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 195

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

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WILLIAM E. THORNTON. Among the inaster stone cutters and contractors of Los Angeles Mr. Thornton occupies a conspicuous place, his largest opportunity for usefulness being indicated by his position as president of the Master Builders' Association, of which he is also one of the organizers, and the represen- tative in the Chamber of Commerce. He was born in New York City, September 30, 1854, , and to an extent inherits the aptitude for his chosen occupation, his grandfather, Thomas, having been a contractor in England, while his father, another Thomas, was for many years a builder and contractor in different parts of the east. Thomas Thornton, Jr., was born in Cheshire, England, and died near Newark, N. J., in 1875. He married Mary Johnson, also a native of Cheshire, and who is at present living at Newark, N. J. There were eleven children in the family, seven of whom are living, W. E. being the second of those living and the only one on the Pacific coast.

Until 1862 Mr. Thornton lived in New York City, after which he went to England and lived in the vicinity of Liverpool, where he attended school. When fourteen he was apprenticed to learn the trade of stone-cutter under his uncle, William Thornton, who was one of the best known and most successful in his line in Eng- land. After two years he returned to America with his parents, and settled in Newark, N. J., entering the employ of Spurr & Co., stone men, as a contractor, and remained with the firm until engaging in business for himself in 1874. He established stone-cutting works in Newark, which turned out ornamental stone sculpture and carving, and when his father died, in 1875, took as a partner his brother, the firm name being S. & W. E. Thornton. Soon after, owing to the death of the brother, Mr. Thornton suc- ceeded to the entire business. He had a large business in Newark, and was one of the promi- nent business men of the place, dealing in Bell- ville, Dorchester, Ohio and all kinds of free stone, with large warehouses at Nos. 20-24 High street. In 1882 he came to California and engaged in building on a large scale, and in San Francisco built up the Sharon estate, the Children's play house at Golden Gate Park, the Crocker building on Bush street, the build- ing of the Pacific Life Insurance Company on

the corner of Sacramento and Montgomery streets, the Kern Land Company's building at Bakerfield, and many other structures of equal importance in the northern part of the state. In 1892 he removed to Los Angeles and built the Southern California Hospital, and has, since his residence here began, taken an active part in all building and contracting matters. Nor have his efforts been confined to the city of Los Angeles, but have extended to San Bernardino, where he built the court house, and to River- side, where the county hospital is the result of his ability. He also constructed the Fleming building at Phoenix, Ariz. He is a member of the Builders' Exchange, and one of the board of directors, and is connected with the foremost building associations in the city. The Master Builders' Association, of which he was one of the organizers and is the president, has been in existence since 1890, and is one of the most influential associations in Southern California. Mr. Thornton is prominent in fraternal circles, and is a member of the Masons at Newark, Lodge No. 27; Damascus Commandery, K. T .; and Al Malaikah Temple, N. M. S .; also the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Politically he is a Republican. Mrs. Thornton was for- merly Emma Fitzpatrick, a native of Fall River, Mass., and of English ancestry.

MORITZ WEBER. Ever since the fall of 1887 Mr. Weber has been identified with build- ing interests in the city of Los Angeles. He came here with plenty of previous experience as a cabinet-maker and general carpenter, and has since put up many important buildings in dif- ferent parts of the city. He was born in Switzer- land, near Lauffenburg, April 9, 1863, his father, Tobias, and his mother, Catherine (Oberist) Weber, being natives of the same lo- cality, as was also the paternal grandfather, John.

Tobias Weber was a blacksmith and nail manufacturer at Sulz Switzerland, with which city he was prominently identified for many years and where he is now living with his wife in comparative retirement. Among the offices of trust maintained by him with dignity and satisfaction was that of mayor, or burgomaster, which he held for over twelve years. His wife's father, Orban Oberist, was a farmer of the vicinity, and came of one of the old Swiss fami- lies of that part of the country. She was the mother of thirteen children, who reached ma- turity, all of whom are living, and eight are in America, M. Weber being the oldest of all.

