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 51

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

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Ilenderson, who died when comparatively a young woman, was the mother of nine children, of whom William is the only one living.

When twelve years of age, William began a six years' apprenticeship as a plumber, and after completing his trade found a position awaiting him in Liverpool, England, as fore- man of a large plumbing concern. In 1865 he returned to Glasgow as foreman in the shop where he had formerly been an apprentice, later taking a trip to Dublin, Ireland, but eventually returning to his former position in Liverpool. In 1873 he came to America and located in New York City, intending to there follow his trade, but owing to the panic of that year removed to Boston, which happened to be the same year as the great fire. He secured a position in a large shop, and the thought and intelligent ap- plication which he had bestowed upon his trade won for him almost immediate recognition as a inan of more than ordinary resource. In 1876 he did the plumbing of Wellesley College, and of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but the first practical test of the system devised by him in 1862, while an apprentice, was on the residence of Hon. E. L. Philbrick. This system is known as an anti-syphon air-pipe sys- tem of plumbing, with disconnecting trap be- tween sewer and dwelling. This was placed in all of the palatial homes of Back Bay, Boston, and in the public buildings, and impressed the excellence of the system not only upon the city officials, but upon government representa- tives, so that Mr. Henderson was employed by the nation to submit tests of his theory be- fore the United States National Board of Health at the Mechanics Fair Building in Boston in 1882.

Owing to the strenuous nature of his life in Boston, Mr. Henderson became conscious of a limit to his endurance, and realized the de- sirability of a change of climate and associa- tions. He therefore chose California as cli- matically and commercially in his favor, and upon locating in Los Angeles in 1884 started a plumbing business on the corner of Main and Third streets. In 1892 he bought the ground and built his present business place, which is 50x60 feet in ground dimensions; and located on the corner of West Adams and Magnolia streets. The business is now conducted under the firm name of William Henderson & Sons, and among the buildings and residences in Los Angeles which have been fitted out by them may be mentioned the following: the residences of General Chaffce, Mrs. Kelley, J. Wigmore, J. S. Slauson, Judge Silent, J. and A. O. Smith, H. T. Lee, Dr. Nelson Keeley, Flint, Whiting, Foster, and Vermillion, Lewis, etc .; the Long Beach and Monrovia Hotels; Keller's Hotel at Santa Monica, besides many other public build- ings scattered throughout Southern Califor-

nia, including the Women's Temperance Union.

While living at Glasgow, Scotland, Mr. Hen- derson married Agnes Cockburn, a native of Glasgow, and of this union there have been twelve children, ten of whom are living, viz .: James, a plumber in Petaluma, Cal .; Mrs. Agnes Loricke, of Los Angeles; David, who is ranching; Janet, at home; George and Ed- ward Philbrook, who are in partnership with Mr. Henderson; Mrs. Lizzie Douhnor, of Los Angeles; Douglas, Mrs. McCombs, of Los Angeles; Hazel and Pauline, who are at home. William, the fifth child, and Dougal, the seventh, died in Los Angeles. Mr. Henderson by no means confines his interests to the plumb- ing business, but has substantially entered into various enterprises in the vicinity. The Hen- derson subdivision of nine acres, between Thir- ty-eighth and Thirty-ninth streets and West- ern and Dunkar avenues, is but one of his numerous real-estate possessions in the city, and of which he still owns thirty-five lots. He owns a ranch at Clearwater, which is rented by his son David. He is fraternally associated with the Masons, having joined that organiza- tion in Boston, where also he was elevated to the Royal Arch Chapter. Formerly he was a Knight of Pythias. He is a member of the Master Plumbers' Association, and has proba- bly done more to elevate the popular idea on sanitation as viewed through the eyes of a pro- found thinker and student of social and eco- nomic conditions than any individual on the Pacific coast. Nevertheless, he has found pub- lic education along these lines a matter to be conducted with extreme patience, for not all are amenable to innovations which suggest future welfare rather than immediate expenditure and convenience. Many practical inventions are credited to Mr. Henderson, not the least im- portant of which are the Automatic Closet Sys- tem Valve, patented in July of 1878; the Auto- matic Grass Sprinkler, to dispense with the use of hose; the Portable Grease Trap and Unique Waste, and numerous other valuable improve- ments connected with the plumbing business which have been given to the public and not patented.

