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 51

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 51

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A brief glance back to the days of 1879 (the date of Mr. Bryson's arrival) will reveal to the reader the rapid, the marvelous strides the city has made as a direct result of the wonderful im- petus given by the boom of 1885 to 1887. In 1879 Los Angeles had barely eleven thousand inhabitants. There was not a business block of any pretensions south of First street, except the Nadeau. Adjoining the Nadeau on the south was the wagon shop of Louis Roeder, and south of it stood the Scoville planing mill, and next ad- joining that, on the corner where now stands the Bryson block, a lasting monument to Mr. Bryson's great business genius, was the old brick school house built in 1854, and across the street

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where the Hollenbeck Hotel stands was a horse corral. Just below Third street on Main stood the old round house. The city had but two parks, the old Plaza, in a wretched condition, and the Sixth street (now Central) park, then sur- rounded by a dilapidated picket fence and watered by a ragged, open ditch. The city had two bob- tail street car lines operated by mule power. Electric cars and electric lights had not been dreamed of. There was not a telephone in the city, no mail delivery, not a paved street, and the city hall was a straggling old adobe at the corner of North Spring and Franklin streets, where the Phillips block now stauds. There is not space here to finish the primitive picture as Mr. Bryson found it. Enough has been told, however, to show the transformation since his arrival. He foresaw the possibilities of bringing about the change, and with his accustomed zeal and enter- prise proceeded to effect it by making judicious investments in real estate and to improve the same upon a modern scale. He purchased the ground now occupied by the Los Angeles Na- tional Bank and erected the present building. He discerned the needs of the community for better banking facilities and forthwith supplied it by founding the bank of that name, which has grown in strength and usefulness as the city has ad- vanced in commercial importance. When this modern bank building was erected many of the croaking people of Los Angeles (some of them Mr. Bryson's well-meaning friends) were skep- tical of the future of their city and assured him that he was sinking his money and wasting his time, but he steadfastly continued his plans of investment and improvement, and in rapid suc- cession purchased inside business property, tore away the old-time and worthless shacks and built substantial business blocks in their place. He erected the substantial two-story block at Nos. 125-127 South Spring street, also another at the southwest corner of Broadway and First street. He built himself a residence where the Broadway Hotel now stands, and later erected a palatial home on the corner of Tenth and Flower. He erected the present Bryson block in 1888, after the great boom had subsided. It is without a rival in architectural beauty and grand propor- tions on the Pacific coast. About this time he asso- ciated with him some of the leading capitalists of

Southern California and organized the State Loan and Trust Company and became its president at once, being also vice-president of the Los Angeles National Bank and of the Southern California Savings Bank.

The city government of Los Angeles had up to this time passed through the vicissitudes of a struggling embryo period, having faintly defined policies and some of those indifferently executed. In casting about for a modern and progressive candidate for mayor the Democratic party turned to John Bryson, Sr., whom they duly nominated and elected by a majority of fourteen hundred in a Republican city that gave Harrison seventeen hundred. The wisdom of their choice was amply verified by the inauguration of many needed and radical reforms in local political economics. The sentiments and established customs of what is termed practical politics were by Mayor Bryson observed with a warm indifference, and the gov- ernment in all its departments put upon a work- ing business basis and rigidly kept so as long as he occupied the executive chair. He held that the affairs of a city should be adminis- tered upon the same principles and along the same lines of rational economy that one would conduct and transact business for himself, and he succeeded in demonstrating the feasibility of such a reform. He was nominated by his party for a second term to run against Hon. Henry T. Haz- zard, an esteemed friend and a Republican. Feeling that he could scarcely spare his time from business for a second term's service, he made no canvass for the office and voted for his genial friend and opponent, and Mr. Hazzard was elected. Other official honors were laid within easy reach of Mr. Bryson, but with this one exception he always declined theus, prefer- ring success in the business walks of life, to which he seemed so eminently adapted and which he better enjoyed.

