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 43

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

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made a specialty of sheep and hog raising. Dur- ing the drought of 1864 he suffered the fate of all similarly engaged and lost heavily, but con- tinued to raise stock until 1866, when ill-health: decided him to institute a change. He then lo- cated in Santa Barbara and bought the present family property, two blocks of land in almost the heart of the city, lying between De la Vina and Castillo and Cañon Perdido and De la Guerra streets. At times he also owned other town property as well as ranch property near the city, and was active in real estate transac- tions. A Democrat in politics, he held several important offices, and was known as Judge Ord, by reason of holding the offices of police judge and justice of the peace. Fraternally he was as- sociated with the Knights of Pythias and the Masons. His death occurred October 20, 1889.

August 24, 1859, Judge Ord married Eliza Good, a native of England, and a graduate of Hanover College, Peckham. Her father, John Good, was born near Peckham, and was a de- signer and manufacturer of wall paper. He brought his family to America in 1849 and lived in Chicago until 1853, when he crossed the plains and settled at McCallamy Hill, Cal., where he engaged in the mercantile business at the mines until his death in 1856. His wife, formerly Jane Radon, was born in Ireland, and died in San Francisco, and was the mother of five daughters, three of whom are now living. Mrs. Ord followed the fortunes of her parents until her marriage, at the age of sixteen years, and vividly recalls the journey across the plains in 1853 with horse teams. Since her husband's death she has continued to reside at the family home, and to look after her property interests, which is no small undertaking, as she is the owner of three residences here besides other property. Mrs. Ord is the mother of eight chil- dren, viz .: James A., who is in Mexico, mining; Robin Captivilla, also of Mexico; Emmett S., who is a hardware merchant in Bisbee, Ariz .; Mrs. Eliza Georgiana Mears, of Mexico City; Mrs. Althea Watson, of Monterey, Mexico; Ed- ward, who died one month after his father at the age of seventeen years; Mabel, who is living at home; and Walter, who is in Bisbee, Ariz.

GEN. O. H. LAGRANGE. The governor of the Pacific Branch National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers traces his genealogy to Pere- grine de LaGrange a Huguenot, who settled in Holland. In Motley's Rise of the Dutch Re- public mention is made of this heroic man, who, after having borne an honorable part in the siege of Valencia, fell into the hands of the enemy and was by them offered freedom and many honors provided he would enlist under their banner. With the courage of a martyr he refused the terms and suffered an ignominious death rather than accede to demands that were in his eyes

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dishonorable. It was a grandson of this hero who founded the family in America.

M. B., son of Christian LaGrange, was born in Albany county, N. Y., and married Jane A. Cullen, daughter of Hugh and Polly (Ten Eyck) Cullen, members of old families of New York. For a time the home of the family was in Fulton, Oswego county, N. Y., and it was there that a son, O. H., was born. In 1845 they removed to Wisconsin and settled on a farm near Ripou. During the Civil war the father served in the quartermaster's department. His death occurred in Oakland, Cal., in 1876, and his wife also died in this western state. They were the parents of four sons and two daughters, of whom O. H. was the firstborn. One of the sons, Wallace, served as captain in the First Wisconsin Cavalry and received his death wound at Dandridge, Tenn.

When the first call was made for volunteers in the Union service O. H. LaGrange was ready and eager to respond, and April 19, 1861, his name was enrolled in Company B, Fourth Wis- consin Infantry. On the organization of the com- pany he was unanimously elected its captain, and in that capacity, May 9, responded with an ap- propriate address on the occasion of the presen- tation of a flag from the ladies of the city to the Ripon Rifles. Going to the front, he at once won recognition through his meritorious service and received promotion successively to major, lieu- tenant-colonel and colonel of the First Wisconsin Cavalry. May 13, 1862, a battalion of this cav- alry arrived at Four-Mile, near Chalk Bluff, Ark. Parties of guerrillas had been driven out of southeast Missouri and were in bivouack on the Arkansas side of St. Francis river, twomiles below the ferry. Before daylight May 14, Major La- Grange, with a squad of scouts, appeared at the ferry and called to the ferryman to bring the boat and take them over. The Confederate replied by a harmless volley and the battalion was soon in line behind the scouts covered by timber. A private of Company C swam the river and brought the ferryboat over. This would only carry twen- ty-five men, and that number, with Major La- Grange and Sergeant-Major Holcomb, who swam their horses, crossed at once. The Confederate pickets retreated toward their camp and the major, with the men who had crossed, started in pursuit. About two miles from the ferry they came up to a colored man with a fine black stal- lion the guerrillas had brought from Missouri. This horse Major LaGrange mounted. When within two hundred yards of a cabin, the Union soldiers were met by a volley from some felled timber, behind which the Confederates were in hiding. Warned by this, they themselves took to the trees for cover and returned the fire. The major on his black horse, in throwing himself forward to escape a horizontal limb, looked into the muzzle of a double-barreled shotgun held by a Confederate forty feet away. At once the major

