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 50

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

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C. M. HANSEN. In the ancient and popu- lous town of Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, C. M. Hansen was born December 28, 1863, his parents being Hans and Dorothea (Jensen) Hansen, natives respectively of Nes- tive Zieland, Denmark, and Angen, Schleswig- Holstein. After the death of the father, which occurred in Flensburg while lic was still a young man, the mother cared for and reared the children, preparing them for useful and honorable positions in the world. There were four in the family, and two of these, C. M. and

Theodore, came to California, the latter be- ing now a landscape gardener in Pasadena. The mother also came to Pasadena, and re- inained here until her death, in 1898.

When fifteen years of age C. M. Hansen be- came an apprentice to the trade of a cabinet- maker, which he completed in his native town. During 1881 he crossed the ocean and settled in Buffalo, N. Y., where he followed his trade for six years, as an employe of the firm of Mil- ler, Brown & Messmer, and making a specialty of interior hardwood finishings. From Buffalo in 1887 he came to California, settling in Pasa- dena, where he was engaged as a cabinetmaker with the Pasadena Manufacturing Company. A year later he went to San Francisco, where he was engaged in stair-building for twelve months, and afterward for eighteen months he was foreman for J. Norris, in the building of several churches. His next location was Mo- desto, Stanislaus county, where for a year he followed contracting and building. On his re- . turn to Pasadena in 1894, he took up contract- ing which he has since carried on, and since 1901 has had C. H. Towle as a partner. Among his contracts are those for the residences of J. M. Kiehl, Mrs. Flora L. Bland, J. P. Baumgart- ner, and the Jones and Wooster residences. Aside from his connection with the Woodmen of the World, he is not interested in fraternal organizations, nor has he been active in poli- tics. While living in Buffalo he married Miss Alma Hildegard Pohle, who was born in Sax- ony, Germany. They are the parents of four children, Theodore, Elsa, Arthur and Arnold.

HERMANN HAASE. More than thirty of the palatial homes in the city of Los Angeles have been constructed by Hermann Haase, one of the most capable of the contractors and build- ers of Los Angeles. Nor do these represent the sum of his labors in this beautiful town, for many public edifices have arisen under his guidance, among which may be mentioned the Lindley block on the corner of Main and Six- teenth street. Special examples of his skill in the residence line are the Rice residence. 011

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Wilshire Boulevard, the Turner home on Wash- ington street, the Price house on Seaverance street, and others equally meritorious.

Like many of his countrymen who have be- come expert builders, Mr. Haase learned his trade at a comparatively early age, and was apprenticed, when fourteen years of age, for three years. He was born in the province of Brandenburg, Germany, November 23, 1858, and is a son of Julius and Caroline (Koenig) Haase, natives also of Brandenburg. The father was a miner during his active life, and passed his days in the land associated with the deeds of his ancestors. Of the six children in the family all are living, Hermann Haase being the second oldest child.

The youth of Mr. Haase was spent for the greater part in Berlin, and it was in this great city that he learned his trade, and from the gates of which he departed upon an extensive jaunt through the country as a journeyman carpenter. He visited different parts of Ger- many, France, Switzerland and Austria, and in 1884 came to the United States, locating in Galveston, Texas. He was fairly successful in the southern city and remained there until his removal to Los Angeles in 1887. A large field seems to have been awaiting him, for work came his way in a short time and continued with un- abating vigor until 1887. He then felt justified, by reason of his large acquaintance and secure footing, in starting in to build and contract, since which time the before mentioned under- takings have been accomplished.

Before leaving his native land Mr. Haase married, in Berlin, with Caroline Voss, a native of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and of this union there have been five children: Freda, who is now Mrs. Hoffman, of Los Angeles; Bertha; Ella; Julius; and Hilda. Fraternally Mr. Haase is associated with the K. O. T. M., Los Angeles Tent No. 2. Until that organization was discon- tinned he was a member of the Master Builders Association, and he was formerly a member of the Builders Exchange. He had been prominent in promoting many worthy enterprises through- out the city, and has had interests in several lines of activity represented in Southern Cali- fornia. Mr. Haase is a successful builder and admirable citizen, and has formed many desir- able friendships in the city of his adoption.

