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 85
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While in San José Mr. Gaines cast his first presidential vote, supporting Buchanan. He voted with the Democrats until about 1892, when he became an adherent of the Populist party, being strongly in favor of the free and unlimited coinage of silver advocated by this party.
In Gilroy, Santa Clara county, Cal., Mr. Gaines married Miss Mary Camp, who was born in New York, and accompanied her parents to California
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in childhood. Twelve children were born of their union, namely: William A .; Wesley; Edith, Mrs. L. P. Abbott, of Los Angeles; Sophie Lee; Ed- ward F .; Lillie Belle, wife of R. R. Briggs; Lou- isa, wife of David Henderson; Robert E., Na- than, Margaret, Clara and Laura G.
OHN PARKINSON. In a city where there is such a vast amount of building done each year as in Los Angeles, great opportunities are presented to able, enterprising architects, in which class John Parkinson takes high rank. His experience has been very extensive for one who has scarcely reached middle life, and he represents the most progressive element of his profession.
One of the native sons of England, he was born in Lancashire, December 12, 1861, and was reared to manhood there, receiving a liberal edu- cation. Upon leaving the common schools he attended a mechanical and technical institute in Lancashire, and also served an apprenticeship to a leading contractor and builder, putting into practical use the principles he had learned in school. He remained in the employ of one con- tractor in his native town for six years, at the end of which time he decided to try his fortunes in the United States.
In 1889 John Parkinson arrived on the Pacific coast, and, going to Seattle, where there ap- peared to be a good opening for an ambitious young man, he established an office, and em- barked in business. The building in which his office was situated was destroyed in the great fire which devastated the city in 1889, but new buildings were in demand as the result and he was constantly busy. Among the notable struct- ures which he designed were the Butler block, costing $160,000; the Seattle National Bank, erected at a cost of $240,000, and many other buildings, representing over $2,000,000. In ad- dition to this he designed buildings for towns and villages in different parts of the state of Wash. ington. In March, 1894, he removed to Los Angeles.
Among many of the substantial buildings in Los Angeles that he designed was the Homer Laughlin building, one of the most thoroughly fireproof office buildings in the United States. In
this city, as in the north, he has won success and pre-eminence, and his future is very promising. He was a charter member of the Seattle branch of the American Institute of Architects.
The first presidential vote cast by Mr. Parkin- son was for Benjamin Harrison, and at the same election (1892) he used his ballot in favor of the Republican nominee for first governor of the state of Washington. He is a stanch Republi- can, and is loyal to the land of his adoption. The marriage of Mr. Parkinson and Miss Meta B. Breckenfeld took place in Napa county, Cal., December 25, 1889. They have two children, namely: Mary D. and Donald B.
ESSE YARNELL has been one of the most active and progressive pioneers of Los An- geles. He is a native of Licking county, Ohio, and was born near the line of Muskingum county, June 20, 1837. He learned the printer's trade in a newspaper office at Zanesville, Ohio, where he remained, engaging in the newspaper business, for about three years. In 1862 he came to California, settling at Placerville and purchas- ing a controlling interest in the Placerville Daily New's, which he successfully conducted until 1866. He then came to Los Angeles and started the Weekly Republican, which, after publishing for a year, he sold. The material of the plant was finally merged into that of the Evening Express, which enterprise was organized and put on foot by Mr. Yarnell and his brother George, together with George Tiffany, John Painter and Miguel Varilla. This they finally sold and Mr. Yarnell, with T. J. Caystile and W. W. Brown, started the Weekly Mirror. Later Nathan Cole came to Los Angeles and established the Daily Times, which he afterward sold to the Mirror Company. Finally Col. H. G. Otis and his associates incor- porated the Times-Mirror Company and merged the two publications in one, the outgrowth of which is the present Los Angeles Daily Times, one of the most ably conducted dailies on the Pacific coast.