fired at the man, who fell back, mortally wounded. Leading his men, the major then spurred his horse among the Confederates and emptied his revol- vers, whereupon the enemy fled in confusion. Thirteen of their dead were buried where they fell. Later the guerrillas boasted that they had killed the black horse and the officer who rode among them and who, they said, escaped in that fight by wearing a coat of mail. It happened, however, that the man whom they killed and who rode a colt sired by the black stallion, was Sur- geon H. N. Gregory, who two weeks later rode over the same ground with a party of Union soldiers and met death at the guerrillas' hands.

October 23, 1863, Major LaGrange was as- signed to command the Second Brigade, First Cavalry Division, army of the Cumberland, and. although a junior colonel, hie retained command until the close of the war, except while a prisoner of war from May 9 until August 16, 1864, while under fire at Charleston, with forty-nine others, to stop bombardment, and specially exchanges for Confederates similarly exposed to fire of shore batteries. On being exchanged he declined a proffered leave of absence, preferring to re- main at the front so long as his country had any need of his services. Often he was in great peril; five times the horse he rode was killed under him, two of them by cannon shot. So meritorious was his service and so gallant his stand in action that, in 1864, he was complimented in general orders, by direction of General Foster, and at other times he was specially commended by McCook, Mitchell, Stanley, Elliott, Sturgis. Rosecrans, Thomas, Sherman and Wilson.

Under the administration of President Grant, in 1869, General LaGrange was appointed super- intendent of the United States mint at San Fran- cisco, and this responsible position he held for eight years. During his service the mint coined $246,000,000 with less waste than ever known before and at less cost ; and charges were reduced one-half for melting and refining, coinage charge of one-half of one per cent on gold abolished. During his residence in California he held the office of district attorney of Alameda county, and it is worthy of note that he convicted on every indictment found. In the election of 1868 he was a presidential elector-at-large from California. In 1884 he returned to the east and from that time made his home in New York City until 1899, when he was appointed governor of the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Vol- unteer Soldiers. From 1895 to 1898 he was fire commissioner of New York City. In that capacity he was instrumental in increasing the firemen's pension fund $325,000 in one year out of insur- ance and excise taxes, while he also bettered the fire-alarm telegraph service and promoted disci- pline among the firemen. Particularly worthy of note is the fact that, although pensionable since 1862, he has never applied for a pension, and

Stephan Rutherford

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often remarks that he hopes to live to be the last "unpensioned volunteer."

STEPHEN RUTHERFORD. In his native land of Scotland, where he was born May II, 1848, Mr. Rutherford grew to maturity and ac- quired a common-school education. He was a son of William and Jessie (Balmer) Rutherford, the former of whom died in Scotland, while the latter is now making her home with her sons in California. After immigrating to the United States, Stephen Rutherford came direct to Santa Barbara county, Cal., and for a year worked out on a farm, after which he rented land. His means were carefully saved in order that they might be applied to the purchase of property In 1873 he bought fifty acres of the Hill ranch, to which purchase he later added another fifty, and finally disposed of the whole at a reasonable profit.

At present Mr. Rutherford owns one thousand acres where he resides, adjoining Naples, and sixteen miles from Santa Barbara. The prop- erty is well improved and is conducted accord- ing to modern methods of agriculture. Of late the land has greatly increased in value owing to the discovery of oil wells here, the immediate cause of this discovery being the fact that oil floated on the surface of the ocean off the coast. Men are now at work in an endeavor to develop the large supply, and Mr. Rutherford has bright lopes of the results. His ranch is devoted to barley, hay and corn, as well as general farming. The crops are fed to his stock, of which he has a large number of head. A walnut orchard of sixty acres, recently planted, is in fine condition and bids fair to give large returns.

