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 187

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 187

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In Los Angeles Mr. Bly married May Mar- chant, who was born in California, and by whom he had three children, two now living, Hazel and Albert Merlin. Mrs. Bly is a daughter of John and Susan (Stannage) Marchant, and was one of four children, the others being Walter S., of Honolulu; Thirza and Editha. John Marchant was a native of Canada, of English parentage. During the early mining days, in 1850, he came to California and tried his luck in the gold fields. Going to Nevada, he became a general merchant, which occupation he fol- lowed for many years. Finally, in 1889, he re- turned to California, where he was interested in the real-estate and insurance business until his death, in December, 1901, at seventy-five years of age. He was respected for his many exem- plary qualities of head and heart. His widow

is still living in Los Angeles. An active mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church, Mr. Bly is now president of its board of trustees. In politics he is a Republican.

JOHN DALLETT BLISS. Situated at the base of the mountains and sloping down into the San Fernando valley lies the attractive homestead of Mr. Bliss, that in point of scenic beauty is unrivaled among the many beautiful homes of Los Angeles county. His removal from the east to the Pacific coast resulted less from choice than from business exigencies, but he has become a convert to the climate and scenery of Southern California, and in his ideal home is living a busy and happy life. When he came here in 1893, with his brother Robert, it was for the purpose of buying one hundred and forty acres, on which his father held a mort- gage. After the death of his brother the prop- erty came into his individual possession, and in addition he has bought two hundred and ten acres in the mountains adjoining his homestead. A commodious and elegantly appointed resi- dence has been built, suitable barns and grana- ries have been added, and a large tract has been put under .cultivation, forty acres being in navel oranges, ten acres in lemons and thirteen in apricots.

Robert Bliss, a native of England, came to America, accompanied by his family, which in- cluded William, a twelve-year-old boy. After- ward they received a large income from Eng- land, where the grandfather was an extensive and prosperous manufacturer. William Bliss mar- ried Catherine Dallett, a native of Philadelphia, where she died at thirty-five years of age, leav- ing three sons, John D., William and Robert. Her father, John Dallett, was the founder of the coffee importing business in Philadelphia, where he built up a large and profitable business and accumulated a fortune. Into this firm he admitted William Bliss as a partner, and later the offices of the company were removed to New York City, where the business enjoyed in- creasing prestige and success. At his death, when sixty-three years of age, John Dallett left a fortune, accumulated by his rare ability and judgment in the management of his importing business. In many respects he was a remarka- ble man, and his name is still familiar among coffee dealers in this country. He was of Eng- lish extraction and reared his family in the faith of the Church of England.

In Philadelphia, Pa., John D. Bliss was born Tune 28, 1862. While he was still quite small his mother died. His brother, William, died at thirty-one, while Robert passed away February 13, 1900, when he was twenty-nine, leaving the eldest son as the sole representative of the fanı- ily. His education was received in private schools, after which he remained a clerk in his

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father's New York office for eight years, and was then admitted as a partner into the Phila- delphia branch house. In 1893 he disposed of his interest in the business and came to Califor- nia, since which time he has made his home on his Glendale ranch. By his marriage to Miss Whiting, of Nashville, Tenn., he has a son, John. The family are connected with the Epis- copal Church. In national elections Mr. Bliss casts his ballot with the Republican party, whose principles he believes to be best adapted to promote the permanent welfare of the nation. In fraternal relations he is associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

GEORGE TRUMAN GOWER. The horti- cultural interests of Mr. Gower include the oversight of two lemon orchards at Hollywood, besides the home place. Mr. Gower is a de- scendant of Maine ancestry. His father, John Truman Gower, a native of New Sharon, that state, born in August, 1820, taught school in carly youth and during the summer vacations shipped on whaling vessels. After a time he shipped on a cruise of two years, during the course of which he stopped at the Hawaiian Is- lands. Securing his discharge from the ship's service, he became a clerk in a store in Hono- lulu and with his earnings bought a one-half interest in a sugar plantation, subsequently the entire plant. Prospects for the future seemed so auspicious that he sent back to Maine for his sweetheart, who made the long voyage to Hon- olulu, and they were there married. For a time all went well, but the reaction following the boom during the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury brought all the planters to bankruptcy. On giving up his plantation he became a surveyor, later operated a small flour and saw mill and then carried on a meat business, also engaged in farming. At the time of the Civil war he was postmaster of his town. In 1869 he sold all his property on the islands and came to Los An- geles, joining his son, George T., who had pre- ceded him a year.

