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 126

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

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In the town Mr. McNeil has erected a pleas- ant and comfortable residence on Mill street, and in addition to his mill and residence prop- erty owns several city lots. He is variously interested in local affairs, and is a stockholder in the new savings bank. Politically a Repub- lican, he has never been an office seeker, and entertains liberal ideas regarding the election of candidates to office. Fraternally he is asso- ciated with the Knights of Pythias, being past

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

chancellor of Santa Maria Lodge No. 90, and No. 46 Uniform Rank K. of P., besides which he is a charter member of the Santa Maria Lodge, Independent Order of Foresters. In 1876 he married Margaret Morrison, daughter of Warren and Nancy (Tobin) Morrison, of Oreville, Cal. Of this union there are four children, namely: Flora, a graduate of the Santa Maria high school and the California State Normal; Edwina and Warren, both high school graduates, and the latter now a student in the California State University at Berkeley; and Margaret, who is attending the local schools.

EDWARD GOLTER. While he is thor- oughly loyal to American institutions and a typical Californian in enterprise, Mr. Golter is a foreigner by birth, being a native of Wurtem- berg, Germany, where his parents, Gotleib and Louise Golter, were also born. His paternal grandfather, Frederick Golter, was a farmer by occupation and belonged to one of the old fami- lies of the province. In the parental family there were four sons and two daughters, one of whom, Paul, lives in San Francisco, while a sister makes her home in Los Angeles. Ed- ward, who was the youngest of the six, was born July 18, 1864, and received his education in the national schools. At fourteen years of age he began an apprenticeship to the brewer's trade in Heilbronn, where he served for two years. Later locations were in Stuttgart and Ulm, where he was employed in breweries, and afterward he traveled throughout the empire, se- curing employment wherever an opening oc- curred. In 1883 he was graduated from the Brewers' school in Munich, after which he again traveled through Germany as a brewer.

During 1886 Mr. Golter crossed the ocean to New York and from there across the con- tinent traveled to Los Angeles, where he soon entered the brewery of Maier & Zobelein, ac- cepting a very humble position. From the first it was evident that he understood the position, and his promotion after five months gave him a position better suited to his abilities, that of foreman and brewmaster, in which capacity he has been retained since September 1, 1887. His iong continuance in the position proves that his work has been acceptable to his employers. During his service the capacity has been re- peatedly increased, until it is now six times as great as when he became connected with the plant, and his position is therefore one of much greater responsibility than it was ten years ago. The yeast is manufactured in the brew- ery, and is the best of its kind, while the other necessary articles are also as perfect as can be secured.

The marriage of Mr. Golter took place in Los Angeles, his wife being Miss Ida Hensling, who

was born in the government of Stettin, Pom- erania, Germany, and by whom he has a son, Edwin F. Among the organizations of which he is a member are the Turners Society, Sons of Herman and Los Angeles Lodge No. 42, F. & A. M., in which latter he was made a Mason a few years after Los Angeles became his home.

GEORGE W. HILL, the city treasurer of Pomona, was born in Blairsville, Pa., in 1840, and was reared and educated in the same town. Although he had gained a knowledge of agri- culture through his early experience upon a farm, yet his tastes did not run in that line and as soon as possible he turned his attention to other occupations. At the age of twenty- two years he entered the Pennsylvania Railroad shops as an assistant, and worked his way up until he became wreckmaster. At the expira- tion of seven years he resigned his position in order to give his attention to the operating of a planing mill which he with others had pur- chased. Three years were thus spent, and for a similar period he conducted a grocery in Blairsville, later opening a clothing establish- ment, which he conducted about ten years.

With the hope that a change of climate might be of benefit to his daughter, in 1887 Mr. Hill disposed of his property in the east and re- moved to California. In company with J. W. Neal he built a plant and engaged in the manu- facture of iron pipe, of all sizes, for the water supply throughout this section. The business was carried on prosperously for two years, but at the expiration of that time, the demand for pipe decreasing, the business was sold, and is now the property of the Southern California Manufacturing Company. While in the hands of Mr. Hill and Mr. Neal about twenty hands were employed.

