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 74
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Mr. Lynch was a Democrat, but never had political aspirations. In his youth his educational facilities were of the most meager description and sadly interfered with, owing to his continued change of residence. He learned much, however, from the book called life, for he was a keen and intelligent observer, and had a retentive memo- ry. Under any condition of life he would have been considered a well-informed, erudite and
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entertaining man. Los Angeles may well feel the loss from among her activities of so well-be- loved and high-minded a man.
B EN WHITE. Few of the comparatively recent arrivals to the ranks of Los Angeles' business men are better or more favorably known than is the gentleman whose name ap- pears at the head of this sketch. He is proud of the fact that he is a native Californian, his birth having taken place in Calaveras county June 18, 1870, and during the thirty years of his existence he has known or cared for no other home or wider interests than those associated with the Pacific coast. His father, who was a native of Scotland, but just half a century ago cast in his fortunes with the golden land, served as a mem- ber of the state militia during the Civil war and won the title of captain by his diligence in the discharge of the arduous duties which devolved upon him. For a wife he chose a Miss McGrath, who had come to the west in her girlhood. Though for a number of years he was the pro- prietor of a flourishing hotel in San Francisco he conducted a farm for many years, being equally successful in that enterprise.
The early years of Ben White were spent in the quiet routine work of farming in Contra Costa county. When he had completed his public school education he took up the study of law, and was thus employed for a period in San Fran- cisco. The law, however, proved too tedious a subject and the prospects of making a speedy success at the calling were so unpromising that the young man, who naturally is very energetic and ambitious, decided to turn his attention to other means of getting his livelihood. During the ensuing years he was variously employed, but never lacked a remunerative situation as a clerk or in some similar capacity, and, while daily learning valuable lessons of thrift and busi- ness wisdom, he also managed to lay aside sonie- thing from his earnings to serve as capital later. In the fall of 1893 he came to Los Angeles, where he established a real-estate office, and, though he has had to rely solely upon himself, never having a partner, and at first having no in- fluential friends here, he soon made an enviable reputation for integrity, and has steadily ad-
vanced in the good opinion of the public. Owing to his excellent management he never has been obliged to borrow a dollar, and if his extreme reluctance to incur an obligation were universally followed this world would be a much wiser and happier place of abode. The older and long established real estate men here at first regarded the youth of twenty-three who proposed to enter into their field of business either with quiet scorn or amusement, but he steadfastly pursued his way and gradually won their respect by his square dealing and manliness. He has continued as he began, and to-day, if he so desired, he could obtain credit to almost any amount from any of the local banks. He has confined himself ex- clusively to the buying and selling of real estate in large and small tracts, and never has listed a piece of rental property upon his books.
Since he has attained the right of franchise Mr. White has been faithful in his adherence to the Republican party. Socially he is identified with the Knights of the Maccabees, the Foresters and the Order of the Native Sons. Judging by what he has accomplished within the past decade, he has a promising future in store.
G ERBERT S. WHITE, a well-known and prominent citizen and successful walnut grower of the vicinity of Rivera, is a native of Kent county, Ontario, Canada, where he was born February 12, 1861. His parents were Dan- iel and Isa A. (Dolsen) White, natives respec- tively of Pennsylvania and Ontario. Mention, at length, of the life and work of Daniel White is to be found in the sketch of W. W. White in an- other part of this book.
Herbert S. White spent his boyhood days in Canada, where he received an excellent home training that fitted him for the responsibilities that he later assumed. In addition he studied diligently at the public schools, and during his younger days had the opportunity of acquiring considerable business experience. In the fall of 1883 he moved with his parents and other mem- bers of the family to Los Angeles county, where he has since resided.
March 5, 1890, Mr. White married Martha J. Coffman, a daughter of the late Charles A. Coff- man, of Ranchito, Cal. Charles Coffman was a
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very prominent man during the years of his ac- tivity, and in his loss California has cause to re- gret, for he upheld withi courage and steadfast- ness her institutions and interests. To Mr. and Mrs. White have been born two children, Rae and Bertha. Mr. White is a member of the Los Nietos and Ranchito Walnut Growers' Associa- tion, incorporated, and of the Los Nietos Valley Pioneers' Club. Fraternally he is associated with the Independent Order of Foresters at Rivera. In politics he is a Democrat, but has never been an office-seeker. He is public-spirited and enter- prising, and enjoys the confidence of the com- munity among whom his lot is cast.