It was but natural that M. Weber should carly acquire a knowledge of nailmaking, in which he was quite proficient before leaving school. However, this particular method of making a living did not appeal to him as being

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the most desirable, and he therefore turned his attention to learning the trade of cabinet-mak- ing, his apprenticeship being served in Basel and lasting three and a half years. In 1883 he came to America via Havre and New York and located in St. Paul, Minn., where he found em- ployment as a cabinet-maker in a furniture fac- tory. In the fall of 1887 he came to California and located in Los Angeles and worked at car- pentering until 1890. He then began to build and contract on his own responsibility, and has since erected many important buildings in dif- ferent parts of the city. He has built a resi- dence for himself and family at No. 1203 West Twenty-fifth street, and also owns a residence on Magnolia avenue, near Adams street.

In Los Angeles Mr. Weber married Adilia Hunzicker, who was born in Alsace, and of this union there are five children, Louisa, Maria, Anton, Leonea and Alfred. Fraternally Mr. Weber is associated with the Independent Order of Foresters and the Schweitzer Verein, and he has been a member of the Modern Builders' Association since its organization. He has a thorough understanding of his interesting and useful occupation, and is one of the substantial men who have sought a home and livelihood in America, where his enterprise reflects credit upon his picturesque country.

REV. W. O. WOOD. Ohio, the mother of countless splendidly equipped men, who, by vir- tue of special attainments have indelibly im- pressed their personality upon the localities in which they have elected to reside, has not neg- lected Southern California in the distribution of her noble sons, as evidenced particularly by him of whom we write-Rev. W. O. Wood. Of impressive appearance and losing in his face many of the years to which he is by nature heir, he is a typical American gentleman of the old school, and combines a strong intellectuality and widely assimilated knowledge, with a splen- did humanitarianism and practical business abil- ity. It is not an exaggeration to say that Mr. Wood has few equals in the extent of his serv- ices to the state of his adoption, and whether viewed in fragments or as a whole, his life is worthy of emulation on the part of all who would accomplish much solely upon their own merits.

That adverse conditions build up the strong and break down the weak is a truism emphasized in the life of Mr. Wood. He was born in Scioto county, Ohio, and at the age of seventeen was deprived of the affectionate guidance of his parents. The years had been spent to the best possible advantage, and he had availed himself to the utmost of the privileges of the public schools. Possessing a naturally strong and self- reliant nature, he was not found wanting when

the care of the family devolved upon himself and elder brother, and courageously applied himself to caring for those dependent upon him. The family removed from Ohio to Clark county, Ill., in 1840, and with the breaking out of the Mexican war Mr. Wood offered his services to the cause, but owing to the regiment being filled, his services were not needed. When the gold fever swept inland from the Pacific coast in 1849 he sought to tempt fortune in the far west, and with a company of ninety-nine men and his oldest brother crossed the plains with ox teams, leaving St. Joe, Mo., May 7, and arriv- ing at their destination October 8, 1849. The journey was not without its disasters, chief among them being the cholera, which visited the pilgrims with special violence and deprived them of many of their trusted comrades. Mr. Wood himself was not exempt from the rav- ages of the disease, but eventually regained health and strength. For several years he ex- perienced the spasmodic losses and gains that follow the trail of the miner. Upon returning to his home in Illinois he came by way of the isthmus, and his life afterward settled down into its accustomed grooves.

January 2, 1852, Mr. Wood married Sarah Jane Marrs, daughter of Representative Marrs of Kentucky, and of this union there are four living children: Mary, who is now the widow of J. K. Newman, and has two children, Clara and Willie; Sarah who is the wife of A. L. Gordon, a rancher, and has two children, Anita and Fred; William F., who is a rancher and a deacon in the Baptist Church in San Louis Obispo county, Cal., and Ben, who is living at home with his father. Mrs. Wood died February I, 1896, and at Springville, in the churchyard of the First Baptist churchhouse in Ventura county, which was organized and built by her and her husband, a fitting monument to her ex- emplary life and womanly nature marks her last resting place. In 1868 Mr. Wood returned to California with his family and spent the first two years in Sutter county and one year at Kings river, after which he came to his present home near Springville, which was then in Santa Barbara county. His first purchase of land was eighty acres of the old colonial ranch, around which he built the first board fence in the county, which, considering the fact that it was erected twenty-five years ago and is still a good and useful fence, must have been exceedingly well made. Since the first purchase he has added 160 acres near Oxnard to his possessions, and has bought still more from time to time, so that he owns in all 2,000 acres of land in Ven- tura county, which, with the exception of ten acres, is as level as the Kansas prairies. In addition he owns 160 acres in the celery district of Orange county, near Newport. Not content with the opportunities at hand, his investments

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have extended into Mexico, where, in the state of Durango, he owns 30,000 acres of land. The home place of Mr. Wood is a truly ideal South- ern California retreat, the large and comfort- able house being surrounded with a forest of trees and flowers which do credit to the land- scape's gardener's art, every tree and shrub that thrives in the sunlight owing its origin to the beneficent forethought and planting of its owner. Fruits also abound, oranges, lemons, berries and the general varieties dear to the heart of the horticulturist, but in quantities sufficient only for home consumption and the delight of friends.

