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 82
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About 1880 Mr. Gillette removed to Humboldt county, Iowa, and there he resided for fourteen years, meantime serving as postmaster at Unique for five years. He was known there as a man of great worth, and he stood high among his asso- ciates. While not a partisan in politics he never- theless has decided opinions of his own and has supported the Republican party from boyhcod. While in Jackson county he was active in the Masonic blue lodge of Preston, and was also identified with other enterprises and organiza- tions of Preston, which village he assisted in building up.
In Humboldt county, Iowa, Mr. Gillette mar- ried Etta C., daughter of John G. and Emma (Wickes) Lorbeer, natives respectively of Ger- many and New York, and for years residents of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Gillette have nine children, viz .: M. Jessamine, Frances W., William J., Chauncey A., Lawrence B., Mina E., A. Fay, Edith and Earl.
SEN. JOHNSTONE JONES, of Los Ange- les, was born in Hillsboro, Orange county, N. C., September 26, 1848, and is a son of Col. Cadwallader Jones, formerly a resident of Columbia, S. C. His paternal grandfather, Cad- wallader Jones, of Halifax county, N. C., in early life was a lieutenant in the United States marine service and in that capacity engaged in the battle between the Leopard and the Ches- apeake at the opening of the war of 1812. The latter's father, Major Cadwallader Jones, of Vir- ginia, served in Washington's army, first as a captain of cavalry and afterward as an officer on the staff of General Lafayette. At the early age of twenty-two, in 1877, he was commissioned captain.
Among the paternal ancestors of General Jones were Cadwallader Jones, who came to Virginia
in 1623, at the age of twenty-two; Peter Jones, who in advance of civilization had a trade estab- lished with the Indians at Peter's Point (now City Point), Va., in 1620, and commanded at Fort Henry in 1675; Cadwallader Jones, who was governor of the Bahamas in 1689-92; and Peter Jones, who founded Petersburg, Pa., in 1734. The mother of Col. Cadwallader Jones was Re- becca Edwards Jones, daughter of Gen. Allen Jones, a leader of the Revolution in the colony of North Carolina, chairman of the committee of safety in that stormy period, member of the col- onial congress, and friend and patron of the famous John Paul Jones, who took the name of Jones in honor of General Allen Jones. The head of this branch of the family was Robin Jones, of Wales, one of whose descendants was Robin Jones, of Essex county, Va., attorney-general of Virginia at one time. Through this branch of the family, General Jones is related to the Polks of North Carolina and Tennessee, Gen. W. R. Davie, of Revolutionary renown, and the families of Epps, Daniels, Eaton and Cobb in Virginia and the Carolinas. These two branches of the ancestry came directly to Virginia from Wales and were patriots in the Revolution. In the family there is now a sword which was one of a hundred genuine Toledo blades presented by the king of Spain to General Washington during the Revolution and by the latter distributed among his general officers, who in turn gave them to meritorious officers of the line and staff. One was presented by Lafayette to Major Cadwallader Jones about 1780 and this sword has been worn in each war of the United States by a lineal de- scendant of Major Jones bearing the name Cad- wallader Jones.
The mother of General Jones was Annie Isa- bella Iredell, daughter of James Iredell, who was attorney-general, governor and United States senator of North Carolina, serving in the senate with such intellectual giants as Webster, Clay and Calhoun. His father, James Iredell, was appointed associate justice of the supreme court of the United States in 1790 by President Wash- ington, and served for a number of years with distinction. He died at the age of forty-six years. He was the youngest judge ever ap- pointed to the supreme bench. He was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1751. At the age of sixteen he
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was appointed collector of the port of Edenton, N. C., by the British crown, and came to Amer- ica. He was the son of Francis Iredell, a mer- chant, and Margaret (McCulloch) Iredell, of Bel- fast, and a grandson of Rev. Francis Iredell, of Dublin. The true name was originally Ireton, and was changed at the restoration to escape the fury of the royalists. Rev. Francis Iredell was a descendant of General Ireton, who married Oli- ver Cromwell's sister and commanded his army. The head of the McCulloch (or Mccullough) branch was Sir Cullo O'Neil, first laird of Myr- ton, Scotland, and standard bearer to King Rob- ert de Bruce. He died in 1331. His son, Sir Godfrey, assumed the surname of McCullo.
