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 180

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

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In the early 'gos he was transferred from the Iowa conference to the Southern California con- ference of the church, and still retains his mem- bership in the same.

After many years of active service in the cause of humanity, Mr. Holcomb is enjoying a well-merited relaxation from his former respon- sibilities, and as an horticulturist at Fullerton is living near to nature, and her wonders of sky and air and harvest. He is the possessor of a ranch of thirty acres, eight of which are under oranges, which have been developed by his in- dustry from a practically barren stretch of land. He also raises English walnuts and asparagus, and ships through the Fullerton Walnut Grow- ers' Association, of which he is a member.

JOSEPH HOWARD. Though at present living in retirement in Santa Barbara, Mr. How- ard has gained an enviable reputation in the city of his adoption, his integrity being unquestioned and his public-spiritedness an oft-demonstrated fact. An easterner by nature and training, he was born in Hartford, Conn., and spent his early years in Connecticut and Rhode Island. His father, Joseph Howard, was born in Providence, R. I., and his mother, Jane (Wells) Howard, was a native of Hartford, Conn.

Joseph Howard eventually removed to Orange, N. J., where he lived until 1872, at which time he located in Santa Barbara, and became interested in the management of a part of the Conejo ranch. He is now enjoying a well-earned relaxation from active business affairs, though an integral part of the city's growth, and an interested spectator of its in- creasing prosperity. He is a member of the Board of Trade and the Chamber of Commerce, and is a Republican in politics.

AMBROSE DICKEY. During the latter part of his life Mr. Dickey was associated with orange culture at Riverside. There were but three or four houses east of the Santa Fe Rail- road, and the six acres purchased by Mr. Dickey on what is now Ruston avenue had all the dis- couraging aspects of a desert, from which little could be expected. After much fertilizing and irrigating the grove was planted, in 1890, and now the yearly output of navels, Mediterranean sweets and bloods is evidence of his wisely exe- cuted plans.

The occupation of horticulture was not a new one to Mr. Dickey when he first came to Cali- fornia. The years of his childhood were spent on the old homestead in Madison county, Ind., where he was born, in 1855. During his youth and early manhood he lived upon the same acres, in the conscientious pursuit of general farming, stock-raising and fruit-growing. He came to California in September of 1885, and the following year located at Riverside, where

his death occurred July 6, 1900. He was a stanch upholder of the principles of the Repub- lican party, and cast his first presidential vote for Ulysses S. Grant. He was a member of the United Brethren Church, to which his wife and children also belong.

ROBERT W. BURNS. The splendid service and management which have resulted in excel- lent protection against fire for the citizens of Los Angeles is due incidentally to the modern cquipment evolved from the brain power of those who make a study of the most menacing danger of city life, but principally to the innate courage of those who unflinchingly strive for the individual preservation of life and property. Among those in high places who have won dis- tinction as fire fighters may be mentioned Rob- ert. W. Burns, secretary of the Los Angeles fire department.

Although comparatively a young man to have soimpressed his worth upon the community, Mr. Burns, who was born in Chicago, Ill., Septem- ber 7, 1874, has improved his opportunities and has worked his way from the bottom round of the ladder. His father, John Burns, was born in Dumfries-shire, Scotland, that part of the coun- try made famous by the poetical accomplish- ments of his famous kinsman, Robert Burns. When quite young he learned the grocery busi- ness, which he practiced after his emigration to Oswego, N. Y. His lines were afterwards laid in Chicago, Ill., and during the fire in 1871 he lost so much that he afterwards removed to On- tario, Canada, in the hope of replenishing his finances. After engaging in the mercantile busi- ness for eight years in the northern country he came to Los Angeles, in 1886, where he was similarly employed until disposing of his Los Angeles interests. He is at present living on a ranch at Moneta, Los Angeles county. He mar - ried Harriet Emily Smyth, who was born in England, and who also is still living. Of the four daughters and two sons in the family, Robert W. is the youngest, while his brother, William, is also living here and is an employe of the city parks.