Under Mr. Yarnell's direction the Weekly Mirror thrived and became influential through- out Southern California, forming the splendid foundation on which was built the Daily Times. After selling the Mirror he associated himself
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with Commodore Rufus R. Haines and Julius Martin in the establishment of the Western Wave, which was conducted in the interests of the cause of Prohibition. For one year they con- ducted this paper, then sold it, after which it was merged into what is now the California Voice, the representative Prohibition paper of the Pacific coast. He also took a prominent part in the or- ganization of the old firm of Kingsley & Barnes, now widely known as the Kingsley, Barnes & Neuner Company, and he was a partner in the original concern. He was one of the incor- porators of the first cable street railroad in Los Angeles, the old Second street line that started at Second and Spring and terminated on Belmont avenue. This enterprise had a most salutary in- fluence upon the development of that hill-region of the city.
During his active life in Los Angeles Mr. Yarnell was more or less identified with the ex- pansion of the city by the laying out of additions and the subdivision of tracts of land. He was one of the original incorporators of the Indiana colony, the outgrowth of which successful enter- prise is a portion of the present beautiful city of Pasadena. He also helped to re-establishı the Troy Laundry Company of Los Angeles, which has grown into a strong money-making institu- tion, and of which he was secretary for eight years. His close identification with the material growth of the city has made him a very busy man indeed. He is now president of the Porter Land and Water Company, of the Richfield Land and Water Company, and is also interested in oil development in Southern California.
At Placerville, Cal., in 1865, Mr. Yarnell married Miss Susan Caystile, daughter of Thomas and Eshter (Lea) Caystile. They have four daughters and one son. Mr. Yarnell is a strong adherent of the cause of Prohibition and has for years been an influential member of the Prohibi- tion party in the state. Three times he has been selected to serve as a member of the National party committee from California, twice he served on the state committee and frequently has been elected chairman of the county organization. He has held one of the highest offices in the state organization of Good Templars and for twenty- five years has been an active member of Merrill Lodge, I. O. G. T.
The qualities which characterize Mr. Yarnell are his by inheritance. He descends from gen- erations of keen and talented men, and through his mother is a direct descendant of Oliver Crom- well and a near relative of ex-President Zachary Taylor. He is a type of the best class of pio- neers; a man of exalted ideas of right, of 1111- swerving integrity and strong individuality.
RUMAN BERRY was the second permanent settler in Whittier, having located here in 1891, when a barley field covered the ground on which now stands the prosperous town. He is a native of far off Someret county, Me., where he was born December 18, 1852. His parents, William and Lucy (Andrews) Berry, were also natives of Maine, as were many of his ancestors. William Berry was a soldier in the Civil war, and the grandfather, Levi Berry, was a soldier in the war of 1812.
Truman Berry passed his youth on his father's farm in Maine and was a diligent lad, who readily applied himself to the tasks allotted him, and who was therefore of valuable assistance in the manage- ment of the farm. He also studied with zest at the public schools, which opportunity was sup- plemented by a course at the Concord (Me.) high school. Having thus fitted himself for an active, independent life, he decided to start out for him- self and in 1889 undertook the journey to Socorro, N. M., where he engaged with marked success in the transfer and livery business. Not being satisfied with the future prospects of his surroundings, he next moved to California and located in East Whittier, where he became inter- ested in the upbuilding and improvement of the crude conditions then existing here. At the present time he has a fine ranch given over to the cultivation of oranges, lemons and English walnuts and covering ten and one-half acres. In addition he owns a ranch of fourteen and one-half acres in English walnuts.
Mr. Berry married Louise Holbrook, a native of Maine, and to this couple has been born one daughter, Georgie I. Mr. Berry is variously interested in a political and fraternal way. He is a Republican, but entertains broad and com- prehensive views regarding the election of men to public office. He is a member of the Inde-
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pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Whittier, and also a member of the order of Maccabees at Los Angeles, and the Fraternal Brotherhood and Woodmen of the World at Whittier.
Mr. Berry's progressive, enterprising spirit has met with a hearty response from his fellow- townsmen, among whom he is esteemed for his devotion to the interests of the community, and for his unfailing willingness to lend time and money for the accomplishment of the needs of friends, associates or the public at large.
