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 50
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127
EV. P. J. FISHER, pastor of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church at Pomona, dates his residence in California from October 1, 1880, at which time he accepted a position as first assistant pastor of the Cathedral St. Vibiana, of Los Angeles. In that office he continued for four years. To him belongs the distinction of having been the first English-speaking pastor of the Roman Catholic denomination of Los Ange- les, and he was also the first Roman Catholic priest to officiate at Santa Monica, where he or- ganized a mission in 1883, although he had com- menced missionary work in that beautiful ocean town as early as the fall of 1880. In the fall of 1884 he was transferred to San Diego, Cal., where he labored for two years as assistant pastor of St.
Joseph's Church. During his residence there he won the confidence of his parishioners and the esteem of the general public. His characteristics as a priest were no less striking than his powers of endurance physically. From early youth he has heen fond of exercising his powers as an athlete. One single instance is sufficient to prove his phys- ical endurance. One afternoon, while in San Diego, he swam across the bay of San Diego and back again, a distance of five miles altogether, this being the first time such a feat had ever been attempted. Indeed, no one before had ever swam across the bay, much less attempting the return trip.
In April, 1886, Father Fisher was transferred to Pomona as pastor of St. Joseph's Church, with which he has been connected during the fourteen subsequent years. In addition to the supervision of this parish, the missions at Ontario, Chino and Azusa are also under his charge. When he came here Pomona had a population of only one thou- sand. He has witnessed its subsequent growth and development. Side by side with the growth of the town has been the progress of the church, and its influence has grown and broadened under the wise and kindly rule of Father Fisher.
In Dublin, Ireland, Father Fisher was born Feb- ruary 24, 1860, a son of James J. and Catherine M. (Brady) Fisher, natives of the Emerald Isle, the former being of English extraction. The ex- cellent schools of Dublin furnished him with fine advantages, and of these he availed himself to the utmost. After a thorough classical course he graduated from Dublin University in June, 1878, with the degree of A.B. After his graduation in the classics he took a course in theology in the College of All Saints, in Dublin, from which he graduated in 1880 with the degree of A.M. Im- mediately after completing his preparation for the priesthood and his ordination to the holy office of priest he came to the United States, proceeding direct to Los Angeles He is in thorough sym- patlıy with American institutions, and is loyal to every principle of hisadopted country. Working for the religious progress of the people and their spiritual development, he has been a contributor to the moral development of the state, and has aided in raising its citizenship to that high level which is the ambition of every patriotic resident.
Oscar C. Mueller
319
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
SCAR C. MUELLER. Probably no pro- fession affords a wider field for individual enterprise and ability than does the law, and this fact has attracted to its ranks multitudes of ambitious young men in every generation since law became reduced to a recognized science and increasing civilization demanded a finer discrimi- nation between justice and unjustice. And nat- urally from this profession have come the bright- est leaders in statesmanship, for, in addition to the thorough knowledge of law and government which its members must possess, if they rise above mediocrity, their daily habits of thought, development of the logical and resourceful powers of the mind and the keen estimate of human nature which they inevitably forin set them apart, as a class peculiarly fitted to hold the reins of power and specially useful in legislating for the people.
From his youtlı, Oscar C. Mueller, of Los Angeles, has manifested unusual aptitude for dealing with the knotty problems of the law, and ever since he was fairly launched upon his chosen vocation his numerous friends and life-long ac- quaintances have unanimously predicted for him a brilliant career. He is one of the native sons of Colorado, but since he was about two years of age he has dwelt in Los Angeles, and from his earliest recollections has been intimately associ- ated with this now progressive metropolis. As his nativity occurred in the year of the Centen- nial, and he was brought to this place in 1878, he remembers it as a straggling, unpromising town in the sand hills, and sometimes feels that nothing short of the marvelous has transpired here in two brief decades, whereby our attractive, wide-awake and business-like city has come into the ranks of the few leading cities of the Pacific slope. His father, Otto Mueller, for many years was at the head of a large and prosperous furniture house here, and was known far and wide, through- out this region, as an upright, honorable business man. He owned valuable property in Los Ange- les aud amassed his fortune by square dealing and keen financial forethought and judgment. He died January 25, 1890. Of his three surviv- ing children, a son, Earl, is a student at Throop Polytechnic Institute. A daughter, Clare E., is the wife of Perry W. Weidner, now residing in Los Angeles.