A subsequent enterprise conducted by Mr. Hill associated with another business man of Pomona, was the management of a clothing business, but after four years he disposed of his interest to his partner. During the second administration of President Cleveland he was chosen postmaster of Pomona and held the office for four years. During his incumbency of the office, in 1894, he established a free de- livery system in about one-third of the city, employing three regular and two extra carriers. In 1899 his party further honored him by elect- ing him city treasurer and tax collector, in which capacity he has given faithful and efficient serv- ice. He is among the local leaders of the Dem- ocratic party and takes an active part in its measures and movements. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company D, Two Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, and went to the front, remaining in service until the close of the war. In later years he was warmly inter-

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ested in Grand Army work in Pennsylvania. . By his marriage to Miss Marguerite S. Wilson, of Blairsville, Pa., he became the father of three children, but Susan and Rebecca are deceased, and the only one living is George M., a school student. The family are connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

FREDERICK J. FISCHER. At the time of the discovery of gold in California news of the rich find reached a young German jeweler, John Fischer, who was then in Brazil. Eager to join the throng of gold-seekers, he hastened to New York, and there took passage on a ship for the Isthmus of Panama, going from there to San Francisco. During his voyage and after his ar- rival his plans definitely resolved themselves into a determination to follow his trade rather than prospect in the mines. In 1850 he opened what was one of the first jewelry stores in San Francisco, his location being on Sutter street, where he was twice burned out at times of great fires. The lawlessness reigning on the coast caused him to throw his influence in with the vigilance committee in a determination to establish law and order. At the time that the colony of Anaheim was first talked of by a num- ber of prominent Germans in San Francisco, he became interested in the project, and was one of the founders of the town, where he car- ried on a hotel and put out a vineyard of twen- ty acres. His daughter, born in 1860, was the first child born in the colony. He assisted in the incorporation of Anaheim, of which he served as postmaster and also, for several terms, held office as president of the common council, be- ing the first to hold that position. Indeed, he was one of the Republican leaders of the col- ony, and his influence did much toward for- warding enterprises favored by his party. Af- ter having for years conducted a hotel and su- perintended his vineyard, in 1878 he removed from Anaheim to Los Angeles, and later filled the office of deputy county recorder, also served as city assessor for three terms (one be- ing an unexpired term). Soon after the expira- tion of the third term, he died in Los Angeles, in July, 1894. Fraternally he was connected with the lodge and encampment of Odd Fel- lows, as well as with the Veterans' Association of that order.

In San Francisco, in 1855, John Fischer mar- ried Julia Hartung, who was born in Hanover, Germany, and died in Anaheim in 1874. Her father, Fred Hartung, had a large weaving and spinning establishment at Goslau, Hanover. Some years after his daughter, Julia, had crossed by sailing vessel, around the Horn, from Germany to San Francisco, he brought the other members of the family and settled in San Francisco, later removing to Anaheim, where he owned a large winery. At the age of

eighty-four years he died in Anaheim. There were six children in the family of John and Julia Fischer and five of these are living, name- ly: Emily, wife of George Hull, of Los An- geles; Frederick J., who was born in San Fran- cisco, May 10, 1858; Anna, Mrs. DeFreese, of Los Angeles, who was the first child born in Anaheim; Mrs. Malvina Mckennie and Mrs. Dora Bain, both of Los Angeles.

When the family settled in Anaheim, Fred- erick J. Fischer was only a year old, hence his first recollections are of a home in Southern California. His education was obtained in the Anaheim schools, of which Prof. J. M. Guinn was principal. In 1873 he began an apprentice- ship of four years to the machinist's trade, in the Cyclops machine works, at San Francisco, returning to Anaheim at the expiration of his time, and a year later going to Los Angeles. In April, 1879, he traveled by team and wagon to Tucson, Ariz., where he became engineer of an ice plant that manufactured ice by the ether process. The capacity was only one ton every twenty-four hours, and this found at five cents a pound a ready sale, but, not being sufficient to supply the demand, ice was also shipped in from Los Angeles. After two years in Arizona, he returned to Los Angeles, and for five years was machinist in the Southern Pacific shops. For a year he carried on a business as plumber and gas-fitter, his shop being on what is now San Fernando street. In 1889 he became chief en- gineer of the Citizens' Water Works, and when this company was merged into the Los Angeles City Water Company, he became chief engi- neer of the new organization, which position he has since efficiently filled. The plant has three engines, with a capacity of eight million gal- lons of water, and is well equipped with mod- ern improvements.

