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 113

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

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with whom he has come in contact. He is a believer in the great creed of humanity; of ab- solute kindness to man and beast; of unselfish- ness and generosity; and the necessity for gen- tle judgment where aught is at fault.

HERMAN HOEPPNER. A resident of California since 1889 and of Pasadena since 1893, Mr. Hoeppner was born in Berlin, Ger- many, September 10, 1871, and was the young- est of five children, the others being as follows: Mrs. Mary Gottleber, of Santa Monica; Otto, a mason and contractor in Pasadena; Mrs. Bertha Brueckner, of Los Angeles; and Mrs. Emma Sutter, also of Los Angeles. The parents, Wil- liam and Augusta (Kroeger) Hoeppner, were born in Mechlenburg, Germany, and the former followed the occupation of merchant tailoring in Berlin until his death. Both of the grand- fathers were soldiers in the German army. After the death of the father, Mrs. Hoeppner came to America, and some years later died in Pasadena.

On leaving the German schools, and when fourteen years of age, Herman Hoeppner began an apprenticeship to the locksmith's trade in the Berlin Saie Works. At the expiration of his time, in 1889, he crossed the ocean to America, proceeding direct to Los An- geles, where, however, he could find no eni- ployment at his trade. He then learned the mason's trade under his brother, continuing in this manner for four years, when he came to Pasadena as a contracting mason with his brother. Among the contracts in which he was interested were those for the stone work of the West residence at Altadena, and the residences of H. G. Reynolds and Mrs. Hopkins in Pasa- dena. In 1900 he entered the employ of the Los Angeles Brewing Company and was appointed their agent at Pasadena. He is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood, in politics always votes the Republican ticket, and socially is one of the most active workers in the Pasadena Leider- kranz, of which he is now the president. Since boyhood he has been identified with the Lutheran Church. After coming to Pasadena he married Miss Amelia Zuschlag, who was born near Cologne, Germany. Of their union one child was born, Ella Elizabeth.

C. K. INGERSOLL. Representative of an old-established family of America is Mr. Inger- soll of Monrovia. The first to settle in this country was a German, who came across the ocean in boyhood and became so thoroughly devoted to the welfare of his adopted country that he joined forces with the patriots who sought independence. His name appears as one of the signers of the declaration of inde- pendence and the constitution of the United States. One of the most prominent members of

a.S. Bradford

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the family was Robert Ingersoll, of Peoria, Ill., and later of Washington, D. C. C. K. Inger- soll was born in New York, December 23, 1843. In February of the following year his father, Jesse, who had been a farmer in New York, removed to Wisconsin and settled on a raw tract of prairie land twelve miles from Racine and twenty-one miles from Milwaukee. Buying one hundred and sixty acres, he gave himself closely to the difficult task of evolving a valua- ble farmi, in which aspiration he was successful. On that homestead he died when eighty-four years of age. His wife, who was Sarah Kelley, a native of Canada, died when thirty-two years of age.

The earliest recollections of C. K. Ingersoll are associated with the Wisconsin farm, and there he learned valuable lessons in persever- ance, industry and determination. On leaving home he secured employment as a brakeman on the railroad, but soon was promoted to be baggageman and afterward served as conductor .. It is worthy of notice, as indicative of his energy and ability, that eighteen months after he began railroading he had charge of a train. However, the work was not entirely congenial, so he resigned and in 1870 went to Kansas, where he homesteaded a quarter section of land near Jewell City, in Jewell county. He was mar- ried in 1875 to Miss Rosetta S. Elliott, whose father, James T. Elliott, came from England to Wisconsin in his youth. Two children were born of their union, but both are deceased.

It was in 1885 that Mr. Ingersoll came to California. His first location was San Jacinto, where he bought one hundred and seven acres of unimproved land. Removing the brush that covered the ground, he applied himself to the task of developing a farm, as forty years before his father had labored to clear and cultivate ? Wisconsin farm. After a short time he sold this place and removed to Monrovia, where he bought fourteen acres of unimproved land. This he set out in citrus fruits and improved with a commodious and comfortable residence. The irrigation of the land is provided for by means of a reservoir, seventy feet square, eighteen feet deep, and with a capacity of six hundred and sixty thousand gallons.

