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 55

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

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and lemons. By the exercise of sound com- inon sense in their work they made the orchards financially remunerative, and their thrifty ap- pearance and evident success inspired other men to embark in horticulture. However, it was not sufficient to merely interest people al- ready residing here. They realized the neces- sity of interesting eastern capital. With this idea in view, they have always been foremost in planning for exhibits in various parts of the United States. In 1885 they made an exhibit of a carload of fruit at the New Orleans Expo- sition, paying personally all the expenses inci- dent to the exhibition. This was the first exhi- bition of California fruit at any point east of the Rocky mountains, and not only brought them eighteen first premiums, but stimulated thousands to inquiry concerning the resources, climate and opportunities offered by California. In 1886 the brothers shipped a carload of fruit to Boston, thiis being the first California product ever sent to New England. A tasteful exhibi- tion of the fruit was made in historic old South Church. While they paid all expenses person- ally, the good accomplished was not limited to them, but embraced all residents of San Diego county. In 1880 they held the first horticul- tural and agricultural fair in New York City under the auspices of the National Ranch Grange, of which they were the heads.

The question of irrigation has always en- gaged the best thought and attention of the brothers. Believing that the highest prosperity could never be attained until this problem was solved, they early set themselves to find some way out of the difficulty. They were active in securing eastern capital for the building of the now famous Sweetwater dam, one of the largest of its kind in the world. At another time Frank went to Boston and completed all the negotia- tions for the building of the California South- ern Railroad from Barstow to National City. To this road in 1880 they donated ten thousand acres situated on the bay front and known as the Chulavista tract. They were also financially interested in the National City & Otay Railroad, and were stockholders in the San Diego Land and Town Company. In fact, there was no movement for local progress that lacked their support and co-operation. They are, indeed, the fathers of the town.

The marriage of Warren C. Kimball united him with Flora M. Morrill, a lady of superior ability and culture. Like her husband, a native of New Hampshire, she grew to mature years in that state, and in 1862 came to California, where she afterward resided. A lover of the beautiful, she was of the greatest assistance to her husband in the beautifying of their home and the wide-spreading lawn contains many rare trees which she secured and planted. Nor did her efforts cease there. She was very active

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in setting out trees and otherwise rendering the town attractive, and all of the shade trees along the public roads are the result of her forethought and wise planning for the future. In 1875 the San Diego Chamber of Commerce offered a prize of $75 for the best article writ- ten on San Diego county and its general im- provements, and this prize was awarded to Mrs. Kimball by competent judges. For many years she was a corresponding editor of the San Fran- cisco Granger, which responsible position she filled in a most efficient manner. Her death, July 2, 1898, was a deep bereavement to Mr. Kimball, to whom she had been helpinate, coun- selor, friend and companion for so many years.

HENRY P. WOOD. Through travel in various parts of the world Mr. Wood has gained a cosmopolitan knowledge that makes him a valued citizen of his home town of San Diego. Since May, 1892, he has made his home in this city, where for many years he has been inti- mately associated with all movements tending to the development of an increased supply of water for the rich lands of San Diego county, realizing that an abundance of water for irriga- tion is the basis of prosperous conditions throughout the southwest. From 1892 to 1899 he held office as the Hawaiian consul at San Diego, continuing until the office was discon- tinned in the latter year. Like many of Cali- fornia's progressive men, he has mining inter- ests in the west. He is especially interested in the Inglewood mine in Tyson's valley, Yuma county, Ariz., and is now president of the Ingle- wood Mining Company. His time is, however, practically devoted to the discharge of his duties as secretary of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, to which office he was appointed in May, 1899, and which he has since held. There is no movement that has contributed more constantly and effectively to the growth of San Diego than has the Chamber of Commerce, which, since its establishment in 1874, has had a continuous existence, and is now the leading business association in the city. With a mem- bership of about five hundred, it is indicative of the best thought and advancement of the town, and is typical of the recent material development of local resources. One of the most attractive features of the chamber, which has a central location on Sixth and D streets, is its exhibit of local products, showing the fine quality of the citrus fruits grown in this part of California and setting forth the advances made in other direc- tions by the progressive men to whom the present prosperity is due. Mr. Wood is also a inember of the board of directors and secretary of the San Diego Eastern Railway Company, an organization formed under the auspices of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce for the

purpose of securing a direct line of railway east from San Diego to the Colorado river.

