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 162

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

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In 1877 Mr. Talbott married Amelia Irwin, a native of Canada. They have six children, who are receiving at the hands of their parents the best possible educational advantages and who are destined, by reason of good mental endowment and energy, to make their mark in their respective avenues of accomplishment. They are as follows: Edward, who is a gradu- ate of the University of California, and now a student in the Hastings Law School; Homer, who is studying dental surgery in the State Uni- versity; William, a student in the same institu- tion, where he is taking the course in mining engineering; Lloyd, a student in the Lompoc high school; Chester and Irene, also students in the local schools.

A Republican in politics, Mr. Talbott has been prominent in local and county affairs, and was elected to the legislature in 1892, serving one term. In April of 1900 he was elected to the city council, of which he is now an active member. Fraternally he is associated with the Knights of Pythias, being a charter member and past chancellor of Lompoc Lodge No. 57; he is also a charter member of Lompoc Lodge, Foresters of America. Personally he is highly esteemed in the community of which he is an enterprising citizen, and his efforts to further the cause of progress have not been unavailing.

R. W. DAVIS. Various enterprises neces- sary to the well-being of Gardena number Judge Davis among their promoters, chief among these being the creamery, which he conducts 01 the co-operative plan. At the time of its pur- chase by him, the plant was producing two thousand pounds of milk per day, but under his energetic oversight and judicious management the capacity has been increased until the output is now six thousand pounds a day. Had he been easily discouraged, perhaps he would have abandoned the enterprise in a few months, for during the first year he barely made expenses, and even the end of the second year found him very little ahead, but he has now placed the business on a paying basis, and is enjoying a merited success. He owns and operates the Watson creamery near Long Beach, which has a capacity of four thousand pounds of milk per day. In addition to the creamery business he lias for four years served as justice of the peace and also acts as agent for the Liverpool & Lon- don Globe Insurance Company.

In Hempstead county, Ark., Judge Davis was born December 17, 1854, a son of Levi B. and Lydia (Teague) Davis, natives respectively of North Carolina and Tennessee. The paternal

grandfather, R. Washington Davis, was a native of North Carolina, and did not remove from that section of the country until he was ninety- eight years of age; he then joined his descend- ants in Arkansas, where he died in 1875, at the age of ninety-nine and one-half years. Reared in Tennessee, Levi B. Davis removed from there to Arkansas in 1853 and homesteaded a quarter section of land, after which he followed farm pursuits. His remaining years were quietly passed, with no other interruption except his period of service in the Confederate army. He died at Mineral Springs, Ark., in the spring of 1890, having survived his wife, Lydia, twenty- four years. They were the parents of five sons and two daughters, of whom four sons attained maturity. R. W., who was next to the youngest of the family, received his education in public schools and Mineral Springs College, after which he engaged in merchandising at Hope, Ark. In 1886 he removed to Texarkana, Ark., and in 1889 came to California, where he has since made his home. His first purchase com- prised twenty acres at Downey, from which point in 1897 he came to Gardena, his present home. Since then his attention has been given largely to the creamery business. About 1899, when the ranchers around Gardena had trouble marketing their butter, he agitated the organi- zation of a society to secure relief, and it was largely due to his energy that the Los Angeles and Orange County Creamery Board was es- tablished. This board meets every week and controls the butter market of Los Angeles, handling from fifty to sixty thousand pounds every week.

In Mineral Springs, Ark., Mr. Davis married Miss Bettie Brown, who was born in Murfrees- boro, that state, being the daughter of Benjamin Brown, a Tennesseean, who was killed in the Civil war. The three children born of their union are Hugh F., Ethel and Mabel. Chiefly to have the benefit of their insurance protection, Mr. Davis has allied himself with the Woodmen of the World and the Independent Order of Foresters. He is also connected with the Knights of Pythias. In politics he has always voted with the Democrats, and during his resi- dence in Hope, Ark., was on that ticket elected city recorder, which office he filled for one term.

