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 196

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

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HON. ALONZO E. DAVIS. As early as 1871 Mr. Davis purchased land in Los Angeles and since that time he has been more or less closely identified with the city. He has made more than one hundred trips by wagon across the plains between Arizona and Los Angeles and luis wife has made the same trip sixteen times. For several years he resided at Downey and in 1888 was elected supervisor from that place,.

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serving for four years. During that time the new court house was built on the superb site that commands the admiration of all visitors to the city. The original plan was for a three- story building, but this was changed to a four- story building, and he also worked indefatigably to secure the fine tunnel and elevator, which has proved remarkably convenient, saving the fa- tigue of climbing the steep stone steps. In 1897 he was again elected supervisor for a term of four years and was made chairman of the board, which recently, in token of regard for him, pre- sented him with a gold-headed cane and gavel. The Republican party has always received his vote since he cast his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln. He is a progressive citizen and, as an officer, favors all enterprises whereby the city and county may be benefited.

HON. JOHN BRYSON, Sr. It was late in the year 1879 that John Bryson, Sr., came to Los Angeles and stamped the impress of his in- dividuality upon the marvelous present and also the glorious future of this city. He brought with him ample means to back him in any en- terprise that his ripened judgment and keen foresight might recommend as being feasible. The city had not, as yet, had even a taste of a genuine boom. The completion of the South- ern Pacific Railway from San Francisco two years previous had given it a little jolt in that direction, but the boomer had not arrived, and the peaceable and leisure-loving people were entirely innocent of anything so monstrous as the boom that followed Mr. Bryson's arrival proved to be, and with which he is credited as being the chief promoter.

A brief glance back to the days of 1879 (the date of Mr. Bryson's arrival) will reveal to the reader the rapid, the marvelous strides the city las made as a direct result of the wonderful impetus given by the boom of 1885 to 1887. In 1879 Los Angeles had barely eleven thou- sand inhabitants. There was not a business block of any pretensions south of First street, except the Nadeau. Adjoining the Nadeau on the south was the wagon shop of Louis Roeder, and south of it stood the Scoville planing mill, and next adjoining that, on the corner where now stands the Bryson block, a lasting monu- ment to Mr. Bryson's great business genius, was the old brick school house, built in 1854, and across the street where the Hollenbeck Hotel stands was a horse corral. Just below Third street on Main stood the old round house. The city had but two parks, the old Plaza, in a wretched condition, and the Sixth street (now Central) park, then surrounded by a dilapidated picket fence and watered by a ragged, open ditch. The city had two bobtail street car lines operated by mule power. Electric cars and elec- tric lights had not been dreamed of. There

was not a telephone in the city, no mail delivery, not a paved street, and the city hall was a strag- gling old adobe at the corner of North Spring and Franklin streets, where the Phillips block low stands. The change that has since been wrought in Los Angeles is due not a little to Mr. Bryson's energy. He has been connected with various banks in an official capacity, has assisted in building up the city and has been active in local politics. On the Democratic ticket he was elected mayor, and his adminis- tration was conducted upon a business basis.

JOHN P. ENGELHARDT. The occupation - which Mr. Engelhardt has followed for years is that of horticulture, in which so many residents of Southern California have gained prosperity and success. During 1882 he came to the upper San Gabriel valley and settled on the ranch which is still his home. Under his energetic su- pervision thirty acres have been placed under cultivation and planted to various fruits, and, in addition to this tract, he has one hundred and twenty acres of mountain land. His orig- inal purchase was only fourteen acres, but he subsequently homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in a primitive condition, from which he has, by constant and judicious labors, evolved a fine horticultural ranch. His place is known as "Engelwile."