Fraternal organizations have not been a source of special interest to Mr. Ingersoll, who belongs to none but the Masonic blue lodge. Nor has he cared to identify himself witli political affairs. Through a long course of in- dustry and the exercise of wise judgment he has acquired valuable properties and interests, nuni- bered among which is his position as a stock- holder and director of the First National Bank of Monrovia. He still owns bank stock and manufacturing interests in Wisconsin, also has stock in Los Angeles banks. Since coming to Monrovia he has witnessed much of its develop-

ment and has been depended on to conserve the best interests of the people. It may be truly said that Monrovia has no citizen more loyal to its welfare than Mr. Ingersoll.

ALBERT S. BRADFORD. Although now scattered through almost every state in the Union, many of the members of the Bradford family still live in New England, where they are prominent in the Congregational Church, also as educators and as gifted contributors to the current literature of their locality. The state of Maine has been the home of many bearers of the name, and there Albert S. Bradford was born, in York county, August 18, 1858. When barely fourteen years of age he struck out in the world to earn his own living. His search for employment was rewarded when he neared Boston, for he secured work on a market gar- den farm, remaining for some years in the same capacity. During this time he made a scientific study of hotbed culture and horticulture, and in 1881 started up a business of his own in the outskirts of Boston. After a number of years lie assumed the proprietorship of a summer resort at Burlington, Vt., and later settled at Stone- ham, Mass., where he was a successful grower of garden produce.

In 1888 Mr. Bradford came to California and for three years was foreman on the fruit ranch of Daniel Halladay at Santa Ana. In 1891 he settled on the ranch in Placentia which his in - dustry has developed. Twenty-eight of the thirty-eight acres of his land are devoted to Grange culture and the balance is under walnuts. The nursery department is his special pride. In orange culture he has been particularly success- ful, his specialties in this fruit being Washing- ton navels and Valencias.

THOMAS HOLMES. It is no exaggera- tion to say that the greater part of the fine granite work turned out in the state of Cali- fornia comes from the works of Thomas Holmes in Pasadena, for he is one of the most expert in his line in the country. He comes of good old English stock, and was born'in Wis- bech, Cambridgeshire, England, June 22, 1856, and was educated in the private school of his native town. His father, William Holmes, was a prominent merchant of Wisbech, the store there being but the branch of a larger one in London, England. The father now lives re- tired in London, his wife, formerly Sarah Ann Bradley, having died in 1890. She was a native of London, and was the mother of eight children, one of whom is deceased, Thomas, the fifth child, and his sister, being the only ones in America.

As a hoy Thomas Holmes assisted his father in the store in Wisbech, and eventually he suc- ceeded to the entire management of that branch

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of the business. In the spring of 1884 he im- migrated to America and lived for six months in Marion county, Iowa, the latter part of the same year going to California on a tour of in- spection, at the time not fully determined to abandon his former place of residence. So well pleased was he with the prospects in the western state that he decided to remain here, and after locating in Pasadena secured a position as su- perintendent of the Mount View cemetery. At the time the burying place had but thirty graves. Under the management of Mr. Holmes it became a place of beauty, and was constantly improved by the addition of trees, shrubs and flowers. Meantime he began to be interested in the granite business, and established works ad- jacent to the cemetery. His reputation as a master workman soon spread abroad, and in 1896 he resigned his position as superintendent to engage in a large contract for Greenwood cemetery, Brooklyn, N. Y., where he put up a mausoleum on which he worked for five months. The same fall he went to England on a visit, and on his return located again in Pasadena and devoted his time exclusively to granite contract- ing. He is now located at No. 120 Fair Oaks avenue, and makes a specialty of fine granite work and mausoleums. He built three of the latter in the cemetery in Pasadena, and he has also turned out most of the fine monuments and general granite work in the city. He uses the California granite to some extent, but for the larger stones utilizes Barre granite from Ver- mont. On his grounds he has recently placed a polishing plant run by electricity, which greatly facilitates the making of monuments and fine building stone.