Oscar C. Mueller was fortunate in having fine educational advantages. He acquired his elementary knowledge in the public schools, and, being a great student, he has continued the im- provement of his mind and the broadening of his ideas. Having determined to devote his life to the law, he entered the law office of the late Judge Wilde, where he became familiar with its rudimentary principles. Later he attended the law school of the University of Virginia, further perfecting himself in legal lore, and, returning home, was admitted to the supreme court of this state at the time that he reached his majority. He has also been admitted to the circuit court of the United States. After his admission to the supreme court he went to Europe, where he traveled quite extensively, residing for a time in Berlin, Germany. Returning to Los Angeles, he formed a co-partnership with Hon. C. C. Wright. He has made a specialty of probate law, and the law relating to real property, and enjoys a large and remunerative practice.
Fraternally Mr. Mueller is a Mason, and in the local society he is popular with young and old. He favors the platform of the Republican party, but is not a politician in any sense of the word. In the work of the Unitarian church he is actively interested, and has served in the double capacity of a trustee and treasurer of the board of trustees. He was married April 5, 1900, in Los Angeles, to Miss Ivy S. Schoder, daughter of Joseph Schoder, vice-president of the Union Hardware & Metal Company. Mrs. Mueller is a native of San Francisco and was educated in the Marlborough School. She is prominent in the social life of Los Angeles.
C OSEPH J. PLACE, M. D. Everywhere throughout the length and breadth of Amer- ica are to be found men who have worked their own way upward from humble and lowly beginnings to positions of leadership, renown and high esteem, and it still is one of the proudest boasts of our fair land that such victors over cir- cumstance are accounted of thousand-fold more value to the commonwealth than is the aristocrat with his inherited wealth, standing and distin- guished name. When even a reasonable degree of success has been attained by one who has been obliged to battle witli many adversities, we are
IS
320
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
inclined, as a people, to award him the palm of honor, and doubtless this very spirit of "giving honor to him to whom honor is due" in its true sense is one of the secrets of our prosperity as a nation as well as individually.
Dr. J. J. Place, a leading physician of Santa Monica, is a native of Taunton, Mass., his birth having occurred there some thirty-eight years ago. When he was three years old his mother died, and nine years later his father died, so from his twelfth year he has been obliged to fight the battle of life alone. His father was a wheel- wright by trade, and was employed chiefly at that vocation, but he was a great student, and, having devoted considerable time to medical re- search, he engaged in practice to some extent.
After his father's death Dr. Place left his old home in Taunton and went to Rhode Island, where he acquired his education for the most part. When he was about eighteen years of age he commenced learning the jeweler's trade, and at the same time gave all his leisure time to the study of medicine. When he was twenty-two he went to New York City, where he matriculated in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and in 1888 he was graduated from Hahnemann Medical College in Chicago. Returning then to Rhode Island, he established an office and began practicing in Providence. His long years of study and close confinement to work had made inroads upon his health, and in 1890 he wisely determined to come to the sunny sonthland, where he would be able to spend a large share of his time out of doors. Deciding to make his home in Santa Monica, he opened an office here and soon built up a large and paying practice.
The marriage of Dr. Place and Miss Caroline M. Rogers, a native of New York City, was sol- emnized April 10, 1892. They had a very pleas- ant home on Third street, and though they had no children of their own they adopted one, in- tending to rear and educate him in the same way they would if he were indeed their own.