Mr. Burns was educated in the public schools of Ontario, Canada, and in Los Angeles, in which latter city he graduated from the high school and from the Los Angeles Business College. From his earliest boyhood he had been inter- ested in fire engines, and the undertakings of the brave men who gladly risked their lives for the sake of humanity, and used to follow the engines when they went out on their errands of mercy front his home across from old Number 3, between Main and Spring streets. He also used to drive the hose cart at an age when the average boy would be considered incompetent for so grave a responsibility. After his gradua- tion he became bookkeeper for C. E. Crowley,

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later assisting with the construction of the Gila canal for a period of six months. In time he returned to his former position as bookkeeper, and when twenty-one years of age entered the fire department as callman, and was at the same time accountant. In 1896 he was called into the office and served on detail work, and when the office of secretary was created he was given the appointment with the rank of captain. He is chief aide-de-camp of the present chief, and in his absence assumes the arduous responsibilities which fall to the lot of the older man.

In Los Angeles Mr. Burns married Rosa Nevell, who was born in Morristown, N. Y., and who came to Los Angeles when six years of age. Mrs. Burns had excellent educational op- portunities, and supplemented her training at the public schools by graduating at the State Normal. Mr. Burns is a member of the Hol- lenbeck Lodge of Masons at Los Angeles, and has been raised to the Signet Chapter No. 57, R. A. M. He is identified with the Los Angeles Commandery No. 9, K. T., Al Malakiah Teni- ple, N. M. S., and the Independent Order of Foresters. In political affiliation he is a Re- publican. In addition to his many interests Mr. Burns is a natural musician, performing with skill on several instruments. This talent has been of great benefit to him in many ways, and has opened possibilities of meritorious accom- plishment. During the Spanish-American war he was principal organizer of the Seventh Regi- ment Volunteer Band in San Francisco.

ALEXANDER GRANT, builder, traveler and citizen of Los Angeles, was born in Lin- lithgowshire, Scotland, November 25, 1868, and is a member of the old and famous Clan Grant, whose latter-day adherents retain familiar cus- toms. His father, Alexander Grant, was a na- tive of the same locality, and was formerly a locomotive engineer on the National Road, in the employ of which he remained until his re- tirement. He is now seventy-two years of age. When a young man he married Margaret Heg- gie, a native of the same shire, and a daughter of John Heggie, who was born in Herringshire. Mrs. Grant, who died in 1883, was the mother of three daughters and two sons, and of these two daughters and one son are in America. John Grant was one of the early settlers of Los An- geles, but is now in South Africa. He is a builder by occupation.

The youngest in his father's family, Alexan- der Grant was reared in Linlithgow, Scotland, and when fourteen years old began to learn the trade of pattern making, at which he worked for four years. He then came to America and crossed the continent to California, arriving in Los Angeles October 1, 1886. Here he engaged as a carpenter for his brother, and in 1880 re- turned to Scotland, where he remained for three

months. Upon resuming his building opera- tions in Los Angeles he was successful in se- curing work. In 1893 he visited for three months the old familiar surroundings in his na- tive land. Three years later he left his building interests in Los Angeles and started for South Africa, via England, and at London embarked on the steamer Rosencastle, bound for Cape- town, a journey which took sixteen days. In Capetown he engaged in building and contract- ing until the breaking out of the Boer-English war, when he made his escape on the next to the last train out of Johannesburg. From Cape- town he sailed to English shores. Arriving in London, he traveled through England and Scot- land and returned to Los Angeles December 25, 1899.

As a contractor and builder Mr. Grant has succeeded beyond his expectations, and the city contains many evidences of his right to a con- tinued patronage. He erected many residences, as well as numerous public buildings and flats. Mr. Grant is a Republican in national politics, and is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

J. C. HADACHECK. One of the important and substantial industries to which Los An- geles may lay claim is the brick yards at Pico Heights, of which Jensen & Hadacheck are the owners and proprietors. J. C. Hadacheck, the junior member of the firm, is one of the most experienced brick men in Southern California, and had a large amount of experience before casting his fortunes with the city of which he is at present an honored citizen. He was born near Tama City, Tama county, Iowa, in 1860, and is a son of J. C. Hadacheck, who was born in Germany, and upon immigrating to the United States settled near Tama City, Iowa. He was a farmer during the greater part of his active life, and was the father of ten children, of whom J. C. is third. The education of Mr. Hadacheck was acquired in the public schools of Tama county, Iowa, and he was reared on his father's farm. At a comparatively early age he felt the limitations by which he was sur- rounded, and when seventeen years old, in 1886, started out to make his own living. As a pre- liminary he went to Salt Lake City and learned the brick business, and eventually had a brick vard of his own, where he manufactured adobe brick with considerable success. He then went to Portland, Ore., and lived in Los Angeles dur- ing 1888-89. removing later to Iowa. . and then to Chicago, Ill. In 1803 he settled permanently in Los Angeles, and engaged in the brick busi- ness as foreman for Jensen, and in 1897 jour- neyed to Alaska, where for two years he took part in the boom on the Copper river. Return- ing to Los Angeles, he continued in business with Mr. Jensen on Pico Heights, where thev are doing an extensive business and catering to