H. BERT ELLIS, A. B., M. D. The birth of Dr. H. Bert Ellis took place in Lincoln, Me., May 17, 1863. His education was obtained in the public schools of Fredericton and in the University of New Brunswick, where he spent a year. During the following three years lie attended Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, from which institution he was grad- uated in 1884. In July of that year he came to Los Angeles, and for a year was engaged in agricultural pursuits and in business enterprises in this city and Pasadena. In 1887 he matricu- lated in the medical department of the University of Southern California, and was graduated there in April, 1888. During a portion of this time he was interne at the Los Angeles County Hospi- tal. Subsequent to his graduation here he went to Europe in order to perfect himself in special branches, and there pursued studies at the uni- versities of Göttingen, Germany, and Vienna, Austria. April 1, 1889, he opened an office in Los Angeles, and entered upon a professional career which has been exceptionally successful. Since 1893 he has devoted himself exclusively to the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and has won wide distinction in this important and difficult field of labor. In Octo- ber, 1889, he was honored by being chosen as a lecturer on physiology in the College of Medi- cine of the University of Southern California. In October, 1890, he was elected professor of

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the same department, and continued to act in that capacity until January, 1896, when he was elected to the chair of ophthalmology, and in November, 1898, was further honored by being made treasurer of the college of medicine.

That Dr. Ellis stands especially high among his professional brethren is shown by the fact that he has so often been called upon to serve in official positions in the numerous medical organizations to which he belongs. In 1899 and 1900 he was president of the Southern Cali- fornia Medical Society. He was senior vice- president of the American Medical College As- sociation, and has been either the secretary or assistant secretary of the Los Angeles County, Southern California, State and American Medi- cal Associations, the American Medical Editors' Association and of the Doctors' Social Club of Los Angeles.

FREDERICK W. SHERWOOD. Within the limits of Covina valley there are few fruit- packers and shippers so well known as the Fay Fruit Company, with which Mr. Sherwood has been identified since 1898, having had the con- tract for the packing of their fruit at Covina. This company, during the orange season of 1900, shipped two hundred and ninety cars from Covina to the eastern markets, making the larg- est shipment of oranges from this point during the season, with the exception of the shipment made by 'the Covina Citrus Association. Be- sides his work in this connection, Mr. Sherwood has for ten years engaged in horticulture in Covina, owning an orange orchard of eight acres, which is in a high state of cultivation. He is also a director of the Covina Mutual Building Association and a member of the loan commit- tee of the same.

HON. GUILFORD WILEY WELLS. After an honorable official and military career, Colo- nel Wells was in June, 1877, appointed consul- general to Shanghai, China, by President Hayes. He accepted and sailed from San Francisco for China on the 8th of Angust. His first work was, in obedience to orders, to investigate charges against O. B. Bradford, vice-consul at Shanghai, whom he found guilty of graye of- fenses, such as embezzlement of government fees, removal of official papers from the consul- general's office, violation of treaty rights, rob- hing of the United States mails, etc. On being convinced of Mr. Bradford's guilt, Colonel Wells had him arrested, and reported the same by telegraph and letter to the state department at Washington. The inexcusable delay in reply- ing, and other matters, convinced him that Mr. Bradford and his colleague, George H. Seward. were being shielded, and he therefore tendered his resignation, and sailed for home, January 10, 1878. A committee of congressmen subse-

quently investigated the charges, found them correct, and the affair caused the retirement of both Bradford and Seward to private life. Colo- nel Wells was subsequently twice offered the consulate at Hong Kong, but refused.

While on their way home from China, Colonel and Mrs. Wells visited Los Angeles and were so delighted with the climate that they resolved to settle here. Accordingly, in 1879, they re- turned and Colonel Wells opened a law office, with Judge Brunson as a partner, this relation continuing until the latter's election to the supe- rior bench. Afterward the firm of Wells, Van Dyke & Lee carried on a law practice until Mr. Van Dyke was elected superior judge, when he was succeeded in the firm by Mr. Guthrie. In 1886 that partnership was dissolved and the firm of Wells, Monroe & Lee was organized. In January, 1891, J. P. Works succeeded Mr. Mon- roe and the title became Wells, Works & Lee, continuing as such until the illness of Mr. Wells compelled his retirement. As attorney, he was connected with many of the notable cases in California, among them a number of murder trials that attracted attention throughout the en- tire country.