OSIAH EVANS COWLES, M. D., is well known to the people of Los Angeles and Southern California, both as a successful physician and surgeon and as the founder and proprietor of the Pacific Sanitarium on South Hope street. He comes of one of the oldest fam- ilies of America, being a great-grandson of Capt. Andrew Carson, of Revolutionary fame, who was an uncle of the famous scout and Indian fighter (afterwards a colonel in the United States army ), Kit Carson, and was born in Yadkin county, N. C., May 14, 1855, being therefore now in the prime of life's activities. The father of Dr. Cowles, Josiah Cowles, Jr., died when his two children were small, and the task of caring for and rearing theni devolved wholly upon Mrs. Mary (Evans) Cowles, who proved herself a most noble and devoted mother. Not only did she carefully rear her own children, but also her two half-brothers; and this was done during the very trying times of the Civil war and the re- construction period immediately following. The family lived at Lenoir, the educational center of western North Carolina.
For three years after leaving school Dr. Cowles was employed as a civil engineer, and a little later considered entering upon a military career, but fearing the severity of a northern climate lie declined an appointment to West Point and en- tered instead the Maryland College of Pharmacy, Baltimore. Here he took the full course of lec- tures, as well as an especial course in chemistry.
Upon the completion of his studies in the above institution he matriculated in the University of Maryland for a three years' course. During his senior year he was engaged in professional work in the university hospital, thus adding to his theoretical knowledge a fund of valuable experi- ence. Graduating with honors in 1880 from the university, he turned his face toward the south and opened an office in Edgefield, S. C., where he pursued a general practice. His first opera- tion for appendicitis was performed by a flicker- ing lamp in a cabin among the sand hills of the Edisto river, in November, 1880. The patient made a good recovery and the doctor received a large fee of gratitude only for his services.
Dr. Cowles is ambitious and keeps abreast with every advance made in the science of medicine. He is a thoughtful reader of current literature concerning his profession, both medical and sur- gical, and avails himself of every opportunity for study in hospitals and post-graduate institutions. In 1887, going to New York, he spent two years in study, having charge of the New York Lying- In asylum, and also, with others, of the gyne- cological out-door department of Bellevue Hospi- tal. At the same time he lectured at the New York Polyclinic and assisted Prof. V. P. Gibney in his orthopoedic work. Removing to Los An- geles in 1889, he established the Pacific Hospital and Sanitarium, designed for the treatment of surgical diseases of women, in which he has been highly successful. One of the many successful abdominal operations performed there was one for hysterotomy by Dr. Cowles May 9, 1894, the patient being a full-blooded Coahuilla Indian .woman, the first instance, so far as known, in which an Indian woman had ever been subjected to this operation. The tumor, a solid fibroid, weighed twenty-five pounds; the woman made an uneventful recovery, her temperature never having ranged higher than 9912º Fahrenheit, and pulse 88.
Dr. Cowles has also an office in the Wilcox building, in conjunction with the Equitable Assurance Society of New York, for which he is chief examiner for Los Angeles. He is a mem- ber of the Los Angeles County Medical Society, the Southern California District Medical Society and the American Medical Association, in the work of which he is deeply interested, contributing
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from time to time to the literature of his profession valuable papers on methods and operations in the line of his specialties.
By virtue of his descent from Revolutionary ancestry Dr. Cowles is connected with the Sons of the Revolution. As a matter of local interest it may be stated here that R. C. Duvall, U. S. N., an uncle of Dr. Cowles, was midshipman on the flag-ship Savannah, under Commodores Sloat and Stockton, and assisted in the capture of Mon- terey, San Diego and Los Angeles in 1847-48, taking part in the battles of Dominguez Rancho, San Pasqual and San Gabriel, being in command of a detachment of United States marines. A minute and detailed account of these movements and engagements and a fine likeness of Midship- man Duvall, with his log-book, have been depos- ited by Dr. Cowles in the archives of the Histo- rical Society of Southern California. Professor Guinn says in regard to Lieutenant Duvall's account of the battle of Dominguez Rancho, "That it is undoubtedly the best report of that affair in existence."
