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 96
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OBERT F. TRAIN. Southern California, with its wonderful and illimitable promise, offers a tempting field to many lines of busi- ness enterprise, and realizing its possibilities, thousands of representatives of every line of com- mercial activity have flocked hither. Thus to have achieved even a modicum of success, es- pecially along the so-called professional lines, plainly indicates marked ability and zeal. The reputation of the firm of Howard, Train & Will- iams, however, is so high that the names stand foremost in the minds of the majority of the citi- zens of Los Angeles, where their chief offices are situated. The firm has accomplished far more than this, and to-day the inhabitants of that far away island paradise, Honolulu, Hawaii, have become familiar with the firm name, as many of their fine and modern public buildings and beau- tiful private residences are monuments to the genius of the enterprising young men.
The parents of our subject, John Farquhar and Elizabeth (Hood) Train, were natives of Manch- line, Ayr, Scotland, and Derby, England, re- spectively. The former, who was a commercial traveler, died in Nottingham, England, about twenty-eight years ago as the result of an acci- dent, and the mother departed this life in 1883, when in her fifty-fourth year. They were earnest members of the Church of England and deeply interested in the temperance cause, or whatever tends towards morality and righteousness. Many of the Trains were prominent in military and po- litical circles in Scotland and England, and of the Hoods, tradition traces them back to the cele- brated and probably fictitious Robin Hood, and to the historical figure of the Earl of Huntington. Mrs. Elizabeth Train passed her last years at Ashborne, Derbyshire, and her brother, Henry Hood, is still a resident of that town. Their father, Francis Hood, a native of London, re- moved to Derbyshire after his marriage, and for
a number of years prior to 1860 was successfully engaged in carrying on a merchant tailoring es- tablishment in Ashborne.
Robert F. Train was born in Nottingham, Eng- land, December 4, 1870, and spent fourteen years of his life in his native land. As his father died when he was only two years old, and his mother when he was in his fourteenth year, he early felt the sorrows and responsibilities of life and was matured thereby. He has two brothers, J. H. Train, of Los Angeles, and F. J. Train, of Syd- ney, Australia, and with the latter attended school until his mother's death. In November, 1884, he accompanied his aunt Susie to the United States, and for three years lived in Illinois and Nebraska. There he continued the higher studies and then embarked upon his future career by entering the office of a local architect, and under his instructions mastered the rudiments of the business. For nearly a year he was employed as a clerk in a bank, after which he worked as an architectural draughtsman in Denver and Col- orado Springs. Desiring further qualifications, he next attended the University of Illinois, at Champaign, Ill., where he pursued a thorough course in architectural engineering.
About that time there were fine opportunities offered to architects for the World's Fair build- ings, and he found plenty of highly instructive and valuable work therewith. Subsequently he returned to Denver and Colorado Springs, and at length, in July, 1894, came to Los Angeles, where he had little difficulty in gaining a footing in a business sense. At the end of the year he entered into partnership with G. A. Howard, Jr., and opened an office at No. 12532 South Spring street. Ambitious and enterprising, they soon won favorable attention from the public. In 1896 they opened a branch office in Honolulu, and removed the Los Angeles offices to No. 254 South Broadway in the following year. Certain- ly, within a comparatively short time, the firm has disposed of a vast amount of business, and one can show numerous splendid examples of the variety and excellence of their designs, worked out in enduring brick and stone. Mention of a few of the fine buildings which the firm have de- signed may not be uninteresting: the Fullerton Union high school, the school of Placentia, the third Presbyterian Church, and the Boyle Heiglits
alva Starbuck
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Presbyterian Church; the residences of Senator R. N. Bulla, Mrs. M. T. Bennett (at Ninth and Alvarado streets), Percy R. Wilson, W. S. Will- iams, and H. R. Gage; Wright & Callender building, Masonic Temple at Fullerton, bank building at Whittier, residence of W. T. Will- iams in Pasadena, etc .; in Honolulu, the Inter- Island Steamship Company's building, the Camp- bell block, the Portuguese Church, large sugar warehouses, public schools, government buildings and attractive residences, notably that of S. M. Ballou, unmistakably pronounce the progressive- ness of the young men of the firm of Howard, Train & Williams, and indicate the brilliant fu- ture in store for them.