The wife of Governor Iredell was Frances, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Treadwell, of Long Island, a noted physician of his day, and a lineal descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullen, of Plymouth Rock fame, and hero and heroine of Longfellow's courtship of Miles Standish. Among the ancestors along this line was Samuel Sea- bury, first Protestant Episcopal bishop of the United States, and great-great-grandson of John Alden and Priscilla Mullen.
General Johnstone Jones was named after his ancestor, Gov. Gabriel Johnstone, first colonial governor of North Carolina. He was educated at the Hillsboro (N. C.) Military Academy, and the South Carolina Military Academy at Colun1- bia, S. C. At the age of sixteen, in November, 1864, he enlisted in the Confederate army as a member of White's Battalion, South Carolina Cadets, Brigadier-General Stephen Elliott's Bri- gade, Hardee's Army, in which he remained un- til the close of the war. After the war he was clerk in a store of general merchandise in the village of Rock Hill, S. C., kept by W. L. Roddy. He then studied law under William K. Ruffin at Hillsboro, N. C., was appointed deputy clerk of the supreme court of North Carolina in January, 1868, serving under William Bagley, clerk, the father of Ensign Bagley, who was killed in the late war with Spain; and under Chief Justice Richmond Pearson, the grandfather of Richmond Pearson Hobson, of Merrimac fame. He was admitted to the bar in 1869, at the age of twenty. The next year he went to Baltimore, where he spent a year in the practice of law. Returning south in 1872 he became editor of the Daily Ob-
server, at Charlotte, N. C., but sold his interest in the paper in 1874. During that year he was elected secretary of the state senate; in 1875 was secretary of the constitutional convention of North Carolina; in 1876-77 edited the Daily News at Raleigh, N. C .; and January 8, 1877, was appointed adjutant-general of North Caro- lina, with the rank of brigadier general, by Gov- ernor Zebulon B. Vance, who was afterward United States senator. To this office he was re- appointed by Governor Thomas J. Jarvis in 1881 and by Governor Alfred M. Scales in 1885, his third term expiring in January, 1889.
In 1884, while a resident of Asheville, N. C., and adjutant-general of the state, General Jones was elected a representative of the county of Buncombe in the general assembly of the state. In 1886 he was renominated, but was defeated along with the entire county, congressional and judicial ticket. In the legislature he was chair- man of the committee on military affairs and a member of the judiciary committee and several others. In January, 1879, he attended the con- vention of militia officers held in New York City and aided in the formation of the National Guard Association of the United States, being one of the committee of three who drafted the constitu- tion and by-laws of the organization. He was afterward elected vice-president of the association, which office he held until he removed to Califor- nia in 1889.
The marriage of General Jones, at Charlotte, · N. C., in June, 1873, united him with Elizabeth Waters Miller, daughter of Thomas C. Miller, an eminent lawyer of North Carolina, and a descend- ant of Gen. James Moore, a distinguished briga- dier-general in Washington's army.
On account of the ill health of Mrs. Jones the family came to California in August, 1889. In San Diego General Jones entered into partnership with James E. Wadham, a prominent young at- torney of that city, and engaged in the practice of the law. In September, 1890, he was nomi- nated by the Democratic party of San Diego for district attorney, and received eighteen majority in the November election, out of a total vote of seven thousand and thirty-four, he being the only Democrat on the ticket elected in the county that year. He filled the office for two years; was renominated by the Democrats in 1892, but suf-
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fered defeat owing to the fact that the Populists had made a nomination for the office, which di- vided the Democratic vote and gave the Republi- cans an easy victory. However, he had the sat- isfaction of running ahead of the presidential ticket, Cleveland and Stevenson. In March, 1893, he formed a co-partnership with James L. Copeland, ex district attorney of San Diego, and Frank W. Goodbody, ex-deputy district attorney. The partnership was dissolved in October, 1893, and on the Ist of November of that year General Jones removed to Los Angeles and entered upon the practice of the law in this city. In1 1896 he was nominated for the state senate in the thirty- seventh senatorial district, comprising the larger part of the city of Los Angeles, being the Demo- cratic nominee, with the endorsement of the Populists, Silver Republicans and Labor party, and was defeated by Hon. R. N. Bulla, the Re- publican nominee. In 1898 he supported Gage for governor and Waters for congress, taking the stump in their behalf and in numerous speeches stating his reasons for so doing. January I, 1899, he was appointed assistant district attorney by James C. Rieves and ably fills the office.