A. SWENSEN. No city offers greater op- portunities for the contractor and builder than does Los Angeles, whose picturesque environ- ment and beautiful lawns lend the touch of art and culture so essential to the highest success in building. Mr. Swensen was born in Jotland. Denmark, September 11, 1859, and received a good education in the public schools, also an excellent training at home. His parents. Michael and Elizabeth Swensen, were also na- tives of Denmark. The former was a soldier

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

during the revolution of 1848 and followed the building business as a means of livelihood. In the family there were seven children, all but one of whom are living. Four reside in Amer- ica, the subject of this article being the young- est of these. In his youth he gained a fair knowledge of building from his father. He was also apprenticed to learn the trade in the School of Technique at Aahus. On the completion of his apprenticeship he traveled as a journeyman in different parts of Europe, visiting Switzer- land, Austria, France, Holland and Belgium. In 1879 he settled in Birmingham, England, where he followed carpentering for nine months.

Crossing the ocean in 1880, Mr. Swensen pro- cceded by boat to the Isthmus of Panama, and from there went to San Francisco. In 1886 he came from that city to Los Angeles, where he followed his trade. For a time he carried on business as an architect, but this he later re- linquished, and has since engaged exclusively in contracting and building. Among his con- tracts were those for two of the finest business blocks in Los Angeles, namely: the Homer Laughlin and the Douglas blocks. Among other contracts were those for the Blanchard building, Los Angeles metal works, the Casa de Roses, the Harkes residence, and the Third street tun- nel, the largest in the city.

The marriage of Mr. Swensen and Mary Mc- Garry, a native of Philadelphia, occurred in Los Angeles. They have four children, Mary, Freda, Elizabeth and Dorothea. Mr. Swensen is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Builders' Exchange and the Master Builders' Association. Fraternally he is associated with the Maccabees.

WILLIAM McC. RAMSEY. Lying along the foothills and overlooking the valley of the Santa Clara, where it presents one of its most attractive views, stretches a vast tract of highly improved land, which is known as Olivelands, and of this beautiful place Mr. Ramsey is the proprietor. A drive through this wonderland should occupy a prominent place on the pro- gram of every tourist who visits this county. One of the attractions is the largest orchard of English walnuts in the world, also an orchard consisting of about thirty-five thousand olive trecs.

Upon an eminence overlooking the orchard stands the residence, which is occupied by the owner, and beyond this a vista of rare beauty is opened up in the miles of fertile farm lands and orchards. Near the residence are buildings which are occupied by the superintendent and employes, a walnut washing house, warehouse, large barns, and all the machinery and imple- ments used in the operation of a great ranch. As you look out over the wooded hills you see immense herds of Jersey cattle, and the hills

and vales abound in game, for the game law is strictly enforced and no poaching allowed.

In conjunction with Olivelands, and under the same ownership, is operated a water supply of fifteen hundred miners' inches, furnishing about twenty millions of gallons per day, which is used for irrigation purposes on the ranch, and the remainder sold to other irrigators in the valley. Situated as it is in the foothills, the crops are never injured by frost. The estate, . which is owned by Mrs. W. McC. Ramsey and three minor children, consists of about twenty- six hundred acres, all the land being exception- ally rich and producing heavy crops without fer- tilization. Between four and five hundred acres are in bearing walnut trees, most of which are eleven years old. About four hundred acres are planted to olives, of which a fine crop is yielded cach year. Perhaps one hundred and fifty acres is bare land on which general farm crops are raised. The walnut crop, however, is the bulk of the income, and a ready market is found for them.

WILLIAM H. TRASTER. One of the most efficient engineers in Los Angeles is Wil- liam H. Traster, who is a man of broad experi- ence in his line of work. He was born in Win- chester, Van Buren county, Iowa, February 22, 1867, and is a son of Isaac and Mary (Chamber- lain) Traster, the former of whom was of Ger- man descent and born in the east, while the latter was born, of Scotch descent, in Salem, Mass. In the parental family there were five children, three of whom are living, William II. being the eldest. His youth had its load of responsibilities, for at the age of thirteen he began to be financially independent, and there- after his life was devoted to the accomplishment of his ambition to be an expert engineer. Dur- ing the summer months he worked in the Ruf- fler machine shops at Ottumwa, Iowa, while in the winter he attended school at Mount Pleas- ant, that state. At the end of eighteen months he became identified with the Globe iron works at Keokuk, Iowa. In two years he had com- pleted his trade and was ready for the future with its emergencies.

