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 47

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

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he has determined upon which side lies the pre- ponderance of right and justice lie has the cour- age to give his verdict accordingly.

Mr. Hunsaker and Miss Florence Virginia Mc- Farland were married in San Diego in 1879. She is a native of Virginia, and possesses the graces of mind and character for which the women of the Old Dominion ever have been noted. Four children bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hun- saker, namely: Mary, Florence, Rose and Daniel.

C OHN W. KEMP. Prominent among the numerous enterprising and gifted members of the bar of Los Angeles county is John W. Kemp, whose office is located in the Byrne building. Having been almost a life-long resident of California, he is in thorough sympathy with the state in all of its ambitious dreams of future greatness, believing, that as such wonderful things have been accomplished here within the past few years, there can be scarcely a limit to what may be done in the ensuing years.

Mr. Kemp is of English ancestry, and his paternal grandfather was a native of Canada. The family removed to the United States and became stanch patriots of the land of their adop- tion, four of the brothers of our subject's father participating in the defense of the Union during the Civil war. The father, John B. Kemp, was a farmer and stock-raiser, and was a man who was greatly respected by all who knew him. Removing from Wisconsin to Northern California in 1868, he resided there until his death, Novem- ber 16, 1879, at forty-eight years of age. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary McArthur, and whose birth occurred in the highlands of Scotland, is still living, making her home in Los Angeles. Of their six children, four are danghters, and Robert W. is an attorney of San Pedro, this county.

The birth of John W. Kemp occurred in Wau- paca, Wis., June 2, 1863, and in that locality he re- sided until he was five years old. With his parents he then moved to Shasta county, Cal., where he attended the public schools. For about four years it was his privilege to pursue his studies in the excellent schools of Stockton, and subsequently he engaged in teaching for about four years. In the meantime he spent his leisure hours in legal

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studies, and for a period he was in the law office of Judge Works. He was admitted to practice before the bar of the supreme court of California in 1892, and since that time his progress has been marked. He came to Los Angeles in 1892 and lias been located here ever since. Genuine ability and a thorough understanding of the law, added to the painstaking care which he devotes to every case intrusted to him, render his success assured, whenever the nature of the case possibly permits of a favorable ending. He is rapidly forging his way to the front ranks of his profession and enjoys an enviable reputation for fairness and integrity in all his dealings. In his political faith he is a Republican, active in the support of the party which has so often steered the ship of state through stormy seas to a secure haven of prosperity.

In 1896 Mr. Kemp married Miss Georgia Thatcher, who was born and reared to womanhood in California, and who is a daughter of W. W. and Sarah E. Thatcher. Her father is one of the oldest settlers in California, and, like many other pioneers, engaged in mining-his daughter, Georgia, being born in the Placerville mining camp. Mrs. Kemp isa lady of culture and educa- tional attainments, and with grace and dignity she presides over her home, making the many friends of herself aud husband welcome with a hearty cordiality in which he joins. One child has been born of this union, Thatcher John Kemp.

ON. JOHN D. POPE. While the majority of the citizens of Los Angeles, including even many of the most influential, are scarce- ly known beyond the limits of California or the Pacific coast, Mr. Pope is not only well known in the trans-Rocky region, but his name and his fame have extended into other sections of the country, and he has been a prominent participant in public affairs for a long period of years. Especially in Georgia and St. Louis is his name well known. Himself of southern birth and an- cestry, and for years a distinguished attorney of Atlanta, lie there established the reputation for ability he has since sustained; and it can with justice be said that he is one of the eminent sons whom Georgia has given to the nation.

Ou a farm near Atlanta Mr. Pope was born in

1838 and there the uneventful years of boyhood were happily passed. The family possessing am- ple means, he was given the best educational advantages the south afforded, and took a con1- plete course in the University of Georgia, from which he graduated with the highest honors of liis class. About the close of the Civil war he established himself in law practice in Atlanta, and for years afterward was a partner of Hon. Joseph E. Brown, who was four times elected governor of Georgia and also held the office of chief justice of the supreme court. Association with a man so eminent and so able could not but prove helpful to Mr. Pope, whose own keen men- tal faculties were developed by intimate compan- ionship with his gifted partner. His ability was recognized by his selection as judge of the superior court of the Atlanta circuit, state of Georgia, in which responsible position he rendered the high- est service for three years, resigning to accept the office of United States attorney, to which he was appointed by Ulysses S. Grant, then president. In that high position he rendered the same faith- ful service that had characterized him in positions of less importance. Accustomed as lie was to matters of vast moment, his quickness of percep- tion and clearness of reasoning enabled him to grasp almost instantly even intricate and weighty problems, and made him a valuable officer of the government.