Dr. Cowles is also a churchman, being senior warden of St. John's Episcopal Church and one of the trustees of the diocese of Los Angeles. In 1890 he married Miss Ione Virginia Hill, eldest daughter of T. Clarkson Hill, Esq., a prominent Quaker of Chicago. Mrs. Cowles is a woman of very superior and lovely character and is active in church and charitable work in the city, as well as a prominent member of the leading women's clubs of Los Angeles.
APT. ALBERT C. JONES. In this en- lightened age, when men of industry, en- ergy and merit are rapidly pushing their way to the front, those who, by their own indi- vidual efforts, have won favor and fortune, may properly claim recognition. Among the repre- sentative business men of Los Angeles, Capt. Albert C. Jones is well worthy a leading place, for his fortunes have been closely associated with those of this flourishing city for the past sixteen years, and no one is more enthusiastic and public- spirited in all things pertaining to the prosperity of this section of Southern California.
The year of our subject's birth, 1853, his father, Albert C. Jones, Sr., took up his residence in Mil-
waukee, Wis., in which city the former was born. The senior was a native of New York state, where he learned the trade of a shipbuilder, and after the Civil war broke out he was kept very busy in the construction of vessels for the United States navy. He was an ardent believer in the Union cause, and served in the Twenty-fourtli Wisconsin Infantry until he was discharged for physical disability. During the reconstruction period after the termination of the war he resided in New Orleans. His wife, whose maiden name was Hetty Jones, was a sister of the Jones Broth- ers, who became famous as shipbuilders on the great lakes. Mrs. Jones was born at Lorain, not far from Cleveland, Ohio, and departed this life about ten years ago. She was the mother of two children, of whom the daughter, Mrs. Jenkins, is now a resident upon the old Jones family estate in Milwaukee.
The boyhood of Albert C. Jones was spent in Milwaukee, where he acquired a liberal business education in the common and high schools. He commenced to earn a portion at least of his own livelihood when he was but thirteen years of age, and continued to be employed in the com - mission business until 1884, when he came west, with the exception of two years, when he served as deputy county treasurer of Milwaukee county. After a few years in minor positions he invested the capital which he had accumulated in a com- mission business of his own, and succeeded won- derfully in his enterprise. By square dealing and excellent methods he won the favor of those with whom he dealt, and at length stood at the head of a firm which was generally acknowledged to be one of the largest of the kind in the United States. He had branch offices in Chicago, New York and many other large cities, and with rare judgment and ability managed and directed the whole.
In 1884, being desirous of a change of scene and climate, Captain Jones came to Los Angeles, and for some time had charge of the business of O. W. Childs. He became interested in the Los Angeles Furniture Company about fourteen years ago, and now holds the position of secretary of the company. This is one of the largest houses in the furniture trade on the Pacific coast, and during the celebrated "boom" period it trans- acted the greatest volume of business of any in
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this line in the United States. It has lost none of its prestige, and year by year is advancing iu the regard of the public. Not a little of the prosperity which the firm enjoys is due to the foresight and energy of Captain Jones, whose ex- perience has been wide and practical. Every visitor to this city is astonished at the elegant line of goods carried in stock by this far western com- pany, and at the varied assortment of furniture and house fittings, the prices ranging from the lowest possible, compatible with quality, to the highest for rarely beautiful articles.
Captain Jones belongs to the California Club, which has as members many of the prominent business men and substantial citizens of Los An- geles. He is also connected with the Masonic Order, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Foresters, in each of his lodges being one of the most promi- nent members. In his political affiliations he is a Republican, and in all local matters he is in- tensely interested. He is in favor of progress along all lines, and is doing effective work as a member of committee on parks.
About a decade ago, on the 27th of May, 1890, Captain Jones and Miss Anna Pendleton, a daughter of Dr. William H. Pendleton, a Baptist clergyman of this city, were united in marriage. They are the parents of one little daughter, Helen, the joy and sunshine of her happy home.