The first of the Wood family in America was Alexander Wood, a native of England and a pioneer on the Hudson river in New York. His son, Cornelius, born in New York and a farmer by occupation, had a son, John, whose birthplace was Newburgh-on-the-Hudson. The latter moved to Oswego, N. Y., where he was a builder and owner of boats, and engaged in a transportation business on the lakes. Hiram W., son of John, was born in Oswego and be- came a wholesale commission merchant, first in New York and later in New Orleans. Going to California in 1850, he began mining in Ne- vada county, where he also carried on a store. His last days were spent on the Hawaiian Islands, where he died. He had married Jane, daughter of William Patton, of Irish descent. She was born in Newburgh, N. Y., and died in Nevada county, Cal. The only child of their mar- riage, Henry P., was born in Nevada county, Cal., June 2, 1855, and received his education principally in Hudson Academy at Newburgh, N. Y. In 1877 he went to Hawaii and began the work of superintendent of a training school on the Isle of Maui, from which point in 1879 lie went to Kohala, Island of Hawaii, to take charge of a mercantile establishment. After a residence of eleven years on the islands in 1888 he returned to California. He has also made several trips to England and traveled exten- sively on the continent. Between 1888 and 1892 he went to Central America traveling on foot and by canoe along the line of the Nicaragua canal, in which way he gained a thorough knowledge of this vast undertaking. In 1897, as the special representative of the Southern California Chambers of Commerce, he went to Washington, D. C., in behalf of the movement for the completion of this canal. Again, in 1901, he represented San Diego in Washington in behalf of canal and harbor improvements.

During his residence in Hawaii Mr. Wood inarried Miss Emma Wight, who was born and reared there. Her father, James Wight, was born in East India, the son of an officer in the English army. Given excellent educational ad- vantages, he graduated in medicine from a uni- versity in Edinburgh and then located for practice in Australia, but from that island re- moved to Hawaii in 1850. During the halt cen- tury that has since elapsed he has become the owner of a large sugar plantation, and is one of the most prominent citizens of his locality. By his marriage Mr. Wood has two daughters, Ada and Ethel. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks; in politics is a Republican and in religion an Episcopalian. Among his other associations is that of membership in the National Geographic Society.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

E. A. RIZOR. From a French and German ancestry Mr. Rizor inherits the reliable traits of character which have contributed to the reali- zation of his plans in life and which have placed him among the foremost lawyers in Santa Bar- bara. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, August 11, 1868, a son of J. S. Rizor, who was born near Coshocton, Ohio, and is now living in re- tirement in Santa Barbara. The great-grand- father Rizor was born in Alsace-Lorraine, and upon immigrating to America located first in Maryland and then went to the vicinity of Co- shocton, Ohio, where he farmed and where he eventually died. The paternal grandfather was a merchant tailor by occupation, but his life was a comparatively short one, and he also died in Ohio.

Although a harness-maker by trade, after re- moving to Columbus, Ohio, J. S. Rizor engaged in general contracting. Later he took up his residence in Illinois, and afterward turned his attention to mining in Colorado. In 1880 he located in Fort Scott, Kans., and engaged in mercantile pursuits, and was equally successful as a general contractor up to the time of his retirement and removal to Santa Barbara in 1891. His wife, Mrs. M. C. (Trindle) Rizor, was born in Clifton, Greene county, Ohio, a daughter of William Trindle, a native of Penn- sylvania. The Trindle family came from the north of Ireland, a fine old family of land own- ers and prominent men in their respective com- munities. The great-great-grandfather Trindle was an Irish nobleman, and his two younger sons immigrated to America and bought a large tract of land, upon a portion of which Mechan- icsburg, Pa., now stands. The paternal grand- father settled in Ohio, where he was successful as a farmer and stock raiser. Mrs. Rizor, who is still living, has two children, her daughter Emma being the wife of C. E. Welch of Los Angeles, Cal.

E. A. Rizor was reared in Illinois and Colo- rado and graduated from the high school and business college of Fort Scott. As a temporary means of livelihood he learned telegraphy with the Western Union, and by this company was stationed at Wichita, Kans. He later engaged with the Santa Fe Railroad Company and was stationed in the Indian Territory and Texas. In 1891 he came to Santa Barbara and began the study of law under Hon. J. J. Boyce, ex- state senator, completing his studies with Judge D. P. Hatch of Los Angeles. After being admitted to the bar in 1894 he engaged in gen- eral practice in Los Angeles until 1896, when he took up his permanent residence in Santa Barbara, and has since worked up a large prac- tice. He is a Republican in politics and ex- member of the county central committee.