Twenty-seven years ago, at Santa Barbara, Mr. Rutherford married Agnes Lawrie, a native of Scotland. To Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford have been born the following-named children: Wil- liam L., who is married and lives on a ranch in the neighborhood of the homestead; Agnes, Jes- sie and Stephen, all at home; Alice, who is at- tending the high school in Santa Barbara; and George and Lawrie, who are attending the Na- ples school. The sons are industrious and capa- ble, and assist in the care and management of the large ranch. In religion Mrs. Rutherford is connected with the Christadelphian Church.

When Mr. Rutherford came to California he had little money and few friends. His prospects were not encouraging. But he had willing hands and a stout heart and was determined to succeed. The first year after his arrival in Santa Barbara county he slept under one of the large live oak trees that now stand on his estate, and which make it one of the most beautiful spots on the coast. There he dreamed of days to come when he would be the owner of a fine estate. That was his ambition; with nothing less would he be content. The dreams of those early days

have been fulfilled, not through luck or chance, but because he labored constantly to achieve the desired result. One of the most helpful factors in his success was his wife, who was always in thorough sympathy with his ambition and who proved herself a rare and valuable helpmate as well as a most affectionate wife and mother. What he earned she saved and added to. and thus it came about that in the course of time the name of Rutherford in and about Naples became a synonym for progress, morality and prosperity, and his fine estate will be handed down unincumbered to his posterity. Such men are the very bulwark of a state and on them rests with safety the welfare of a nation.

FRANK LINDENFELD. At the hands of Mr. Lindenfeld the subject of paving is well understood, he having devoted much time and thought to perfecting this most necessary de- partment of city improvement. In his native city of Diburg, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, where he was born September 24, 1848, he was appren- ticed when fourteen years old to the trade of paving, and has since devoted a considerable por- tion of his time to the application of his trade. The family from which he springs came origi- nally from Austria, where the great-grandfather was born, and where he added luster to the name of Lindenfeld by distinguished service as a com- manding officer in the Austrian army. He after- wards removed to Hesse-Darmstadt, and there Adam Lindenfeld, the father of Frank, was born, as was also the mother, Maggie (Otto) Linden- feld. The father was a farmer, and was head forester to the king of Hesse-Darmstadt. Of the seven children born to Adam and Maggie Linden- feld three sons immigrated to America, and of these Nicholas, who located in Rochester, N. Y., was a physician. and after removing to Los Angeles turned his attention to the study of law. He subsequently became a prominent member of the Los Angeles bar, and practiced up to the time of his death in 1900. Another son, Andrew, is living in Los Angeles, and is in the employ of the city park company.

After completing his trade of paving, Frank Lindenfeld traveled extensively throughout Eu- rope, especially in different provinces in Germany and Switzerland, and in the fall of 1868 came to America, via Antwerp and Liverpool. He located in Rochester, N. Y., and started his career as a paver, later residing in Buffalo, and still later removing to Cleveland, Ohio, where he lived un- til his removal to San Diego, Cal., in 1874. In California he became interested in the brewing business, and after learning all that he could per- taining thereto, he located in Los Angeles. and as there was no paving to be done, engaged in the brewery industry. For five years he was head brewer and manager for the Philadelphia brew- ery, and was afterwards head brewer for the New

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York brewery for the same length of time. In 1888 he resigned and retired permanently from the brewery occupation, and since devoted his time exclusively to his trade, and to contracting for stone and cement work. Several years ago he was one of the organizers of the Los Angeles Brewing Company, was elected a director and the first secretary of the company, and helped build up the plant. He resigned his positions one year later, and sold out his interest in 1900. Mr. Lin- denfeld is interested in the growth of his town, and as a Democrat has been active, serving on various city and county committees, and as a member of the state Democratic committee. He is fraternally associated with the American For- esters, the Independent Order of Foresters, and the Turn Verein Society. He is a member of the Los Angeles Association of Cement Contractors.