On resigning as United States attorney, Mr. Pope resumed the practice of law in his southern home. In 1873 he removed to St. Louis, where he practiced law until 1890. He then removed to Los Angeles, having become an admirer of this beautiful and progressive western city. He now occupies a finely equipped suite of offices in the Stimson block. In addition to his general practice he is counselor for a number of large corporations, including the Santa Monica and Mount Lowe Railway Companies. He is also president of the Title Guarantee and Trust Com- pany. During the decade lie has made his home in Los Angeles lie has proved himself to be a progressive citizen. Although he is not a poli- tician (on the contrary, being independent in his views), yet lie is none the less an active citizen and a participant in public affairs, favoring all movements for the benefit of liis city.

In early manhood Judge Pope was united in

F. D.Bullard

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marriage with Miss Grace Sims, daughter of tions, and of the latter society he is now secretary. Prof. Edward D. Sims, of the University of Ala- They are also connected with the County Medical Society, of which he was the president in 1899, and his wife the secretary. They have an only child, Helen, who was born May 15, 1892. bama, and a granddaughter of Professor Andrews, author of what is now known as "Harper's Latin Dictionary" and other Latin works. They are the parents of three children: Edward, who is his grandfather's namesake; John D., Jr .; and Julia, wife of Dr. A. J. Chandler.

RANK D. BULLARD, A. M., M. D., who has a wide reputation both as a skillful physician and talented author, was born in Lincoln, Me., December 27, 1860. His educa- tional advantages were the best the state afforded. In 1877 he graduated from the Waterville (now the Coburn) Classical Institute, after which he took the regular course of study in Colby Uni- versity, graduating a Phi Beta Kappa man in 1881. Immediately after graduating he accepted the chair of languages and mathematics in the academy at Houlton, Me., and two years later became principal of the Brownsville high school. In 1883 he began the study of medicine, with his father as preceptor, but the following year, owing to ill health, relinquished his studies and came to California.

For one term he was employed as an instructor in the Sierra Madre College, Pasadena, after which he passed the teacher's examination in Los Angeles county and in 1885-'86 was princi- pal of the Azusa schools. In the fall of 1886 he entered the medical department of the Uni- versity of Southern California, where he con- tinued his study of the science he had commenced some years before. While carrying on this course he was for a year resident student in the Los Angeles County Hospital, and in 1891 he spent a year in the same institution as assistant county physician. Shortly after his graduation from the university and his marriage to Dr. Rose Talbott, (which occurred May 3, 1888) he and his wife went to Europe, where they spent some months in the study of medicine under the best instructors of Germany, and also had considerable hospital experience in Vienna. Returning to Los Angeles, they opened an office in this city, and since June, 1896, have occupied a suite in the Bradbury block. They are actively identified with the State and Southern California Medical Associa-

For five years Dr. F. D. Bullard was editor of the Southern California Practitioner, but after- ward sold his interest to Dr. Walter Lindley, since which time he and his wife have acted as associate editors. At this writing he is professor of chemistry in the medical department of the Southern California University. All forward movements, especially those of a professional and literary nature, receive his warm support and en- couragement. He is connected with the Uni- versity Club, of which he is secretary at this writing. He is also connected with the Y. M. C. A., and his wife with the Y. W. C. A., of which she is first vice-president. In those circles where high intellectual gifts and broad knowledge are recognized as the sine qua non of culture, both have an assured standing .-