ARRISON L. MONTGOMERY. A resi- dent of California since 1852, Mr. Mont- gomery has witnessed the unparalleled growth of the state and has himself contributed thereto, especially through his work as a horti- culturist. In 1868 he came to Los Angeles county, his first home being in the vicinity of Downey, and he purchased a tract of land front Don Pio Pico, the last Spanish governor of Cali- fornia. In 1869 he settled on a ranch near the present site of Rivera, and for thirty years gave his attention to the cultivation of the land, su- perintending its planting to various fruits and to English walnuts, and bringing it to a high state of cultivation. In 1889 he and his wife came to the village of Rivera, where it is their intention to spend their remaining years. However, he still owns the ranch, which comprises one hun-
dred acres, forty of these being under Englislı walnuts. He is a member, and at one time served as a director of the Los Nietos and Ranchito Walnut Growers' Association, incor- porated, of which his son, James A., is now the popular and efficient secretary.
In Trumbull county, Ohio, Harrison L. Mont- gomery was born on New Year's day of 1834, a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Brannon) Mont- gomery, natives respectively of Ohio and Penn- sylvania. His paternal grandfather was a pio- neer of Trumbull county and a descendant of English and Scotch ancestry, while his maternal ancestors were German and Irish. This combi- nation of races accounts, in part, for some of his characteristics; he possesses the English deter- mination, the Irish geniality, the German thrift and the Scotch integrity and honor. His boy- hood days were spent upon a farm, with little of special moment to distinguish one week from an- other. At an early age he was trained to habits of perseverance and industry, which qualities have contributed to his success in life.
In company with two brothers, in 1852 Mr. Montgomery started on the then long and haz- ardous voyage to California, going first from Ohio to New York and there taking passage 011 an ocean vessel bound for San Francisco. The voyage was comparatively uneventful, and after one hundred and sixty-five days he landed at the Golden Gate harbor. His object in going west had been to try his luck in mining, and he pro- ceeded to the Auburn gold mine on the Middle Fork of the American river, where lie prospected and mined for a short time. His next location was in Sutter county, Cal., four miles from the old John A. Sutter residence, where he remained for thirteen years, meantime engaging in the wood business. Subsequently he turned his at- tention to farming and stock-raising, which oc- cupations he found more remunerative than inin- ing. In 1866 he settled in Mendocino county, Cal., and engaged in farming, but two years later he established his home in Los Angeles county, where he has since remained. He was one of the first in this county to become inter- ested in the growing of English walnuts, and his success stimulated others to embark in that in- dustry, which is now one of the most staple in California. Through his industry and sound
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judgment he has accumulated a competency, and is now able to spend the evening of his life in the enjoyment of every comfort.
On New Year's day of 1857 Mr. Montgomery and Mrs. Matilda Speegle were united in mar- riage. They became the parents of eight chil- dren, seven living, viz .: James A .; Charles W .; Lewis M .; Matilda A., wife of Robert Reynolds; Emma E., who married Stephen Smith; Ella J., wife of F. W. Guthrie; and Lola I., Mrs. Samuel Guthrie. The family are connected with the Christian Church, in the work of which they take a warm interest.
Mrs. Montgomery was born in Champaign county, Ohio, a daughter of William Guest, a pioneer and prominent citizen of that county. In 1849, with her mother and her first husband, David Speegle, she crossed the plains from Ar- kansas, where she had lived for several previous years. The long trip was made with ox-teams and horses along the Santa Fe route to San Diego, where they took a ship for San Fran- cisco. Arriving in that city they at once pro- ceeded to Marysville, in the center of the mining region. Mr. Speegle died in that place, leaving his widow with two children, Margaret and Emanuel, of whom the former is the wife of L. L. Bequette, of Los Angeles. A few years after her husband's death Mrs. Speegle became the wife of Mr. Montgomery. They are an estimable couple, highly respected for worth of character and for those kindnesses that lead them to aid people less fortunate than themselves. With true charity and benevolence they are making the world better for their presence in it, and up- lifting by their kindly influence those with whom they associate.