Mr. Bryson is a native of the town of Mount Joy, Lancaster County, Pa., where he was born June 20, 1819, and in order of birth was the sec- ond of a family of thirteen children. When yet of the tender age of ten years he was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker to learn the trade, in which he became proficient and pursued the same for up- wards of twenty years. In 1847 he went to Ohio in quest of better business opportunities and en-

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gaged successfully in business on his own ac- count in the town of Euphemia. In 1851 he removed to Iowa and lived at Muscatine until 1856, when he took up his residence in the town of Washington, the county seat of Washington county, in the same state There he embarked in the lumber business, investing his meager cap- ital of about $1,500. The first year (owing to the business depression of 1857) he was com- pelled to do business at a serious loss, but with fortitude and faith in the future, and also his ability to recover, he continued, surmounting all obstacles and bringing grand success out of what for a time promised little but failure. A gazetteer history of Washington county, published in 1886, in treating of the resources of that county and Mr. Bryson's interests, states that he owned twelve lumber yards in that state and Kansas in addition to his supply yards in the city of Chi- cago. He was there, as here, a man of affairs and foremost in the matter of public improve- ments and progress. The first sidewalks in his city were laid through his instrumentality and individual effort. The public cemetery there was in what he considered a disgraceful state of neg- ligence and a sore blight upon an enlightened and progressive community; he called a public meet- ing, talked to the people and inspired theni to improve and beautify the resting place of their departed loved ones, and it became an hallowed spot and a pride of the city. Some of the most substantial and pretentious buildings of Wash- ington are to-day truthful evidences of his enter- prise, thrift and energy. The people of that city have to thank Mr. Bryson for the building of the Southwestern Railway into their town, as it was his enterprise and money that secured it. His relinquishment of his extensive interests there was a matter of serious regret to the people of that section, but what was their loss was a most substantial gain to Los Angeles. In addition to his work in Washington, Iowa, he also made valuable improvements in Red Oak, that state.

It is unnecessary to say that Mr. Bryson is a self-made man; the evidences are before the reader and they teach a lesson of industry, fru- gality and thrift that is worthy of emulation and imitation by the rising generation. Of recent years Mr. Bryson has gradually withdrawn from the cares and friction of active business to spend

his advanced and declining days in the leisure which is the reward of an honorable, busy and successful career.

HARLES LEGGE. The real-estate in- terests of Pasadena are represented by Mr. Legge, who has not only gained a large degree of success for himself, but at the same time has contributed toward the upbuilding of his home town, one of the fairest spots in the whole world. Like so many of the citizens of Southern California, he is of eastern birth and Revolu- tionary descent. He was born in Licking county, Ohio, November 5, 1850, and is a son of Col. Andrew and Cassandra (Hamilton) Legge, na- tives respectively of Licking county, Ohio, and Reedsburg, Va. His father was a lumber dealer and contractor. „At the opening of the Civil war he was one of the first to offer his services in the defense of the Union. His previous experience as captain of a military company admirably adapted him for service at the front. He was made cap- tain of Company E, Twelfth Ohio Infantry, and some time later, by reason of meritorious service, was promoted to be colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Ohio Infantry, serving principally in West Virginia under General Rosecrans. On account of ill health he was discharged, but soon afterward returned to the front. On two later occasions he was again obliged to accept an honorable discharge on account of disability, and lie never recovered from the effects of the hard- ships and exposure of army life. In 1865 he re- moved to Marshalltown, Iowa, where he soon afterward died, at the age of fifty-three years. His wife is still a resident of Iowa. They were the parents of five children.

In the common schools the subject of this article laid the foundation of li's present large fund of knowledge. His training in school, united with his keen observation and experience in the world of affairs, has resulted in the attain- ment of a broad information that is of great value to him in his work. He remained at home until 1875, when he came to California and settled in Pasadena. Here he purchased twenty acres and planted the same in oranges, but later sold it off in town lots. He was a member of the Lake Vineyard colony, and for several years gave his attention to fruit-raising. However, the rapid

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growth of the city made the real-estate business one of importance. Since 1883 he has devoted his attention exclusively to the real-estate business. He has gained the confidence of the people, who recognize him as a man of excellent judgment, keen intnition, broad information and large enter- prise. His judgment as to the values of property here is referred to by many, who recognize his opinion as almost infallible. He is also interested in irrigation and mining near Gila Bend, Ariz. Pasadena has in him one of its most progressive citizens. He has favored every movement for its progress and has personally contributed to each. An instance of his liberality may be mentioned: Upon the establishment of the Pasadena public library he not only donated the property (valued at $3,000) on which the building was erected, but also contributed $1,000 in cash. Besides his other interests he is a director in the Pasadena National Bank. In politics he is a Republican.