In the Spanish-American war General Jones raised a cavalry regiment of twelve troops in ten days after the declaration of war and tendered their services to the president and governor. The companies were located in the city of Los Ange- les, and in Pasadena, Los Nietos valley, Nor- walk, Whittier, Santa Ana and San Bernardino. The organization was complete and numbered twelve hundred men. He was elected colonel of the regiment.
General Jones is a worthy representative of a noble race. He may with justice point to a long line of distinguished ancestors, to whose record his own life has added lustre. Of every honor conferred upon him he has proved himself worthy. As au attorney and as a public official, he has been a potent factor in every place where he has made his home. Forceful and eloquent in speech, profound in reasoning, and well informed in literature, he is equipped for his profession, and could "cross swords" with the best public speakers. His voice has been heard on many eventful occasions, and in defense of measures and principles he believed to be just and right, and his speeches have always indicated a thought-
ful and scholarly mind. He is a man of the times, progressive and public-spirited, helpful to his city, and filling a place but few could fill. His has been in truth a well-spent life and a noble career, and he has earned the high reputation which he has as lawyer and statesmail.
HOMAS STENT, one of the leading archi- tects of the United States and Canada for two-score years or more, is now living retired in the enjoyment of a well-deserved rest from toil at his pleasant home in Los Angeles. Stately and beautiful public and private buildings and residences which he has reared and designed in dozens of cities and towns on this continent, and in England, stand as monuments to his skill and genius, and his fame extends from ocean to ocean.
To the biographer there is always great pleasure in tracing the successive steps which have led a man from poverty and obscurity to a position of wealth, success and influence, such as Thomas Stent has long occupied, especially when he has hewed his own way and conquered opposing circumstances. The birth of our subject took place in Wiltshire, England, February 1, 1822, and he first attended school at Warminster. When eighteen years of age he was articled to an architect in Bath, England, where he studied dil- igently for four years, mastering every detail of the business. He remained in Somersetshire until the year 1855, building and designing a great many houses and public buildings in that section of England, and, among others, putting up the town-hall and market at Yeovil, and erecting a fine bank in the same place.
Believing that the New World offered better chances to an active, ambitious young man, he crossed the Atlantic in 1755, and, locating in London, Canada, then a mere hamlet, he designed and supervised the building of numerous houses and public structures, in the meantime winning an enviable reputation for integrity of word and deed. In 1860 he was honored by having his plans for the proposed house of Parliament, at Montreal, Canada, accepted, in connection with Thomas Fuller, a fellow-pupil of Bath, England, and accordingly he went to that city and super- intended the erection of what now is justly
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regarded as one of the finest group of buildings in that country, and, indeed, in America.
Going next to Newark, N. J., Mr. Stent soon became well known and in great demand as an architect, especially for large and imposing busi- ness houses and public buildings. In Newark he designed the Merchants' Insurance Building, the Old Ladies' and Orphans' Home, and many other edifices of more or less note, after which he was appointed architect for the vast Astor estate, and expended millions of dollars for the same. Later he designed buildings which were erected in New York City, Albany, Chicago, St. Louis and many places of lesser magnitude, some $25,000,000 passing through his hands in the execution of his contract. He also designed buildings for the Singer Manufacturing Company at Chicago (the beautiful Singer building and others now burned down) and also built for the same company buildings in St. Louis and a handsome residence costing upwards of $100,000, for Mr. Singer, president of the company. The New York state capitol building at Albany was designed by two of Mr. Stent's business partners.
