Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 111

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366

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CAPT. WILLIAM WRAY FREEMAN. A knowledge of the science of deduction, supposed to be the foundation of the success of Sherlock Holmes and other students of criminology, and which, sifted from all subterfuge, is naught save a profound insight into intricate human nature and all its workings, has been profitably and even profoundly studied by Capt. William Wray Freeman, expert detective and chief of police of Pasadena.

Of Swedish parentage, Mr. Freeman was born at Genoa Junction, Walworth county, Wis., No- vember 4, 1866, and is a son of Adolph and grandson of Carl Freeman. The paternal grand- father was a man of affairs and prominence in Sweden, and connected with the government as secretary of war. In response to worthy ambi- tions he emigrated to America with his sons, Otto, Adolph, William, John and Harmon, and settled upon purchased land in Walworth county, Wis. John and Harmon afterward emi- grated to Nebraska and Kentucky, respectively. Thereupon he returned to Sweden, the land of his birth, to continue his official duties and died on his estate, "Malimo," at Wally Hara, Ock Skara, Burgs Lane, Sweden, after a life directed into worthy channels. His sons, Adolph, Wil- liam and Otto, continued to reside in Wisconsin, and their native sagacity and business ability

found ample opportunity among the practically inexhaustible timber regions. They became large dealers in lumber, and under the firm name of Freeman Brothers were well known throughout the southern part of the state. They were the founders of Genoa Junction, from which headquarters they conducted their ever- increasing business. The father of Capt. Wil- liam died February 12, 1871, but his brother William is now living retired in Pasadena. Otto died from the effects of a fall, September II, 1902, aged seventy-nine years. Adolph Free- man married Melissa M. Chatfield, a native of New York state, and an early settler of Wis- consin. She became the mother of two chil- dren, of whom Capt. William is the oldest, the other son, Dean A., being a resident of Pasa- dena, and connected with the Pasadena Manu- facturing Company.

After graduating from the high school at Lake Geneva, Wis., Captain Freeman came to Pasadena in March of 1886, and the following year entered the employ of a private detective agency at Los Angeles, with which he remained four years. He was very successful and had a natural aptitude for the work, his success lead- ing to his promotion to the positions of captain of patrol, deputy sheriff of Los Angeles county, and to the government secret service. In De- cember of 1893 he returned to Pasadena and started a private detective agency and mer- chants' night patrol, which was the first of the kind in the history of the city, and though he started with comparatively little capital or influ- ence, his business grew apace and he was soon able to increase his force from himself alone to six men. May 6, 1901, he was tendered the position of first chief of police of Pasadena, his term of service beginning with the adoption of the new city charter. He has organized a very efficient force, and has maintained a high state of order in the city. Captain Freeman is in- tensely interested in every phase of his chosen work, and regards it from an extremely broad- minded and liberal standpoint. He believes that all punishment should carry with it reformation if possible, especially in juvenile cases, and that all crime is more or less of a disease, and should be regulated accordingly.

The substantial residence erected by Captain Freeman at No. 160 South Moline street is pre- sided over by his wife, who was formerly Viola M. Root, a native of Minnesota, and whom he married March 10, 1892, in San Pedro, Cal. Four children have been born of this union, Naomi M., Ruth C., Carl W., and Gerald C. Mr. Freeman is a stancl Republican, and is frater- nally connected with the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Board of Trade, and is a charter member of the Association of Chiefs of Police of the Pacific Coast.

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JOHN P. CHAFFIN. One of the foremost real-estate men in Pasadena is John P. Chaffin, who came here in 1896, preceded by an ex- tended business career in other parts of the country. He was born in Naples, Me., July 2, 1848, and, because of the loss of his father when five years old, was obliged at an early age to enter the ranks of the employed. His parents, Orrin P. and Dorothy (Green) Chaffin, were born in Maine, the former in Acton, and the latter died in Windham. The father was descended from one of three brothers who came from England to Massachusetts at a very early day, and he was a stonecutter by occupation. Of his seven children, John P. is second young- est, while another son, Orrin B., resides in Port- land, Me., and was a soldier in a Maine regi- ment during the Civil war.

