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 122

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

USA > California > 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 122

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

development of the town of Americus, was one of its incorporators, and a member of its first board of trustees. In 1894 he removed to Pasa- dena, and has since engaged in a general medi- cal and surgical practice, his office being at Washington and North Fair Oaks, and his resi- dence at the corner of Cedar and Fair Oaks.

The first marriage of Dr. Royal was solem- nized in Americus, Kans., and was with Belle Jaquith, a native of Michigan, and who died in Americus leaving one child, Harry J., of Pasa- dena. In North Pasadena, Dr. Royal married Mrs. Mamie (Negus) Painter, who, by her for- mer marriage had two children, Harry J. and Ethel Painter. Dr. Royal is fraternally asso- ciated with the Ancient Order of United Work- men (of which he is examining physician), the Select Knights, the Modern Woodmen of Ameri- ca, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Knights and Ladies of Security, and the Foresters. He is a member of the Pasadena Medical Society, is a Republican in political affiliation, and in religion is identified with the Methodist Epis- copal Church, in which he is secretary of the board of trustees.

WILLIAM M. ROGERS. Mr. Rogers of Pasadena comes from one of the old Puritan fam- ilies of Newton, Mass. The genealogy is traced back to Bishop John Rogers, of Smithfield, England. Nor are his maternal ancestors less worthy of record on the pages of history, his mother, Elizabeth Blaisdel, a native of Ports- mouth, being a member of a colonial family of New England; and in his possession now there is a coat-of-arms of her family that is one hun- dred and fifty years old.

An uncle of W. M. Rogers had a somewhat unusual history. John Rogers (such was his name) shipped from Boston as supercargo on a merchant vessel bound for Spain and, arriving at his destination, was led to explore that coun- try. There he met an American consul, Robert Montgomery, whose daughter he later married. He then settled in Genoa, Italy, and from there moved to Naples, where he died in 1865. At one time he held the office of American consul at Naples, Italy. His thorough knowledge of the people and their customs caused him to be often sought for advice by Americans visiting in Italy, and to all the same thoughtful courtesy was extended. When his brother, Aaron, was unable, by reason of ill health, to endure the rigors of New England winters, he sent for him to come to Italy, where he assisted him in the commission business, Aaron remaining there for nine years, and then returning to his native town, Newton, Mass., where he died at sixty years of age.

In the family of Aaron Rogers there were four sons, John B., Charles F., George H. and Wil- liam M. The first-named enlisted in the Fifty-

818

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

seventh Massachusetts Infantry, and was killed at Petersburg, June 17, 1864. Charles F., after a lifetime of activity as a pharmacist in Newton, Mass., recently retired from business and is now acting as city assessor. George H., who is now a rancher of Riverside, Cal., and formerly a pharmacist of Waltham, Mass., enlisted in the navy in 1861 and served for three years as a hospital steward. Not less patriotic than his brothers, William M. Rogers also offered his services to the country. In 1862 he enlisted in Company B, Forty-fourth Massachusetts In - fantry, and going to the front, took part in the battles of Kingston, Goldsboro and Whitehall, N. C. The following year he was mustered out at Boston, Mass., and honorably discharged. He then secured employment as salesman in a stove and tinware store, in which way be gained his early experiences in this business. For seventeen years he was with Charles King and for five years with the latter's successor, H. P. Brooks, in Hartford, Conn. On closing out his interests in the east, he came to California in 1897 and settled at Pasadena. Later he bought the property at No. 163 North Euclid avenue and tore down the house, which he replaced with a modern residence. He is connected with the Grand Army of the Republic and in political views supports Republican principles. Though now sixty years of age (having been born Sep- tember 24, 1842), he retains much of the robust- ness of youth, and under the influence of the healthful climate of Pasadena shows little trace of the passing years.