The dominant note in the life of Mr. Wood is undoubtedly his ministry in the Baptist Church, for, permeating his coming and going, his large successes and general claims for recognition, has been the desire to do good in the world, to make life happier and better and broader in opportunity for those by whom he has been surrounded. While a resident of Illinois he was ordained in November of 1863, and during his remaining years in the middle western state he filled several different pulpits in the church. In 1871 he held religious meetings where Santa Paula now stands, and in 1878 he organized a congregation at Springville and was instru- mental in securing the erection of the first Bap- tist house of worship in Ventura county. Sen- ator Bard gave four acres for the church prop- erty, and in January of 1880 the building was dedicated free of debt, Mr. Wood having met the last $600 out of his own pocket. This lit- tle church has been since under his leadership, his connection therewith dating from 1878, and in 1882 a Sunday school was organized, and has since been successfully conducted.

A stanch Democrat in national politics, Mr. Wood voted for Stephen A. Douglas, and be- fore coming to California was prominent in po- litical affairs, holding offices of trust and respon- sibility. In California, however, his entire time has been devoted to the management of his large estates and to the work of his church and to the multitudinous demands inseparably con- nected with the life of a man so admirably fitted to grapple with the problems of life.

THADDEUS S. C. LOWE. Of the many men of gifted attainments whom California proudly claims as citizens there are few who have attained a fame greater than that which Prof. Lowe enjoys. His name is perpetuated in the nomenclature of this state, and in the annals of Southern California he is accorded the dis- tinctive place which his talents deserve. While he is a man of varied talents and achievements, perhaps the crowning feat of his whole life has been the building of the railroad from Pasadena to the top of Mount Lowe, a feat of engineer- ing which stands unsurpassed in the world's

history. The road is operated by electricity, and is visited by almost every tourist from the east, by all of whom it is regarded as one of the greatest attractions offered by the Pacific coast region.

T. S. C. Lowe was born in 1832 in New Hampshire, in the village of Jefferson. Boyhood was uneventfully passed, with little to distin- guish it from the lives of those around him. His education was begin in the common schools, but the broad information he now pos- sesses is the result of self-culture. He came into national prominence during the Civil war, at which time he originated a plan of signaling with balloons and of generating gas in the field. His ability was recognized and he was placed in charge of the balloon corps in the army of the Potomac. Some years later he invented water gas and the ice and refrigerator process. In 1867, by artificial means invented by him some years before, he refrigerated the first steamship (the William Taber of New York) for the transportation of meats and other foods, which system since then has revolutionized the food supply of the world. In 1888 he came to California and established his home in Pasadena, where he built, on Orange Grove drive, one of the most beautiful residences of this city. Since then he has given much of his time and thought to the consummation of his plan to build a road to the top of the mountain named in his honor-a plan, the successful consum- mation of which may well be a source of grat- ification to him. He has also for some years past been president and general manager of the Los Angeles City Gas Company, and at the same time has been identified with other mcas- ures, which he has assisted in bringing to a suc- cessful issue.

HON. WALDO M. YORK. Identified since 1889 with the legal life of this part of California, Judge York has in the mean time gained a large acquaintance among the people here. From boyhood his tastes were in the direction of the law. With this object in view he devoted every leisure moment to study, and in 1863. when seventeen years of age, he began to teach school. For several years he engaged in that occupation, and in the mean time gave consid- erable attention to the study of law. In 1868 lie was admitted to practice in the supreme court of Maine. Believing that the far west afforded opportunities not possible in the east, in 1871 he crossed the continent and opened a law office in Seattle, Wash. The following year he was elected judge of the probate court of Kings county, of which Seattle is the county seat. In 1873 he married a daughter of Rev. George F. Whitworth, D. D., a Presbyterian clergyman of that city. On the expiration of his term as probate judge he was re-elected, but two years

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later, in 1876, he resigned the office and re- moved to San Francisco, where he soon built up an excellent practice. For several years he served as town attorney of Berkeley, where he had his residence. In 1889 he came to Los Angeles to engage in practice, at the same time establishing his home in Pasadena, where he has since resided. From 1891 to 1893 he held office as chief deputy in the office of the district attor- ney of Los Angeles county. He received from Governor Markham in January, 1894, the ap- pointment of judge of the superior court of Los Angeles county, to which position, in the fall of the same year, he was elected for a term of six years.