At the age of fourteen John P. Chaffin began to clerk in an hotel in Portland and was later connected with a clothing manufactory in Gor- ham. At Acton, Mass., in 1873, owing to the stringency of the times, the manufacturing plant having closed, he began firing a boiler for the American Powder Company, and before leav- ing this concern at the end of seven years had risen to the superintendency of the motive power of the plant. Upon returning to Maine he was for a time with a clothing manufacturer at Gray, and then went into the piano business at Mechanic Falls. For the following seven vears he was identified with the real-estate busi- ness in Waltham, and during that time helped to organize the American Waltham Manufac- turing Company, of which he was secretary and acting treasurer. This concern manufac- tured the Waltham Comet three ball-bearing wheels, and was very successful under the capa- ble management of such men as Mr. Chaffin. In 1896 he disposed of his interest in the bicycle manufactory, and, locating in Pasadena, Cal., engaged in the bicycle and real-estate business at No. 104 East Colorado street. In connection therewith he had a bicycle store in Los Angeles for a year, his main wheels being the Waltham Comet. As his real-estate business increased in proportions he found it necessary to devote his entire time to it, and therefore disposed of the wheel business entirely. The firm of J. P. Chaffin & Sons includes the two sons of Mr. Chaffin, Clifford G. and Ralph S., and does a large business not only in real estate, but in stocks and bonds. Mr. Chaffin is also inter- ested in oil and mining, and he is a member of the Board of Trade.

In Windham, Me., Mr. Chaffin married Clara Emery, a native of that town. Of this union there are three children, Clifford G., Gertrude E. and Ralph S. Mr. Chaffin became associ- ated with the Knights of Pythias in Maine, and is now a member of the Pasadena lodge. He is first and foremost a Prohibitionist. In 1884

he was converted to the Methodist Episcopal faith, and has since been an active promoter of the interests of that denomination. He is a steward and class leader, and contributes gen- erously, not only to the church, but toward many worthy enterprises presented for his con- sideration.

J. F. CLARKE. The large feed and fuel enterprise conducted by J. F. Clarke since April of 1895 has been, and still is, a distinct addition to the commercial soundness of Pasadena. The headquarters were at first on South Fair Oaks, and were on a comparatively small scale, but the increase of business necessitated larger quarters, and resulted in the erection of the present building in 1901. The new structure is admirably fitted to carry on both a retail and wholesale trade. It is of brick, and covers ground dimensions of 135x200 feet.

To the reliable and substantial traits of the Englishmen Mr. Clarke adds the adaptability of the American born. He comes from that middle class whose representatives have con- tributed to England's greatest prestige, and was born in Bedfordshire, England, in Septem- ber of 1863. His father, William, was a farmer and native of Bedfordshire, but in later life re- moved to Brompton, Kent, a suburb of Lon- don, where he is at present residing. Mrs. Clarke was formerly Maria Bandy, a native of Bedfordshire, and the mother of four sons and two daughters, all of whom are living.

Until his sixteenth year J. F. Clarke lived on his father's farm in Bedfordshire, and then went to Grangetown, Yorkshire, and entered the steel works as fireman. In time he worked himself up to the position of engineer, and after three years' service in this capacity went up to London as engineer for the London Tram- way Company, with whom he remained for two years. March 18, 1886, he sailed from Liver- pool for Ontario, Canada, and found employ- ment at Belleville for about a year, removing to Pasadena October 31, 1887. In spite of his training as an engineer, Mr. Clarke turned his attention in Pasadena to carpenter work, and assisted in the building of the Painter Hotel. In 1888 he removed to San Francisco and en- gaged in the transfer and express business, and in 1892 went to Chicago, where the approach- ing World's Fair held out inducements to all kinds of practical labor. In 1891 he was fore- man of construction on the Wigwam, and also superintended pulling it down, and he was em- ployed on the construction of the Transporta- tion building, and was foreman of construction on the California state building. He was also foreman of construction for the sheds under which the trains unloaded passengers.

While in Chicago, April 5, 1893, Mr. Clarke married Margaret Breckenridge, a daughter of

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James Breckenridge, who was born in Scot- land, and became a merchant in Godridge, Can- ada. He married Grace Wilson, of Godridge, Canada, daughter of George Wilson, a farmer in the north. Mrs. Clarke is the mother of one child, Grace Elizabeth. Mr. Clarke continued the carpenter business in Chicago until locat- ing in Pasadena, October 31, 1894. For a time he worked at his trade, but in 1895 started his present feed and fuel business. He has a pleas- ant home in North Pasadena, on the northeast corner of Glorietta and the county road. Mr. Clarke is a member of the Merchants' Pro- tective Association, of which he served as di- rector, and he is politically allied with the Re- publican party.