FREDERICK K. ADAMS, secretary and manager of the Pomona Fruit Growers' Ex- change, is a native of Monroe county, N. Y., born February 18, 1854. His parents, Caleb K. and Laura (Keeler) Adams, were natives of New Hampshire and Connecticut respectively. Al- though he was the youngest of six children, at the death of his father, in 1869, he virtually as- sumed charge of the household. For two years thereafter he not only bore its responsibilities, but continued his studies in the neighborhood schools. The family then removed to Roches- ter, N. Y., the farm having been sold, and there he pursued a course in the Willianis "Business College. For several years he was employed as a bookkeeper in Rochester, and later he oper- ated a steam laundry for about a decade.

Owing to ill health, Mr. Adams was obliged to relinquish his business interests in the east and seek a more congenial climate and a differ- ent occupation. In 1889 he came to Pomona and purchased an orange grove of twelve acres, of which he is still the proprietor and manager. At the same time he at once evinced an active interest in the public and educational affairs of this city. For two years he served as president of the board of education, and for four years was its secretary. Since settling in Pomona he has been identified with the Pilgrim Congrega- tional Church, of whose board of trustees he is now president. For some two years Mr. Adams was in the employ of the Pomona Fruit Ex- change, and was its secretary most of the time. In 1898 the name was changed to the Pomona Fruit Growers' Exchange, since which year he

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has not only been secretary, but manager as well.

WESLEY WILBUR BECKETT, M. D. The date of the birth of Dr. Beckett is May 31, 1857, and the place of his nativity was Forest Grove, Washington county, Ore. His boyhood was chiefly spent in California. Having determined to devote his life to the medical profession, he took up studies along that line and attended Cooper Medical College and the University of Southern California, from which institution he was graduated April 11, 1888. In New York City he pursued a complete course of special studies in the New York Post-Graduate School and Hospital. Returning to California, he opened an office in Los Angeles in February, 1889, met with success, and gained the friend- ship of patients and acquaintances. From time to time he has contributed valuable articles to the Southern California Medical Journal and to eastern publications.

HON. THOMAS E. GIBBON. Thomas F. Gibbon was born May 28, 1860, in Monroe county, Ark., to which state his father, Dr. W. R. Gibbon, had recently removed from Virginia. When twenty-two years of age he went to Little Rock, where, by application and hard work, he mastered the intricacies of the law, at the same time meeting his own expenses by teaching in the public schools. In 1883 he was associated with .W. L. Terry, and for a period of four years he worked indefatigably to build up his practice and serve the interests of his clients. In 1884 he was elected to represent Pulaski county in the state legislature of Arkansas, where he en- joyed the honor of being the youngest member of that body.

Mr. Gibbon arrived in Southern California July 17, 1888. He opened an office in Los An- geles, and has been engaged chiefly in corpora- tion law. He is retained as attorney by the Los Angeles Lighting Company, the Los Angeles Electric Company and is not only counsel but also vice-president of the Los Angeles Terminal Railway Company, and vice-president of the Herald Publishing Company.

As a member of the Free Harbor League, he accomplished grand results for the deep-sea har- bor at San Pedro, and, having been honored by being made chairman of the committee which was to attend to the matter of setting the sub- ject of the new harbor in the proper light before congress, he has gone to Washington seven or eight times, and has battled for the rights of San Pedro. He is a member of one of the com- mittees of the Chamber of Commerce, and in the summer of 1897 he was sent as a delegate from Southern California to the Trans-Missis- sippi Commercial Congress at Salt Lake City, where he urged upon that body, chiefly repre-

senting the western states, the necessity and un- told importance of their using every possible influence toward the constructing of the San Pedro harbor.

WILL A. HARRIS. For eighteen years after his arrival in California Mr. Harris was busily engaged in the practice of law in San Bernardino, and in 1877 was elected to the posi- tion of district attorney of his county, in whichi office he served to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. For some years he has been a resi- dent of Los Angeles and has built up a large and remunerative practice among our represen- tative citizens. His field of endeavor has been larger than that of most lawyers of the day, as he has not confined his talents to any particular branch of professional work. While for the most part lie has devoted his time to civil law, there have been a few notable exceptions, and he has proved his superior ability in the crim- inal courts no less than in others. When in San Bernardino, as previously mentioned, he was the public prosecutor, and later he defended those charged with crime, in a few notable in- stances, winning fresh laurels for himself in. every case. He has given special attention to the law as applied to mining property, and among others conducted the famous Silver King case. He was connected with the litigation growing out of the first location in Randsburg, and is counsel in the very important litigation growing out of the recent discoveries of oil in California. In a number of very important cases where the interstate commerce act was involved he displayed remarkable knowledge of constitu- tional law, going to the very root of the subject.