March 30, 1865, Mr. Rogers married Miss Elizabeth S. Gorman, who was born in Spring- field, Mass., being a daughter of Francis and Elizabeth (Moore) Gorman, natives respectively of Dublin, Ireland, and Westfield, Mass. The latter is now making her home with her daugh- ter, Mrs. Rogers. On coming to the United States, Mr. Gorman secured employment with a wholesale and retail grocery, continuing in the same business during much of his life. Indeed, his connection with the firm of William Gunn & Co. did not cease until the business was sold out, thirty-eight years after he had entered the firm's employ. His death occurred in Hartford, Conn., February 4, 1896, at the home of Mr. Rogers. He had a son, Francis Gorman, Jr., who was born in Massachusetts and in 1864 was graduated from Harvard College, afterward engaging as a private tutor in Cambridge, Mass. The superiority of his work caused his services as an instructor to be in great demand, and he continued very active until his sudden death from heart disease. His sister, Mrs. Rogers, is also the possessor of splendid mental resources, and, in the various places of her residence, has borne an active part in benevolent movements. One of her leading activities in Hartford was the Children's Aid Society. While in that city

she was also chosen the first president of the Robert O. Tyler Post, Women's Relief Corps, the successful inauguration of whose work was due to her wise discrimination and judicious leadership. At this writing she holds the office of president of the Women's League in the Universalist Church of Pasadena.

SMITH J. SHAFER. The record of Mr. Shafer while in the volunteer service entitles him to the praise of all men who honor courage and a chivalrous defense of prin- ciples one believes to be true. Indeed, it is as a direct result of his services that Mr. Shafer is now totally disabled and for years past has been a constant sufferer. Yet, in spite of all, he has never regretted that he offered himself to his country in her hour of need, for he is a stanch patriot and loyal citizen.

The home of Mr. Shafer is now at No. 459 North Fair Oaks avenue, Pasadena. He was born in Delaware, Ohio, May 20, 1841, and was third among eleven children, three of whom survive. His father, who was a native of Penn- sylvania, became a pioneer of Knox county, Ohio, and thence removed to Delaware county, where he engaged in the manufacture of brick and shingles. His wife died in 1849 and three years later he passed away, leaving his son, Smith, an orphan eleven years of age. A cousin took the boy to his farm, and there he remained until sixteen years of age, when he was appren1- ticed to the cooper's trade at Huntsville. Un- fortunately, just about the time he completed his trade, flour sacks came into general use, re -- placing flour barrels to such an extent that wages were reduced and the cooper's trade be- came unprofitable. He was thus obliged to learn another trade, and took up harness-mak- ing and the saddlery business.

At the opening of the war Mr. Shafer en- listed in Company E, Sixty-sixth Ohio Infantry, and was mustered in at Camp McArthur and assigned to the army of the Potomac. With his regiment he took part in various engagements. At the battle of Port Republic, Va., June 9, 1862, he was wounded five times in the breast and once in the right hand, besides which a grape shot passed through the knee of the left leg. The fortunes of the battle were against the Federal troops. All was dismay and confusion. and the wounded were not given the attention they needed. He was left five days on the bat- tle field, during which time he had nothing to eat but a cracker. Fortunately, a canteen of water had been given him by a merciful Con- federate colonel, which kept him from dying of thirst. While he lay on the ground the Con- federates came around him and said they in- tended to shoot. Too much in pain to utter a protest or feel any indignation at their treatment of him, he merely told them to go ahead and

R. O. Robinam

821

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

shoot, but they soon went away. As others came on the scene, he hired them, for $5 and two rubber blankets, to carry him to a large house on the battlefield, and there a Confederate surgeon amputated his leg. After this he was taken to Lynchburg and a week later to Libby prison, where he was confined until September II, 1862. He was then paroled and sent to Fort Delaware, and from there to Philadelphia, where he was honorably discharged December 28, 1863.

As soon as he had recovered sufficiently to seek work, Mr. Shafer was made toll gate keep- er on a plank road at Delaware, Ohio, and also, for three and one-half years, engaged in the harness and saddlery business. He then re- moved to Clarinda, Page county, Iowa, and for many years conducted business pursuits there, first having a meat market and later a grocery. November 9, 1891, he came to California, and has since made Pasadena his home. For a time he engaged in the confectionery business here and each summer, during the season, now car- ries on a confectionery and fruit business at Long Beach. In politics he is an unfaltering Republican. As might be expected, he is a stanch Grand Army man and maintains a deep interest in the workings of the post. At Clarin- da, Iowa, December 4, 1873, he married Miss Sarah Jane Hutchinson, who was born in Ken- tucky. In religion she is identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, while socially she is connected with the Women's Relief Corps. Four children were born of their union, three of whom attained mature years, namely: Jessie, Stanley and Edna May, the latter of whom died at twenty-one years of age, just before she was to have been graduated.