In 1887 Mr. Legge married Miss Algeo Jen- nings, who was born in Detroit, Mich. Her father was a native and lifelong resident of Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Legge are the parents of a daughter, Frances Lynnette Legge.

EORGE F. HERR, the well-known and popular city ticket agent of the South Pa- cific Railroad Company at Los Angeles, was born in Kentucky in 1869, and is the only son of George W. Herr, a Kentucky planter. He was educated in the public schools and in 1883 entered the employ of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad as messenger boy, remaining with that company in different capacities for seven years. Throughout his entire business career he has been connected with railroads. On coming to California in 1887 he entered the serv- ice of the Santa Fe Railroad, and subsequently represented the Union Pacific in the passenger service for five years, since which time he has been with the Southern Pacific, serving as city ticket agent at Los Angeles since 1897.

In 1892 Mr. Herr was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Stewart, a daughter of W. W. Stewart. Politically Mr. Herr is a Democrat, and fraternally is a Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Mystic Shrine, and also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

He is a pleasant, genial gentleman, who com- mands the respect and confidence of all with whom he comes in contact either in business or social life, and has a large circle of warm friends in Los Angeles.

Y EORGE W. LUCE. Success is determined by one's ability to recognize opportunity and to pursue this with a resolute and un- flagging energy. It results from continued labor, and the man who thus accomplishes his purpose usually becomes an important factor in the busi- ness circles of the community with which he is connected. Mr. Luce, through such means, has attained a leading place among the representative men of Los Angeles, and is to-day assistant gen- eral freight and passenger agent of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, with headquarters in the Douglas building.

A native of California, he was born in Eldorado county, September 1, 1856, and is a son of Israel and Mary A. (Nichols) Luce, natives of New York and Massachusetts, respectively. His father was engaged in the marble business throughout the greater part of his life, and as a Republican he took quite an active and prominent part in political affairs during his residence in Sacramento. He died in October, 1898, and the wife and mother died in 1861. Our subject has one brother, J. C., who is still engaged in the marble business in Sacramento.

George W. Luce spent his boyhood in Sacra- mento, where he attended the common and high schools, and at the age of sixteen commenced learning the ornamental marble business, which he followed for four years. At the age of twenty he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company as messenger boy, in the office of the freight auditor at San Francisco, and there remained until 1883, when he entered the com- mercial office of the same road as contracting freight agent. January 1, 1887, he came to Los Angeles in that capacity, but after being here for a time, he severed his connection with the South- ern Pacific and went with the Texas Pacific as general Pacific coast agent. This position he filled until September, 1891, when he resigned and became connected with the Union Pacific system as general agent of the freight depart- ment. November 20, 1894, he resigned that to

M D. Sauter

Photo by Marceau.

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accept the position of assistant general freighit agent of the Southern Pacific Company, with headquarters at San Francisco, which position had been tendered him by his old employers after seven years of separation. On the Ist of March, 1898, lie was promoted to the office which lie is now so creditably and acceptably filling. He is really the head man in Los Angeles for all of the freight and traffic business of the company.

Mr. Luce married Miss Clara Von Rhein, a daughter of O. F. Von Rhein, an extensive real- estate dealer and prominent citizen of San Fran- cisco. To them have been born two children, one son and one daughter, Roy R. and Mabel C. In national affairs Mr. Luce is a supporter of the Republican party, but at local elections, where no issue is involved, he votes for those whom he considers best qualified to fill the offices. He is a member of the National Union. His success in life is mainly due to hard work and the habit of giving careful attention to details. He is a close student of human nature, treats all with courtesy, and, as a genial gentlemen, he makes many friends and stands very high in both business and social circles.