HON. C. F. COOKE. Years of intimate association with the business affairs and public life of Rhode Island are being crowned by an attractive experience with the land of sunshine, where Mr. Cooke now makes his home at Mon- rovia. He was born at North Foster, R. I., February 2, 1837, being next to the eldest among the six children of James G. and Eleanor (Fisher) Cooke, natives respectively of Gloucester and Cumberland, R. I., the former born August 10, 1807, the latter born two days before. The maternal grandfather, Avery Fisher, was born in Cumberland, R. I., and followed the blacksmith's trade there and at Woodstock, Conn. The paternal grandfather, William Cooke, was a lifelong resident and farmer of Gloucester. Thence James G. Cooke moved to North Foster, where he carried on a general mercantile store for over a half century and for about the same period served as post- master, dying there in 1883.

A fair common-school education, supple- mented by attendance at Greenwich Academy, prepared C. F. Cooke for the occupation of teaching, which he followed during the win- ters and in the summer engaged in farming. While still a mere boy he had bought and im- proved seventy-five acres of land, and this farm he still owns. Agriculture formed his principal occupation, but in connection with it he had numerous important interests. Under his father's influence he had early imbibed Repub- lican principles, and a subsequent study of the great political parties caused no change in his views. His intelligence and ability qualified him for leadership in his community, and fre- quently he was called to positions of honor and trust. For two years he was a member of the town council of Foster. So satisfactory was his service that he was called to higher offices, being for two terms a member of the Rhode Island house of representatives and for one term a member of the state senate, where he favored bills for the benefit of his constituents and the general welfare of the state.

Arriving in California January 1, 1889, Mr. Cooke spent six months as manager of the Hol- lenbeck ranch in Covina, since which time he has made Monrovia his home, having been in the grocery business five years, also a dealer in real estate, and since 1895 a justice of the peace. Many friends have been won to him since he cast in his lot with the Californians, and his wife shares with him in the general es- teem. He was married in North Scituate, R. I., to Miss Alzada Hopkins, whose father, Obadiah Hopkins, was born at North Foster, R. I., in 1800, and was a farmer and lumber manufac- turer. Born of their union are a son and two daughters, namely: James A., who is traveling for A. Schilling & Co., of San Francisco; Celia Annette, wife of D. Bascom, of Los Angeles; and Frances M., who is a bookkeeper with the Capital Milling Company of Los Angeles.

J. R. CUTTING. Though a comparatively re- cent accession to the ranks of the horticulturists of Southern California, Mr. Cutting is by no means a newcomer in the state, for he has made his home here since 1868, and therefore merits the distinction of being a pioneer. After a long and honorable identification with railroading, in September of 1898 he turned his attention to ranching, at which time he bought thirteen acres at Monrovia and here established his home. A comfortable residence adds beauty to the property, while rows of citrus and de- ciduous trees annually furnish a considerable income in return for the care and cultivation expended upon them.

The Cutting family was established in Ver- mont several generations gone by. From that state Elijah Cutting, a farmer, removed to Ohio and settled near Upper Sandusky, where he died. His son, Linus, who was born in Ver- mont in 1794, followed the trade of a miller and millwright, accumulating by steady indus- try the means which permitted him to pass the twilight of his life in retirement and ease. When eighty-one years of age he passed away at his liome in Kenton, Ohio. Six sons and three daughters had been born of his marriage to Eliza Conkling, who was born in 1802 where the city of Cincinnati now stands. Her father. Samuel Conkling, was a native of Scotland and came to the United States in early manhood, settling in Ohio. He was a man of great indus .. try, a devoted follower of the Methodist Epis- copal Church and honored wherever known.

The youngest of the children of L. and Eliza (Conkling) Cutting, J. R. Cutting was born in Ohio January 18, 1841. No event of special importance marked the years of his youth, but in early manhood he experienced all the ex- citement incident to the Civil war with its trail of sorrow and of blood. Naturally his sympa-

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thies were enlisted in behalf of the Union, and with the ardor of a patriot he resolved to offer himself to the cause he supported. At the opening of the conflict, when the first call was made for volunteers, his name was enrolled with Company G, Fourth Ohio Infantry, as- signed to General McClellan. In all the ex- citement of the Peninsular campaign he bore his part loyally and well, enduring the vicissi- tudes of war, the tedium of camp life and the strain of forced marches, with a courage worthy of a regular soldier, and scarcely to be expected from an undisciplined recruit. Those were days that tried men's souls and brought out the best in them, and in the galaxy of brave soldiers he merits a distinctive place. At the expiration of his term of service he was mustered out at Newark, N. J., but immediately offered himself again to his country, enlisting in Company E, Ninety-first New York Infantry, at Albany, N. Y., in September of 1864. Again he went to the front with his regiment and remained with it until the final discharge was received, July 23, 1865, after which he resumed the pur- suits of civic life.

