is at the head of the firm of Works & Lee, which has in the Henne block one of the finest office suites in the city and also owns a very exhaustive and val- uable law library. Besides his connection with other matters of law he acts as attorney for the Consolidated Water Company, which was orgall- ized under the laws of West Virginia and carries on business in San Diego. Socially he is a mem- ber of the California Club.

In 1868 Judge Works married Miss Alice Banta, of Indiana. They have two sons and four daugh- ters, namely: Lewis R., member of the law firm of Works & Works, of San Diego; Thomas L., who gives his attention to ranching; Ida E., wife

GW H6 Perry

Photo by Marceau.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of Herman S. Darling, of Los Angeles; Laura, Ethel and Isabel.

Summing up the life of Judge Works, it may be said that he is one of the best known attorneys of Southern California. The people have more than once signified their appreciation of his abil- ity by electing him to one of the most important offices in the state. Though he is a Republican, his supporters as an official were almost as nu- merous among Democrats as among his own party; all united in giving him the respect that was his due. The wisdom of his selection to serve on the bench was vindicated by his honor- able service in that capacity. He was known not only for his legal erndition, but also for his impartial spirit and his ability to penetrate the inmost recesses of subjects submitted for his de- cision.

ILLIAM HAYES PERRY was born October 17, 1832, near Newark, Ohio, where he spent his boyhood. In 1853, partly on account of his health, he started for California overland with Colonel Hollister, of Santa Barbara, who crossed the plains that year with stock, sheep, cattle and horses. The party, which comprised about fifty men and five ladies, crossed the Missouri river at Bennett's ferry, south of Council Bluffs. Much annoyed by In- dians on the way the party at length reached California, having made the journey via Salt Lake City, thence south via San Bernardino to Los Angeles, arriving in Los Angeles in Feb- ruary, 1854.

Mr. Perry tells an amusing story of his first arrival in Los Angeles. Like so many others, before and since, at the end of his long overland journey he arrived here worn out, dead broke, and very nearly naked. The first thing he did was to try and get a suit of clothes on credit, which required considerable cheek. He made his way into a store and told his story to the proprietor, who was an entire stranger, and asked to be trusted until he could earn enough money to pay for the cheapest suit of clothes he had in the store. Notwithstanding his ragged appearance, the proprietor of the store seemed to be favorably impressed, and not only offered to trust him for a plain working suit, but also in-

sisted that he take a second and better suit to wear to church and other places requiring him to dress well, allowing him his own time to pay for them both. Mr. Perry says he felt so grateful for his kindness to him that he could never fully repay the kindly act of one who befriended him when destitute, and "when naked, clothed him."

Having finished his apprenticeship in cabinet- making and turning before leaving the east, Mr. Perry engaged in this business on his arrival in Los Angeles. Although a mere boy, he took hold with an ambition and will to accomplish all that industry, economy and perseverance could bring him in that business, and in less than one year from the time of his arrival opened the first furniture store in Los Angeles. With the articles of his own manufacture, and with shipments he made from San Francisco, he kept a full and complete assortment, and held the trade solidly, having no competitor for four years. In 1846 he took in, as a partner, Mr. Brady, whom Wallace Woodworth bought out in 1858. With the latter he continued in business for twenty-five years, or until Mr. Woodworth's death in 1883, the name of the firm being Perry & Woodworth. In 1873 they changed from the furniture and cabinet business to dealing in lumber, monldings, doors, sash, blinds, builders' hardware and finishing supplies of all kinds. They bought and built on the property now occupied by the business, ex- tending through from Commercial street to Re- quena street, and on the south side of Requena street, building a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad through the property, so as to avail themselves of railroad facilities in handling lum- ber, etc. After Mr. Woodworth's death Mr. Perry incorporated his business, and it is now known as the W. H. Perry Lumber and Mill Company. It does an immense business; has been selling from 30,000,000 to 80,000,000 feet of lumber per annum. It has been the ambition of Mr. Perry to take the lumber from the tree in northern forests, manufacture it in his own mills in the forest where it grew, ship it on his own vessels over his own wharves, and deliver it to the consumer here in Southern California, thus enabling his company to defy all competitors. This ambition has been realized, his company owning their own timber lands, their own saw- mills, their own vessels, their own wharves and

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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 40

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