A general recognition of Mr. Fischer's ability as a machinist has brought him prominence among others in the same line of business. At this writing he is serving his third term as a member of the board of examining engineers of Los Angeles. On the organization of the Los Angeles Division No. 2, National Association of Stationary Engineers, he was honored with the office of president, and is now its treasurer, also the state deputy national president. For some years he and his wife (formerly Annie Martin, and a native of Oregon), with their daughter, Julia, have owned and occupied a comfortable residence at No. 429 North Fre- mont avenue. The nature of his occupation being such as to leave him little time to partici- pate in public affairs, he has never been a seeker after office, yet he has held a number of posi- tions in the Republican party, chief among these being a member of the city central com- mittee and deputy city assessor. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of

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America and Ramona Parlor, Native Sons of . Immediately after his return from war be was the Golden West. married, in Monroe, Wis., to Miss Carrie Will- iams. They are the parents of eight children: Marietta; Mrs. Dora Hathaway, of Santa Mo- nica; Mrs. Nellie May Shader, of Los Angeles; Mrs. Edith Pearl Abbott, of Santa Monica; George P., a carpenter, who has been associated with his father in the building business; Will- iam E., Carrie M. and Franklin J.

ROBERT P. ELLIOTT. During the years of his residence in Santa Monica, dating from the fall of 1883, Mr. Elliott has been actively engaged in the building business, and it is probable that he has erected more buildings than any other contractor in the city. Equally important has been his connection with educa- tional work. From 1894 to 1900 he served on the school board, being its president five years of the time, and while occupying the position he was instrumental in the erection of the high school and two grammar schools.

Eighteen miles west of Meadville, in Craw- ford county, Pa., Mr. Elliott was born Novem- ber 19, 1840, a descendant of Scotch forefatlı- ers. His grandfather, Thomas, a native of Crawford county, was a son of John Elliott, who was born in Maryland and became a pioneer of western Pennsylvania. The father, John Elliott, Jr., was born in Crawford county, but in 1853 removed to Green county, Wis., settling near Monroe. The year 1855 found him in Kan- sas, where he settled on a farm near what is now Valley Falls, and there he died in April, 1860. His wife, Mary (Porter) Cowan, was born in Ireland, of Scotch ancestry, and accom- panied her father, Robert Porter, to New York City. Her first husband was an early settler of Crawford county, Pa. By that union three chil- dren were born, two now living. One of these, Henry Cowan, now living near Guthrie, Okla., was a lieutenant in the First Kansas Infantry during the Civil war. Of her marriage to John Elliott, eleven children were born, seven now living. One son, Washington M. Elliott, who resides near Chandler, Okla., was a soldier in the Eleventh Kansas Infantry. Mrs. Elliott died in Santa Monica, Cal., in 1895, when more than eighty years of age.

One of the vivid recollections that Robert P. Elliott has of his boyhood is that of driving with team and wagon to Kansas. As a farmer he worked early and late, and no change came into his life until the Civil war began. In Aug- ust, 1861, he volunteered in the Fifth Wiscon- sin Battery of Light Infantry, and was sent to the front, taking part in the siege of Island No. 10, the siege of Corinth, battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, all the engagements in the Georgia campaign up to and including the siege of Atlanta, the battles of Jonesboro and Love- joy Station, the march to the sea with the en- trance into Savannah, the battles of Goldsboro, Averysboro and Bentonville. He took part in the grand review at Washington, and then re- turned to Wisconsin, where he was mustered out June 14, 1865, at Madison. At the time of his discharge he was serving as sergeant.

In 1866 Mr. Elliott settled at Harrisonville, Mo., and the next year became a farmer near Valley Falls, Kans., whence in 1870 he went to the Pottawatomie reservation and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres eighteen miles north of Wamego. Besides farming he did considerable work as a carpenter. From Wa- mego he came to Santa Monica, of which town his brother, Thomas, had been one of the first settlers. Among the buildings he has erected here were those for J. J. Davis, Mr. Howard and Mr. Lewis, also many of the finest resi- dences here, and the first house built in Saw- teile. In politics he is a Republican. His mem- ories of war times are kept fresh through his association with the Union Veteran League, Camp No. 138, at Soldiers' Home.