In Middleboro, England, Mr. Holmes mar- ried Sarah Dobbings, a native of Yorkshire, and who died in 1893 leaving three children: Wil- liam, who is with his father in business; Henry and Fred, at home. Mr. Holmes is fraternally connected with the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World, the Sons of St. George (of which he is president), and the Uniform Rank, K. of P. He is enterprising and success- ful, and is considered one of the substantial business men of Pasadena.

WILLIAM O. JACKSON. The improve- ment of his neat little ranch in the Hollywood district, Los Angeles county, has occupied Mr. Jackson's time since he came to California in 1893. Like many of the substantial men of this state, he is of New England parentage. His father. Hon. Andrew B. Jackson, was born near New Haven, Conn., February 14. 1814, and while still a boy gained a thorough knowledge of the harness-maker's trade. He married Mary A. Bassett, also a native of Connecticut, and soon after his marriage became a part of the tidal wave of immigration which flowed into the northwest. Leaving New Haven in 1836, he

sought a new home in Wisconsin territory. Settling on government land about twelve miles west of what was then known as Southport, the site of the present city of Kenosha, he improved and cultivated a fine farm and also kept one of the old-time stage taverns and in connection with this also had a general store.

A man of great natural capacity and much force of character, Andrew B. Jackson was one of the most widely known pioneers of Southern Wisconsin. He served as a member of the con- stitutional convention which framed the present organic law of the state of Wisconsin, and be- came well known throughout the state in later years as an ardent anti-slavery man. In 1856 he stumped the state for General Fremont and again in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln. He was a warm personal and political friend of John F. Patten, Senator James R. Doolittle and other distinguished Republicans of the ante-war period in Wisconsin. While in Washington at- tending the first inauguration of Lincoln, he served as a member of the trusted coterie of the president's friends and supporters banded to- gether under the leadership of Gen. Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, to guard the nation's chief executive from threatened assassination. In 1856 he removed from Kenosha county to Ap- pleton, and in 1861 was appointed by President Lincoln register of land office at Menasha, Wis., retaining that position until 1866, when he re- tired from office on account of his refusal to support the policy of President Andrew John- son. In 1870 he removed to Chicago, where he became well known as one of the founders of the suburban town of Rogers Park, but re- sided during the later years of his life at Evan- ston, where he died in 1878. His life was one of great activity, characterized by manly actions, and an exemplification of the highest temper- ance and Christian principles, these qualities be- ing an inheritance from his parents, Orrin and Anna (Frisbie) Jackson, who descended from early-established families in the east.

The marriage of Hon. A. B. Jackson united him with Mary A. Bassett, who was a member of a well-known eastern family, one of her cousins long officiating as doorkeeper of the senate. She was married in 1836 and lived to be eighty-one years of age. From girlhood she was an interested worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of her four children, the first-born, E. Gilbert, is engaged in the lumber business at Oshkosh, Wis .; Andrew is similarly occupied; Mary E. is the wife of J. W. Ladd of Indiana; and William O., the voungest. is the sole representative of the family in California. He was born near Bristol, Kenosha county. Wis., July 31, 1851. and received his education in the public schools, supplemented by attend- ance at the Northwestern University of Evan- ston. Ill. After his father's death he was em- ployed for some years in an office in Chicago,

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but from there went to Merrill, Wis., and se- cured a clerkship in the First National Bank of that city. Resigning that position in the spring of 1893 he came to California and bought ten acres, comprising west half of lot 44, of the Lick tract, Los Felis rancho. No trees had been planted and no improvements made, but. believing the property could be made produc- tive, he moved his family here in the fall, and in 1894 erected the attractive residence which is now their home. At the same time he planted eight acres in lemons, utilizing the balance for lawn and garden. In addition to this property he owns a house in Los Angeles, a number of lots in Chicago, and some unimproved land in the foot hills.

In Glencoe, Ill., Mr. Jackson married Miss Harriet M. Hovey, who was born in Cambridge, Mass. Four sons comprise their family, the eldest of whom, Augustus William, is attending Armour Institute, Chicago, with the intention of becoming a mechanical and electrical en- gineer. The other sons are Irving F., a student in the Los Angeles high school; Wayne B. and Herbert L., at home. The family are connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church and Mr. Jackson officiates as a trustee in the same. While agreeing with the Republican party in many of its principles, he believes that prohibi- tion should be made a national issue and is him- self a very active worker in the temperance cause. For a few years he has been vice-presi- dent and a director of the Cahuenga Valley Lemon Exchange at Colegrove, and at the same time he has been interested in other movements for the development of the lemon-growing in- dustry.