During 1868 Mr. Cutting came to California, where he was employed as a conductor with the Central Pacific Railway Company for ten years, meantime making Oakland his home. For some years he was engaged as a conductor on the Overland route, and for two years also served as city marshal of Oakland. After a short experience with life in Idaho he came to Los Angeles in 1888, about the same time se- curing employment as conductor with the Santa Fe Railroad Company. Ten years were given to the service of this company, and on his re- tirement he came to Monrovia, where he has since resided. Every acquaintance of Mr. Cut- ting is familiar with his devotion to the Repub- lican party and his constant support of its prin- ciples. Personally he is a man of firmness of character and force of will, with the stature of a soldier and the geniality of a railroad man. Among the people of Monrovia he has a host of warm friends. He has been twice married, first in Springfield, Ohio, when Miss Louise Philbrick, a native of Massachusetts, became his wife. At her death she left two children, Edwin and Nellie. His present wife was Mrs. Belle Lynch, who has two children, Philip and Isabel.

GEORGE F. DUTTON. Many years be- fore the abolition of slavery became a question of national importance, a wealthy farmer and slave-owner, becoming convinced that the traf- fic in human beings was unjust, liberated his slaves and removed to Ohio, where he bought large tracts of unimproved land. In religion he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Though of English descent, he was

a loyal American and was proud of the fact that his ancestors served in the Revolutionary war. His son, Virdin, a native of Delaware, engaged in inilling and farming in Ohio, whence about 1845 he removed to the then frontier of Indiana, and died at Wabash, that state. In early man- hood he married Hannah Carey, who was born in Sussex county, Del., of Scotch-Irish descent; her death occurred in Ohio in 1885. Of the nine children born to this union all but one 'attained maturity, and two sons and three daughters still survive, George F. being the oldest son and the only member of the family on the Pacific coast. He was born in Marion, Ohio, August 20, 1838, and at twelve years of age lost his father, shortly after which he be- gan to make his own way in the world, secur- ing employment in a brickyard and later on a railroad.

July 19, 1862, the name of George F. Dutton was enrolled in Company A, Seventy-fifth In- diana Infantry, which was mustered in at In- dianapolis August 20, same year. For a time he served as orderly sergeant, but January 23, 1863, he was promoted to be second lieutenant, and as such participated in the battles of Stone River, Hoover's Gap, the advance on Tulla- homa, and the battle of Chickamauga, where he commanded his company. After the capture of Chattanooga he was taken seriously ill and for this reason resigned his commission and re- turned home October 23, 1863. As soon as he had regained his health sufficiently to take up business matters, he began work as a cabinet- maker, which he followed some years. How- ever, his health still being far from satisfactory, he decided to try a change of climate, and in March, 1868, went to Kansas, settling at Erie, Neosho county, and embarking in the manu- facture of furniture. While living there he and his partner built the Neosho county courthouse. In 1872 he removed to Parsons, Kans., where he carried on a large building business. For a year subsequent to this he engaged in build- ing bridges for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad Company, after which he was chief of police of Parsons, and later opened a store in the Postoffice building, where he carried news- papers, stationery and notions. His next loca- tion was Neodesha, Kans., where he was a mem- ber of a firm dealing in hardware and agri- cultural implements.

The fall of 1881 found Mr. Dutton in Los Angeles, Cal., where he became a contractor and builder, and erected about seventy houses. However, the cessation of the boom proved disastrous to building enterprises and caused him to seek another occupation. Removing to Glendale, he opened a grocery, becoming the first merchant of the town and erecting the first store building there. In addition, for a time he was postmaster, and for five years conducted a

HA Nelson

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

farm. On selling out he returned to Los Angeles, where he engaged in business, but after two and one-half years resumed ranching. During the summer of 1899 he worked at his trade in Washington and British Columbia, but in August of that year returned to Los Angeles county and embarked in the strawberry busi- ness with his son-in-law, Mr. Griswold, of Tropico, since which time he has made this place his home.