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a constantly increasing trade. The yards are run to their utmost capacity, and the making of reliable brick assures a continuance of the pres- ent enviable prosperity. Instead of using coal, the machinery is worked by oil.

Mr. Hadacheck is widely known in business and social circles in Los Angeles, where his genial and kindly personality, tact and sympathy have won for him a host of friends and the ap- proval of the business world. He is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood.

HENRY C. JENSEN. Upon no one in Los Angeles does the grace of success rest more deservedly than upon Henry C. Jensen, the pio- neer brick manufacturer of Los Angeles, and the first to make brick in the city with entirely white labor. A native of the vicinity of Plon, Schles- wig-Holstein, Germany, he was born September 22, 1859, and was educated in the Merdorf com- inon schools. His father was a brick manufac- turer, and the son, while still quite young, gained a fair knowledge of this business. In 1882 he came to Chicago and was employed by Mayer & Toll as a moulder, and in 1887 tried to improve upon his fortunes by removal else- where. His original intention was to locate in South America, but upon arriving at New Or- leans he somehow missed connections, and this setback completely changed his plans. Some- what aimlessly he found his way west, and with no definite plans arrived in Los Angeles, where the conditions seemed particularly favorable for the prosecution of his favorite occupation. He started in building kilns for others and managed the same, and in Santa Monica also built kilns and prepared the way for brick-making. He then returned to Chicago and disposed of his interests there, and in the fall came back to Los Angeles, and ran a brick yard in Ballerino Place under the firm name of Pico & Hover. He furnished brick at that time for the Los Angeles theatre, the Produce block, and many other con- structions of the early days, and then settled in Salt Lake City, where he made brick for a year. A later place of effort was Portland, Ore., where he also lived for a year, and just before the World's Fair found him in Chicago, with the full intention of starting a yard in order to supply the supposed unprecedented demand for building materials. More wise than many. hie foresaw the disparity between the actual and the imagined, and pulled out of the gala city in time to avoid the undertow which engulfed the over-ambitious.

Upon returning to Los Angeles Mr. Jensen started a brickyard near the Catholic cemetery off from Buena Vista avenue, where he re- mained for three years, and then located at his present place on Western avenue and Sixteenth street, and was the first in the city to build his own brick yard and manufacture his own com-

modities. Since moving his plant he has dis- posed of the original one, and now has sixteen acres of land, and a very large capacity. Among the buildings for which he has furnished the brick may be mentioned the plant of the Ice & Cold Storage Company, and the Barlow dry goods store, besides numerous other buildings in different parts of the city and vicinity. Be- sides his brick manufactory, Mr. Jensen has other large responsibilities on his hands. He is the owner of lands and houses in Washington, and owns considerable property in Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles Mr. Jensen married Emma M. Decker, who was born in Schleswig-Hol- stein, and of this union there are two children, Walter and Robert. Mr. Jensen has several fraternal associations, and is a member of the South Gate Lodge No. 320, F. & A. M., the Fraternal Brotherhood and the Maccabees. Po- litically he is a Republican. He is a member of the German Lutheran Church, and contributes generously towards its charities and support.