After a short time in Van Buren county, Iowa, in 1886 Mr. Traster came to California and at Fresno was chief engineer of a planing mill. In the spring of 1887 he located in Los Angeles, but soon after went to Fallbrook, and assumed the management of his aunt's large stock ranch, a responsibility discharged for three years. In 1890 he settled near Daggett. San Bernardino county, and became chief engi- necr for the Pacific Coast Borax Company's power plant, remaining there for a little more thanthree years. This position he resigned to ac- cept a place as telegraph lineman for the Santa Fe Railroad Company at Ash Fork, Ariz., and

Mitella

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

superintended the putting in of the telegraph line between Ash Fork and Prescott. This task completed, he undertook the charge of the pumping plant at Prescott and Del Rio. After two months he became assistant engineer of the Los Angeles Cable Company's plant at the corner of Seventh street and Grand avenue, and was thus employed for three and one-half years. On the consolidation of the different lines he went with the Los Angeles Railway Company at Sixth street and Central avenue, and helped to put in the Ellis engine. His next position was that of chief engineer of the Wilcox block, but two months later he resigned to become chief engineer of the Van Nuys Broadway plant, of which he had charge for four years and eight months. June 5, 1901, he became chief engineer of the Angelus hotel, where he was master of a fine engine. This position he resigned, April 1, 1902, in order to engage in the engine room supply business at No. 610 North Main street.

Along the line of his occupation Mr. Traster is identified with the North American Station- ary Engineers, is ex-vice-president of the local division, and represented the same at the grand lodge in Pittsburg, Pa., in 1897, and in Roches- ter, N. Y., in 1901. Fraternally he is a member of the Maccabees, in religion is a Baptist, and politically is allied with the Republican party. In April of 1902 he married Miss Catherine Coleman, daughter of J. C. Coleman, an old set- tler of Los Angeles. In his chosen line of work Mr. Traster is an expert, and has a reputation as deserved as it is high.

HON. MATTHEW T. ALLEN, one of the superior judges of Los Angeles county, has been identified with professional life in South- ern California since 1887. Of Scotch-Irish pa- ternal descent, he was born in Greenville, Darke county, Ohio, September 17, 1848, and was edu- cated at the common schools of his city and county, supplemented by a partial course at Ot- terbein University. With characteristic prompt- ness he determined upon the law as a fitting field for his ambitions and abilities, and after qualifying at Winchester, Ind., was admitted to the bar on the twenty-first anniversary of his birth. A potent factor in the formation of his life plans was the example set by his older brother, Judge William Allen, one of the pioneer law- yers of Ohio. This brother represented his dis- trict in congress from 1858 to 1863, and died in 1881. The father, Rev. John Allen, a clergyman in the United Brethren Church, was born in County Down, Ireland, and immigrated to America with his father, William, and the rest of the family in 1818, settling in Butler county, Ohio, where they lived upon a farm. He died in Ohio in 1858. The paternal great-grand- father, John, was born in Scotland in 1724. The

mother of Judge Allen, formerly Elizabeth Ash, was born in Butler county, Ohio, and died in Ohio in 1862.

After being admitted to the bar, Mr. Allen was for a short time assistant prosecuting attor- ney at Winchester, Ind., and in 1872 began the practice of law in his native town of Greenville, Ohio. Owing to overwork and close applica- tion his health became undermined, and he re- moved to California in 1886, and has since rapidly forged his way to the front as a lawyer, jurist and substantial man of affairs. He was appointed United States attorney for the south- ern district of California, by President Harrison, but resigned during President Cleveland's term of office, and continued the practice of law with his former assistant United States attorney, and afterwards United States attorney, Frank P. Flint. In January of 1897, he retired from legal practice, having been elected judge of the su- perior court in 1896. He has handed down several important decisions which have been approved by the supreme court, one of the de- cisions being that marriages at sea, between citizens of the state, without license, and where the ceremony is performed by one not author- ized by the laws of the state, are void. Another decision was that an indigent husband, driven from home by the cruelty of his wife, is entitled to support from the separate estate of his wife. Judge Allen is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the California Bar As- sociation and the Chamber of Commerce. While living in Ohio in 1873, he became a Mason, is past master, and a member of the Chapter and Commandery in Los Angeles. Since 1890 he has been associated with Al Mal- akiah Temple, N. M. S.