In closing this sketch mention may appro- priately be made of the lady who, December 17, 1865, became the wife of Mr. Elliott, and has ever since been his faithful and devoted help- mate. Her father, George Williams, was born in Ovid, N. Y., of Welsh descent, and became a pioneer of Rock Grove township, Stephenson county, Ill., later settling near Monroe, Wis., thence returning to Illinois and New York. During the Civil war he was a member of the Fifth Wisconsin Battery. He died in Kansas in August, 1882, aged sixty-one years. By his marriage to Mary Hartsough, who was born in Ovid, N. Y., and died in Los Angeles, Cal., he had ten children, five of whom are living, Mrs. Elliott being the fourth. Two of her brothers, Peter and Levi, were members of the Fifth Wisconsin Battery and served by the side of their father at the front. Naturally, she pos- sesses a deep interest in all matters pertaining to the war, in which her father, husband and brothers served with honor, and her interest finds expression through the activities of the Women's Relief Corps and the Ladies' Auxil- iary of the Union Veterans' League.

JOHN GOFTON FRANKLAND. Among the families who crossed the ocean from Eng- land in 1851 was that of Robert J. Frankland. Some years before he had married Elizabeth Gofton, daughter of a ship chandler. Accom- panied by their two children, the younger of whom. John Gofton, was an infant, and taking with him also his two children by a former mar- riage, he crossed the Atlantic to Quebec and settled in Molton, Ontario, where he engaged in

N.G. Rugglea,

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the carriage manufacturing business. Later lo- cations were at Strectsville and Barry, Ontario, and he died in the latter town. His wife is now living in Peterboro, Canada. Born of their marriage were two sons and four daughters, now living, John G. being the only one of the number in the States. He was born in Scarbor- ough, Yorkshire, England, April 9, 1850, and has no recollection of the voyage of seven weeks and three days between Hull and Que- bec. His earliest memories are associated with Molton and Streetsville, where from a boy he worked in his father's shop and gained a thor- ough knowledge of woodworking and carriage- inaking. At eighteen years of age he began to work at the trade in Streetsville, later going to St. Thomas, where he engaged in contract- ing and building, and also operated a large planing mill for the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds.

The year 1880 found Mr. Frankland in Chi- cago, where he erected a number of residences. Three years later he began to follow contracting at New Rockford, N. D., and at the same time improved a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. Among his contracts while in North Da- kota were those for the courthouse at Carring- ton and a church at Minnewankon, besides va- rious depots on the Northern Pacific line. In December, 1889, he removed to New What- com, Wash., where he followed the same oc- cupation as before. His removal from Wash- ington to California took place in August, 1893, since which time lie has engaged in contracting in Los Angeles, being now a member of the firm of Frankland & Franklin. Among his contracts in this city are those for the resi- dences of Lee A. Phillips, on Twenty-eighth and Severance streets; Mrs. Hahn, on Sever- ance; W. M. Jack, on Ellendale Place; the Buchanan house, on Thirty-second street; the Holterhoff and Erkenbrecher residences; the large Comnuck and numerous others in va- rious parts of the city. He is a member of the Builders Exchange and the Master Builders Association. Close participation in and con- nection with public affairs have prevented him, owing to the pressure of business duties, and he has seldom consented to hold office, although, while living in North Dakota, he served as jus- tice of the peace at New Rockford for five years, and was probate judge of Eddy county for one term. A member of the Baptist Church, he is an earnest worker in his congregation, a member of its board of deacons and board of trustees, and a participant in Sunday-school work.

In St. Thomas, Canada, Mr. Frankland mar- ried Miss Margaret Thompson, who was born in Ontario, of Scotch descent. They are the parents of five children, namely: Mary Ellena, wife of Joseph Grayson, of Seattle; Maude Mar-

garet, Mrs. N. D. Bennett, of Los Angeles; Florence Clayton, Hazel and Pearl at home.