PAUL HAUPT. Although not a native of the United States, Mr. Haupt has no recollec- tion of any home other than this country. He was born near Gerlitz, Prussia, Germany, Octo- ber 13, 1852, and was less than three years of age when, in the spring of 1855, his father, August, brought the mother and three children from Hamburg to New York in a sailing vessel. and from there to Louisville, Ky., where he gave his attention to the building business for many years, having learned the carpenter's trade under his father, continuing with him until he had gained a mastery of the occupation

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The growing city of St. Paul attracted Mr. Haupt to its activities in 1880 and there he be- came a contractor and builder. His work was not limited to his home city nor indeed to Min- nesota, but extended as far west as Washington and Oregon. Included among his contracts were those for the Fidelity Trust Building at Tacoma, the Pacific National Bank at Tacoma, a part of the Northern Pacific shops at Tacoma, Library and Ladd buildings in Portland, and numerous others, representing a value of al- most $400,000 for his eighteen months of work. Among his contracts in St. Paul were those for numerous business blocks and public build- ings. During the fall of 1893 he came to Cali- fornia and has since engaged in contracting and building in Los Angeles, where, among many contracts, he has had those for the residence of A. M. Ozmun and the Ozmun building on Fifth between Broadway and Hill; the Jacobi and E. P. Bryan buildings, the church and hos- pital at the Soldiers' Home, an ice plant for the Distilled Ice and Cold Storage Company, and the residence of Victor Ponet, the eight- story Los Angeles Trust Company Building, also the twelve-story Union Trust Company Building, now under way, and many other noted contracts. He has his office in the Laughlin building and his residence at No. 400 West Thirty-third street. While living in St. Paul he married Miss Alma Lindahl, who was born in Rockford, Ill. Their children are Edward Paul, William Frederick and Norma Lindahl, The family attend the Presbyterian Church.

The political views of Mr. Haupt bring him into affiliation with the Republican party, whose local and national tickets he uniformly sup- ports. His connection with Masonry dates from his residence in Louisville, Ky., and he is now a member of the Southern California Lodge, F. & A. M. He was raised to the chapter de- gree in Sigma Chapter, Louisville, and to the commandery in Damascus Commandery, St. Paul, and is now connected with Los Angeles Commandery No. 9, K. T. On the organization of the Builders' Exchange he was chosen its second vice-president, and also for three years served in the capacity of a director.

CHARLES S. HAUGHERTY. The posi- tion which Mr. Haugherty holds, that of man- ager of the Buckeye ranch, he has filled since 1887. The property lies in the El Cajon valley, near the village of Bostonia, San Diego county, and embraces one hundred and seventy-seven acres, owned by the Harbough brothers, of Cleveland, Ohio. Seventy-five acres are under cultivation to raisin grapes, five acres are in oranges, and the balance is utilized for hay and pasture land. All of the improvements now noticeable are the result of the energy and ju-

dicious oversight of the present manager, who has spared no pains to bring the estate to the highest possible degree of cultivation.

HON. C. F. A. JOHNSON. The records of the Johnson family show that they were among the early settlers of Maine. Dr. Abner, son of Isaac Johnson, was born at Sullivan, Hancock county, that state, February 22, 1786, and after graduating in medicine established himself as a practitioner in Waterford and Sullivan. During the war of 1812 he held a commission as surgeon. During much of his active life he devoted him- self to the manufacture of Johnson's liniment, which became a famous household remedy and is still made and sold, put up in the same form as in the original. In 1812 he married Julia Sargent, who was born in Boston, Mass., Au- gust 30, 1786, and died in Wethersfield, Conn., June 30, 1878. Like her husband, she was throughout life a faithful adherent of the Con- gregational Church.

One of the well-known figures in the colonial history of Massachusetts was Col. Paul Dudley Sargent, father of Mrs. Johnson, and special in- terest attaches to his history because he was one of those brave heroes to whom the United States owes its independence. Born in Salem, Mass., in 1745; he was a young man when British tyranny aroused the colonies to arms. He took part in the memorable Boston tea party. At his own expense he outfitted a regi- ment, and this was one of nineteen that con- stituted Gencral Washington's camp at Cam- bridge in July, 1775. With the young Marquis de Lafayette at times he shared the honor of being aide-de-camp to Washington. Among the engagements in which he bore a part were those of Bunker Hill, Long Island, New York City, Trenton and Princeton, and in later life he loved to recall that stirring night when, with his illus- trious general and other brave men, he crossed the Delaware and surprised the British and Hessians in camp. Almost the whole of his private fortune was sacrificed for the cause of the young republic, and when he retired from the army, at the expiration of three years of active service, he found himself obliged to be- gin anew. After the close of the war he took up mercantile pursuits, but finally retired to a small farm near Sullivan, Me., and there he passed from time to eternity September 28, 1828. His honorable service for his country and his sacrifice of private fortune for the public good endeared him to all patriots. Many well-known men, among them Talleyrand, came to his little home in Maine to enjoy his hospitality and talk over with him the stirring scenes in which he had borne a part. Patriotism and large mental resources came to him by inheritance, as his father, Col. Epes Sargent, was a man of ability; and his mother was a daughter of Governor