In 1879 Judge Allen married Mary White- side, of Camden, Ohio, and of this union there are two daughters, Echo and Lois Allen.

FRANK P. McDIVITT. During the past decade the ranching possibilities of Ventura county have been enlarged and promoted through the efforts of its progressive and prac- tical citizens. Especially has there been devel- opment along the line of one industry, viz .: that of raising lima beans, and Mr. McDivitt is one of the men who is proving the success of this industry. An accurate estimate of his crops shows that the yield is twenty-two hundred pounds to the acre. However, his attention is not limited to this one occupation, for he also devotes considerable time and thought to fruit- growing, and there is no apricot orchard near Santa Paula that is finer than his.

The father of this well-known rancher is one of the leading public men of California and his name is particularly well known in journalistic circles. Hon. C. J. McDivitt was a native of Pennsylvania and in 1860 identified himself with

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the original Greeley colony in Colorado, where he assisted in the building of ditch No. 2 at Greeley, and served efficiently as a member of the Colorado state legislature and as chief clerk of the house of representatives. The year 1872 found him in Kansas, where he was variously interested in farming, merchandising and pub- lishing. For several years he was editor and proprietor of the Abilene Chronicle, a weekly paper. From Kansas he came to California in 1888. Settling at Santa Paula, he purchased the Golden State from Stephen Bowers, and this he enlarged and merged into the Chronicle. During the three years of his connection with the paper he acquired considerable prominence throughout Ventura county. In 1892 he was appointed custom inspector of the port of Santa Barbara. On resigning that position he re- moved to Kern county and has since been edi- tor and proprietor of the Randsburg Miner, the only paper published in the Mohave desert.

The war record of C. J. McDivitt is worthy of special mention. During 1862 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Pennsylvania Infantry, and was assigned to the army of the Potomac, in which he served for two years. Among the famous engagements in which he participated were those at Chancellorsville and Second Bull Run. Throughout the entire pe- riod of his service he fought with his regiment in all of its encounters with the enemy, and won a record for bravery of which he and his might well be proud. On the organization of the Grand Army of the Republic, he at once became interested in this movement, and later, for one term, was honored with the office of department commander of Kansas.

In Huntingdon county, Pa., Frank P. Mc- Divitt was born in 1865. His childhood days were passed in Kansas and his education was obtained in the public schools of Abilene. Much of the time when a boy he traveled through Kansas and Colorado in a wagon, thus gaining a thorough knowledge of the then frontier. In 1888 he came to California and soon was followed by his parents. Entering the occupation which his father had adopted, he was associated with him in the publication of the Santa Paula Chronicle, for a time acted as editor and proprietor of the Santa Paula News, and is now interested in the Randsburg Miner. Another occupation in which he was interested was that of mining, and hic prospected and de- veloped several good claims in Kern county. In 1894 he removed to the old Haines ranch near Santa Paula and has since made this place his home. His wife is a daughter of Abner Haines, former owner of this property, and a leading pioneer. Mr. Haines settled near Santa Paula in 1867 and remained here until his death, which occurred in 1893. In political views Mr. McDivitt is a stanch Republican, devoted to the

interests of his party. He is progressive and aids in good works for the upbuilding of the community.

J. B. CORSON. One of the participants in the most famous tea party ever given in Amer- ica was Moses Corson, whose subsequent serv- ice during the Revolutionary war proved him to be loyal to the struggling colonies. When independence had been established he moved to Maine and settled near Acton, where he took up a tract of government land and reared his eight sons and four daughters. Among the sons was Capt. Seward Corson, who was born in Mas- sachusetts in 1793 and died in Maine in 1842. The title by which he was known came to him through his services in an Indian war. His wife, Huldah (Barrett) Corson. was born at Dublin, N. H., in 1794, and died in Wisconsin in July, 1870. She was a niece of Nathaniel Barrett, who commanded the patriots at Charlestown Bridge. Her father, Joseph Barrett, a native of Charlestown, Mass., became one of the very earliest settlers of Canaan, Me., out of which were made the fol- lowing towns: Skowhegan, Bloomfield, Fair- field and Pittsfield.