RICHARD O. ROBINSON. As seasoned and brave a packet captain as ever plowed the waters between New York and Liverpool was Richard Robinson, the father of Richard O. He was born in Maine in 1817, and for years his craft carried merchandise to various ports on the coasts, and he made several trips around the Horn to San Francisco. When he perma- nently abandoned the high seas for more stable residence he located in California in 1872, and came to Ventura the following year, where he began farming and stock-raising and fruit grow- ing. He was very successful in his operations and conducted them on a large scale, and at his death left an estate of between two and three thousand acres. His wife, formerly Mary Went- worth, was also born in Maine, and is now liv- ing on the old ranch in the upper Ojai valley.

The oldest son in the family, Richard O. Robinson was born in Maine July 15, 1848, and subsequently made several trips on the ocean with his father. He accompanied him to Cali- fornia in 1872, and settled in Ventura in 1873,

and from then until the death of the father was associated with him in the fruit raising, stock and iarmung business. This has since been his occupation, and he has met with gratitying suc- cess in all of his undertakings, his land being under a high state of cultivation, and his crops, cattle and truit coming up to the high standard of excellence desired by their owner. He owns altogether twenty-four hundred acres of land, of which nearly eight hundred acres are under cultivation.

In Ventura in 1877 Mr. Robinson married Ella Wentworth, and two children have been born to them: Edna, who is a graduate of the high school, and Richard O., who is attending the grammar school. Mr. Robinson is a Repub- lican in politics. Such is the political belief of his brother, C. W., who lives at Ocean Park, and was also of his father, the hardy sea captain. In fraternal circles he is well known. He was made a Master Mason and a Knight Templar at Ventura, and is a member of the Mystic Shrine at Los Angeles. He is appre- ciated in the community for his many evidences of good fellowship, and for his desire to aid in the general improvement of his county.

C. E. SLOSSON. Various enterprises contrib- uting to the progress of Monrovia have received the benefit of Mr. Slosson's co-operation. When he settled in this town in 1887, immediately after his arrival in California, he took up real estate interests and has since handled considerable realty, both vacant and improved. However, the improvement of property does not represent the limit of his activities, but he has been inter- ested in numerous other private and public en- terprises. For several years he was a stockhold- er and the president of the Messenger Publish- ing Company. He was largely instrumental in establishing the Monrovia steam laundry, of which he is still one of the principal stockhold- ers. At this writing he conducts the only livery and sales stable in Monrovia, with a teaming and contracting outfit in connection. On the organization of the Monrovia Board of Trade he became a charter member and is now its secretary, through which position he has been enabled to promote local commercial activities.

The Slosson family was identified with New York state for several generations. From there Abner Slosson removed in 1867 to Iowa, where he remained until death, meantime improving a valuable farm. Previous to his arrival, his son John had settled in Iowa, buying a tract of raw land near Northwood and afterward giving his attention to its cultivation. The farm on which much of his life was passed consisted of six hun- dred and forty acres and was purchased by him in 1871, remaining his home from that time until his death. On the farm in Iowa where he was born, September 25, 1861, C. E. Slosson

822

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

passed the years of youth, meantime attending the common and high schools of Northwood. Farming engaged his attention during vacations, and on leaving school he gave his whole time and thought to agriculture. A little later he became interested in a creamery business near Northwood. He has always been a firm up- holder of Republican principles, which he be- lieves best calculated to promote our national welfare. For three terms he served as a meni- ber of the central Republican committee of Los Angeles county, and during two of these ternis he was also a member of its executive com- mittee. For three terms he served as city clerk of Monrovia and for two terms as town trustec.

After coming to Monrovia Mr. Slosson mar- ried Anna MacCulloch, who was born in Penn- sylvania and passed the years of childhood there, later coming to California to visit her brother and sister. Her parents were William and Christine MacCulloch, the former of whoni, a native of Scotland, died in Michigan while on his way to California. Mr. and Mrs. Slosson have one daughter, Arline.