In his political creed the doctor was a stanch Republican. For six years he was health officer of Santa Monica, and instituted a number of in- portant reforms and sanitary regulations. He also was a member of the pension board of the Soldiers' Home at Santa Monica, and was act- ively interested in every enterprise carried on in
this community. He was a member of the Ma- sonic and Odd Fellows' orders. Intellectually he was a man of broad mind and liberal information, endeavoring to keep posted in all of the leading issues of the period. He was one of the most en- ergetic men in the town, and had to be restrained constantly by his wife and friends because his health would not admit of all the undertakings in which his kind heart and noble spirit prompted him to engage. He was held in loving esteem by his many patients and friends, and stood high in the medical profession, whose members honor his memory. At the meeting of the State Ho- meopathic Medical Society in San Francisco in 1900 a historical sketch of his life was read, in which his many noble qualities of mind and heart were brought before the members of the society.
ENRY J. STEVENS, assistant solicitor for 5 the Santa Fe Railroad, lines west of Albu-
- qnerque and one of the ablest lawyers prac- ticing at the Los Angeles bar, was born in New York state in 1865 and was educated at the State University of Vermont, graduating with the class of 1886. In the spring of that year he came to California and located in San Diego, where he read law in the office of Judge Works until his admission to the bar in 1887. He engaged in practice in that city for some time and served as first assistant district attorney until the fall of 1888, when he resigned to take up general prac- tice as a partner of Judge Works and Judge Wel- born, now United States district judge for this district. When Judge Works was elected to the supreme bench of California the firm became Welborn & Stevens, which partnership was dis- solved in 1893. In 1894 Mr. Stevens removed to Los Angeles, where he formed a partnership with W. J. Hunsaker, and together they engaged in practice for one year. Afterward Mr. Stevens was alone until July, 1896, when he became assistant solicitor for the above railroad com- panies, which position he still fills to the entire satisfaction of the companies. His representa- tion of these large corporate interests is a high testimonial to his skill and ability in his chosen profession.
In 1897 he was nnited in marriage with Florence Runyon Stanford, of San Francisco,
321
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and to them have been born two daughters, Esther Runyon and Kathryn Elizabeth. Poli- tically Mr. Stevens is a stanch Republican. He is a man of deep research and careful investiga- tion, and is eminently gifted with the capabilities of mind which are indispensable at the bar. He is a pleasant, genial and polished gentleman, of high social qualities and is very popular, having an extensive circle of friends.
A. K. CRAWFORD. For the past seventeen years A. K. Crawford has been prominent- . ly associated with the upbuilding and im- provement of Los Angeles, and has just reason to be proud of the fact that to his efforts can be traced many a substantial enterprise or achieve- ment contributing greatly to the beauty and pros- perity of this city. In every sense of the word he is a representative citizen, devoted to the wel- fare of his chosen state and community and loyal to the government.
His father, Dr. W. H. Crawford, was a pioneer physician in northwestern Missouri several dec- ades ago, and was widely known and beloved throughout that section of the country for many years. He had an extensive, though very scat- tering, practice. In addition to this he was the owner of a very large store and stock of merchan- dise, and a number of finely improved farms in that locality. He was extremely successful and enterprising in his business affairs, and main- tained, at the same time, a high reputation for uprightness. Prior to and during the Civil war his sympathies were strongly upon the side of the north, and at a time when it was dangerous to be accounted a Union man, he never hesitated in ex- pressing his opinion.
A. K. Crawford was born in northwestern Mis- souri fifty-four years ago, and in his boyhcod, when not attending school, he worked in his fath- er's store, there obtaining practical information and business experience which was of great bene- fit to him in later years. Subsequently, feeling the need of more accurate training in special di- rections, he went to St. Louis and attended a business college for a period. When he was in his eighteenth year his father retired from active business and removed to the country, leaving the young man to manage the store. He continued
to carry on the business for about five years in his father's name, and then purchased the stock of goods and became independent. From the start success attended him. In 1883 he sold out, in order to come to Los Angeles. Since casting in his lot with the people of this favored clime he has been engaged in the real-estate business, and in this field of enterprise, as in that of mer- chandising, he has met with well-deserved suc- cess. Not the least important factor in his pros- perity has been the sincere interest which he has maintained in every local movement for the im- provement and upbuilding of the city, and every one with whom he has had dealings holds him in gennine respect.