In his new home John T. Gower took up a government claim of one hundred and sixty acres, seventy of which, now owned by his widow, form a part of Hollywood. Sixty acres were sold after his death for $400 an acre. He assisted in laying out National City, a suburb of San Diego, also laid out various tracts in Los Angeles county, and besides acquired a number of mining claims, being one of three to discover the Julian mines in San Diego county. In reli- gion he was connected with the Hardshell Bap- tists and while on the Sandwich Islands took a very active part in church work. His death of- curred at his homestead in Los Angeles county in 1880.

The marriage of John T. Gower united him with Mary G. Craswell, who was born in Maine,

and now makes her home at No. 3003 Minne- sota street, East Los Angeles. Seven children were born of their union, namely: Mary Q., a teacher, now in New York City; George Tru- man, who was born at Makawao, East Maui, Hawaiian Islands, June 25, 1854, and is a resi- dent of Hollywood, Cal .; Henry C., who is en- gaged in the oil business in Los Angeles; Birney P., who died at twenty-one years; Charles W .; Hattie F., a teacher in Los Angeles; and Thomas C., a mail carrier in Los Angeles. The oldest son as well as all the other children in this family was reared on the Sandwich Islands until fourteen years of age, when he came to California and made his home with Mrs. Lucy (Norton) Crane, a cousin of Nordica, the fa- mous singer. Previous to this he had never attended an English school. but he was now given advantages in the Alameda county schools, which he attended a part of the time for three and one-half years, the balance of the time being given to work in the orchard. After coming to Southern California he remained with his father until twenty-one years of age, when he took up a government claim in Kern county, and at the end of three years he sold his improvements and removed to the San Fernando valley. As foreman, he had charge of five thousand acres, a part of the San Fernando grant, and during the nine years he remained with the same com- pany he accumulated considerable property through fortunate investments, although later during the reaction after the boom he suffered the losses experienced by all property-holders. On leaving the company's employ he took charge of his mother's ranch, which he has since managed.

By the marriage of Mr. Gower to Miss Mary J. Jenifer, who was born near Marysville, Cal., four children were born, namely: John Trunian, Harrison Preston, Lena Jenifer and Alice Dru- silla. The family are connected with the Park Congregational Church. For twelve years or more Mr. Gower has been a delegate to county conventions of the Republican party and has always been a stanch adherent of Republican principles. Interested in educational work, he has served efficiently in the position of school trustee, meantime acting as clerk of the board. Movements for the benefit of his locality receive his encouragement and aid, and his progressive plans and high citizenship have proved of the greatest help to Hollywood.

J. H. HOFFMAN. Numbered among the representative business men of Los Angeles is J. H. Hoffman, who has been a resident of this city since January, 1806. For a few years after- ward he conducted the Kitchen Cafe on San Fernando Road, but in December, 1899, he pur- chased the Los Angeles fertilizer works, which he has since greatly enlarged and successfully

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conducted. At this writing the plant is the largest of its kind in Southern California. Steam is used as motive power, and a specialty is made of the manufacture of high-grade tankage fer- tilizer. At first only two teams were needed, but so steady has been the growth of the busi- ness that now about ten teams are kept in con- stant 11se.

When a young man, John T., father of J. H. Hoffman, crossed the ocean from his native Germany and settled in Albany, N. Y., where for years he conducted a large blacksmith shop. He died in that city in December, 1875. In politics he was a Democrat and in religion a member of the German Reformed Church. His wife was Mary Elizabeth Knodine, a native of Germany, and now living in Albany. Five sons and five daughters were born of their marriage, one of the sons, George, being now the propri- ctor of the blacksmith shop established by the father. J. H. and F. P. are the only members of the family in California. The former was born in Albany, N. Y., April 11, 1864, and received his education in public schools. In 1882 he became a fireman on the West Shore Railroad, his run being from Syracuse. After some time he was promoted to be engineer, which position he filled for two years. Going to Texas in 1887, hie ran an engine on the Southern Pacific out from San Antonio for six years. While making his home in that city he was married there to Miss Annie Elliott, who was born in Dallas, Tex., and by whom he has one son, Leon.