JOHN HAYES. Since establishing his home in Los Angeles in 1887, Mr. Hayes has been active and influential in building circles. He was born in North Wrentham, Mass., May 30, 1858, being the only child of Matthew Hayes, who removed from Massachusetts to Chicago, 111 .. in 1872 and was afterward engaged in the building business in that city until his death. Shortly after the family settled in Chicago, John Hayes secured employment with J. N. Adams,

a wholesale commission man on South Water street. Two years later he was apprenticed to the bricklayer's trade under L. L. Leach, a gov- ernment contractor, with whom he remained until the spring of 1876, when he came to Cali- fornia. A visit to Los Angeles revealed that tlen sleepy Spanish town unawakened from the slumber of centuries, and therefore little activ- ity was to be found in building circles. For several months he worked at his trade in San Francisco, after which he was similarly occupied in Portland and other parts of the northwest, but for a few weeks only.

The first trip of the Zealandia from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia, was undertaken May 24, 1876, and Mr. Hayes was one of the passengers. After four weeks in Sydney he went to Melbourne and various parts of Vic- toria and New South Wales, and from there, in 1878, he proceeded to Wellington, New Zea- land, where he worked at his trade for eight months. A pioneer in the building business, he assisted in the erection of the second, third and fourth brick structures put up in the capi- tal town of New Zealand. From Melbourne he set sail on the Kent, which passed through the Suez canal and Mediterranean sea to London and from that city he proceeded to New York on the Baltic. After a visit in Massachusetts, he returned to Chicago, where he was employed in the Adams commission house for two years, when he resumed work at his trade in the new town of Pullman. A later venture was as a con- tractor, with a specialty of pressed brick fronts. and during the five seasons of his work he erected over one mile of frontage each year. A severe attack of bronchitis in the fall of 1887 was the thing which Icd him to return to the city of Los Angeles and its genial climate once more. After his arrival he soon secured em- ployment with C. Collins, a pioneer builder, and worked for him on the United States cus- tom house and postoffice, the Tenth Street Hotel, gas works and numerous other old-time landmarks. As foreman for D. Kilpatrick, he had charge of the San Bernardino High School, jail and other work. In 1892 he engaged with Mackey & Young, general contractors, after- ward on the outfall sewer to the ocean, the State Normal School, Whittier Reform School and many other minor jobs until 1895, when he branched out for himself on the Davies ware- house, the White, Hickson and Kreim build- ings on First street, Frankenfield and Grant buildings on Broadway, Wieland Bottling Works, State Normal School in San Diego, all buildings, the Salt Lake freight house, George Ralph building, Tod Ford building on Broad- way near Fifth, and Conservative Life Building on Third and Hill streets, besides other large work in connection with B. Lantry Sons on the Santa Fe Railroad, which has been done with

TO, Severance

Cle Severance.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

credit to himself and those connected with him.

In the Builders' Exchange he is a member of the board of directors. Besides his activities in the building business, he has been interested in the development of the Los Angeles oil field and owns some good wells on his property. His connection with Masonry dates from his initia- tion in the South Gate Lodge of this city, and he is also a member of the Royal Arcanum. In politics he is a Republican and always sup- ports party principles. His marriage, in Los Angeles, united him with Miss Kittie Schindler, who was born in Canton Glarus, Switzerland. Of their union five children were born, namely: Eunice, John, Jr., Kittie, George and Florence.

THEODORIC C. SEVERANCE. Though of remote French extraction, the Severance fam- ily came to America from England, and several successive generations have been identified with the history of Massachusetts. In that state, at Old Shelburne, Theodoric Cordenio Severance was born March 1, 1814, a son of Dr. David Severance, a practicing physician through all of his active life, and Diana (Hoyt) Severance. When a young man, fortified by excellent home training and education, the son went to Cleve- land, Ohio, where he was employed in a bank, and subsequently he was teller in the Bank of Auburn (New York), of which his wife's uncle, James S. Seymour, was the president. On his return to Cleveland, he accepted a position in a leading bank, and later became cashier of the Canal Bank of Cleveland, where he continued until 1855. An important position as an officer in the North Bank of Boston induced him to return to Massachusetts, where he continued until the outbreak of the Civil war, accepting an appointment as collector of the customs at Port Royal, S. C. At the close of the war he returned to Boston, where he remained until his removal to the Pacific coast, in July, 1875.