GEORGE KITCHEN. That department of building which has to do with plastering has no follower in Los Angeles more expert than George Kitchen, a resident of this city since 1894. He was born in Glenham, Kane county, Canada, on the banks of Lake Erie, October 26, 1869, a son of George Kitchen, a native of Glen- ham township, Brant county, Ontario. The emigrating ancestor of the Kitchen family left his home in England and settled on the Dela- ware river in Pennsylvania long before the Rev- olutionary war. In this then unsettled portion of the state the paternal great-grandfather was born, and in time arose to meet the demand created for his services by the oppression of the colonists, by bravely shouldering his musket among the hosts of Washington. His son, an- other Wheeler Kitchen by name, and the grand- father of George, was born upon a farm which at present constitutes a part of Philadelphia, and from where he removed in 1812 to Ontario, of which section he was one of the very early pioneers. Upon his farm in Glenliam town- ship his son George was born. The latter be- came a blacksmith at Glenham, and in 1900 came on a visit to Los Angeles. He afterward went to Washington and at Pullman, that state. was terminated his long and useful life. He married Eleanor Huston, a native of Ontario. and of Scotch descent, and the representative of a family intimately connected with the origin of the Methodist Church in Canada. The grand- father of Mrs. Kitchen, Rev. Mr. Huston, was born in Ireland, and was one of the first twelve ministers sent into Canada to promote the inter- ests of the Methodist denomination. He was for many years an elder in the church, and his death occurred in Florence, Ontario. Mrs. Kitchen, who is at present living with her son.

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George, is the mother of four children, the three others being Judson, who lives in Washington and is a contracting plasterer, and William and Wesley, who are residents of the east.

At the age of fourteen George Kitchen was sent to Duluth, Minn., where he learned the trade of plastering under his brother, his time of service being three years. In 1887 he re- moved to Tacoma, Wash., and engaged in con- tract plastering, in time working up a large and appreciative trade. While in the northern city he did the plastering for the Pacific National Bank, the City Hall and many important build- ings and private residences. In the fall of 1894 he removed to Los Angeles, and continued in his former line of occupation, his success being equally pronounced in the new location. He superintended the plastering of the Harvard Military School, the Athletic Club Block, the Imperial, the Westlake Methodist Episcopal Church, the Christian Science Church at River- side, the hotel at Long Beach, the Telephone Building, and many prominent residences in this and surrounding towns.

In Tacoma, Wash., Mr. Kitchen married Car- rie Johnstone, a native of Lawrence, Kans., and of Scotch descent. To Mr. and Mrs. Kitchen have been born two children, Beatrice and Eliz- abeth. Fraternally Mr. Kitchen is associated with the Knights of Pythias, the Southern Cali- fornia Lodge, F. & A. M., and the Maccabees, of which latter organization he is lieutenant commander of Tent No. 2. He is a Democrat in national politics, and is an ex-member of the Contracting Plasterers' Association. Mrs. Kitchen is a member of the Baptist Church.

REMI NADEAU, an early settler of Los An- geles county, was born near Quebec, Canada, in 1820. During 1860 he crossed the plains. Arriving in Sacramento in the spring of 1862 he followed the trade of millwright there, as he had done the winter before in Salt Lake City. Then he bought and sold produce in the mining regions of Northern California, and in the au- tumn of the same year came to Los Angeles. Here he kept five or six ox-teams busy, trans- porting goods and supplies from the sea-board. Later he employed mules for the conveying of the freight which he distributed at various points, as desired; and at one time he had eight hundred mules in the different departments of his business. For fifteen years he continued to devote his energy to his chosen field of enter- prise. As stated above, he came to Los Angeles in 1862, and in 1864 took up his permanent resi- dence here, his family joining him in 1868. He became wealthy and was enabled to retire many years prior to his death, which event took place January II, 1887. Of his three sons and four daughters, two sons and a daughter survive.

DIETRICH H. P. VON DER LOHE. The name of Von Der Lohe is inalienably associated with different departments of building in Los Angeles, and not the least progressive and suc- cessful of the representatives of a distinguished German family is Dietrich H. P., who, like his brother, J. H. C., has led a varied and interest- ing life, and is one of the pioneer cement con- tractors of the town. At the time of his birth, February 6, 1868, the family fortunes were cen- tered near the ancestral home in Germany, and for six years he led the care free life of the aver- age Teutonic lad. He was then taken to Shil- lerplaner, where his education was acquired in the public schools, his life having in the mean- time sustained a severe loss through the death of his father, Henry Von Der Lohe.