During the years of his work in Texas, while he had runs all over the state from Houston to El Paso, he was fortunate in never meeting with an accident, although there were a number of such catastrophes at the time in that state. In 1893 he went to Albuquerque, N. M., where he became an engineer on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe road between that city and The Nee- dles. Two years later he resigned the position and for a short time carried on business in Wil- liams, Ariz., coming from that city to Los An- geles, where he has since made his home. In politics he is independent, voting for the man and the measure rather than the party.

HENRY C. HOOKER. The ancestry of the Hooker family is traced to the illustrious Con- gregational clergyman, Thomas Hooker, D. D., who crossed the ocean from England in the second ship that landed at Plymouth Rock and shortly afterward went from Massachusetts to Connecticut, where, in 1635, he founded the city of Hartford. Descended from him was Judge Seth Hooker, a soldier in the war of 1812, and later a successful attorney of Hinsdale, N. II., and judge of the courts of Cheshire county. His marriage united him with a daughter of Rev. Bunker Gay, member of an English family that was represented among the pioneers of

New England. In his day Rev. Mr. Gay was a noted man and exceedingly popular. Follow- ing the example of the apostle Paul, he ac- cepted no remuneration for his services as a preacher, but gladly and through love for the cause filled the pulpit each Sunday of his active life. Under his supervision was erected the first parsonage at Hinsdale. The possession of an able mind and a deep love for humanity breathed through all of his pulpit utterances and all of his published sermons, and his earnest labors were productive of much good in the communities where he lived.

Though born in Connecticut, Henry Hooker, who was a son of Judge Seth Hooker, spent the greater part of his life in New Hampshire, where he died at ninety-four years of age. From his father he inherited keen mental faculties that enabled him to reason logically and well; while from his grandfather he inherited fluency of speech and a sincere love for Christianity. All of his life he adhered to Congregational teach- ings, and, whenever his pastor was absent,he was accustomed to act as pulpit supply, although, in deference to his views concerning clergymen and laymen, he never took his place in the pulpit, but preached from the foot of the same. In pol- itics he voted with the Whigs and became a Republican on the organization of that party. He married Mary Daggett, who was born in Chesterfield, N. H., of an old family of New England, and died at sixty years of age. They became the parents of nine children, all still living, namely: Mrs. H. N. Jones, of Hinsdale, N. H .; George P., a retired farmer of Hinsdale : Charles G., who came to California in pioneer days and is now a capitalist of San Francisco; Henry C., of Los Angeles; Mrs. Nutting, whose husband was a clergyman in Hinsdale; Mrs. Robinson, whose husband was a business man of New York City; Anson C., who occupies the old homestead of Rev. Bunker Gay in Hins- dale; J. D., of Los Angeles; and Mrs. N. T. Smith, whose husband is treasurer of the South- ern Pacific Railroad Company and intimately connected with the Leland Stanford estate.

At Hinsdale, N. H., Henry C. Hooker was born January 10, 1828. When twenty years of age he went to New York City and a year later proceeded as far west as Kansas City, where for three years he clerked in an Indian trader's store. As representative of his firm, in 1852, he was sent to the Cherokee nation and was there at the time the government paid $1,500,- 000 for the Cherokee lands. During the same year, returning to New York City, he started for California via the isthummus, and in January, 1853, with his brother, Charles G., arrived in San Francisco. His first employment was as clerk in mines, but soon he opened a general store at Placerville, where he continued in busi- ness for some years. At the time of the Frazer

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river excitement, in the spring of 1858, he went to British Columbia, where he engaged in pros- pecting, but in the fall of the same year went back to San Francisco.

About this time began Mr. Hooker's con- nection with the cattle business, in which he has since gained prominence throughout the west. At first, as a speculator, he bought stock in the Pacific coast regions and shipped them to the markets. In 1866 he took a contract to supply the army in Arizona with meat and established his headquarters at Fort Goodwin on the Gila river. His work was rendered unusually diffi- cult owing to the presence of the bloodthirsty Apaches, the fiercest and most cruel of all the Indian tribes. Time and again their depreda- tions caused him heavy losses in stock and in his freighting trains, of which latter he had fifty ten-mule trains. However, in spite of these and other discouragements, the business proved suf- ficiently profitable to warrant its continuance, and he remained a government contractor until 1888. Meantime he traveled much through Ari- zona, and, being a man of keen and shrewd judgment, he decided that large profits could be secured from the raising of stock. With this end in view, in 1872 he started a ranch twenty- four miles from Willcox, Ariz., in Sulphur Spring valley, beginning with eleven thousand head of cattle bearing the brand of a crooked H. Thirty years have since come and gone, and have witnessed marvelous transformations in Arizona and in the stock industry, much of which may be attributed to his enterprise and progressive spirit. At this writing he has twenty thousand head of cattle on his range, which covers twenty-five by forty miles, he himself owning about five thousand acres of patent.