VERETT L. BLANCHARD. Just fifteen years ago Everett L. Blanchard took up his permanent residence in Los Angeles, and from that time until the present day he has been foremost in every enterprise and improvement calculated to advance the prosperity of this thriv- ing city of the sunny southland. He has been a witness of the most remarkable period of its growth, perhaps, and has seen the humble adobe buildings one by one give place to imposing structures that would do credit to any eastern metropolis. He has beheld the transformation of arid wastes and the brown hills into fertile, blos- soming groves and gardens, in whose midst have been reared stately mansions and beautiful homes of every variety of architecture. And in all of this marvelous work he may feel that he has had a share, owing to the nature of his business, for he has bought and sold land extensively and has been actively associated with many local enter- prises.
Mr. Blanchard is a native of Maine, his birth having occurred in the town of Cumberland, forty-four years ago. His boyhood was spent upon a farm, and in the pursuits common to country life he developed into a strong man, physically and mentally. His education was such as could be obtained in the schools of the neigh- borhood and in Greeley Institute, whither his am- bitious young feet took him in order that he might taste deeper of the wells of knowledge. When he arrived at the age of twenty-two years he em- · barked in the mercantile business, in partnership with a brother, and it was not until 1885 that he left his native state in the far east to come to the shores of the western ocean. He had prospered in a business way, but he was not satisfied until
lie had tried his fortunes in the west, where he was certain that greater things awaited him. He located in Los Angeles and established himself in the insurance and real estate business, in the former of which he has since continued with wis- dom and ability.
In all of his transactions Mr. Blanchard has maintained the utmost justice and regard for the rights of others, and in every instance where he has bought or sold property he has retained the esteem of the persons with whom he dealt. To this fact, doubtless, and to his general high standing in the community, is due his being chosen as a representative of the people in the city council. He was elected to that responsible of- fice in the fall of 1895, and has been re-elected twice since, the present year being the third term of his retention as a public official. He is affili- ated with the Republican party, but never has been a politician in the modern sense. Fra- ternally he is a Knight of Pythias and prominent in the ranks of the Masonic order. At the age of twenty-two he was united in marriage to Miss Porter, a lady who was born and reared in the same town as himself. They are the parents of three daughters, and their home is a happy and attractive one.
EL CAMPBELL is a leading citizen and fruit-raiser of Pomona and resides at the corner of Garey and Orange Grove avenues. A man of broad western experience when he be- came a resident of this city in 1891, he at once identified himself with important enterprises here and is a citizen in whom the community has im- plicit confidence. He is at this writing a director in the Pomona Fruit Growers' Exchange.
As the name implies the Campbell family is of Scotch extraction. Mr. Campbell was born in Van Buren county, Mich., December 18, 1842, a son of Williamı and Elvira (Raymond) Camp- bell, natives respectively of Michigan and Penn- sylvania. He was reared in Michigan and passed the years of early youth in an uneventful man- ner. While still a mere boy lie determined to seek his fortune in the newly-discovered mines of Colorado. In 1859 he left home and friends and traveled overland to the Rocky mountain region, where he remained for three years. In 1863 he
S. J. Miller
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went to Idaho, where for a long time he engaged in placer mining and also carried on various mercantile pursuits.
During that period of his life Mr. Campbell was an active and influential politician. He was honored for three terms with the office of sheriff of Alturas county, which he filled with satisfac- tion, not only to his own party (the Republican), but to all public-spirited citizens.
His next change of location was to Grand Ronde valley, Union county, Ore., where he en- gaged in the twin industries of agriculture and dairying. He still holds a choice farm in that locality, although his home and his chief inter- ests are at Pomona. Fraternally he is a member of the local Masonic lodge. In the Episcopal Church of Pomona he holds the office of senior warden. His wife is a native of Wisconsin and before marriage was Blanche Jameson.
C APT. SAMUEL J. MILLER. There are few of the horticulturists of Southern Cali- fornia whose period of residence in this part of the world exceeds that of Captain Miller, who is the well-known president of the A. C. G. Lemon Association of Glendora. It was in 1863 that he first came to the Pacific coast, and for a number of years made his home in Santa Clara, after which he resided some nine years in Compton, and in 1881 he came to Glendora, which has since been his home. He is therefore not only a pioneer of California, but also of Glendora, where he owns a ranch of forty acres, planted to fruits. He also owns fifty acres of mountain water-bearing land.