The marriage of Mr. Train and Miss Vera May Creeth was solemnized in this city, in September, 1897. She is a daughter of Alexander and Kate (Higgins) Creeth, who were natives of the north of Ireland, and are now living in Los Angeles. Mrs. Train was born in Knoxville, Ill., and re- ceived good educational training. Both Mr. and Mrs. Train are very popular in local society, and are identified with the Congregational Church.
Since he became a voter Mr. Train has given his allegiance to the Republican party, and is particularly interested in whatever makes for the permanent welfare of this country and the com- munity in which he dwells. He belongs to the Jeremiah and Elzena Cox, of Thorntown, Ind.
Fraternal Brotherhood and the Masonic fraterni- ty, and several literary societies.
LVA STARBUCK. Not the least interest- ing part of the history of California is the discovery and development of oil in the southern part of the state, and a large number of enterprising citizens have became interested in buying up oil lands and sinking wells. Among these men mention belongs to Mr. Starbuck, of Whittier, who is secretary and manager of the Home Oil Company, a recently organized but very flourishing concern of local note. He has made his home in Whittier since 1887, and dur- ing the intervening years has been associated with various enterprises of a noteworthy character.
Mr. Starbuck was born in Plainfield, Ind., May 29, 1860, a son of Samuel and Luzena (Jessup) Starbuck, natives respectively of North Carolina and Indiana, and both descendants of
English ancestry. His father, who settled in Hendricks county, Ind., in a very early day, be- came a very prominent citizen and for some time served as a county commissioner. He is still living in Plainfield and is now eighty-eight years of age.
The education acquired by our subject in the schools of Plainfield was thorough, and he grad- uated from the high school with honors. In 1887 he left his native town and came to Cali- fornia in company with Mit Phillips, the two set- tling in Whittier and engaging in the drug busi- ness under the firm name of Phillips & Starbuck. One year later Mr. Starbuck purchased his part- ner's interest and afterward conducted the busi- ness alone until 1898, when he became manager of the Home Oil Company. He was one of the organizers of this company and one of its first directors, and has continued to serve as a direc- tor to the present time. In political belief he is a stanch Republican, devoted to the welfare of his party. For four years he served as postmas- ter of Whittier, but with that exception he has held no public office. He is an incorporator of the Whittier Educational Association and for some years was a trustee of the same. In re- ligion he is of the Quaker faith. October 23, 1888, he married Emily Cox, daughter of
JOHN TEMPLE. Prominent in the early history of the new Los Angeles-the city built upon the old and fragmentary Los Angeles of the Spanish-Americans -- stands the name of John Temple, and, as the old residents of this section are well aware, a great deal of the present prosperity of the busy metropolis of Los Angeles county should be placed to the account of such energetic, far-seeing business men as he was. Coming to the unpromising little adobe village of several decades ago he saw at a glance the commanding position it was to occupy in the future in the history of the Pacific coast, and with a rare courage he launched his financial bark here, unheeding the disheartening prophesies of his friends. He erected the historic old Temple. block, the old court-house and several other buildings, and also was extensively engaged in merchandising, stock-raising and horticulture.
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A native of Reading, Mass., he apparently had inherited the shrewdness and excellent judgment for which the Yankee is proverbial, but in all his dealings with his fellow-men he was always actuated by sterling uprightness and high prin- ciple. At the time of his death, in 1866, lie was the lessee of the Mexican government mint, and his investments and business interests were legion.
ORING W. FRENCH, D. D. S. The pioneers of Los Angeles have no more high- ly respected member of their association than the subject of this article, who has been all that a patriotic, upright citizen could be, preferring the public welfare to his own, and in every possi- ble manner using his means and influence for the improvement of the city which he long ago chose as his place of habitation. He stands high in his profession, and is one of the oldest and most honored members of the Southern California Dentists' Association.