Mrs. Lindenfeld was formerly Mary Beyer, a native of Pennsylvania, and was reared in Cleve- land, N. Y. She is the mother of seven children, viz .: Hattie, who is now Mrs. Moran, of San Francisco; Annie, who is Mrs. Black, of Los Angeles ; Lena, who is a resident of Los Angeles ; Nicholas; Frank A .; Rose, a graduate of the high-school and Los Angeles Business College, and who is a stenographer and notary public, of Los Angeles; and Elizabeth, who is at home.

THOMAS LLOYD. The Lloyd family was founded in the United States by James Lloyd, a cotton manufacturer in England, who in 1827 brought his wife and children to America and settled in Wheeling, W. Va. At first he was employed as superintendent of a cotton mill there. In 1830 he purchased land in what is now Noble county, Ohio, and two years later he settled upon and began the improvement of his farm, while at the same time he was proprietor of a country inn on the Marietta state road. His son, Charles, a native of Cheshire, England, born in 1811, was sixteen years of age when the family settled in America, and during almost all of his active life he was a business man at Harriettsville, Noble county, Ohio. A natural mechanic, in early life he became a skilled blacksmith, and later invent- ed and patented a number of ingenious devices. After twenty-one years as a blacksmith and ma- chinist, he turned his attention to merchandising, which occupation he followed until his retirement from business. Fraternally he was connected with the Masons and Odd Fellows, and in religion was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1837 he married Sarah Booth, who died at Harriettsville in 1885. Somewhat later he came to California, where his last days were spent. His death occurred in August, 1890, at the home of his son, Thomas, in Los Angeles. Of his eight children, four sons and a daughter are living. One son, John, served in the Thirty-sixth Ohio Infantry during the Civil war, and is now a con- tractor in Ohio. Edward A. and Thomas reside

in Los Angeles, Cal .; James F. M. lives in Mis- souri, and Lydia A. (Mrs. Thorburn) resides at Waterville, Minn. The maternal grandfather, Jolın Booth, was born, reared and married in England, from which country he brought his family to America and settled on a farm in Bel- mont county, Ohio.

The next to the oldest in the family of Charles and Sarah Lloyd was Thomas Lloyd of Los Angeles. He was born in Monroe county, Ohio, March 18, 1845, and was reared in Harriettsville, where he had public school advantages. Under his father he acquired an early knowledge of the mercantile business and was working in the store when the Civil war began. At once he tendered his services, but was rejected on account of his short stature and extreme youth. However, with sympathies fired for the Union, he determined to help the cause of the north in some way, and so he went with the recruiting officers, beating the tenor drum. Expecting to be admitted to the service as a drummer, he went to a sawmill near by to have a board sawed out for the purpose of having a drum made to order. Unfortunately. while at the mill he met with an accident that caused the loss of his right arm. His first thought was not of the affliction that had befallen him, but there was borne down on him the consciousness that now he could never go to war. From that time until 1869 he had charge of the store. In the fall of the latter year he was elected recorder of Noble county and in January, 1870, he as- sumed the duties of the office. Three years later he was re-elected, and continued in the position until January, 1877. His next venture was as a farmer near Caldwell, Noble county, but soon he sold the farm and turned his attention to the hotel business, buying the Warner house at Caldwell and changing its name to the Exchange hotel. For three years he was proprietor of the hotel and then, after an interval of two years, he came to California, May 10, 1883, being the date of his arrival in Los Angeles. Soon he purchased twen- ty acres southwest of University, where he carried on horticultural pursuits and a vineyard for three years. Believing that the buying and selling of real estate offered an excellent field for an enter- prising man, he turned his attention to this busi- ness, in which he has since engaged, and now has his office on the corner of Thirty-eighth street and Wesley avenue. At this location he owns 130x130 feet, on which site he has put up a block of store buildings, and he has also erected a num- ber of residences. In addition to real estate, he is agent for insurance and loans. His interest in politics has continued from youth. Frequently he has been a delegate to state, congressional, judicial and county conventions of the Republi- can party, and at one time served as a member of the county committee. In Vincent Methodist Episcopal Church he is officiating as chairman of the board of trustees.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

In Caldwell, Ohio, Mr. Lloyd married Miss Bethiah J. Frazier, who was born in Sarahsville, that state, and received her education principally in Caldwell Normal School. Her father. Hon. W. H. Frazier, is one of the most distinguished men of his part of Ohio. The Fraser (as the name was originally spelled) family came from Scotland and were Jacobites and ardent support- ers of Prince Charlie. It was Flora Fraser (after- ward Lady Macdonald) who hid the "Bonnie Prince" in a cave at the time of the battle of Colloden. Persecution came upon the family, and both the Macdonalds and the Frasers sought an asylum in America, settling on the eastern shore of Maryland, where the family name was Americanized to Frazier.