In October, 1844, Mr. Stent married Miss Sarah Scammell, a native of Bath, and to them eleven children were born. Four of the number have entered the silent land, and the devoted wife and mother passed to hier reward at her home in Newark, N. J., when she was about fifty years of age. One of their sons, Edward E., whose death occurred April 12, 1896, was con- sidered one of the finest fresco artists on this continent. He was born in Somersetshire prior to his parents' removal to America. From his boyhood he manifested signs of the true artistic temperament and when seven years of age aston- ished everybody with his ability to draw pictures and designs. By intrinsic worth he forged his way to the front, and when he was untimely cut down in his prime, his loss was deeply felt by all who knew him. He left a wife and two children.
In March, 1895, Thomas Stent located in Los Angeles, with the intention of passing his remain- ing years in this sunny clime. Though he is retired from actual business, his advice frequently is called for, and his wide experience and ability render his opinion of great weight in all im- portant matters connected with architecture. The supervising architect for the city of Los
Angeles often calls Mr. Stent into consultation, and thus his judgment and material assistance were rendered when the city jail was to be built, and when fourteen of our splendid local school buildings were erected. Fraternally he is a Mason of long and high standing, and religiously he and his family are identified with the Episco- pal church.
When the architects of this entire country competed for designs for the new state capitol building of Montana, Mr. Stent received the third prize out of the fifty-nine applications submitted. He eventually made the state of Montana a present of his plans, whereupon the legislature passed a vote of thanks to him, which is still in his possession.
12 ANIEL ARBUTHNOT, treasurer of the Kingsley Tract Water Company and a well- known horticulturist of Pomona, has resided in this city since February, 1888. He is a native of Allegheny county, Pa., born January 23, 1838, and is a son of Robert and Jane (Holden) Arbuthnot. While he was still quite young his parents moved to Athens county, Ohio, and there he passed the years of boyhood and youth. In 1851 he accompanied the family to Benton county, Iowa, and there he gained a thorough knowledge of agricultural pursuits. As the years passed by he established a position among the reliable and prosperous farmers of the county, and won his way steadily forward to a position of influence and independence. Although his education was limited, yet he had derived a large fund of information through his habit of careful reading and his practical experience. He is therefore a well-informed man, possessing a knowledge not only of agriculture and horticul- ture, but also of other departments of knowledge of an important nature. In 1888 he left Iowa and came to California, since which time he has followed the business of fruit-growing in Pomona.
In 1863 Mr. Arbuthnot married Matilda Leavell, of Benton county, Iowa. They became the parents of six children, namely: Samuel A. (who is in South America), Melissa E., Clara E., Daniel G., Mary F. and Robert H. All but the oldest child are at home.
During the Civil war Mr. Arbuthnot served in the Union army. He enlisted October 9, 1862,
Peter He Taylor
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in Company G, Fourteenth Iowa Infantry, and was sent with his regiment to St. Louis, Mo. Soon after his enlistment he was taken ill, and, being unfit for active duty, he was honorably discharged after four months of service. He is a member of the Grand Army post at Pomona and takes an interest in its welfare.
In religion Mr. Arbuthnot is connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church of Pomona. He is a man whom all respect and esteem. His position is that of a progressive man, who desery- edly enjoys the confidence of the business com- munity. His orchard is not large, there being eleven and three-fourths acres, but it is well cul- tivated and brought to a condition to yield the largest possible returns to its owner.
ETER H. TAYLOR. The life which this narrative chronicles began in Scotland Feb- ruary 14, 1836, and closed in San Dimas, Cal., December 29, 1890. Between those two dates is a record of hardships bravely borne, pri- vations quietly endured and success worthily won. With all the Scotch powers of endurance Mr. Taylor worked his way perseveringly through toil and privation to prosperity and ease. His life was not long, as we count time, but it was so in respect to the good he accom- plished in his chosen field of labor.
When Mr. Taylor was a child of five years his parents, Henry and Jeannette Taylor, came to America and settled in New York state. There he grew to manhood and learned the carpenter's trade. During the Civil war he was employed by the government as a carpenter and bridge builder, and at the expiration of the rebellion he returned to his old home, but not many years afterward settled in California. His first location was in the San José valley, and he also for some years followed carpentering and building at San Luis Obispo. Thence he came to Los Angeles county early in the '70s, first settling at San Dimas, which was practically a wilderness, pre- senting little forecast of its present cultivation and prosperity. In this locality he engaged in carpentering and general farming. In 1878 he removed to Etiwanda, San Bernardino county, where he carried on a raisin business. His next location was at Spadra. After two years he re-
turned to San Dimas, in 1889, settling where his widow now resides. This continued to be his home and the scene of his horticultural activities until his death, shortly afterward.