Any reference to the life of Dr. Bullard would be incomplete without mention of his literary work. Some years were spent by him in the writing of a work which was completed in December, 1899. When issued from the press it met with the commendation of the best critics. In metrical form it presented the mysteries of life from the standpoint of the devotee, the doubter and the disbeliever. Not only is the execution of the poem faultless, but a genuine literary ability is evinced in the felicitous expression and the strength of the lines. By some it has been said that "The Apistophilon" resembles the "Rubáiyát" of Omar Khayyam and "In Me- moriam." It sounds the highest and the lowest notes of religious inquiry. Essentially optimistic in tone, it shows therein a marked contrast to the Oriental poet, whose writings breathe a spirit of pessimism. The poem takes the form of a dis- cussion between three characters, the devotee, the doubter and the disbeliever. The strongest reasons for belief, as set forth in theological writings, are given, as well as the strongest argu- ments of the agnostic, and these are given so im- partially that the reader is left in doubt as to the author's own sentiments. The wherefore of to-day and the whither of to-morrow are presented to the reader, with those problems that have ever

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perplexed the human mind and that will not be entirely solved until eternity. The doctor has also written several excellent short poems and translations, especially from Horace.

RVILLE HASKELL CONGER, M. D. The early history of Pasadena and the name of Dr. Conger are inseparably linked. He came to that beautiful spot after more than half a lifetime of wandering and change, and thence- forward was a prominent factor in the progress of the colony. Born in Attica, N. Y., September 28, 1827, his parents were Ephraim Conger (born 1795,died 1847, at Whitewater, Wis. ) and Almira (Austin) Conger (who lived until 1873). The family, in 1843, went from New York to Wis- consin, where Orville attended the State Univer- sity at Madison, making a thorough study of geology and mineralogy and giving some atten- tion to telegraphy. Later he conducted a drug store, and afterward spent some time in the mines of Northern California, making his first overland trip to Utah in 1850. On returning east he was associated with the Alameda Silver Mining Con- pany of New York City, and subsequently made several trips to Utah in the interests of that com- pany. He was the discoverer of the famous Emma mine, and was the first Gentile to open an assay office in the territory, operating also various mines in Utah and Nevada. He was commis- sioned by Governor Durkee, of Utah, to represent the territory at the Paris Exposition of 1867.

A graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Dr. Conger practiced his profession more or less throughout his life. In 1867 he married Louise Tryphena Whittier, at Niagara City, N. Y. She was born at Brighton, Me., in 1833, and was a granddaughter of James and Mary Allen ( Burn- ham) Pickering, the latter a direct descendant of Gen. Ethan Allen. Her father, Henry Chandler Whittier, was born in Athens, Me., in 1807, and at Brighton, that state, in 1827, married Mary Ann Pickering, who was born at Portsmouth, N. H., in 1805. They moved to Wisconsin in 1846 and spent the remaining years of their lives in that state.

Immediately after Dr. Conger's arrival in Pasa- dena he purchased thirty acres of land on the southeast corner of Orange Grove avenue and

Colorado street - a beautiful site, commanding one of the most attractive views in California. This tract was set out to all the then known varieties of citrus and deciduous fruit trees and choice grapes. On this site he built, consecu- tively, three houses, and in the one last erected his soul took leave of its earthly tenement. A portion of the land at the east end furnished the material for the first public auction with which the noted "boom" was begun, he having previ- ously sold it to Ward Brothers.

Though reared in the Baptist faith, Dr. Conger never united with any church. He was, how- ever, a firm believer in immortality, holding that our deeds in this life make the character of the life after death. Though always leading a busy, active life he often found time to prepare and read papers on horticulture, religion, temperance and various sciences. He was a most earnest ad- vocate of temperance, and perhaps no person in Pasadena's early history did more for the cause of total abstinence than did he. Fearless and outspoken in whatever he believed to be right, he attacked the wrong regardless of criticism.

After a long illness Dr. Conger died, April 2, 1892. No one who attended his funeral will ever forget the simple yet. impressive service, the wealth of flowers, the silent sympathy of friends and old neighbors and the beautiful homestead bathed in the cheerful sunshine that he loved so well. His wife and three children survived him, but the older daughter, Flora B., has since fol- lowed her rather in death. Howard Whittier and Lulu Nell are living, the son in San Diego and the daughter with her mother in Pasadena.