HON. THOMAS D. MOTT. Coming to Cal- ifornia during the stirring days of the discovery of gold, in 1852, Mr. Mott settled in Los An- geles, where lie afterward became an influential citizen. In 1855 he identified himself with the Democratic party, to which he adhered until 1896, when he voted for Mckinley. In 1863 he was elected clerk of Los Angeles county, and re-elected in 1865, 1867 and 1869. In 1871 he was elected to the legislature, where his most important service was in the interests of the new railroad to Los Angeles. The road was completed September 8, 1877, when a golden spike was driven in the Soledad Canon, in the presence of the mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco and a multitude of people. Fifteen hundred men were employed a year on the San Fernando tunnel, which is almost seven thou- sand feet long.

WALTER LINDLEY, M. D., came to Los Angeles in 1875, was city health officer during 1879-80, officiated as president of the California State Medical Society in 1890, in 1882 was pres- ident of the Los Angeles County Medical As- sociation, many years ago became president of the Los Angeles Orphans' Home (of which he is still a trustee), served as president of the Los Angeles Humane Society in 1895, and in 1886- 87 was superintendent of the Los Angeles coun- ty hospital. From 1885 for several years he served as secretary of the faculty of the College of Medicine, University of Southern California, for six years was instructor in the chair of obstetrics, and for years has been professor of gynecology in the same institution. In 1897, with others, he organized the California Hos- pital Association, which erected the California Hospital at No. 1414 South Hope street. Dur- ing a trip to the summit of Mount San Jacinto, in 1886, he was impressed with Idyllwild, a val- ley of pine forests at an altitude of five thousand feet. In 1899 he again visited the locality, at which time his first impressions were so deep- ened that, with others, he organized the Cali- fornia Health Resort Company, composed of

forty medical men, who have since engaged in developing Idyllwild.

PROF. JAMES A. FOSHAY. The appre- ciation in which Dr. Foshay is held as an edu- cator is shown by his election as president of the Southern California Teachers' Association, also his election as member of the California Council of Education and the National Council of Education, and as second vice-president of the National Educational Association. In 1898 he went east to the National Educational Asso- ciation's convention, where he succeeded, in spite of considerable opposition, in securing a decision to hold the next meeting of the asso- ciation in Los Angeles. Of the success of this . gathering, held in 1899, there is no question; . it is universally admitted to have been one of the most profitable and pleasant conventions ever held by the organization, and this fact is largely due to the unwearied efforts of the one who from the first championed the selection of this city for the convention.

Dr. Foshay is a director of the Southern Cal- ifornia Academy of Sciences, and has taken an active part in musical culture and in literary so- cieties. The addresses he has made upon im- portant educational topics are preserved and studied as affording thought for mental develop- ment. Among these addresses are: "School Supervision," "The Teacher's Work," "School Discipline," "Vocal Music as an Educational Factor," "Some Additions to the Three Rs," "Public School Methods in Sunday School Work" and "Some Tendencies in Modern Edu- cation." Dr. Foshay is interested in politics only as an educator, but votes the Republican ticket. He is an enthusiastic Mason and is at present deputy grand master of the Grand Lodge of California and eminent commander of Los Angeles Commandery No. 9, K. T. He and his wife are active members of the Baptist Church and are prominent in social functions of a high-class.

MILTON D. PAINTER, proprietor and owner of La Pintoresca, the well-known winter resort situated between Pasadena and the base of the Sierra Madre mountains, was born in Springdale, Iowa, graduated from the Muscatine high school, for five years was employed by a. wholesale grocery, and for five years acted as bookkeeper in a store and mills in Marshall county, Iowa. In 1883 he came to Pasadena, and was a partner of his father, John H. Painter. and a brother, Alonzo J., until they died. On the incorporation of the Pasadena Water Com- pany in 1885 he was made secretary and later was chosen president. In 1887, with his brother and father, he founded the Painter Hotel, which in 1897 was enlarged and rechristened La Pin- toresca.