DGAR ROBINSON COFFMAN. In the vicinity of Irwindale Mr. Coffman is well known as one of the town's most success- ful and enterprising horticulturists. On coming to this place, immediately after a visit to the east and to the Centennial in 1876, he bought one hundred and five acres of fruit land, but shortly afterward sold a portion of the property, reserv- ing for himself sixty-seven and one-half acres, which is now under a high state of cultivation. Much of this land is sublet to Chinese market gardeners, who maintain the property at its high
standard. With the land Mr. Coffman pur- chased a water right. He was foremost among the pioneers who developed the water resources of the Azusa valley, thereby making it possible to transform the valley into one of the garden spots of the world. He was a charter member of the Azusa Irrigating Company, and is now a member of the committee of nine who govern the entire distribution of the water. This in itself is a very responsible position; and the fact that he was selected to serve on the committee shows the high opinion in which his judgment is held. He is connected with the Irwindale Citrus Associa- tion as one of its directors, and is also a member of the Irwindale Land and Water Company, which owns one of the best wells in Los Angeles county.
Near Fincastle, in Botetourt county, Va., Mr. Coffman was born December 24, 1837. His an- cestors were Germans who settled in Pennsylva- nia in a very early day, and thence moved into Virginia, where they ranked among the most in- fluential families. His grandfather, Jacob Coff- man, was a farmer and the owner of large estates in lands and slaves. His oldest son, Samuel A., who was a bugler in the Black Horse Cavalry militia in Virginia, came to Kansas in 1855, ac- companied by his family, and settled in Jefferson county, where, under the territorial rule, he served as a justice of the peace. At the time of his death he was seventy-five years of age. He had married Mary, daughter of Henry Stair, at one time an influential citizen of Virginia. Mrs. Coffman is still living in Kansas and is ninety- three years of age (1900). In religion for many years she has been a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of her family, nine children reached years of maturity.
When Samuel A. Coffman took his family to Kansas his son, Edgar R., was eighteen years of age, and hence was sufficiently strong to be a great help in the clearing and improving of the Kansas farm. Not only did he assist his father on the home place, but he also took up a govern- ment claim of one hundred and sixty acres in his own name. He is a great lover of dogs and fond of hunting. One of the most memorable expe- riences of his early manhood was a buffalo hunt in 1859, when he and five companions joined six other men on the plains and spent three weeks in
al
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hunting buffaloes, killing thirty-two head and bringing back to the settlement two wagon-loads of jerked meat. In 1861 he started for Califor- nia with his brother, Charles A. Coffman, travel- ing across the plains with twenty-five head of mules for freighting in California and Nevada. After three months he arrived at the Golden Gate. Settling at Marysville, he engaged in freighting for nine years, after which he began farming in Yuba county. For six years, from 1870 to 1876, he made his home upon his ranch there, meantime raising grain (mostly wheat). He then sold the seven hundred and forty acres comprising the ranch and returned east on a visit to old friends and to the exposition. More than one acquaint- ance endeavored to induce him to settle in the east, but his affection for California was too deep- seated to permit him to leave, and he returned to the state, buying the property he has since owned.
March 19, 1868, occurred the marriage of Mr. Coffman to Miss Virginia A. Treace, who was born in Wisconsin, and in 1853 accompanied her parents to California. To this marriage four children were born: Charles H .; Edgar T .; Della V., wife of E. E. Washburn; and Etta May, at home. The family are counected with the Holiness Church.
In national politics Mr. Coffman believes in Democratic principles, but does not restrict his vote to party men, supporting rather those prin- ciples in which he believes, and the adoption of which he believes to be for the greatest good to the greatest number.
ON. ABBOT KINNEY. Nations rise, reign, then pass into oblivion. Yet there are stars within the constellation of those governments which never cease to send their light down the ages. Men, by their strong indi - viduality, make an impress upon the ocean of hu- manity, and the waves of time and the rust of in- action can never destroy that impress. Of the work of Abbot Kinney it may be said that his life has been an earnest effort to promote the perpetuation of the best in the world. The char- acters of such men will wield a powerful influence when the earthly house of their tabernacle shall have been dissolved; if we will appropriate their lives to our own good, they will go with us and
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