SILAS TOMS, proprietor of the Enterprise Nurseries, was born in Gambier, Knox county, Ohio, September 4, 1857, and is a son of George and Sarah (Wallace) Toms, and grandson of William Toms. George Toms was born in Lon- don, England, and came to America with his father, William, with whom he settled on a farm in Knox county, Ohio. William returned to London and died there, but his son continued to live in Ohio, where he married, and engaged in building and contracting. With the first call for three-year men during the Civil war he en- listed in Company C, Thirty-second Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, and died at Cheat Mountain, Va. In his young manhood he married Sarah Wallace, a native of Brighton, England, and daughter of Sir Richard Wallace, who, with his brother, Sir Arthur Wallace, was a co-heir to forty million dollars. Sir Richard came to America and settled in Gambier, Knox county, Ohio, where he engaged in contracting on an extensive scale, intending to return to England at no distant day. So well was he pleased with his new surroundings that he continued to tarry even after the news of his brother's death reached America, and he himself soon after sickened and died. Since then the property has remained undisturbed in England. Five sons and two daughters were born to George and Sarah Toms, of whom four sons and one daughter are now living, namely: George W., a resident of Pasa- dena; C. R., a contractor and mason; Henry, a veterinary surgeon at Mount Vernon, Ohio; Silas, and Mrs. Elizabeth Cummings, of Pasa- dena.

After attending the public schools at Gambier, Ohio, Silas Toms found employment at Kenyon

College as superintendent of men, and while there learned floriculture and landscape garden- ing. In 1882 he located in Pasadena and was employed by B. O. Clark, now of Honolulu, and contracted with him and the park nursery- men of which Mr. Clark was president. During the World's Fair at Chicago, he boxed all of the trees and plants exhibited from the Park Nur- series, and the same year started the enterprise with which he is connected at the corner of Kirkwood and Pepper streets. He owns another nursery on Jefferson and Summit streets, which contains ten thousand trees. He is the second oldest nurseryman in the city, and handles more nursery stock than any one other person here. In his houses are all manner of trees, both or- namental and useful, and in the matter of roses and ferns and standard flowers he has few su- periors. He ships by the car load, and contracts for the setting out of hundreds of acres of or- ange and lemon trees, as well as acres of grape vines. His greenhouses are constructed after the most approved designs, and his property is one of the show places of Pasadena.

The first marriage of Mr. Toms was contract- ed in Ohio with Hattie Ayers, who died in Pasa- dena, leaving five children: Maude, who is the wife of Charles Canfield, of Pasadena; Clarence, who is a gardener of this city; Mamie, at home; Lewis, who is the partner of his father; and Jennie, at home. The present Mrs. Toms was formerly Elizabeth Neill, of Cambridge, Mass. Mr. Toms is fraternally identified with the An- cient Order of United Workmen and the Mod- ern Woodmen of America. He is a member of the Nurserymen and Florists' Association of Southern California, and in political affiliation is a Democrat. Mrs. Toms was a member of the Baptist church at Old Cambridge, Mass. Being a lover of plants and flowers, she has added much to his business as well as domestic life. Mr. Toms is well known throughout the whole of Southern California, and is one of the most skilled of those who devote their lives to this interesting and ever expanding occupation.

WILLIAM SHIBLEY. In Rensselaer county, N. Y., William Shibley was born, Jan- uary 4, 1836, being a son of Jeremiah and Lydia (Brockway) Shibley, natives of New York. The father, during active years, followed agricultural pursuits, and on retiring settled in Brooklyn, N. Y., where he died in September, 1866, aged seventy-one years. The homestead, which he had sold in 1854, contained two hundred and fifty-one and one-half acres. Of his nine chil- dren all but one attained mature years, William being the seventh in order of birth. Besides public school advantages, he was privileged to attend the academy two terms, and afterward tilled the soil of the home farm for two years.

823

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Going to Illinois in 1856, he was employed as clerk and bookkeeper for his brother in a gen- eral mercantile store and paper manufacturing business. At the opening of the Civil war he relinquished business pursuits in order to assist in defending the country, his name being en- rolled as a member of Company D, United States Engineers, in which he was serving as non-commissioned sergeant at the time of dis- charge, December 18, 1864. The entire period of his service was with the army of the Poto- mac. He assisted in building the bridges at Fredericksburg, Petersburg and Bull Run, be- sides numerous others less important.