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John Winthrop by his marriage to Ann Dudley, granddaughter of Governor Thomas Dudley of Connecticut. The marriage of Paul Dudley Sargent united him with Lucy, daughter of Thomas and Lucy (Smith) Saunders, the latter a daughter of Rev. Thomas Smith, of Portland, Me., and the former a member of the council of Massachusetts during the troubles with Eng- land that ended in the war for independence.

In the family of Dr. Abner and Julia (Sar- gent) Johnson there were three daughters and four sons, but one alone survives, this being Charles Fitz Abner Johnson, of Long Beach, Cal., the subject of this narrative. One son, Dudley, enlisted as a lieutenant in the Seven- teenth Maine Infantry, and was killed in the battle of Chancellorsville. Another son, Thomas, who came to California in 1850, died of cholera on the American river the following year. The fourth son, Samuel, died in Bangor, Me. Among the daughters there was one, Mrs. Charlotte Mckay, who served throughout the Civil war as a nurse and later wrote an inter- esting history of her experiences in the army. In recognition of her faithfulness, the regiment with which she was for a long time presented her with a diamond Maltese cross.

The next to the oldest in the family was Charles Fitz Abner Johnson, who was born in Sullivan, Me., February 10, 1827. He studied classics in Bangor Theological Seminary, and later attended Gorham Academy. After a period of clerking in Bangor, he went to Cincinnati and learned telegraphy, thence went by boat to New Orleans, and in 1849 took passage on a sailing vessel to the Chagres river and the Isthmus of Panama. From there he took the ship, Oregon, to San Francisco. Like all forty-niners, he tried his luck at mining, his first experience being on the Yuba river. Later, as a freighter, he took the first mule-train of provisions to Yreka. In 1852 he returned east via Panama and engaged in the lumbering business on the Aroostook and St. John's rivers. One of the most successful enterprises in which he was engaged was the manufacture of potato starch, and in this at one time he had the largest business in the whole world, having ten steam mills in different parts of Aroostook county. It was not until he came to California in 1889, that he sold out his manu- facturing plant. Besides this enterprise he was extensively engaged in merchandising and had a bank at Presque Isle. At the same time he bore a very active part in political affairs, being, indeed, one of the most influential Republicans in all Maine. His acquaintance included the leaders of the party throughout the country, and he was more than once visited by Garfield, Blaine, and other men of national fame. In 1884 he was state elector on the Blaine ticket and had the honor of casting his ballot for that candidate in Augusta, Me.

When Mr. Johnson first came to California, it was as a young man, without influence or means. When he came a second time, forty years had elapsed since the occasion of his first visit; the country had undergone marvelous changes; he himself had made an honorable record as a business man and progressive citizen, and had accumulated a competency sufficient to provide every comfort for his declining years. Selecting Riverside as a suitable location, he bought twenty acres on Palm avenue and en- gaged in horticulture there for six years. In 1895 he removed to Long Beach and erected an attractive home on Cedar avenue. Upon the reincorporation of Long Beach, in the fall of 1897, he was elected a trustee, and by the board was chosen its president, thus being the first mayor of the reorganized town. As is generally known, Long Beach had passed through a sea- son of great depression, and business was at a standstill. No improvements had been made owing to lack of funds, and no new settlers were drawn here, although the climate was all that the most exacting could demand. Largely through his efforts a radical change was made. Improvements were instituted, the city hall lot was purchased and the city hall erected; the pavilion was built; and he also recommended the establishment of an electric light plant and sewerage system, but neither suggestion was carried out at that time, although thousands of dollars would have been saved to the city had the work not been deferred. He was a director in the Bank of Long Beach and a stockholder in the Savings Bank. Here, as in the east, he was a stanch supporter of Republican principles and of the men pledged to promote these principles.