Shortly after establishing his home in Los Angeles, Mr. Severance, together with H. D. Barrows, assisted in organizing the first Horti- cultural Society of Southern California, in which he became one of the first officers. During the year of his arrival in California, he purchased ten acres on what is now West Adams street, one of the most choice residence portions of Los Angeles. On this land he laid out Sever- ance street and disposed of a large part of the land; but retained several acres as a homestead, and the residence now occupied by Mrs. Sev- erance. In the parlors of this house were held the first Unitarian services in the city, these being under the charge of Rev. John D. Wells, of Quincy, Mass. After several meetings, an organization was effected, and in the building up of a church for this congregation, both Mr. and Mrs. Severance were deeply interested,

being for some years members of the original board of trustees.

Among the philanthropies which received the benefit of counsel and assistance from Mr. Sev- erance was the Los Angeles Orphan Asylum, in the organization of which he assisted, subse- quently filling the position of treasurer, Mrs. Frank A. Gibson holding office as secretary. All through the early days of its history, when its struggles for existence were keen, he continued to be its friend and helper, and finally had the satisfaction of seeing it become a large and pros- perons institution. Like a majority of the resi- dents of Massachusetts, he was, before and dur- ing war times, a stanch Abolitionist, a member of the Free Soil and Liberty parties, and later the Republican. Being to some extent a man of leisure during the latter half of his life, he was able to associate himself with charitable move- ments to a degree that was impossible in his carlier years, and in a quiet and unostentatious way he contributed largely of his means and time to worthy philanthropies. In addition to his purchase of city property, he acquired, with members of his family, a large holding in San Bernardino county, comprising two Spanish leagues (over nine thousand acres), embracing a large part of what is now known as the Muscut- piabe ranch; six thousand acres of this holding, lying three miles north of the city of San Ber- nardino, still belongs to the family.

The death of Mr. Severance occurred October 12, 1892. Two years before that he and his wife had celebrated their golden wedding, at which time relatives and friends had gathered at their residence to congratulate them upon the attain- ment of this auspicious day. Their marriage was one of mutual helpfulness and service. To an unusual degree they were fitted each to pro- mote the other's happiness. Both were edu- cated, cultured and refined; possessing those qualities of mind and heart that enable men and women to be of service to the world. Mrs. Sev- erance was formerly Caroline M. Seymour, of Auburn, N. Y., born in Canandaigua, that state, of Scotch and Dutch descent. Her father, Or- son Seymour, a native of Hartford, Conn., was for years, before his death, in 1825. a banker at Canandaigua. Her mother, Caroline M., was born in New York City, a daughter of Dr. Peter Clarke, a surgeon in the war of 1812, and for years a practicing physician of New York City and a member of the staff of the first hospital established there. Mr. Clarke was born in Mil- ton, Conn., to which point his parents had re- moved from Glasgow. Scotland; his wife was a Miss Fischer, of a Knickerbocker family of New York, of Holland-Dutch descent. Mrs. Caro- line M. Seymour died in Buffalo, N. Y., leaving two daughters and a son, namely: Caroline M., Mrs. Severance: J. O., of Los Angeles, and Har- riette E., Mrs. Henry Ivison, who died in New

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York in 1894. By the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Severance five children were born, of whom three survive, namely: J. Seymour, of San Fran- cisco; Mark Sibley, of Los Angeles; and Mrs. Julia S. Burrage, of Boston, Mass. The young- est son, Pierre Clarke, who, like his brothers, received the advantages of study in Harvard Col- lege, died in Boston in 1889.