In 1884 the prospects of Mr. Von Der Lohe were materially brightened by his emigration to America, and by his location in the prosperous farming region of Berlin township, Otoe county, Neb., where he remained until 1886. He then took up his residence in Unadilla, of the same county, and located on a farm, and in June of the following year came to Los Angeles and engaged in the cement contracting business, which has since been his untiring occupation. At first associated with the Charles Malliton cement works, he went the following year to San José and was foreman for the enterprise of Mr. Otto until 1891, after which he returned to Los Angeles and continued the cement business for Clark & Neiman as foreman of their works. At the expiration of two years he traveled east for a few months, and when again in Los An- geles was foreman for Frank Linderfeld until 1897. The same year an opportunity to increase his information in general was afforded when sent on a mission as foreman for Kreip & Co. to South Africa. He went from San Francisco via British Columbia to New York, and from the eastern city took steamer to Liverpool, trav- eling thence to London, from where he again boarded a steamer bound for Cape Town, Africa. The latter journey consumed twenty- one days, and upon arriving at Johannesburg Mr. Von Der Lohe had charge of about twenty men during their labor of constructing the forts and laying in of the cement work. He then re- paired to Pretoria and accomplished the cement work of the Building of Justice, after which he went to Kimberley and worked on the Market Hall. In Bollowayo, Rhodesia, he was also en- gaged for a time and then returned to Johan- nesburg, where the last work done in Africa was the floors of the jail, which, however, was never used, because of the approach of war, which dis- aster compelled them to leave their tools behind them. The master masons left Johannesburg October 2, 1899, and upon arriving at Cape Town took steamer to South Hampton, Eng- land. After sixteen days the shores of England

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reared their friendly cliffs, and soon after another steamer bore them back to the land of their adoption.

Until 1901 Mr. Von Der Lohe again asso- ciated himself with large cement works as fore- man for Carl Leonardt, after which he located in Loveland, Colo., and was foreman of the sugar factory. Upon returning to Los Angeles he again assumed his old position as foreman for Mr. Leonardt, and has since undertaken some of the most important cement contractions in the city. Mr. Von Der Lohe has a wide ac- quaintance in Los Angeles, and his public spir- ited efforts to advance the general welfare of the town have placed him in the front ranks of the popular citizens of this community. He is fraternally associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a Democrat in political affiliation.

GEORGE W. WAITE. One of the con- tractors and builders of Los Angeles is George W. Waite, who was born in De Soto, Vernon county, Wis., July 25, 1860, a son of Seymour Waite, a native of Genesee county, N. Y., and a grandson of William Waite, who died many years ago in New York state. Seymour Waite, when left an orphan at an early age, learned the printer's trade. In 1848 he removed to Port Washington, Ozaukee county, Wis., and en- tered upon a journalistic enterprise, and later removed to De Soto of the same state. During the Civil war he served in the Fiftieth Wiscon- sin Infantry as sergeant of his company, and after being mustered out of service returned to De Soto and substituted contracting and build- ing for journalism. He served for one term as justice of the peace. In 1887 he located in Los Angeles, where he is living in retirement. His wife, formerly Ruth Osgood, was a native of New Hampshire and a daughter of James Os- good, a physician in Boston. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Waite, two sons and one daughter, of whom George L. is the second. The oldest son, James O., is a rancher near Compton.

Until his twelfth year George W. Waite lived in De Soto, Wis., and attended the public schools, after which, in 1879, he graduated at the high school at Viroqua. His higher edu- cation was acquired solely through his own efforts, for from his sixteenth year he en- gaged from time to time in teaching, and was thus enabled to enter the University of Wisconsin, where he remained until the jun- ior year. He then accompanied his par- ents to Creighton, Knox county, Neb., and while there was principal of one of the schools for a year, after which he engaged in the lumber business as manager for the Kansas City Company of Chicago. His parents having in the meantime removed to California, he re-

signed his position with the lumber company in 1887, and in Pasadena, Cal., engaged in the real-estate business for a year. Owing to dull times in the California city he repaired to Seat- tle in 1888, before the fire, and engaged in con- tracting and building. After the havoc wrought by devouring flames he found a prolific field of activity, and contributed his share towards the rebuilding of the city. The Ranier Hotel, the first large hostelry to rise above the ruins, was constructed by Mr. Waite, as well as the Bailey block, the club house and many public and private structures.

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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 180

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