The first marriage of Mr. Johnson united him with Sarah C. Jewett, who was born in Gard- iner, Me., a daughter of Samuel Jewett, and a sister of G. K. Jewett, who was president of a railroad in Maine. Her father was born in Massachusetts, as was also her mother, a Miss Kimball. While visiting at Fallbrook, Cal., Mrs. Sarah Johnson died; the body was brought to Riverside for interment. Of this marriage five children were born, three of whom attained maturity, viz .: Mrs. Louise Frémont Selfridge. of Boston, Mass .; Mrs. Kate Dudley Wheelock. of Riverside; and Edward Jewett, who is en- gaged in the insurance business in Boston, and who brought the first ostriches to this country from South Africa, where he had spent a year studying the habits of the birds. Mr. Johnson had an adopted son, Hon. T. H. Phair, known as the "Starch King," who is a member of the Republican state central committee of Maine. and at one time was state senator. Another adopted son, Percy A. Johnson, is a large rancher of Fallbrook, Cal., and a member of the Board of Trade there.

In Riverside occurred the marriage of Mr.

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Johnson and Mrs. Harriet (Campbell) Hart, who was born in Griswold, Conn., a daughter of E. F. and Mary E. (Burlingame) Campbell, na- tives of Connecticut. Her paternal grandfather, Napoleon Bonaparte Campbell, was born in the Nutmeg state, of Scotch descent, and her ma- ternal grandfather was Capt. Peter Burlingame, also a member of a prominent family of that state. In an early day E. F. Campbell settled in Janesville, Wis., where he engaged in mer- chandising, but later he removed his business to Ashley, Ill., and there died. His wife died in Janesville. They had only two children, Mrs. Johnsen and Mrs. Roberts, the latter of Fond d11 Lac, Wis. In the female seminary of Janes- ville Mrs. Johnson received excellent ad- vantages. Shortly after leaving school she be- came the wife of Josiah F. Hart, and with him she went to Europe in 1875. During the period of their residence on the continent Mr. Hart studied the pipe organ, while his wife devoted herself to art. The natural talent which she possesses was cultivated under the best masters, and such was her success that one of her paint- ings was accepted for the exposition at Brussels. Especially has she attracted favorable criticism in her studies from life, which are exceptionally well executed, indeed, seemingly perfect in the smallest details. The period of foreign study Mr. Hart also found of the greatest benefit, and from the time of his return to America in 1880 until his death in 1887 he was known as a fine pipe organist. In 1884 he and his wife came to California and settled at Riverside, and after his death she continued to reside there until her second marriage. She is a charter member of the Ebell Society, which she has the honor of serving as president, and in addition she is actively connected with the Eastern Star. Both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson became members of the Congregational Church, in which he was a deacon. While living in Maine he was one of the founders of the church of that denomination in Presque Isle. He was made a Mason in Ashland, Me., and after coming to Long Beach became a charter member of the blue lodge in this city.

Mr. Johnson died May 27, 1902, and was buried in Riverside.

EDWARD HENDERSON, M. D. During the years of his residence in Pomona Dr. Hen- derson has not only built up an excellent prac- tice, but has also engaged to some extent in horticulture, which he finds a pleasant relaxa- tion from professional duties. Like the major- ity of the citizens, he was attracted to this place by reason of its delightful climate and a desire on liis part to escape the storms and blizzards incident to life east of the Rocky mountains January, 1891, found him a newcomer among the people of Pomona, but in the years that

have since elapsed he has won his way to their friendship and has gained their confidence through his professional skill.

The early education of Dr. Henderson was obtained in Jefferson county, Iowa, where he was born in 1850. On completing his school studies, he took up medicine, and in 1874 was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, after which he en- gaged in practice in Iowa, first at Batavia, and later at Cromwell. In 1891 he came to Pomona, and, finding the climate all that could be desired, he located here permanently, since which time he has conducted a general practice.

For two years Dr. Henderson was president of the board of health, of which he is now sec- retary. He is a member of the Pomona Board of Trade. Along the line of his profession he is connected with the Pomona Valley Medical Society, the Los Angeles Academy of Medicine and the Southern California Medical Society. Fraternally he is past grand of the Odd Fellows' lodge, a member of the Masonic blue lodge, the Fraternal Aid and the Independent Order of Foresters. By his marriage to Alice Cald- well, a native of Vermont, he has two children, namely: Evelyn, who is the wife of Albert Hummill, of Seattle, Wash .; and Ralph Stan- ley. The latter, when a fifteen-year-old boy, won at the Gun Club meeting twenty-three out of twenty-five shots, which is the best record in Southern California. The doctor, too, is an expert shot and is now acting as president of the Gun Club, in whose meetings he maintains the keenest interest.