January 10, 1884, Mr. Taylor married Mrs. Nellie H. (Miner) Grindle, who was born in Winnebago county, Wis., a daughter of Hudson A. and Electa E. (Greenman) Miner, natives re- spectively of Vermont and New York, the former said to have been of English extraction. Mrs. Taylor and her two daughters, Mary Jeannette and Lizzie Belle, have an attractive and comfort- able home on their fruit farm, which comprises thirty-seven acres, mostly under citrus fruits. In the best circles of local society Mrs. Taylor and her daughters occupy a high position, and their friends are many in this region.
At the time of his death Mr. Taylor was serv- ing as a school trustee of the San Dimas district, in which work he evinced the deepest interest, laboring in every way possible to promote the wel- fare of the schools. His political views were de- cidedly Republican, and he always supported the measures and men of that party. He was a Mason, connected with the lodge at Pomona, and in his life exemplified the noble teachings of that fraternity.
OSIAH J. HARSHMAN, who stands at the head of the celebrated cheese factory at Compton, probably has done more towards the development of the dairy industry in Los All- geles county than any other man, and due credit should be given him in the records of local prog- ress. Even to the casual visitor the residents of this favored section never fail to express their gratitude to Mr. Harshman for having introduced and carried to success one of the best enterprises associated with the upbuilding of Compton and vicinity.
Mr. Harshman was born near Wheeling, W. Va., in August, 1840, and is a son of Mathias and Rachel (Ross) Harshman, who were born in Pennsylvania and at an early day settled on the Western Reserve in Ohio. The father, who was a farmer, died at his old home in tlie Buckeye state when sixty years of age, and the mother, now in her eighty-fifth year, resides with a daughter in Ohio. Of her nine children not one has yet been summoned to the silent land. The
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paternal grandparents of our subject, Jacob and Elizabetlı ( Moniger) Harshman, natives of Penn- sylvania, spent their last years in Ohio. The father of Jacob was Mathias, a Pennsylvanian, whose death took place in Ohio, and his father, Andrew Harshman, who came from Germany to America in 1730, and who died at the age of one hundred and seven, was one of the enterprising early settlers of Frederick county, Md. Andrew Harshman's father, the great-great-great-grand- father of our subject, was born, and spent his entire life in Germany, dying at the age of one hundred and twenty.
Josiah J. Harshman received a grammar and high school education, and at the age of nineteen taught for some time in his home district. Then, on account of poor health, he traveled for five years, uniting business with pleasure. In 1867 he bought an interest in a cheese factory in Trumbull county, Ohio, and for six years he was actively engaged in business in that locality, but in 1873 he removed to a farm which he had pur- chased in Portage county. At the end of three years he sold out and started for the west, and upon his arrival here he concluded to locate per- manently in Compton. He soon discovered that the time was ripe for starting a cheese factory, and that the industry was just what was needed in this part of the county. He proceeded to put lıis idea into practical form, and the factory, with complete modern equipments, was in operation by February, 1880. At first its capacity was five thousand pounds of milk and everything seemed prosperous; his entire debt had been cleared and affairs were in a flourishing condition, when the Santa Fe Railroad was put through and competi- tion becoming greater, the business of the con- cern slightly languished. Mr. Harshman had bought a ranch and had sold out his interest in the factory, but it was found to be expedient to recall him to the management of the business, for one who is his equal in this branch is difficult, indeed, to find. He had devoted his attention for four years exclusively to his ranch, but he now "put his shoulder to the wheel" and energetically brought order and system into the business, as he so well knows how to do. As the years passed he enlarged the capacity of the factory until twenty thousand pounds of milk are handled each day and many thousand dollars are paid to the
farmers of this region every month. Honorable and just in all his dealings with them Mr. Harsh- man has earned an enviable reputation, and no one has anything but praise for him and his reli- able business methods. He is, indeed, regarded as a public benefactor, for to his efforts and to the large amounts of money which he distributes regularly among his customers much of the pros- perity of this community is assuredly due.
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