Twice married, the first wife of Mr. Crawford was Martha Jones, a native of Ohio, but educated in Missouri. She died Jannary 15, 1887, leaving one son, William K. Crawford, a student in the University of California, at Berkeley. The sec- ond marriage of Mr. Crawford was to Miss Emma J. Jones, who is the mother of one son, Kerrins Jones Crawford, at home. The family have re- sided in their pleasant home, No. 337 South Grand avenue, for the past fifteen years.
Though he has never desired public office for himself, Mr. Crawford has been a worker for his political friends, and is a zealous Republican. Religiously he is a member of the First Christian Church of this city, and takes a leading part in the maintenance of the noble work being carried forward by his particular branch of the church militant.
A RTHUR LELAND HAWES, an enterpris- ing young lawyer and business man of Los Angeles, is deserving of great credit for the success which he has thus far achieved, for he has been forced to rely entirely upon his own re- sources. Possessing plnck and determination, he has bravely mastered every obstacle which he has encountered, and is rapidly winning the favor of those with whom business or social relations bring him into contact.
Born in the central part of Missouri twenty- eight years ago, Mr. Hawes is the only sou of Alfred E. and Kinnie (Calhoun) Hawes. His mother died when he was a mere child, and his father, who was a banker, died when the lad was but eight years old. His maternal grandfather
322
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
was a second cousin of ex-Vice-President John C. Calhoun. The paternal grandfather, now in his ninety-second year, and a resident of Central Mis- souri, is remarkably clear-minded and capable for one of such an advanced age, and he still attends to all of his business matters.
When he was a child Arthur L. Hawes was taken to Kansas City, where he received his ele- mentary education. Later it was his privilege to attend Westminster College, at Fulton, Mo., where he was graduated in the class of 1893. After completing his literary studies he took up legal work, and was duly admitted to the Mis- souri bar in 1896. Practicing in Kansas City for a couple of years, he then came to Los Angeles on business, and was so pleased with the place that he decided to make his home here perma- nently. In the interest of Mr. Peyton, a gentle- man of wealth and prominence, lie investigated the condition of the Mount Lowe Railway Com- pany, and the former became the purchaser of the same, and is serving as president, while Mr. Hawes holds the office of vice-president and treas- here, and has his office with Judge John D. Pope, on the fifth floor of the Stimson building. His friends have long predicted a brilliant career for him, and he is fully justifying their faith. From the start he has built upon the foundation of thorough knowledge of the law, and spares him- self no pains or labor in the preparation of a case. Once convinced of its merits, he carefully guards any weak points in the argument, and loyally strengthens the side for which he is battling. Nature endowed him with many of the qualities which are essential to success, and persistently he lias endeavored to earn a place in the regard of those who are associated with him. One is im- pressed by his evident sincerity and integrity upon slight acquaintance, and this grows to be a fixed conviction to his friends. Animated by high principles, he is one of the men whose wislı it is that right and justice, and not might, should conquer, and with this noble thought in mind, lie acts accordingly.
The marriage of Arthur L. Hawes and Miss Bertha Peyton, daughter of Valentine Peyton, president of the Mount Lowe Railway Company, was solemnized April 26, 1899. Mrs. Hawes is a lady of culture and education, and is qualified to
adorn any station in life to which she may be called. She presides over her new home with charming hospitality, and, with her husband, possesses the admiration and love of a host of friends.
ARREN GILLELEN. Those public- spirited citizens whose sound judgment has promoted the financial welfare of their community and whose ability has brought an enlarged prosperity to every line of local activity, deservedly occupy positions of prominence in the annals of their home town. Such a man is found in the subject of this article, who is a recognized leader in the banking circles of Los Angeles. He is prominently connected with a number of the most substantial financial institu- tions of the city, being president of the Broad- way Bank & Trust Company and vice-president of the State Bank & Trust Company. Accustomed as he is to enterprises of magnitude, he is dis- tinguished by his breadth of views, quickness of perception and promptness in action, and is there- urer. He has already built up a large law practice. fore quick to discern investments of undoubted value and equally quick to grasp such favorable openings.