M ILTON D. PAINTER. The complete his- tory of Pasadena could not be written without giving due notice to the Painter family, so prominently associated with its up- building and numerous important enterprises. Of this family, a prominent member is M. D. Painter, proprietor of La Pintoresca, a famous winter resort, situated between Pasadena and the base of the Sierra Madre Mountains. The hotel is thoroughly equipped with modern appliances; is lighted by gas and electricity, and heated by steamı. With its hundred sleeping apartments it has accommodations for a large number of guests. Every fifteen minutes the Altadena and Pasadena electric cars pass the door, thus affording guests quick transit to the city. In 1887 the two broth- ers, Alonzo J. and Milton D. Painter, together with their father, John H. Painter, founded what was then known as the Painter Hotel, which had sixty sleeping rooms. In 1897 the building was enlarged to its present capacity, furnished with the most approved appointments and rechristened

La Pintoresca. In connection with the hotel, the proprietor also carries on a livery business for the accommodation of guests.

In tracing the ancestry of Mr. Painter, the rec- ords show that he is descended from good old Quaker stock. His paternal great-grandfather, Jacob, a son of John and Susanna Painter, was born August 21, 1764, and died May 9, 1851. His wife, Mary, daughter of Robert and Abigail Hunt, was born July 25, 1768, and died Septem- ber 7, 1818. David, son of Jacob and Mary Painter, was born February 4, 1792; October 27, 1813, he married Ann Webb, who was born June 12, 1787, of an eastern Pennsylvania family. Subsequent to his marriage David Painter moved to Salemi, Ohio, and engaged in agricultural pur- suits. He died in August, 1866, and his wife about a year later. Their son, John H. Painter, father of our subject, was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, September 3, 1819. He bought property in Cedar county, Iowa, in 1844, his family joining him here the next year. He was active in the early settlement of Iowa. For twenty-one years he engaged in farming and busi- ness pursuits in Cedar county, and was for a time justice of the peace there. Later he made his home in Muscatine, Iowa, for fourteen years. He was an Abolitionist and a friend of John Brown. In 1880 he came to Pasadena, where he invested in various enterprises and made an en- viable reputation for business sagacity. He bought and sold land, aided in the building of the Painter House, was influential in a local water supply company and in other organizations. He died in this city April 9, 1891. His wife, who died liere July 20, 1899, bore the maiden name of Edith Dean and was born in Ohio August 5, 1821. Her father, James H. Dean, was born in central New York April 14, 1799, became a teacher, also followed farm pursuits; was married September 27, 1820, to Eleanor M. Winder, who was born in Virginia March 17, 1799; he died in Columbiana county, Ohio, March 28, 1885, and his wife passed away in Feb- ruary, 1891. His father, Jonathan R. Dean, was born May 26, 1776; and July 12, 1798, married Hannah Tuttle, who was born June 9, 1778, and died in October, 1851 ; his death occurred in Sep- tember, 1840. Mr. and Mrs. John H. Painter were the parents of eight children. Six reached

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maturity, viz. : Louis M., a soldier in the war of branches, and the motto is "Vive la joie." The the Rebellion, who died aged twenty-four years; Mrs. Ellen Michener: Mrs. Esther Michener; Milton D .; Alonzo J., deceased; and Mrs. Imelda A. Tebbetts.

Milton D. Painter was born in Springdale, Iowa, March 29, 1852, and was one of eight children, four now living. His elementary edu- cation was obtained in district schools, but when he was fourteen he entered the Muscatine schools, and five years later was graduated in the high school. Later he clerked with a lumber firm and for five years was in a wholesale grocery. Going to Marshall county, Iowa, he was bookkeeper for five years in a general store and in mills. Having thus gained a practical knowledge of gen- eral business, he was prepared for the duties that awaited him when he came to Pasadena in 1883. He was a partner of his father and broth- er, Alonzo J., until they died. He was exten- sively interested in real estate and prominently connected with the street railroad of this city. On the incorporation of the North Pasadena Water Company in 1885 he was chosen secretary and is now its president. For some years he has been the sole owner of La Pintoresca. A wide- awake, aggressive business man, he is quick to grasp an opportunity for advancement and is almost unerring in his judgment.

At Muscatine, Iowa, May 4, 1876, Mr. Painter married Miss Mary E. Joy, who was born in Evans, near Buffalo, N. Y. Her grandfather, Ira Joy, was a contractor on the old Erie Canal and owned a farm in the Empire state. In fact, Buffalo stands on a portion of his old homestead. During the war of 1812, when he was engaged in contracting in Buffalo, he witnessed its destruc- tion by British soldiers, who were under orders to burn it. In 1854 he moved from Buffalo to Mich- igan and died in Galesburg, that state.