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HON. ABBOT KINNEY. Among the writ- ings of which Mr. Kinney is the author are "The Conquest of Death," "Money," "Under the Shadow of the Dragon," "Protection vs. Free Trade," "Australian Ballot," "Forestry," and "Eucalyptus." In addition to his literary work he has given time to state legislation. For two years he labored in the interests of the Aus- tralian ballot law. Another measure in which lie was deeply interested was the movement to break up Indian reservations and allot the lands necessary in severalty to heads of families, with time limit, to insure the preparation of Indians for civilized life and its conditions. Another movement which he has favored is that for open- ing a way for Californians to own ocean ships by removing the prohibition handicap of local and state taxes, which have been unjust and fatal, because the state taxes property on open ocean, where it does not and cannot protect.

JOHN SCHEERER. Bereft of his parents when young, John Scheerer left his native Ger- many and crossed the ocean to Springfield, Ohio, where he learned the cabinet-maker's trade. About 1858 he removed to Platte coun- ty, Mo., where he carried on a furniture and undertaking establishment, also owned a farm, engaged in raising Shorthorn cattle, and made a specialty of raising bees and selling honey. In that county, October 20, 1861, he married Anga Blankenship, a native of Kentucky. In 1882 they sold out their Missouri property and came to Los Angeles, where they made numer- ous investments, including the purchase of the old Bryson building. For years Mr. Scheerer was an official member of the First Christian Church of Los Angeles. He died March 27, 1893, and was buried in Evergreen cemetery.

WILLIAM WOLFSKILL was born near Richmond, Ky., March 20, 1798, and in child- hood accompanied the family to Howard coun- ty, Mo., returning to Kentucky in 1815 to at- tend school. Two years later he went back to Missouri. At the age of twenty-four he went to New Mexico, where he spent a year in Santa Fe, and then proceeded to Paso del Norte, returning to Santa Fe, and thence going to Taos and undertaking an expedition to the Col- orado river and as far south as Chihuahua. Aft- erward he engaged in buying cattle and driv- ing them east. In the spring of 1828 he took a load of goods to New Mexico and after selling them pursued his way to California, arriving in Los Angeles in February of 1831. At San Pe- dro he built El Refugio, probably the first schooner in California. Later he engaged in raising stock, grapes and citrus fruit. In No- vember, 1838, he purchased the place in Los Angeles now occupied by his son, Joseph W. In 1841 he planted the first orange grove in

this section. In 1856 he planted two thousand trees southwest of what is now the Arcade depot, this being the largest orchard in South- ern California at the time. The property proved profitable and large shipments of oranges were made to the east, but the rapid growth of the city caused the destruction of the orchard. Mr. Wolfskill imported sweet almonds from Italy to experiment with planting them here, but the result was not satisfactory. Other nuts and fruits, however, in the planting of which he was a pioneer, proved profitable. In many lines of activity he was a pioneer, and his work did much to prove to strangers the fertility of California soil.

ALFRED P. GRIFFITH. During the past decade no name has been more intimately con- nected with the development of the Azusa va !- ley and its water interests than that of Mr. Griffith, a well-known horticulturist. The im- provement of his fruit farm by no means repre- sents the limits of his energies. For a number of years he served as vice-president and a di- rector of the Azusa Valley Bank and he is now vice-president and a director of the Azusa Irri- gating Company. He also holds the responsible offices of president of the Glendora-Azusa Wa- ter Company and the Azusa Valley Lemon Curing Company. At the time he became con- nected with the Azusa Irrigating Company ii comprised less than one-half of its present acreage. In 1892 he assisted actively in the re- organization of the company, which, under his leadership, increased its acreage to nearly four thousand acres within the district. During his early connection with the company as director he boldly championed what, in his judgment. was right, against any opposition that appeared. and by his indomitable energy succeeded in the plans he laid for the development of the com- pany's conduit, which during the term was changed from thirty-five miles of mud ditches to an equal length of cement or vitrified conduit. With the subsequent development of the water interests he has been closely connected. The question of irrigation, which has been one of the most vexing problems confronting the hor- ticulturists of California, he has grasped in all its details, and by his keen foresight and sound judgment he has been a leader in the solution of this problem in his own neighborhood.

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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 195

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