After he had been engaged in raising cattle for some years, Mr. Hooker decided to attempt an experiment. This was in connection with the introduction of full-blooded stock. In 1881 he brought twenty-five head of Hereford bulls to his ranch, these being the first full-blooded cat- tle in the entire west. These animals had been purchased from the Hereford breeder, T. L. Miller, of Beecher, Ill. Three years later he made an importation of stock at a cost of $30,- 000, and ever since then he has added to his herd by bringing between fifty and one hundred head from abroad. His experiment in the in- troduction of Herefords was watched with inter- est all over the west, and when it was proved beyond question to be a success, others fol- lowed the example he had set in the purchase of full-blooded stock. In this way his influence has been of a most important nature. For the hilly and mountainous regions of Arizona, the Herefords have proved to be well adapted. It is Mr. Hooker's experience that on level plains, thickly sown with alfalfa, the preference might

be given to Shorthorns, but as range-feeders the Herefords are far superior. Another fact in their favor is that they produce a greater proportion of hind-quarter meat than any other breed, so that butchers are always glad to buy them. As an incentive to harmony of action among the cattle-growers of Arizona, Mr. Hooker secured the organization of a territorial association for stock-growers, but his interest in it ceased when men were admitted to member- ship who owned but a few head of cattle.

At the same time that he has developed a remarkable cattle business, Mr. Hooker has also become known for his fine horses, having brought to his ranch the finest in Arizona. Notable in his stud is Valbrino, son of Stam- boul, 2:07}. At four years old Stamboul had a record of 2:173, made in a race with Arab in Los Angeles. At five years this record had been lowered to 2:143, and at six years to 2:113. The three first crosses in Valbrino are the finest of American trotting blood. Another stallion possessing points equal to those of Val- bino is Parisee, whose sire, Palo Alto, has a record of 2:083, against time, to a high-wheeled sulky; dam by General Benton (1755), the pro- ducer of many fine trotting animals. No stock- man in the west has been more successful in the raising of horses than has Mr. Hooker, and he expects to continue in the business, together with the raising of cattle, as long as his life is spared. Indeed, he still continues to spend a portion of each year on his Arizona ranch, su- perintending details and maintaining a general supervision, although he leaves to his two sons, Edwin R. and J. M., who reside in Willcox, the general charge of the land and stock. In 1901 le built an elegant residence on West Adams street, Los Angeles, where he and his wife (whom he married in Placerville in 1856 and who was formerly Elizabeth Rockwell, of Penn- sylvania) are surrounded by all the luxuries that add to the pleasure of existence. Their two sons, as previously stated, live in Arizona; their only daughter, Ida, is the wife of M. W. Stewart and resides in Los Angeles. The fanı- ily attend the Episcopal Church, of which Mrs. Hooker is a member.

During his long and active identification with the cattle interests of the west. Mr. Hooker has had many interesting experiences. A man pos- sessing only limited powers of physical endur- ance could not have stood the strain of frontier life, but with his fine physique and robust con- stitution he has been enabled to withstand all of the hardships and is as hale and hearty at seventy and more years as are many men at fifty. His interest in stock-raising is as keen now as it has ever been, and the fact that he sells annually between four and five thousand head of cattle of his brand proves that the di- mensions of his business have not decreased.

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It is no uncommon sight to see four train-loads of his cattle, with eighteen cars to a train, start from Arizona for the east in the spring, while in the fall he makes shipments to the coast. In 1884 he was a delegate to St. Louis, where was hield the first national gathering of cattle-grow- ers, and he still retains his membership in the National Cattle Growers' Association. Among the people of Los Angeles he is granted that respect and esteem which a successful man merits and which are especially merited by that class of men who owe their success, not to chance or to luck, but to the exercise of the qualities with which they have been endowed.