In Jefferson county, N. Y., Captain Miller was born September 18, 1836, a son of Samuel and Sarah (Howe) Miller, natives of New York. His grandfather, Samuel Miller, fought in the battle of Sacket's Harbor, and was also in the land force at the time Commodore Perry fought the battle of Lake Erie. His father, Nathaniel Mil- ler, was a Revolutionary soldier, and fought in the battle of Long Island and the siege and sur- render of Yorktown. The Millers are of Eng- lish-German extraction, while the Howes are Scotch.
When seven years of age our subject accom- panied his parents to Cass county, Mich. When they left New York for Michigan they came up
Lake Erie on the first propeller ever run on that lake. When he was nineteen years of age lie went to Kansas, joining a free-state company, with whom he drilled for three months. He then went to Platte county, Mo., and engaged in saw- milling and lumbering. After the outbreak of the Civil war he organized a company, which was later known as Company H, Thirty-ninth Missouri Cavalry. He was unanimously chosen captain of the company and received his commis- sion as such. The organization of the company was entirely the result of his own efforts. He was in a hotbed of Confederacy, and was forced to do all of the work secretly, as, had it been known he was raising a company for the Union army, the results would have been serious for him. His company was engaged in garrison duty in Missouri, and served from the spring of 1862 until March, 1863.
Immediately after being honorably discharged from the service Captain Miller came to Califor- nia, accompanied by his family, with team and wagon, making the trip across the plains with a large band of emigrants from Leavenworth, Kans., to Santa Clara, Cal. Four months and ten days were spent on the way, and many hard- ships were endured by the pilgrims, for at that time Indians were particularly savage and were constantly attempting to steal cattle, waylay trav- elers, etc. Finally, however, Santa Clara was reached in safety. For a number of years he farmed there, and he was similarly engaged in Compton. In 1881 he came to Glendora, since which time he has given his attention to raising lemons, apricots and oranges. He was one of the organizers of the A. C. G. Lemon Association at Glendora, Cal., and is now president and a director of the same; also a director of the Glen- dora and Covina Citrus Association.
By his first wife, Lucy A. McComas, Captain Miller had two sons: Charles R. (deceased) and William H., of Glendora. His present wife was Emma W. Winsor, of Providence, R. I., dangh- ter of Alfred and Ann Maria (Budlong) Stone, both natives of Rhode Island.
Interested in Grand Army matters, Captain Miller is actively connected with the post at Po- mona. For thirty-three years he has served as an elder in the Christian Church, and he is now a leading officer in the church at Glendora. His
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sympathies have long been with the cause of Pro- hibition, and both by example and precept he lias endeavored to inculcate temperance principles in the rising generation. He is a worthy citizen, and deservedly stands high.
C HARLES HENRY BUSH came to Califor- nia in March, 1870, from Mendota, Il1. He was born in Northampton county, Pa., March 5, 1835, a son of Michael Opp and Lucre- tia (Luckenback) Bush, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and Holland. His father, who was a watchmaker and jeweler by trade, remained in the east until advanced in years, and then moved to Bloomington, Il1., where he died about 1881. His wife died in Pennsylvania in 1840, leaving six children, of whom four survive. Three of these are in California, Charles Henry; Amandus Lawrence, of Escondido; and Mrs. Ma- tilda Tullis. While still a boy our subject learned his father's trade in Sidney, Ohio, where the family lived for several years. At the age of eighteen he went to Bloomington, Ill., and en1- barked in business for himself. He was enter- prising, industrious and capable, and soon became popular with the people. In his place of busi- ness he had a free reading room, where daily newspapers and the current literature of the day were kept on file. This movement was under the auspices of what was known as the White Hat Club. He made his home in Bloomington during a period characterized by some of the most exciting and interesting events in our national history. Among his friends and customers he counted some men who were of national fame, including Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, Judge David Davis and Leonard Swett. He re- calls with much pleasure the fact that Mr. Lin- coln was accustomed to call at the club room regularly each morning, where, after reading the papers, he indulged in a few minutes' chat with Mr. Bush upon subjects of national interest. After Abraham Lincoln had won one of the most famous law suits in the state of Illinois, which attracted national attention, Mr. Bushi had the satisfaction of predicting to Mr. Lincoln that in eight years he would be president of the United States, which prediction was literally fulfilled.