While making her home in Ohio Mrs. Sever- ance became one of the early advocates of Woman's Suffrage and from that time to the present she has been earnest in her advocacy of the movement. In 1854 Mrs. Severance deliv- ered the first address by a woman before the Young Men's Mercantile Library Association of Cleveland; and during the next few years was asked to repeat her address on "Humanity: a Definition and a Plea" (which covered logically the unpopular Woman's Rights questions) in cities of Ohio, New York, and later in Boston, before Theodore Parker's Fraternity lecture course. She organized, in 1868, the New Eng- land Woman's Club, in Boston, which is claimed to be the first organization under the club title and method in our country, although very near in date to the New York Sorosis. After coming to Los Angeles she organized the first Woman's Club in this city and officiated as president of the same; later also acting as president of the Friday Morning Woman's Club. For one term she was a member of the Library Board. Be- lieving most thoroughly in the kindergarten movement, as expounded by Froebel and other pioneers of the system, she has always been an advocate and supporter of it. During 1878 she started the first Free Kindergarten Association in Los Angeles, and until recently has been its president. Largely through the labors of this organization, after a struggle lasting many years, the kindergarten was made a part of the public school system. However, the association is still continued for the benefit of children under the age required by the state law.

Mrs. Severance has been a close student of the trend of modern thought, and of the relations between labor and capital. Indeed, she is ac- quainted with these topics to a degree unusual among those not engaged in actual business. Intensely interested in Christian Socialism as the application of the Golden Rule to daily life and public relations, she believes that the wisest statesmanship is that which prepares to meet the crisis now upon us in our industrial condi- tions, and so avert a violent catastrophe. Like all those who truly love our country, she de- sires to promote those measures which make for its upbuilding and the permanent prosperity, not merely of a few, but of all its citizens. Ad- vancing years have brought no weakening of her mental powers, but, with faculties preserved and heart mellowed by the passing of the years, she devotes the twilight of her life, as she de-

voted its afternoon, to promoting movements that will help and bless mankind.

FERDINAND NIEMANN. In the prov- ince of Hanover, Germany, where he was born March 20, 1853, Ferdinand Niemann grew to manhood upon a farm and received the advan- tages of study in the national schools and gym- nasiums. During the process of the Franco- Prussian war, in 1870, he volunteered in the Prussian army, and served for a year in the Third Regiment Infantry, Guard Corps, at Hanover, after which, in June, 1871, he crossed the ocean to America. For a year he remained in New York City, and in 1872 proceeded to Texas, where his brother still makes his home. During the years that followed, until 1887, he was prin- cipally occupied in teaming, by which, together with farming, he accumulated a competence.

On coming to Los Angeles in 1887, Mr. Nie- mann began taking cement contracts, and has since continued in this business, having orders for work in Santa Monica, Pasadena, Santa Bar- bara, Los Angeles, Long Beach and many other towns of Southern California. In Santa Monica he built the foundation for the United Electric Company's plant; also the sixteen-foot wide sidewalk which extends fifteen hundred feet along the ocean front. In Santa Barbara he built the foundation of the United Electric Com- pany's engine and power plant ; also the founda- tion for bath house and plunge bath for the same company in Long Beach, which was the most difficult feat of its kind ever executed on the coast. Among his Los Angeles contracts have been the following; the walk on the Broad- way tunnel; West Adams Heights; many con- tracts for concrete sidewalks, and the founda- tion for the Sale Lake Railroad depot and con- crete work for the same. He has his office at No. 244 South Broadway and his residence at No. 1354 Union avenue. Uniform satisfac- tion has been given by his work, and his pains- taking skill and watchful oversight invariably secure the most accurate results. Besides being a member of the Chamber of Commerce, he is secretary and director of the Cement Con- tractors' Association, in the organization of which he assisted. Politically he is a Repub- lican and in fraternal relations a member of the Maccabees. In his family there are three sons and one daughter.

ALLAN FRASER. A portion of the estate upon which Mr. Fraser lives was formerly owned by his uncle Donald Fraser who was one of the pioneers of Ventura county and a wharf builder by occupation. An expert in his line, his services were in demand all along the coast, and he constructed wharves at Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and San Francisco, and accumu- lated quite a fortune from his various enter-

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prises. The great bank failure in San Francisco, however, seriously crippled him financially. He afterward turned his attention to the manage- ment of his splendid ranch, the principal indus- try of which was fruit raising. In spite of his successes he led a somewhat lonely life and never married, and at his death in 1890 the property reverted to the heirs, of whom Allan Fraser was one.