OHN KINGSLEY CARSON, M. D. Con- centration of purpose and persistently applied energy rarely fail of success in the acconi- plishment of any task, however great, and in tracing the career of Jolin Kingsley Carson, a well-known physician and surgeon of Los Angeles, it is plainly seen that these things have been the secrets of liis rise to a position of prominence and respect. Moreover, he possesses gennine love for his work, and esteems it a privi- lege to carry comfort and aid to the sick and suffering. The presence of a Christian physician in the house of pain and mourning has a peculiar

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value, and in numerous instances his opinions and timely words of consolation carry far more weight than those of a spiritual advisor.

The parents of John Kingsley Carson came of old and respected Virginia families. His grand- father, James Kendall Carson, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and served in Gen. George Washington's body guard. The father, James Kendall Carson, Jr., whose birth occurred at Front Royal, Va., May 14, 1811, was a carpenter by trade, but, during the gold excitement on the Pacific slope, he came to California and engaged in prospecting and mining for the precious min- eral. His death, which took place February 6, 1856, was the direct result of the privations and exposure to inclement weather, which he, in common with other miners of the day, was obliged to endure. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Walker, made her home in Missouri, with her son, Dr. Carson, for many years after his demise. She died in 1882, at the home of her son-in-law, Dr. W. B. Tunnell, in Hartville, Mo. Of her seven children, four are deceased.

Dr. John K. Carson is a native of Jacksonville, Ill., and was quite young when his parents removed to St. Louis, in which city he was reared and educated. He then entered the St. Louis Medical College, where he was graduated in March, 1883, soon after which event he estab- lished an office in Hartville, Mo. For the period which has since elapsed he has been engaged in general family practice and has been remarkably successful. After spending about four years at his first location he removed to Los Angeles, arriving here in June, 1887. He belongs to the Los Angeles County Medical Society, the South- ern California Medical Association and the Academy of Medicine. He neglects no opportu- nity for self-improvement and takes the leading medical journals of the day. He has been local medical examiner for several of the old-line life and fraternal insurance companies, and is called into consultation frequently with old and promi- nent members of the profession.

In political affairs Dr. Carson uses his franchise in favor of the platform and nominees of the Republican party. In disposition he is decidedly social, and in the several orders to which he belongs he is an ever-welcome member. He is a

Mason, a Knight of Pythias and a Knight of the Maccabees, and is connected with the Fraternal Brotherhood. Religiously he is a Presbyterian, and, with his estimable wife, is identified with the Second Presbyterian Church of this city. He holds the office of elder in the congregation, and is earnestly engaged in the various departments of religious activity. He is a supporter of the Y. M. C. A. and a director of the Pacific Gospel Union.

The marriage of Dr. Carson and Nellie M. Haley, a native of New York City, was solemnized in this city, September 7, 1892. Mrs. Carson is a daughter of Solomon and Henrietta ( Williams) Haley. The pleasant home of our subject and wife is blessed by the presence of two charming little daughters, Nellie Kingsetta and Annie Allene. A great compliment was paid the elder one, in July, 1899, when the National Teachers' Convention met in Los Angeles, the official march played by the fine orchestra being named the "Kingsetta March," in honor of little Nellie Kingsetta Carson.

OSEPH KURTZ, M. D. For more than thirty years this leading member of the medical profession of Los Angeles has been steadily engaged in practice on the Pacific coast, winning distinction and an enviable reputation. He is a native of Oppenheim, Germany, his birth having occurred April 16, 1842, and his boyhood years were spent on the banks of the world- famed Rhine. His parents, Christian and Eliza (Schuman) Kurtz, were natives of the same city, where the father died at the age of sixty-five years, and the mother in the prime of young womanhood. Christian Kurtz was a hotel-keeper and a prosperous business man, enjoying the respect and confidence of the community in which he dwelt. He had four children, of whom two are living.