It is a matter of no surprise to those who know him that Dr. French is a descendant of sterling old Revolutionary stock, who cheerfully placed country before every other consideration. His paternal great-grandfather, Captain French, with the spirit of a true patriot, commenced talking strongly for independence of the American colo- nies before the war was declared, and, coming home one day, announced to his wife that he was about to enlist to fight for his principles. Quite naturally, woman-like, her spirit quailed at first, thinking of the horrors and possibilities of war, and she urged him not to leave his little family and imperil his life. Striding to the wall where hung his old flint-lock musket, grown rusty with non-use, and with an old charge of powder in it still, he turned to her and said: "I'll try to fire that old load, and if it goes I'll go." An instant later there was a terrific report from the trusty old weapon, and Captain French went forth to battle for the land which was to be an inheritance of his children and children's children for gen- erations.
John J. French, father of our subject, was a native of New York, where he followed the trade of a brick mason, and also engaged in agricultural pursuits. Hearing glowing reports of the great west, he started on a prospecting tour, and
floated down the Ohio river in a flat-boat until lie arrived in Indiana. He became one of the pioneers of that state, his home for years being in Ohio county. He sometimes went to Cincin- nati or some other city and worked at his trade in order to procure ready money for some special purpose, and thus it happened that he built the first brick house constructed in the city mentioned. He died, loved and respected by all who knew him, at his old homstead in the Hoosier state, when he was in his eighty-fifth year. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Mary Hargrave, and she, too, was a native of the Empire state, and died in Indiana when in her sixty-second year. She had sixteen children, seven of whom are living.
The birth of Dr. French occurred on the paren- tal homestead in Ohio county, Ind., January 31, 1837. He received a district-school education, and when he was sixteen years of age he com- menced learning the printer's trade in Jefferson- ville, Ind. After following this calling for four years he decided to take up dentistry, and, going to Louisville, he began studying for his chosen profession. At the end of a year or more of steady work he went to Greensburg, Ind., where he engaged in practice for six years, making an excellent record for one of his years and limited experience.
In 1862 he responded to a call from the presi- dent for troops, and enlisted in Company B, Sev- enty-sixth Indiana Infantry. He served for six months, reporting for duty every day of that pe- riod, and in the spring of 1863 was mustered ont and discharged at Indianapolis. Returning to Greensburg, he soon made his plans to go to Cal- ifornia, and upon his arrival here commenced practicing at La Porte. After spending five years there he came to Los Angeles, where he felt that a wider field awaited him, and the same success has attended him here that he has uniformly en- joyed wherever he has been located.
When he was thirty-two years of age Dr. French married Miss Mary Champion, and their two children, Charles E., now attending medical college, and Carrie, who is at home, are well educated, intelligent young people. The family stands well in the social circles of the city, and their home bears the impress of culture and high ideals. They attend the Unitarian Church.
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Dr. French was a pioneer in one direction, and deserves special credit for it; he was the first to introduce the beautiful Kentucky blue-grass lawns into this city, and also brought the first lawn-mower here. Los Angeles undoubtedly bears the palm for handsome green-velvet lawns, it being one of her chief charms always remarked by the visitor from other points.
Dr. French is a charter member of the Society of Los Angeles Pioneers, and is one of the oldest members of the Grand Army of the Republic. Politically he always has been a Republican, since casting his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln at his first candidacy. In 1882 he served as a member of the city council, and then, as ever, used his influence in the cause of education, progress and good government.
R EV. A. C. SMITHER. The many tour- ists who throng Los Angeles every year are enthusiastic in their admiration of the city's architecture. While this is, perhaps, most no- ticeable in the residential portions, yet it is also conspicuous in the public buildings and the churches, and the tout ensemble forms a picture well worthy the artist's brush or the poet's pen. Among the recently completed edifices mention belongs to the First Christian Church, which oc- cupies one hundred feet on South Hope at the corner of West Eleventh street. The architect- ure of this building is modern, the interior ar- rangement convenient and the decorations artis- tic, the whole combining to form a comfortable church home for the six hundred or more mem- bers of the congregation. The building up of this church is largely due to the personality and influence of its pastor, Rev. A. C. Smither, un- der whose leadership the membership has been greatly increased, every department of work has been fostered, and the small house formerly oc- cupied by the congregation has been replaced by the present structure.