HENRY GREEN BRAINERD, M. D. Dr. Brainerd was born in Londonderry, N. H., May 23, 1852, a son of Rev. Timothy G. and Lucinda R. (Dewey) Brainerd. He was reared upon a farm. When he was in his fifteenth year he re- moved to Iowa with his parents. At the age of eighteen he entered the freshman class of Iowa College, at Grinnell. Later he went to Dart- mouth College, where, in 1874, he graduated with the degree of A. B. During the years of his preparation for and actual work in college, he taught several terms of school in Iowa, Ver- mont and Massachusetts. In 1874-75 he was principal of the Independence (Iowa) city schools. The following winter he attended lec- tures in the medical department of the Iowa State University. From April, 1876, to April, 1877, he was interne at the state hospital for the insane, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. After having the degree of M. D. bestowed upon him by Rush Medical College, in Chicago, in 1878, he became assistant to his preceptor, Dr. C. M. Fitch, of that city. In the summer of the same year he was appointed assistant physician in the Iowa

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hospital for the insane, at Independence, Iowa, and subsequently became assistant superintend- ent of that well-known institution. He remained there for eight years, rendering valuable aid in the management of the hospital, and in the mean time went to New York City and pursued a post-graduate course in the winter of 1882-83.

About 1887 Dr. Brainerd came to Los An- geles. In 1888 he was elected to the chair of mental and nervous diseases in the College of Medicine, University of Southern California, a position which he still occupies. In 1897 he was further honored by election as dean of this justly celebrated institution. From 1889 to 1893 he was superintendent of the Los Angeles County Hospital, and during the same period served as surgeon of the Los Angeles Cable Railway Company. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the State, Southern Cali- fornia and Los Angeles County Medical Socie -· ties, and is a medical director in the Conserva- tive Life Insurance Company. In 1896 he officiated as president of the county medical so- ciety. For some time he has been a member of the Doctors' Social Club and the University Club of Los Angeles.

JOHN F. FRANCIS is a director of the Farmers and Merchants' Bank, vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce, vice-president of the Free Harbor League, vice-president of the As- sociated Charities, and a prominent member of the California, Sunset and Jonathan clubs. In 1897 he was president of La Fiesta de Los An- geles, and as such was largely instrumental in securing the success of that function, which forms so important a part of the social life of the city.

Born in Clinton, Iowa, Mr. Francis was the son of a shipbuilder who was employed on the Clyde and Mersey rivers in England, but came from there to America and lost his life in the mines of California in 1853. On leaving school Mr. Francis started on a voyage around the world, but with a devotion which leads one to seek the land of his birth he sought his native country. Possessing a love for military affairs, at the age of sixteen he enlisted in the Kansas Volunteer Cavalry under the command of Capt. David L. Payne, with whom he had many thrill- ing experiences in the noted Indian campaign on the western Kansas frontier in 1867. After- ward he spent several years adventuring over the plains and mountains of Wyoming, Colorado and California, obtaining a rich fund of informa- tion, so that by the time he came of age he was in possession of valuable ideas regarding this great country. He next visited all the great places and points of interest in Europe, return- ing to California in 1888. After a short time here the death of a friend took him back to Europe, where he remained until 1891.

The marriage of Mr. Francis in 1892 united him with Doña Maria de Los Reyes Dominguez, youngest daughter of Don Manuel Dominguez, whose father, Don Cristobal Dominguez, was an officer of the Spanish army at the time Cali- fornia came into the possession of the United States.