The family of which Mr. Gillelen is a member has been identified with the history of Pennsyl- vania for several generations. He was born in Carlisle, Pa., in 1849, a son of Prof. F. D. and Rebecca (Grayson) Gillelen, the former of whom devoted his entire active life to educational work and for years stood at the head of a college which he had founded and established. It was in this college that the son received his education, which was thorough, equipping him well for the re- sponsibilities of life and fitting him to occupy a position of importance in society or in business. After his graduation, when twenty-one years of age, lie secured employment as agent with the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, and later, sever- ing his connection with that company, he went to Kansas City, Mo., and embarked in the mer- cantile business. He witnessed much of the growth of that city and held a high place among its merchants. In 1886 he disposed of his inter- ests there and came to Los Angeles, with the in- tention of establishing a permanent home in this progressive and growing town. He was one of the founders of the Los Angeles National Bank
325
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and one of its original stockholders. At the founding of this institution he was elected vice- president. On the establishment of the Broad- way Bank & Trust Company in 1892 he took an active part in its founding and was made its president. He has since stood at the head of this solid and well-known institution, the suc- cess of which is due almost wholly to his able oversight.
Mr. Gillelen is known for his sound and care- ful judgment as a banker; for the enterprise that makes him willing to foster any undertaking promising a successful termination; and for the conservative spirit that is displayed in all of his investments. All his transactions have been con- ducted with such a regard for integrity, fairness and justice, that not a stain has ever rested upon his reputation. His counsel and opinions are daily sought by others; and his keen conception, his ready grasp and apprehension of the real points in a case, render his decisions quick and correct. He has little time for participation in politics, yet he is a stanch Republican, whose vote is always to be relied upon by his party. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks and the Foresters.
While in Kansas City, in 1880, Mr. Gillelen married Miss Jennie Dawson. They and their children, Frank, Warren and Lute, have a pleas- ant home at No. 1229 South Main street.
ON. JOHN BRYSON, SR. The city of Los Angeles stands out before the world to-day as, in all essential respects, the most lovely and progressive city on the western continent, and the writer has heard it pronounced by men of extensive travel and close observation as not having its equal on the eastern hemisphere. It is natural to enquire why it is thus. Some say the delightful climate, the rich soil and the su- perb beauty and grandeur of its natural location and surroundings. These are indeed important factors in the city's growth, but these conditions had all existed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years while the country laid still dormant and listless, basking in the same glorious sunlight, with this same wealth of soil and scenery, and yet it did not grow. The Spanish friar came to tutor the wild man and laid the foundation for a
semi-civilization. The pioneers of 1816 to 1846 came and blended their blood with that of the ta- tives, which so neutralized their individuality and efforts as to effect but a slight change in the advancement of the country. The pioneers of 1849 came in quest of gold nuggets and gave the country a somewhat vigorous yet not so material push along the path of enterprise, and the north- ern part of the state grew. Not until very late in the '7os and early in the 'Sos did the little Span- ish city of Los Angeles, then as now, the me- tropolis of Southern California, feel the magic touch of the hand of the business genius. Not until then did she awake from her lifelong slum- bers and lethargy and begin to put on the clothes and airs becoming a city of importance.
It was late in the year 1879 that John Bryson, Sr., came to Los Angeles and stamped the impress of his strong individuality upon the marvelous present and also the glorious future of this city. He came at a time when Los Angeles most needed men of his metal, and brought with him a wealth of successful experience with ample means to back him in any enterprise that his ripened judgment and keen foresight might recommend as being feasible. The city had not, as yet, had even a taste of a genuine boom. The completion of the Southern Pacific Railway from San Francisco two years previous had given it a little jolt in that direction, but the boomer had not arrived and the peaceable and leisure-loving people were entirely innocent of anything so monstrous as the boom that followed Mr. Bry- son's arrival proved to be, and with which he is credited as being the chief promoter.
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.