JOHN O'SULLIVAN. The Los Angeles representative of a fine old Irish family, Mr. O'Sullivan has been identified with the upbuild- ing of this city since 1875, and has successfully forged his way to the front as an horticulturist and dairyman. A native of Kingston, Ontario, he was born March 8, 1845, a son of Patrick and Catherine (Delaney) O'Sullivan, born respectively in county Tipperary and county Kilkenny, Ire- land. The paternal grandfather, John O'Sulli- van, was a large farmer in county Tipperary. and was a man of prominence in the affairs of his neighborhood.

Patrick O'Sullivan was a man of fine educa- ate of the college at Limerick. He went to tion and various attainments, and was a gradu- Kingston, Canada, as head bookkeeper for the Quebec forwarding store, and later located on a farm near Kingston, where he reared his fam- ily and where he died in retirement at the ad- vanced age of ninety-eight years and six months. To himself and wife were born ten children, all of whom attained maturity, and eight of whom are now living: Michael is a resident of Ontario;

Ellen lives in Rochester, N. Y .; Mrs. Cosgrove and Mrs. Gleason live in Bradford, Pa .; Mrs. Selby resides in Kingman, Ariz .; John is the subject of this sketch; James P. is with John in Los Angeles; and William lives in Oregon.

For his rise in life Mr. O'Sullivan owes but a slight debt to his early education, for the op- portunities were limited by the amount of work to be done on the Canadian farm, and the little that he learned was mostly at his mother's knee. In so large a family the different niembers were expected to fulfill their share towards the gen- eral support, and John was therefore familiar with early and late hours and the labor side of life. In the spring of 1896 he went to New York state and found employment on a dairy farm in Norwich, Chenango county, and during the three years of his residence in that part of the county was employed by three different men. His last employment was as assistant foreman from 1874 to 1875, for widening the gauge of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. In 1875 he came to California and was for a time employed on the construction of the Fol- som prison, after which he worked in various capacities in the same section of country. No- vember 15, 1875, he came to Los Angeles. At that time the houses were mostly made of adobe and there was little of the beauty or enterprise which to-day distinguishes this ideal California town.

For the first year of his residence in Los An- geles Mr. O'Sullivan was employed by the dairy concern of Towne & Hanna, and in time became their general manager. In 1876 he worked for the city of Los Angeles and had charge of the horses, and the second year was appointed by the city council as captain of a chain gang, holding this position for three years and three months. In the mean time he had bought the ranch of which he is now the owner, and which comprises thirty-four and a half acres. From the crude and unpromising this property has been developed into a fine dairy ranch, which has grown from three to seventy cows. To fa- cilitate his enterprise he is obliged to lease other land, so that in all he lias the use of about three hundred acres. The Canada dairy is within the city limits, and the owner has made the most advanced improvements, and placed himself in touch with the most exclusive trade in the city. Besides buildings in which to keep hay and grain and horses, he has a cow barn 140x50 feet in dimensions. Two wagons are utilized to con- vey the inilk through the town, and eighteen head of horses are in constant use for general purposes. Horticulturally Mr. O'Sullivan has been quite as successful as in the occupation by which he is best known, and he has a fine orange and walnut grove, from which abundant har- vests may be expected every year. His land is all under irrigation, and he raises corn for feed-

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ing, his three silos holding about three hundred tons. Alfalfa in large quantities is another prod- uct raised on this model ranch, besides grain and general farm produce. Mr. O'Sullivan has numerous interests besides those located on his ranch, and he is a stockholder in the Reilly Oil Company, operating in Los Angeles.