H. C. RUGGLES. The present home of Mr. Ruggles in Pasadena is far removed from the home of his ancestors in Maine, and the dis- tance in miles is not greater than the contrast in climate between the two-there the long and dreary winters, here the constant and flower- laden summers. The founder of the family in America, Edward Ruggles, great-grandfather of H. C., came over from England and settled in Harwich, Mass. His son, Paul, was born in Harwich, and moved from there to Carmel, Me. His son, Franklin, was born near Carmel, that state, and removing to Pennsylvania, took up the manufacture of rakes there, also fol- lowed the trade of a mechanic and later en- gaged in contracting and building. Going to Kansas in 1875, he settled on a farm near Lincoln and afterward engaged in raising stock and general farm products, remaining there until his death. While in Pennsylvania he mar- ried Hulda Harding, who was born at Muncie, Lycoming county, Pa., and is now living in Kansas. Her father, James Harding, was an Englishman by birth, but for years resided on a farm in Pennsylvania.

In a family of seven children, all but one of whom are living, H. C. Ruggles was third in order of birth and is the only one in California. A brother, Q. E., is a well-known portrait painter in old Mexico, and another brother, Dexter L., is a pharmacist in Kansas. H. C. was born in Williamsport, Lycoming county, Pa., March II, 1860, and at fifteen years of age accompanied the family to Lincoln, Kans., where he assisted on the farm. However, his tastes did not run along agricultural lines, and he soon turned to other industries. Before leaving Pennsylvania he had worked as fireman in a planing mill and in Kansas he secured em- ployment in the first steam mill built on the Saline river at Lincoln Center, holding the position of engineer there for two years. From Kansas he went to Denver, Colo., and secured work as machinist in the shops of the Union Pacific Railroad. On the completion of the new shops, on Fortieth street, he was placed in charge of the steam and electric light plant there, as chief engineer and electrician. To fit himself for this work he attended a night school, where he had special advantages for the study of electricity.

A visit to California in July of 1895 con- vinced Mr. Ruggles that the climate of Pasa- dena had no peer in the United States and he therefore resigned his position in Denver and accepted a place as chief engineer and elec- trician with the Pasadena Electric Light Com- pany, continuing in that capacity until January, 1001, since which time he has been chief en- gineer of the Pasadena Ice Company. In the

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installing of the ice plant he assisted as erecting engineer, and the excellent work which has al- ways been secured from the machinery is due largely to his capable oversight. While filling the duties of every position with the greatest fidelity, he has yet found time for original work of his own, having made improvements on oil burners and also invented an improved me- chanism for street lighting. In electricity he is thoroughly posted and is also an expert draughtsman. At one time he was trustee of Los Angeles Lodge, Local No. 2, National As- sociation of Stationary Engineers, and is still quite active in this society. Politically he is a stanch Republican, and fraternally is connected with the Woodmen of the World in Pasadena, the lodge of Odd Fellows in Denver and the encampment in Pasadena. While not connected with any denomination he contributes to the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which his wife is identified. He was married September 8, 1884, in Kansas to Miss Dora Edwards, who was born in Missouri and re- moved to Kansas with her father, George Ed- wards, an extensive farmer and at one time postmaster at Ackley. The four children born of their union are, Agnes, Ana, Viola and Franklin.

F. I. GARDINER. The genealogy of the family represented by F. I. Gardiner, postmas- ter at Soldiers' Home, is traced back to North- umberland, England, whence Arthur Gardiner, who was a captain of horse, accompanied the Earl of Essex to Ireland, settling upon a large grant of land in county Roscommon and Gal- way. From him descended Patrick Gardiner, a gentleman farmer and large land owner of Roscommon. The latter's son, Matthew, was born in Roscommon, and became an architect and superintendent of building at Carrick-on- Shannon, the assize town of county Leitrim, Connaught, Ireland, where he died. His wife, Susan, was a daughter of Robert Irwin, a land owner and prominent citizen of county Leitrim, whither his ancestors had come from Scotland.

Of the eleven children of Matthew and Susan Gardiner, two sons and three daughters are liv- ing, F. I. being the eldest of these and the only one in America. He was born on the old home- stead at Carrick-on-Shannon, June 28, 1836, and received his education in a private school. Under an uncle, Francis Gardiner, he served five years in the wholesale grocery business in Dublin. About 1857 he crossed the ocean to New York City and secured employment as fireman on a steamboat, later working as chief stoker between New York and Panama, also be- tween New York and Cuba, and Havre and Falmouth. By way of Panama, in 1858, he came to California, after which he was em- ployed on steamers out from San Francisco for

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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 126

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