Going back to the time of King Henry VIII. of England, we find mentioned in the records one George Joy, who was admitted in 1517 as a fellow to Peterhouse College at Cambridge. It is stated in old manuscripts that he was a "learned, pious and laborious reformer in the reign of Henry VIII." In the Herald's College, London, may be seen the grant of a coat of arms to the de . scendants of Thomas Joy. The crest is a vine- stump, with a dove standing between two

earliest record of the said Thomas Joy in Amer- ica bears date of 1634. Doubtless he emigrated from Hingham, Norfolk county, England, with a colony of some eight hundred persons who crossed the Atlantic in 1630, with Governor Winthrop as leader. That noted man thus speaks of Mr. Joy: "There was a young fellow, Thomas Joy, whom they had employed to get hands for the petition. He begun to be very busy, but was laid hold on and kept in irons four or five days and then he humbled himself, confessed what he knew and blamed himself for meddling in matters not his, and blessed God for the irons upon his legs, hoping they would do him good while he lived. So he was let out upon bail." In 1646 Thomas Joy, with his wife and four children, moved from Boston to Hingham, Mass., where he built and operated a mill and spent the remainder of his life. He died October 21, 1678. His wife, Joan, was a daughter of John Gallop, a renowned Indian fighter and trader, who, with a son, served in the Pequod war and received large grants of land from the government in consideration of his timely aid. He married Hannah Lake, a niece of Governor Winthrop. He was killed in the great fight with the Indians at Narragansett, Decem- ber 19, 1675. Of the eight children of Thomas Joy, the fourth son was Joseph Joy, born Janu- ary 2, 1645, and who married Mary Prince, August 29, 1667. Their son, Joseph, Jr., mar- ried, May 26, 1690, Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. James Andrews. They had a son, David, who in 1718, married a lady whose first name was Ruth. Their son, David, Jr., married Elizabeth Allen. Next in descent was David the third, who in 1776 married Hannah Partridge, of Guild- ford, Vt. One of their children was Ira Joy, the grandfather of Mrs. Mary E. Painter, who in 1815 married Clarissa Ludlow. In1 1800 he had accompanied his father to Onondaga county, N. Y., where much of his life was passed. He was a very active member of the Congregational Church and most of his descendants have adhered to that faith. His son, William H. Joy, father of Mrs. Painter, was born in Tompkins county, N. Y., October 24, 1819; he married Marion W. Ingersoll, at Evans, N. Y., October 24, 1843. They became the parents of thirteen children, nine of whom are still living. William H. Joy lived in

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Buffalo when it was a small town. From there he moved to Muscatine, Iowa, and became agent for the United States Express Company, holding the position until he was fifty-six years of age. He died one year later. He and his wife were faithful members of the Congregational Church; she died in 1870, about five years before his death. Their daughter, Mrs. Painter, was born at Evans, N. Y., Angust 12, 1854. She grew to woman- hood in Muscatine, Iowa, where she resided until the family removed to California. The eldest child born of her marriage, Joy Painter, was born in Iowa, March 1, 1879, and died in infancy. The living children are: Charles Wilfred, born in Muscatine, Iowa; Robert Alden and Marion, born in Pasadena. Mr. and Mrs. Painter aided in or- ganizing the First Congregational Church of Pasadena and later were among those influential in founding the North Congregational Church, of which they are now members.

M AJOR JOHN W. A. OFF, cashier of the State Bank and Trust Company of Los An- geles, is one of the leading business men of this city. For the past fifteen years he has been actively interested in the upbuilding and progress of Los Angeles and Southern California, and to his loyal efforts in the advancement of local enter- prises much of the prosperity which now blesses this section must be justly attributed. Success such as he enjoys rarely comes to anyone save to those who richly merit fortune's favors, as he certainly does. Like the one person in a thous- and who is prepared for opportunity when it comes, he was ready for every chance of ad- vancement, and carefully considered eaclı move on life's checkerboard ere venturing upon it.

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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 51

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