GRIFFITH J. GRIFFITH. A notable ex- ample of wise, clear-headed philanthropy occu- pied the columns of the Los Angeles newspapers in 1897-98. Among the many wealthy men in this city is one who has acquired an honorable fame by donating from his private property ad- joining the Angel City the largest single tract of land ever acquired for park purposes by any city in the world, and the only city park in ex- istence possessing a lofty mountain peak within its borders.

The donor of this park is Col. Griffith Jen- kins Griffith, whose genial presence is manifest in a well-knit frame, cordial manner, pleasant countenance and hearty salutation. He was born January 4, 1852, on a farm near Bridge- End, in Glamorganshire, Wales, about thirty miles from the seaport of Cardiff. At an early age he came to America with an uncle. He spent his boyhood in the state of Pennsylvania, where he received the elements of an education. Striking out for an independent career, he first went to Pittsburg and entered the employ of the Columbus West Carriage Company. From there he went to Philadelphia. A year later, in 1873, he came to the Pacific coast and. in San Francisco joined the editorial staff of the Alta California, and became the reporter of its inin- ing department, at that time a very important feature of San Francisco journalism. In 1880 he became superintendent of a group of fifteen mines in Prospect Mountain, Nevada. He was also largely interested in inining properties in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.

Having acquired a competency through a ju- dicious use of his opportunities in Mexico and elsewhere, and having, in one of his southern trips, become enamored of Southern California, Colonel Griffith in 1882 transferred some of his interests to Los Angeles, and made considerable investments in landed property. Among his acquisitions was the purchase of the princely domain known as the Rancho de los Feliz, em- bracing rich alluvial bottoms bordering on the Los Angeles river for a distance of five miles, and also a valuable belt of the frostless Ca- huenga foothills.

During the rapid growth of Los Angeles in recent years and the consequent enlargement of the city limits, the subject of providing addi- tional parks to meet the future needs of a mod- ern civilized community has been considered and earnestly discussed hy those who have the

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welfare of the city at heart. This was Colonel Griffith's opportunity to serve the public and execute a purpose which he had cherished for years. From the extensive Los Feliz Rancho he carved out a tract embracing three thousand and fifteen acres (nearly five square miles) of mountain and valley, sloping hillside and shel- tered dale, rock and forest and stream, full of picturesque beauty, and susceptible of wonderful arboreal and botanical development, and this magnificent domain he presented to the city of Los Angeles, to be forever devoted to the public use of the people for park purposes.

MARY J. GREEN, M. D., of Los Angeles, is deserving of credit for the success which she has achieved. Being the eldest of twelve children, seven of whom are daughters, she early felt the responsibilities of life weighing upon her. She was born August 9, 1857, upon a farm near Chillicothe, Mo., her parents being Preston Hemingway and Lydia (Pace) Minor. Reared upon her father's farm in Missouri, she received her elementary education in the public schools. Later she entered Professor Long's seminary, and completed her literary studies under his supervision. December 30, 1875, she became the wife of William A. Green, of Scott county, Ky. Two children were born to them: Rita Lydia and Buel Herndon. In 1890 Mrs. Green was ,graduated with honors from the Kansas Citv (Mo.) Homeopathic Medical College, and was chosen to be the valedictorian of the class. The following year she served as house physi- cian in the hospital connected with the college.

In 1892 Dr. Green established an office in Salt Lake City. On account of the poor health of her son, however, she decided to locate perma- nently in a sunnier and more equable clime, and in December, 1893, she came to California, and spent several months in the state prior to her arrival in Los Angeles. Since April, 1894, she has resided on South Flower street, having her office and home at the same place. She is a specialist in diseases of the nervous system and surgical diseases of women and children, and is rapidly extending the lists of her patrons. Though the major portion of her time is de- voted to her professional duties and to studies along the line of her chosen work, she is very patriotic and progressive, taking great interest in the welfare of her country and community, and doing everything within her power to pro- mote the good of the majority. Religiously she is a member of the Broadway Church of Christ, and socially she is identified with the Friday Morning Club. Formerly she was a member of the Kansas, the Missouri and the Utah State Homeopathic Medical Societies, and at present she is connected with the Southern California Homeopathic Medical Society.

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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 196

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