After the expiration of his army service Mr. Shibley took up business pursuits in Illinois, and from 1866 until 1887 was interested in buy- ing stock and grain at Rockton. During the latter year he returned to New York and settled at Cohoes, where he became manager of his sister's interest in a knitting mill, owned by his sister, Mrs. Sarah M. Root. In 1890 it was dis- posed of and Mr. Shibley removed to California in 1891 with his sister. The latter was born in New York and is the widow of S. G. Root, who owned large and valuable manufacturing inter- ests. The residence occupied by Mr. Shibley and his sister is the property of Mrs. Root and stands at No. 510 Marengo avenue.

While in Illinois Mr. Shibley married Miss Mary J. Osgood, who died at Rockton, that state, in 1861. One daughter was born of this union, namely: Elizabeth, who makes her home in Illinois. He later married Miss Delilalı White, who died in 1885; they had one child, Mary, who resides with her father and aunt in Pasadena. Interested in Masonry, Mr. Shibley has passed various of the degrees of the same and is connected with the commandery and con - sistory. His service in the war is borne in mind through his connection with the Grand Army of the Republic. Tenacious in his principles, he holds firmly to the doctrines of the Republican party, which he has supported from youth. He is a patriot from principle, and favors any meas- ure for the benefit of the commonwealth and nation.

EDGAR FREMONT LANCASTER. While many others engaged in a similar occupation have come and gone in Pasadena, Edgar Fre- mont Lancaster has continued his reliable and conservative grocery business, and is at the pres- ent time the second oldest purveyor in the town, and one of the most extensive and successful. His youth was spent in Corydon, Wayne county, Iowa, where he was born October 18, 1858, and where he was educated in the public schools. The family were first represented in Iowa by the paternal grandfather, Bartlett, who was born in Virginia, farmed in Kentucky, and spent his last days in Wayne county, Iowa. He was a

soldier in the war of 1812, and was of English descent.

J. W. Lancaster, the father of Edgar Fremont, was born in Frankfort, Ky., and was a wagon- maker by trade, having served his apprentice- ship in Cincinnati. In 1850 he settled in the neighborhood of Des Moines, Iowa, where he took up a claim, but later removed to new land in Dallas county, still later locating near Corydon, Wayne county. There he farmed and engaged in wagon and carriage making until 1889, during which year he disposed of his Wayne county interests and retired to Pasadena, where he is now living at the age of seventy-six years. He married Louisa Parr, a native of Indiana, and daughter of Rev. Morgan Parr, born in Indiana. Rev. Parr was the first minister of the Christian Church to preach in Wayne county, Iowa, and he was thus employed up to the time of his death at the age of seventy-one years. Mrs. Louisa Lancaster died in Pasadena, in January, 1902, at seventy- four years of age. She was the mother of six sons and two daughters, of whom one son and two daughters are deceased. The children are all living on the coast, Edgar F. being third in order of birth. Thomas M. is in the employ of his brother, Edgar; J. N. is a builder and con- tractor; John Lincoln is a merchant in the state of Washington; William died in Pasadena; H. A. is in Chaparal, Yavapai county, Ariz., and Ella is deceased.

While yet quite young Edgar Fremont Lan- caster worked in his father's carriage shop, and when he arrived at eighteen years of age re- moved with his family to Missouri, where he engaged in the restaurant business. Returning to Corydon, Iowa, he lived on a farm for a year, and came to Pasadena in 1887, working tempo- rarily at the carpenter's trade. He soon after bought a restaurant, called it the Omaha Waffle House, and conducted it until 1891. The same year he found employment in the grocery store of Chubb & Billings, and at the end of six months bought out the Tory & Hagadorn gro- cery business across from where he is now lo- cated. In December of 1900 he located in the Strong building, on the corner of Colorado street and Marengo avenue, and has since car- ried a full line of groceries, besides general produce, feed and flour. Two delivery wagons are required for his business, and he has the steady patronage of many of the finest families in town. In the meantime he has won a repu- tation for progressiveness and fair dealing, and is accounted one of the most reliable business men in Pasadena.

In Corydon, Iowa, Mr. Lancaster married Maggie Booth, a native of Corydon, and of this union there are four children, Marie, William, Irene and Paul. Mr. Lancaster is a Republican in politics, and is fraternally associated with the

824

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Foresters and the Modern Woodmen of Ameri- ca. He is a member of the Board of Trade and the Pasadena Grocers' Union. He is a member of and worker in the Baptist church, and is chairman of the board of trustees.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 122

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