In Norwich, N. Y., Mr. O'Sullivan married Mary Walsh, a native of county Tipperary, Ire- land, and who died in Los Angeles, January 30, 1893. Of this union there were seven children, viz .: Daniel, who died at the age of three years and nine months; Addie, who died at the age of eighteen years; William P., who went to Dawson City in June of 1898, and is engaged in mining; Francis Joseph, who is living in North- ern California; John James, who is with his father on the home ranch; Edward T., who is also with his father; and Grace, who is attend- ing St. Mary's Academy. The second marriage of Mr. O'Sullivan was contracted in Los An- geles and was with Mrs. Margaret (Coughlin) Moriarity, who was born in Kings county, Ire- land, and who is one of the heirs of the Coughlin estate in England. This estate, which is now in the courts of chancery, belonged to the uncle of Mrs. O'Sullivan, who was an high of- ficial in the English army, and served with dis- tinction through the Crimean war. The large fortune left by him has been the source of much litigation, and is as yet in a very undecided state. The father of Mrs. O'Sullivan died in Ireland, but her mother brought the family to America, where two or three of the father's brothers lost their lives during the Civil war. To Mr. and Mrs. O'Sullivan has been born one son, Mar- cellus. Mr. O'Sullivan is fraternally identified with the Foresters, and for twenty-five years has been a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and served as one of the early presi- dents of the organization. He is a Democrat in politics, but has never taken a conspicuously active part in either county or town affairs. Mr. O'Sullivan possesses enterprise and good busi- ness ability, and his career in Los Angeles has resulted in great good from a commercial and general standpoint.

HENRY NICOLAUS. During his residence of more than thirty years in Los Angeles county Mr. Nicolaus has been an interested witness of its growth in population and increase in land values. His own experiences in the buying and selling of property have been extensive and illustrate the fluctuations in prices, which rose gradually until the beginning of the boom. then mounted upward with eagle-like rapidity. only to fall backward with the cessation of the hoom and to remain stagnant for a considerable period afterward.

As his name indicates, Mr. Nicolaus is of German lineage. He was born in Bavaria.

May 24, 1847. In the summer of 1859 he came to America with his sister and brother-in-law and made his home with them in Cassville, Wis. At the age of sixteen years he came by steamer to San Francisco and from there proceeded to the mines in Shasta county, where he worked for some years, meeting with only fair success. His first glimpse of Los Angeles was in 1871, when he found it to be a town of ten thousand people, lifeless from a commercial standpoint, and giving little promise of future activity. It was his intention to buy a farm and he visited the surrounding country with that object in view. Soon he selected one hundred acres near the present site of Downey, where at that time- stood two stores and a few houses, forming the village of Gallatin. Setting himself to work, he began the task of clearing the land and placing it under cultivation. In addition to the raising of farm products, he had an orchard of twenty acres in deciduous fruits.

Selling his farm in 1880, Mr. Nicolaus came to. Los Angeles, and for two years engaged in teaming. In exchange for his ranch he had received a lot in Los Angeles with only a small house on it. This he later sold for $5,000, and the purchaser in turn sold. it for $100,000. On the site now stands the Bradbury block. In 1882 he came to what is now Burbank and rented twenty-five hundred acres, on which he raised wheat and barley and also had consider- able stock. Continuing the cultivation of the land until 1888, when the property was sub- divided during that year he bought fifty-four acres one mile west of Burbank and built a house on the land. With his customary energy he set about the task of clearing and improving the land, and soon had twenty acres under wal- nuts and sixteen acres in alfalfa, while the re- maining eighteen acres he sold. Ever since then he has managed the ranch. In 1805 he erected a residence in Burbank and afterward made that village his home until August 1, 1902, when he removed to Los Angeles. The many im - provements made in the Burbank district he has witnessed with interest. When he came here in 1882 all the surrounding country was one great sheep ranch, and he plowed the first furrow in the entire district. His possessions include four houses in Los Angeles that he rents, a number of lots in that city and Burbank, and his ranch, which with its improvements forms a valuable property. At the incorporation of the Lagona Irrigation Company he was elected president and held the office for a time.

By the marriage of Mr. Nicolaus to Miss Julia E. Albritton, a native of Louisiana, there are three sons, Henry W .. Frederick and Roy. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church and Mrs. Nicolaus is a member of the congrega- tion, while he contributes to its maintenance. As a Republican he has been active in the local

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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 113

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