The father of Allan Fraser, Thomas by name, was one of the heirs of the wharf builder, and came to California in 1889 with his wife and eight children, Allan, Silas, Christine, John, Grant, Lizzie, Ella and Daniel. He built him- self and family a fine residence in 1891, but did not long enjoy his home upon his brother Don- ald's estate, for his death occurred in 1895. The children all live upon the ranch, as does the mother, who was before her marriage Mary Jane McPhee of Nova Scotia. Seventy acres of the property is planted with fruits and walnuts, the walnuts having been planted thirteen years ago by the uncle, Donald, and the apricots eight years ago by the father and his oldest son, Allan. The latter added to the original land in 1899 by the purchase of three hundred and twenty additional acres, so that the property now aggregates six hundred and forty acres. Of this one half belongs to Allan Fraser, three hundred acres to the mother and twenty acres to Silas. It is all under cultivation, and a por- tion is irrigated by the Ventura Water, Light and Power Company, eighty-five acres alone being planted in beans, an unusually large crop for this part of the county.

In 1893 Mr. Fraser married Louise, daughter of Ambrose Prientener, of Switzerland, and of this union there are four children, Ida, Willie, Robert and Margaret. Mr. Fraser built a com- modious home for his family in 1899, the ex- terior constructed with reference to a fine ap- pearance and the interior fitted with all modern conveniences. In politics he is a Democrat, but as regards local elections independent. His wife is a member of the Roman Catholic Church and his mother affiliates with the Presbyterian denomination.

WILLIAM HENDERSON. As one who has evolved advanced theories on the subject of plumbing and general sanitation, the name of William Henderson is known from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. Did not his former splen- did services in connection with the city of Bos- ton entitle him to appreciation, the fact that in the brain of the humble and obscure plumber's apprentice was conceived the system of plumb- ing now adopted in all of the principal cities of the United States would place him at the head of those humane benefactors and social scien- tists who have met the problem of municipal cleanliness and therefore municipal health.

In the fashioning of his worthy career Mr. Henderson has striven unaided from either the standpoint of money or influence, for his earli- est fortunes were allied to responsibility and the necessity for caring for himself and a large family. For the first twenty years of his life he was reared in Glasgow, Scotland, where he was born May 21, 1844, the scion of an old Scottish family who had long held their own in the marts of trade. The paternal grandfather, James, was born in Shettleston, Lanarkshire, and was a hand loom weaver by occupation, an industry engaged in by many of his forefathers. His son, another James, the father of William, was also a native of Shettleston, near Glasgow, and in his youth learned the art of hand loom weaving from his father. Afterwards branch- ing out into the mercantile business in Glas- gow, he manufactured sewed muslin, and also became a wholesale shipper and ship-owner on the Clyde, engaging principally in the Medi- terranean trade. He was a man of varied and vital interests, and in 1832 was one of the lead- ers in the Chartist agitation in Glasgow, the members of which were armed and prepared to fight Great Britain, should that country ignore the demand for a Reform Bill. Fortunately for future events, the government yielded, and this circumstance is recognized as the beginning of the British liberal party. The breadth of mind of Mr. Henderson and the humanitarian na- ture of his instincts were best illustrated by his attitude in regard to the slavery question in the United States, during which he sided most emphatically with the cause of the Union. He was not unfamiliar with this land of large pos- sibility, for in 1847, accompanied by two of his wife's brothers, and his own son James, he traveled over a considerable portion of the castern states, and it may have been the reflec- tion of his appreciation of the chances here represented which caused him in later years to advise his son, William, not to waste his time in Great Britain, but to go to America. Mr. Henderson was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and his death occurred in April of 1865, at the age of sixty-four years. The hand- loom weaving industry was an occupation also on the maternal side of the house, for the mother of William Henderson, formerly Janet Martin, a native also of Lanarkshire, was a daughter of William Martin, a hand loom weaver. James Martin, the son of William, was a member of the city council, and a judge on the bench of Glasgow for twenty years, and because of his radical rulings and wise decisions attained to great celebrity. He was an extreme radical, and one of the leaders of the Chartist party, and his ability and fame also were handed down for safe keeping to his son, James Henderson Martin, who is following in the judicial footsteps of his distinguished sire. Mrs.

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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 50

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