The first marriage of Mr. Dutton united him with Miss Martha Chamness, who was born at Wabash, Ind., and died there in 1879, leaving two children, namely: Ernest, of Seattle, Wash .: and Mrs. Claudia Griswold, of Tropico, Cal. After the death of his first wife Mr. Dutton was united with Miss Cora Buckles, who was born in Champaign county, Ill. Their children are named as follows: Jesse, of Los Angeles; Harry, who is in Portland, Ore .; and William, at home. Fraternally Mr. Dutton is connected with the Knights of Pythias and Bartlett Logan Post, G. A. R., of Los Angeles.

H. A. NELSON. The Los Baris Cañon, ex- tending back from the sea into the Santa Bar- bara mountains, has a narrow strip of tillable land which widens out into an almost round pocket. Here, in the midst of a walnut grove of three hundred trees grown from the seed, is the rarely picturesque home of Mr. Nelson, than which there is none prettier in Santa Bar- bara county. A finely constructed stone man- sion affords shelter for one of the most success- ful and happy families for miles around, and towering mountain crags on either side, covered with shrubbery and variegated vegetation, seem to shut out the worry and strife of the world of commerce and bustle beyond; and the radiance of the sunset from this particular place is well worth traveling many leagues to see. Mr. Nel- son came here in 1883 and bought two hundred acres of land, built his stone house, and set out his walnuts, and is now engaged in general farm- ing and stock-raising, large numbers of hogs, cattle and horses being placed on the market every year. He has a good barn and plenty of water from the mountains, and his staple crop of walnuts averages over one hundred and fifty pounds per tree, although he has raised as many as four hundred and thirty pounds.

The birth of Mr. Nelson occurred in Schuyler county, Ill., in 1845, his father, Henry, being a native of Ohio, and an early settler of Illinois, where he died. The mother, Mary Ann (Teal) Nelson, also died in that state. In 1875 Mr. Nelson left the surroundings of his youth and came west, and for six years lived in Nevada, where he was engaged in the lumber business. He came to Santa Barbara county in 1881 and settled at his present location in the cañon, and has become one of the best known and most suc-

cessful of the Santa Barbara agriculturists and walnut growers. He is interested in the general development of his locality, and is now in pol- itics a Populist, but formerly affiliated with the Democratic party.

Mrs. Nelson was formerly Louise Darnell, a native of Illinois, and her marriage to Mr. Nel- son occurred in Illinois in 1875. Of this union there is one daughter, Jessie, who is the wife of Mr. Rutherford, and who lives with her hus- band on her father's ranch. Mr. Rutherford assists in working the farm, and is a progressive and industrious man. He is the father of one son, Stephen Nelson Rutherford.

RHODOLPHUS DOTY. Preceded by an unusually successful career as an expert engi- meer, Mr. Doty came to Pasadena in the spring of 1889, and has since been identified with the upbuilding of many enterprises in the city and county. Although born in Macedon, Wayne county, N. Y., in 1834, he was taken the fol- lowing year to Lorain county, Ohio, where his father, Aaron, died when his son was eight years of age. He was thus left an orphan, for his mother, formerly Polly Grandy, a native of New York, and daughter of Rhodolphus Grandy, died when he was five years of age. Rhodolphus Grandy was a soldier in the war of 1812, and in 1830 removed from New York to Lorain county, Ohio, where he engaged in building and farming. Besides Rhodolphus Doty, there were two other children born to his parents, and of these, Andrew J. died in Cleveland in 1853; while Moses is a resident of Cleveland, and an engineer by trade, during the Civil war having served as a member of the engineer corps.

Until 1840 Rhodolphus Doty lived in Spen- cer, Ohio, and then removed to the vicinity of Akron, Summit county, where he attended the district schools and academy, and also learned the machinist's trade. His apprenticeship was primarily served in the Ravenna (Ohio) car- riage works, after which he went to Cleveland and learned mechanical engineering at the Phoenix foundry. For the following three years he served a further apprenticeship with John McClellan, learning to construct marine engines, and for the succeeding forty years was identified with machinery interests in Cleve- land. For nineteen years he was on the lakes, principally with the Union Steamship Company, and was also superintending engi- neer for Mark A. Hanna, part owner of the Cleveland Transportation Company, in the lat- ter capacity employed to put in engines for seventeen years. In Cleveland also he was in- terested in the manufacture of engines and ma- chinery under the firm name of R. Doty & Company; and he was also one of the organ- izers of the Cleveland Transportation Company,

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Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 111

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co. Number of Pages: 1366

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366