In the family of Capt. Seward Corson was J. B. Corson, born at Canaan, Me., August 31, 1834. Nothing of special moment marked the years of his youth, nor were his travels more extended than mere neighborhood journeys, until 1857, when he settled in Sheboygan county, Wis. Two years later he returned to New Eng- land and in 1860 began to clerk in a wholesale house of Bangor, Me., but soon turned his at- tention to agriculture, buying a farm of two hun- dred acres. As soon as the Civil war was opened the blood of his forefathers became ap- parent. Fired with patriotic zeal, he enlisted in Company B, Thirteenth Maine Infantry, of which the celebrated temperance advocate, Neal Dow, was the commander. With his regiment he went to camp at Augusta, November 1, 1861. February 2, 1862, they were ordered to Boston, Mass., and on arriving there camped for one night in Faneuil Ha !!. The next day they were placed on the steamship Mississippi, which sailed to Fortress Monroe under command of Neal Dow for the purpose of taking on General But- ler. He took part in the battle of New Orleans and the siege of Port Hudson in 1863. His service included the offices of provost-marshal of the Mississippi river, lieutenant and captain. until the time of his closing term of service.

The war having expired, Mr. Corson took up the pursuits of civic life. For a time he was engaged as a contractor on the eastern division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. In 1869 he embarked in the manufacture of furni- ture, having his factory at Sheboygan, Wis .. and conducting the business under the title of

. XM Donell

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the Sheboygan Manufacturing Company. In 1886 he came to California and established his home in Pasadena.

The only fraternal orders which have claimed the allegiance of Mr. Corson are the Masons and Odd Fellows. At no time has he been active or conspicuous in politics, his independent views not bringing him into close touch with either of the great parties, while his tastes are for do- mestic life rather than public service. His mar- riage took place at Canaan, Me., in 1866, and united him with Flora A. Goodwin, who was born in that village. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Corson were named as follows: Maude, Stella, Flavilla and Ralph. The oldest daughter died in February, 1894; the second married R. W. McDonald, of Pasadena, and the third is the wife of R. Bland, also of Pasadena. The only son, who is vice-president of the Cleburne (Tex.) Light and Water Company, married Miss Jean Nelms, of Pasadena.

HON. ALEXANDER A. McDONELL. Years ago the clan Macdonell lived and flour- ished in Inverness, Scotland. The grandfather of Alexander A. was Donald, whose father, Al- len, was a son of Donald and the latter in turn a son of Allen, the two names of Donald and Allen alternating almost as far back as the rec- ord can be traced. In 1802 the grandfather took his family to Canada, among his children being Alexander, who was then a boy of ten. Some years later this son bought a farm sixty- five miles from Montreal and there he lived and labored. Though in the midst of the "Canucks" he continued to use only Gaelic, and in this way all of his children became familiar with the lan- guage. His wife, Janet McIntosh, was born in Canada, her parents having removed there from Inverness. They had ten sons and two daugh- ters. Among the sons was Donald, who dur- ing the Civil war was a member of a cavalry reg- iment and was captured in Missouri by the Con- federates, after which he was confined in prison for a year.

The oldest child in this large family was Alex- ander A., born in Cornwall, Canada, March 2, 1821. Until fifteen years of age he worked on the home farm, after which he was employed as foreman in the construction of the Cornwall and other canals. Going to Vermont in 1847, he was a contractor on the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, having charge of the contract to con- struct ten miles of road. Next he was engaged on the Rutland & Washington Railroad in the same state, and after a time took a contract on the southern division of the same road, where two years were consumed in completing five miles of heavy work. From Vermont he went to Ohio with Joseph Chamberlain on the Cleve- land & Pittsburg Railroad, where he graded many miles of road from Hanoverton to Salines-

ville. Next he went to Morrowtown and Day- ton, and engaged as superintendent of construc- tion on the Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanes- ville Railroad. Thence he returned to Sandy- ville, Ohio, where he built a large tunnel on the Tuscarawas Railroad branch. After a few years of very successful work in Ohio, he went to Wisconsin, where he took a contract for one hundred miles between Madison and Prairie du Chien, completing the same after two years, March 17, 1857. At the same time he built forty miles or more from Janesville to Monroe.

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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 162

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