By birth a Kentuckian, Mr. Smither received his primary education in the public schools of Fraukfort, and at the age of seventeen entered the University of Kentucky at Lexington, from which he graduated in 1886. For two years afterward he preached in Kentucky and Tennessee; but, realizing that he who would be successful in the ministry must be equipped with every advantage
education can give, he took up the study of theology in Butler University, near Indianapolis, Ind., remaining there until his graduation in 1890. Immediately afterward he came to the Pacific coast and took charge of the Temple Street Christian Church in Los Angeles. At that time the congregation was small and its in- fluence was scarcely felt even in its immediate neighborhood; but under his skilled leadership the First Christian Church was evolved, a new building erected in an excellent location and the church placed upon a substantial working basis. He is an ardent and enthusiastic worker, and de- votes himself earnestly to the welfare of his church. Among the people of his denomination in California his name is a household word; and, while he is not so well known in the east (never having held a pastorate there), yet through his articles in the various papers published by the Disciples, he has made hosts of friends in that section of the country, all of whom unite in wish- ing his work in this city the most abundant success.
July 29, 1891, Mr. Smither married Miss Ger- trude Clough, who was born in Massachusetts, a descendant of Puritan ancestors; but who, at the time of their marriage, was living in Los An- geles, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. Smither have one child, a son, Chester Campbell Smither.
OHN HARRISON TEMPLE is a son of F. P. F. Temple, an early settler of Los An- geles county, whose wife was a daughter of William Workman, a wealthy pioneer of Puente. She fell heir to large landed estates and great herds of cattle and other valuable possessions. Mr. Temple was very successful as an agricult- urist and stockman, and, as prosperity had blessed him beyond his expectations, he at length con- cluded to become a banker, but in this undertak- ing he failed.
The birth of John Harrison Temple, son of F. P. F. Temple, took place at Merced ranch, February 27, 1856. He received the advantages of a liberal education, and, after completing his course at Santa Clara College, he went to his father's old home in Reading, Mass., where lie pursued special studies. Later he attended Bry- ant & Stratton's Business College in Boston.
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His father died in 1875, when the young man was nineteen years of age, and important affairs de- volved at once upon him. He became the owner of seventy-five acres of the Rancho Potrero de Felipe Lugo and seventy-five acres of the estate formerly belonging to his maternal grandfather, William Workman, at Puente. The first-men- tioned tract is highly productive and finely im- proved. The ranch which his grandfather owned is a beautiful piece of property to-day, being im- proved with numerous substantial buildings and lying in one of the loveliest valleys in California.
ON. FREDERICK LAMBOURN. The pioneers of this great commonwealth were of sturdy stock, fitted to endure the hard- ships and the vicissitudes of frontier life. In common with other pioneers, Mr. Lambourn hewed a path to success, unaided and alone, and with no capital except his physical and moral strength. Of English birth, he was born in Kent, January 7, 1837, and was a son of Levi Lambourn, a native of Wiltshire, England, and a farmer and merchant. About 1846 the family came to the United States and settled in Marshall county, Ill., where the father engaged in farm pursuits and was a very active worker in the Whig party. He died in Illinois when sixty years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Anna Allen, was born in Kent, England. and died in Marshall county, Ill. They were the parents of nine children, all but two of whom are still living.
The primary education of our subject was ob- tained in England, but he was educated princi- pally in Illinois. The death of his mother when he was twelve years old broke up the old home and he started out in the world for himself. He secured employment, his wages he frugally saved, in order that he might apply them to securing an education. He studied in Granville Academy and Judson College and later entered Eureka College. During his collegiate course he had been a leader in debates and literary ex- ercises.
Within eight miles of Eureka College Mr. Lambourn engaged in teaching school until fail- ing health rendered a change imperative. April 1, 1859, he started for the great west, going down
the Illinois river to St. Louis, thenice to Atchison, Kans., where horses and mules were bought for the party's trip across the plains. The party were at Independence Rock when they were passed by Horace Greeley on his historic trip to the west. It had been given out that Greeley would speak at Sweet Water, but for some unknown reason he failed to appear, and the five thousand people assembled to honor him were disappointed. With this crowd was a brass band, which laid over at Sweet Water to celebrate the 4th of July in true western fashion. The objective point of the party was Pike's Peak. However, as they traveled westward they constantly met returning gold-seekers, all of whom had the same story to tell of hardships, suffering and disappointment. These stories caused the party to decide to go to California via Salt Lake. Up to this time Mr. Lambourn had been ill from the effects of an at- tack of typhoid fever in Illinois, and he had been traveling with patent medicine preparations, but after two months' travel he was so fully recovered that he threw away his stock of drugs. The fresh, pure, balmy air had restored him to strength and health and rendered medicines un- necessary.