From his native county of Kent, in Maryland, George Frazier accompanied his parents to Ohio in 1802. He married Bethiah Randall, a native of Washington county, Pa., and they reared eight children, of whom William H. was the fourth son. A man of ability and force of character, George Frazier stood high among his fellow-citi- zens, and for many years acted as magistrate in Trumbull county, Ohio. His death occurred in Guernsey county, that state, in 1852. Born in Hubbard, Trumbull county, William H. Frazier accompanied his parents to Guernsey county, and received his education in Madison College at Antrim, Guernsey county. At Coshocton, May 17, 1852, he was admitted to the bar, and at once began to practice at Sarahsville, Noble county. In 1858 he removed to Caldwell, which had been made the county-seat that same year. From 1855 to 1865 he served as prosecuting attorney. Three times he was elected judge of the court of com- mon pleas in the eighth judicial district, the last two times being elected without opposition in a doubtful district. His service extended from Oc- tober, 1871, until September 8, 1884. The fol- lowing month he was elected judge of the circuit court for the seventh circuit and, by allotment, his term became four years. Twice he was re- elected. each time for six years, continuing to fill the responsible position in a most able manner until February, 1901, when, at the expiration of his third term, he refused a further nomination. No citizen of Noble county has been more prom- inent or public-spirited than he. Alike at the bar and on the bench, his service has been such as to win the respect and commendation of all. Im- partiality characterized his decisions and justice was the keynote of all of his rulings. Former residents of Noble county are now to be found scattered through various parts of the United States, and an inquiry of any one of them con- cerning Judge Frazier always calls forth a tribute of admiration for his mental attributes and the high character of his citizenship. With others, he founded the first bank in the county, and of this institution, the Noble County National Bank. he was the first and has been the only president.

As vice-president and a director, he was inti- mately identified with the building of the Cleve- land & Marietta Railroad (now a part of the Pennsylvania system).

November 30, 1854, Judge Frazier married Miss Minerva E. Staats, who was born in Noble county in 1838 and died there in 1898. Her father, Elijah, was a pioneer farmer of the county, and one of her half-brothers, Lewis Baker, was United States minister to Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In the family of Judge and Mrs. Frazier there were eight children, five of whom are living, namely: Bethiah J., Mrs. Lloyd; Anna E., Mrs. Daniel Neuhart, of Los Angeles; Mary E., Mrs. Schwartz, whose husband is a mission- ary in Japan; Lewis B., a lawyer at Caldwell, Ohio; and Minerva M., who is with her father at the old home. Three children comprised the fam- ily of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd. Charles Edgar, who was educated in the University of Southern Cali- fornia, died April 26, 1894, at the age of twenty- one years. William Frazier, who also received his education at the University of Southern Califor- nia, and who married Miss Petrea Doyle,- of Los Angeles, served in Company C, Seventh Califor- nia Infantry, during the Spanish-American war, andlisenow vice-president and manager of the Southwest Printers' Supply House at No. III Sbuth Broadway, Los Angeles. The only daugh- teri Mabel, is a student of voice culture in the University of Southern California.

There is much in the life of Mr. Lloyd to in- spiredand encourage the young. When a young mah,The started out for himself, hampered by an affliction that might have discouraged one less determined; yet with unfaltering courage and constant zeal, he worked his way steadily for- ward until he has attained a post of honor and influence in the esteem of his fellow-citizens. His character. naturally strong and forceful, has been deepened and strengthened by adversity, while prosperity has not lessened his kindliness of heart and generosity of spirit. With his wife, he holds a high place in the regard of associates and friends, and is accounted worthy of rank among those progressive and honorable men who have laid the foundation of the prosperity and commer- cial growth of Los Angeles.

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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 43

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