LAWRENCE HOHL, proprietor of the Pico market in Los Angeles, was born in Ail- ringer, Wurtemberg, Germany, April 27, 1866, and was reared and educated in his native land. While still very young he gained a fair knowl- edge of the ways of bakers, for his father, Se- bastian, and his grandfather, Valentine, were knights of the flour bin, and devoted their years of activity to concocting appetizing and nour- ishing pies, cakes and bread. Sebastian Hohl and his wife, Regina (Ricliter) Hohl, were born in Wurtemberg, and the former is now retired from active business life. Of their children five sons and one daughter attained maturity, Law- rence being the second child. He remained at liome and assisted liis father with the bakery until seventeen years of age, after which lie spent a year in farming, and in 1884 immigrated to the United States, arriving in New York harbor May 12. At once he proceeded to Phil- adelphia, where he worked in a medical man- ufacturing laboratory for Ashenback & Miller for ten months, after which he took his way to San Antonio, Tex., and worked in a dairy owned by John App, for three months. Next lie became a coachman for Gustav Gross, the

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banker, and at the end of thirteen months en- gaged in learning the butcher business with Mr. Schultz.

In June of 1887 Mr. Hohl came to San Fran- cisco, Cal., and in July arrived at Los Angeles, where for a week he was employed in the Atlas Mill, and was then with Samuel Meyer for a year. Subsequently he was employed by Frank Schade, Therbach & Weaver, and was with Wicker for two and a half years, and then formed a partnership with Mr. Strauber on Montreal street, an association which was sev- ered at the end of three months. He was then with Charles Gassen for four years, after which he started the Pico market at No. 1422 West Pico street. The excellent business methods of Mr. Hohl have drawn a constantly increasing patronage, aided, no doubt, by the affable and agreeable manner of the proprietor, and his never-failing effort to please. Politically Mr. Hohl is a Democrat, and he is fraternally associated with the Sons of Herman and the Modern Woodmen of America.

PERRY A. HOWARD. On coming to the United States from Ireland, Samuel Howard settled in New York, but later, removing to Wisconsin, became a farmer in Green Lake county. His son, C. A., a native of Rochester, N. Y., acquired large interests in the vicinity of Kingston, Wis., where he made his home many years. At a later date he became a large stock raiser near Sun Prairie, Wis. About 1880 he settled in Lawrence, Kans., and di- rected his attention to the oversight of his large ranch in Russell county. His death occurred in February, 1885. While residing in Wiscon- sin he married Phoebe Jane Perry, who was born in New Hampshire, a daughter of Samuel Perry, and a member of a colonial family of New England. After the death of her husband she came to California and died in Los Angeles when sixty-three years of age. Her four children are residents of this city, namely: Charles H., Perry A., Mrs. Myrtle Vories and Mrs. Daisy B. Fuller.

On the home farm near Kingston, Green Lake county, Wis., Perry A. Howard was born November 15, 1860. At the age of nineteen years he was graduated from the Wisconsin State Normal at Whitewater and the next year, 1880, removed to Lawrence, Kans., afterward assisting his father in the management of the large stock ranch in Russell county. Shortly after the death of his father the ranch was sold and he removed to Alma, Kans., where he bought one-half interest in the Bank of Wa- baunsee county, and for three years acted as cashier of that institution. Selling out in 1888, he came to California, settling in Los Angeles, where he now makes his home. As secretary of the board of park commissioners, he was an

integral factor in the beginning of the park im- provements, and much of the planning which has evolved the beautiful Westlake, Elysian and East Los Angeles parks, originated during those four years of his service. From 1892 un- til 1894 he was street superintendent of Los Angeles, having been elected on the Republican ticket, and during his term he superintended the building of about thirty miles of street sewer. In 1894 he took up general contracting, and has since made a specialty of the building of streets, in which line he has perhaps accom- plished more than any other contractor of the city. He is a member of the Builders' Ex- change and a participant in all the movements for the benefit of the trade. His contracts have been executed with such promptness and fidelity that he has become recognized as a leader in his occupation and occupies a distinctive place among his fellow-craftsmen.

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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 51

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