At Pacific Springs the party met some of the sur- vivors of the great Mountain Meadow massacre. When they reached Salt Lake City the party dis- banded and Mr. Lambourn remained there for several weeks, enjoying the civilization of that city, set like an oasis in the desert, the pinnacle of its temple gleaming in the summer sun as brightly as gleamed the tabernacle of the Israel- ites during their journey in the wilderness. Finally another party was organized and he ac- companied them via the southern route to Cali- fornia, stopping at San Bernardino, but soon locating in El Monte. He reached his destina- tion with just ten cents, the price of postage in those days for a letter east, and he immediately forwarded to those at home the joyful news of his safe arrival in California. He at once secured employment at driving oxen, for which he was paid $1 per day and board. Next he ploughed with mules for thirty days. He then rented a tract of ground and planted it to corn. When the crop was laid by he filled out a term for a teacher in El Monte, in which way he secured a start. His next position was with William
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Workman, first as private tutor for his grand- children and then as superintendent of his ranch. After fourteen years with the same employer he resigned to accept a position as member of the state assembly, in 1875-76. During his term of service he was chairman of the committee on agriculture, a member of the committee on county boundaries and public buildings and grounds. Among his associates in the legislature were Judge McKenna, James McGuire, and Attorney- General McConnell, the latter being his most in- timate friend and associate.
Early in 1876 Mr. Lambourn came to Los An- geles, where he has since made his home. Associated with W. F. Turner he built a brick block at Nos. 235-237 Aliso street, and opened a wholesale and retail grocery, which they have since conducted. In 1864 Mr. Lambourn was made a Mason. He was a charter member of Hollenbeck Lodge No. 319 and was treasurer of the lodge from its organization until June, 1900, when he resigned on account of sickness.
After coming to Los Angeles, in 1876, Mr. Lambourn married Georgia A. Morrison, of El Monte. They are the parents of three children, Frederick Francis, William Walter and Georgia May Lambourn.
EV. JEREMIAH CLAY. To be esteemed beyond the average and universally beloved, to have no harsh word uttered of one during a long and useful pilgrimage on earth, and to pass beyond the shadow whence no mortal fol- lows, and know that hearts and lives unnum- bered will be lonely beyond the sound of our comforting voice, is a consummation attained by the few elect. Such an one was Jeremiah Clay, who, through the various avenues of his activi- ties, was lighted by the highest and most lumin- ous humanitarian principles.
The earliest impressions of Jeremiah Clay were gained on his father's farm in Cooper county, Mo., where he was born October 22, 1831. His parents were William and Sarah (Collett) Clay, natives respectively of Virginia and Tennessee. They belonged to a branch of the family made famous by the great Henry Clay. About 1835 they moved into Platte county, Mo., where their son Jeremiah grew to a strong and noble man- hood, and when eighteen years of age began to
teach school, being identified with one school for fifteen consecutive years. While diligently as- sisting his father around the farm, and gleaning lessons of usefulness from his association with the fields and trees and birds that he loved so well, he became impressed with the fact that the ministry offered a splendid field for his active and enthusiastic nature. For always, above and be- yond the possible worldly attainments of the fu- ture, he saw the good that he might render his fellow-men. No royal road to a college educa- tion seemed apparent, and he undertook to edu- cate himself. His work among the suffering and needy occupied his attention during the day, and he ofttimes studied until the dawn came stealing in through the windows. After beginning to teach his responsibilities were multiplied, and during fifteen years he served from two to four churches, preaching two or three times on Sun- day, and riding on horseback from forty to one hundred miles a week. Probably none of the early pioneer clergymen faced more unflinch- ingly, and conquered more thoroughly, the ad- verse circumstances with which their path was strewn.
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