Dr. Joseph Kurtz attended the celebrated schools of his native land, receiving a liberal education. He took up the study of medicine in the winter of 1859-60, and in 1862 sailed from Bremen to the United States, where he had de- termined to practice his profession. After spend- ing a few weeks in New York and Philadelphia he located in Pottsville, Pa., where he was em- ployed in a drug store while he acquired famil-

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iarity with the English language and continued liis medical work. In the spring of 1863 he went to Baltimore, where he remained for about a year, being an assistant in the Jarvis hospital. For several years he was engaged in practice and carried on a drug store in Chicago. In October, 1867, he arrived in San Francisco, where he con- tinned his work as a physician and surgeon until February, 1868, when he came to Los Angeles. Here he established a drug store and office, building up a large and remunerative patronage within a short period. In 1872 he went to San Francisco, for the purpose of pursuing a course of medical study in special branches. Since the year just mentioned he has been a member of the district, county, state and national medical socie- ties, contributing to his colleagues the results of his long and comprehensive work and study. He has occupied the chair of clinical surgery in the medical department of the University of Southern California, of which institution he was one of the founders. For a period of fifteen years he was the surgeon of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in Los Angeles, and during the '7os he held the position of county coroner for six years. The cause of general education is one in which he is deeply interested, and for eight years he served as a member of the city school board, while for two years he was con- nected with the county school board. Politically he is a Democrat, and cast his first presidential vote for Horace Greeley. Fraternally he is a member of the German Turn Verein, of Los Angeles, which he assisted in organizing many years ago.

While a resident of Chicago, in January, 1866, Dr. Kurtz and Ida Felbert were united in mar- riage. She is a native of Germany, and was brought to America in her infancy. Six chil- dren were born to this worthy couple, one of the number now being deceased. Dr. Carl Kurtz, who is engaged in practice with his father, their offices being in the Douglas block, is a young nian of exceptional ability. After graduating in various medical colleges, he gained practical ex- perience in Bellevue Hospital Medical College, of New York, and in hospitals in Germany. He spent four and a half years in actual hospital work, becoming proficient in the treatment of all manner of diseases and surgical cases. While in

Berlin he was assistant to the noted surgeon, Sonnenburg. William, the second son, is en- gaged in farming in Orange county; the oldest daughter is the wife of R. L. Horton, a well- known attorney of Los Angeles; and the other daughters, Christine and Catherine, are at home.

D ARL SCHWALBE, M. D. Few physicians of Los Angeles have enjoyed so many supe- rior advantages in the field of medical research as has Dr. Schwalbe. The major portion of his life was passed in Europe, and in the various centers of science and learning upon the continent he gathered the results of the study and experience of some of the ablest physicians and surgeons of the latter half of the nineteenth century.

He was born in Quedlinburg, Germany, Janu- ary 17, 1838, and was reared in that city. Having mastered the elementary branches of knowledge as taught in the public schools, he matriculated in the University of Berlin at the age of nineteen years, and subsequently attended the celebrated universities at Halle, Bonn and Zurich. Being graduated at Bonn with honors, March 29, 1862, and at Zurich, April 27, 1863, he was offered a position at Zurich as assistant to Professor Horner of the chair of ophthalmology within a few weeks, and, accepting the opportunity, filled the position until he was forced to resign on account of ill health.

In 1864 Dr. Schwalbe left his native land and went to Costa Rica, where he resided one winter, thence going to New York, where he embarked in medical practice. The climate proving too severe, he again went to Costa Rica, and it was not until May, 1868. that he ventured to leave that equable temperature. At that time he pro- ceeded to Switzerland, where he acted as teacher at the university and polytechnic institution, teaching hygiene principally. When the Franco- Prussian war came on he joined the army of his native land as a physician and surgeon. He rendered valuable services for his country and compatriots until illness obliged him to leave his post of duty. It again became necessary for him to seek a balmier clime, and during his extended travels in the West Indies his health was per- manently benefited, so that he was enabled to

J. Edgar

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return to the Fatherland and take up his beloved work once more. Years of steady application and practice followed, and his name became well known in the institutions of learning with which he was connected. In the spring of 1891 he bade adieu to the friends of a lifetime and came direct to Los Angeles, the metropolis of "Ameri- can Italy," as Southern California has been aptly called. Arriving here on the 29th of April, he lias looked upon this city as his home for the past nine years, and has made hosts of friends. He is a member of the Los Angeles County, the Southern California and the American Medical Associations, and in Germany was prominently connected with the Thuringia German Surgical Society and the Society of the German Surgeons at Berlin.

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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 47

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