HON. ROBERT F. JONES. The history of a town is best told in the lives of its people, particularly of those who have fostered its in- terests and promoted its welfare. Perhaps no name is more intimately associated with Santa Monica than that of Robert F. Jones, who, as mayor of the city and as head of several impor- tant financial and industrial enterprises, has been a constant contributor to civic progress. The family of which Mr. Jones is a member orig- inated in Wales, where were born his great- grandparents, James and Mary (Kilson) Jones. The grandfather, Thomas, was born in England in 1793 and grew to manhood upon a country estate. Accompanied by his wife, Mary (Pugh) Jones, and their six children, in 1831 he came to America and settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where he established the granite and marble business. He won the esteem of all and his death, which occurred in Cleveland in 1870, was deeply mourned. His widow, who was born in 1802, died at the summer home of her son, United States Senator John P. Jones, in Santa Monica, Cal., when she was ninety years old.

Of the thirteen children of Thomas and Mary Jones, all lived to maturity, and seven survive, namely: Hon. John P. Jones, United States Senator from Nevada, and for years intimately associated with the development of Santa Mo- nica, where his summer home, Miramar, is one of the most beautiful residences by the sea; Samuel L., a wealthy mine owner in Gold Hill, Nev .; Frederick K., of Detroit, Mich .; James M., a member of the bar of Cleveland, Ohio, and former judge of the court of common pleas; Mrs. Caroline E. Lester and Mrs. Cor- nelia Gorham, both of Santa Monica, Cal .; and Mrs. Frances A. Hamilton. The eldest child of Thomas and Mary Jones was Thomas Jones, Jr., father of Robert F. Jones. He was a man of financial and executive ability, and his stand- ing in Cleveland was the highest. In the office of internal revenue collector of the twenty-first district, to which he was appointed, he acquitted himself with scrupulous integrity and with zeal. For several years he served as president of the city council of Cleveland.

Robert F. Jones was born in Cleveland March 27, 1847. For a time he acted as cashier under his father, who was then internal revenue col- lector. Largely through his efforts was effected the organization of the Merchants Banking and Storage Company of Cleveland, of which he was treasurer and manager for several years. At the same time he served as a member of the Cleveland city council. With the hope that the climate of California would prove beneficial to his health, which had become impaired through the pressure of business, in 1891 Mr. Jones came to the Pacific coast, and has since been a resi- dent of Santa Monica. In 1893 he purchased the controlling stock of the First National Bank, which he liquidated and reorganized as a state institution under the name of the Bank of Santa Monica, April 1, 1893, being the date of the reorganization. The capital stock is $50,- 000, and the officers are: Robert F. Jones, presi- dent, and C. L. Bundy, secretary.

The organization of the Santa Monica Land and Water Company was completed in July, 1894, at which time the concern was incorpo- rated with a capital stock of $1,000,000, taking in twenty-eight thousand acres and the water system of Santa Monica. The North Beach Bath House Company, of which Roy Jones is president and R. F. Jones secretary, was organ- ized with a capital of $100,000 and has erected a bathhouse, also an auditorium with a seating capacity of fifteen hundred. These two gen- tlemen have also erected a bowling pavilion with eight alleys, this being the first pavilion in the county. In company with R. C. Gillis, Mr. Jones purchased the original town site now known as Sawtelle, consisting of two hundred and twenty-five acres, after which they organ- ized the Pacific Land Company, Mr. Jones being elected secretary and treasurer of the company. They laid out the town of Sawtelle, which is situated four miles from Santa Monica, and twelve miles from Los Angeles. The site is an excellent one for a town, by reason of the prox- imity of the Soldiers' Home. By a law of the state, liquor can never be sold within one and one-half miles of the Home, hence Sawtelle is necessarily a prohibition town, and is thus at- tracting a class of people who prefer residence in a town where saloons can never be opened. So rapid was the growth of the town that the company was obliged to buy additional land. The town now contains three tracts, aggregat- ing twelve hundred acres, viz .: the Barrett Villa tract, with two hundred and twenty-five acres; Lindsay addition, one hundred acres ; Pacific farms, four hundred acres, and other adjoining lands. Under the energetic super- vision of the officers the town is being estab- lished upon a solid basis and its population each year shows a gratifying increase. Probably not a little of the success is due to the fact that there

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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 187

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