After having engaged in business in Bloom-
ington for some years Mr. Bush disposed of his interests there and came to California, settling in Los Angeles and opening a jewelry store in the Downey block. He remained in the same loca- tion until 1881, when he moved across Main street to his present number, 318. He is a thor- ough business man, genial, capable and intelli- gent, and holds a high place among thie members of the Society of Los Angeles County Pioneers.
During all of his active life Mr. Bush has been devoted to the welfare of the country, a true patriot as well as a public-spirited citizen. At the time of the Civil war he made five unsuccess- ful attempts to secure admission into the Federal army, but each time was rejected on account of disabilities. Finally, however, he was successful in securing an appointment as commissary at Cairo, Ill., where he remained until the close of the war. One of the most interesting and highly prized souvenirs in his possession is a pass signed by Ulysses S. Grant, then colonel in the army, granting him permission to go to the front to see the boys in blue.
OSEPH PERRY SYLVA. California is re- markably· cosmopolitan, and numbers among her population representatives of almost .every country. Perhaps to this very fact the state owes its signal prosperity, for its citizens thus possess an unlimited range of qualities- the attributes of every nationality. The subject of this article is one of the natives of Portugal who have cast in their lot with the people of this favored clime. He was born August 24, 1845. When he was twenty-one years of age, in 1866, he sailed to the United States, and arrived in San Francisco.
In June, 1867, Mr. Sylva came to Wilmington, and for several months was employed on the wharf by the Banning Company. He then worked on the railroad for the same firm from the autumn of 1869 until January, 1877, in the meantime carefully saving a large part of his wages. At the commencement of 1877 he em- barked in merchandising, and opened a general store in Wilmington. He has continued to act as the proprietor of this store ever since-twenty- three years-during which time he has enjoyed a large patronage and has won the good will and confidence of the public. He is regarded as a
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strictly just and honorable merchant, and by his square dealing he has risen to a position of esteeni in the community.
Ever since becoming a citizen of this thriving place Mr. Sylva has taken an interested and patriotic part in local enterprises. That he stands high in the estimation of his townsmen has been manifested time and again when he has been called upon to occupy positions of honor and trust, and never has he disappointed them in the discharging of the duties thus imposed upon him. He has been active in local politics, and, besides serving as a member of the school board and clerk of that body for several years, he has been the postmaster of Wilmington for some time.
Fraternally he is an enthusiastic member of the Odd Fellows and Masonic orders, and, moreover, is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Of the eight children born to his marriage, six are yet living.
HARLES H. BUTTERFIELD came to his present rauch in East Whittier in 1893. His life had previously been somewhat on the roving, adventurous order, his various lines of occupation being remotely separated. A native of Orange county, Vt., he was born March 30, r842, his parents, Welbee and Eliza (Brown) Butterfield, being also natives of Vermont. The family is of English extraction, the ancestors who came to America arriving during the latter part of the last century. Welbee Butterfield was a soldier in the war of 1812 and served his country with courage and fidelity.
Until his twentieth year Charles H. Butterfield lived on his father's farm among the Vermont hills, going to the small school-house as oppor- tunity offered during the winter time and imbib- ing into his nature some of the ruggedness and force of his surroundings. During his twentieth year he went to New Hampshire, but soon re- turned to Vermont, where he remained until the spring of 1864. He then made arrangements to go to Idaho. The trip was a memorable one, prolific of novelty and adventure. Their train of eight wagons wended its way slowly over the plains, consuming in the long jaunt five months. When the caravan reached Nebraska City Mr. Butterfield bought four yoke of oxen, which he
drove the rest of the distance to Boise City, Idalio. Arriving there, he engaged with a mercantile firm as a clerk for some time, then went to Mon- tana and interested himself in placer mining. Not being inclined to make the far west his home at that time, he returned to New Hampshire, going down the Missouri river to Sioux City, Iowa, on a flat boat. From Sioux City he went by train to Dover, N. H., and, upon arriving there, he was employed in a last manufactory as a carpenter, remaining in this capacity for over twenty years. In 1888 he came to California, and, after a residence of a few weeks in Pasa- dena, moved to Ventura county, where he stayed until 1893. He then took up his residence on the ranch which is his present home.
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