Mrs. Rizor was formerly Mabel Kiler, born in San Rafael, Cal., and one of the Native

Daughters of the Golden West. Her father, Edmund F. Kiler, an early settler in California. was for many years identified with the redwood country, and is now a commission merchant and an extensive farmer near Santa Barbara.

FRANK P. FRARY, mayor of San Diego, has made his home in this city since 1875. Of French descent he was born in Fremont, Ohio, December 7, 1856, and is the only son of Orin P. and Martha J. (Smith) Frary, natives of the same town as himself. His father, who was the son of a New Yorker, grew to manhood in Fremont, and from there went into the Civil war as second lieutenant of Company A, One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Infantry. At the close of the war he settled in Lansing, Mich., where he carried on a drug business for some years, but is now living retired.

From 1868 to 1875 Frank P. Frary made his home mn Lansing, Mich., and attended the schools of that city. December 8, 1875, was the date of his arrival in San Diego, and at once he secured employment with the Coast Line Stage Company between San Diego and Santa Ana. In 1882 he obtained the contract to carry mail and operate a stage line between San Diego and Julian, a distance of sixty miles, and in this work he continued steadily until 1897, when he sold out. In the mean time, he also had the Cuyamaca line from Lakeside to Cuyamaca. During 1886 he bought an interest in the Westcott & Webb Transfer Line, firm name Westcott, Webb & Frary. The Pioneer Truck Company was incorporated May 15, 1889, Mr. Frary being secretary, treasurer and manager, while Mr. Westcott holds the office of president. The company conducts a general storage, transfer and freight business, and makes a specialty of heavy work. Besides his close connection with this growing and im- portant enterprise, Mr. Frary is interested in the Encinitas Copper Mining and Smelting Company, of which he has been secretary and treasurer since its incorporation and which owns and operates a good mine.

Elected to the board of delegates on the Re- publican ticket in 1896, Mr. Frary's re-election in 1898 proved his popularity as a city official, while his choice as president of the board fur- ther emphasized his recognition as a man of ability. He is a member of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce. In April of 1901 he was elected mayor of the city of San Diego and May 6, same year, was installed as mayor for a term of two years. His important position he has filled to the satisfaction of all. After com- ing to this city he was made a Mason in San Diego Lodge No. 35, F. & A. M. For many years he has been secretary of San Diego Lodge No. 153, I. O. O. F., and at one time he served as noble grand, while he acts as scribe of Cen-

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tennial Encampment No. 58. In addition, he is connected with the Foresters of America, and Woodmen of the World. His marriage took place in San Francisco and united him with Miss Maud Thayer, who was born in that city, of an old family of New Hampshire. They have two daughters, Ruth and Gladys.

CAPT. WILLIAM MOORE was born near Augusta, Me., April 3, 1827, on the Kennebec river, the night that the famous bridge of the same name was burned. William and Sarah (Reed) Moore were his father and mother. They were born in County Tyrone, north of Ire- land, but were Scotch and Protestants. In 1819 they crossed the ocean to St. Johns, New Brunswick, neither of them at the time being more than twenty years of age. Their two eld- est children were born in Canada. Shortly afterward they moved to Augusta, Me. They were of a family of farmers and linen weavers, manufacturing their own flax, and having from twenty to thirty weavers with hand looms. In America they became farmers and their four sons and four daughters were reared on a farm. Of these children, two sons and one daugh- ter survive. Andrew and James (twins) are builders, doing an extensive business in Kansas City, Mo. Another brother, Joseph Moore (now deceased) owned a large tract of land in Missouri and during the Civil war served as colonel of a Missouri federal regiment.

After having learned the carriage-making trade, in 1848, when scarcely twenty-one years of age, William Moore began to manufacture car- riages, buggies and sleighs in Lewiston Falls, Me. There he belonged to a military band and played the cornet. His military coat, high grena- dier hat and brass horn (about fifty years old) are in the possession of his family in Los Angeles. One of his sisters married a Quaker and settled near Philadelphia; their son and daughter are living in Southern California and these are Wil- liam Moore's only relatives in California, be- sides his wife and children. As a boy and young man William was held in high esteem among his associates. He was always quiet and unas- suming, but strong in his opinions when he be- lieved he was in the right. He possessed an unusual fondness for reading, which continued to his last illness. This he credited in a measure to an early acquaintance with two neighbor school teachers. Many profitable evenings were spent with them, cagerly reading history or other books which they were kind enough to offer him. He had an excellent memory and could recite pages of Burns', Scott's, and Moore's poetry, besides which he was a con- stant reader of general literature-politics, his- tory, travels and romance, and he could recite or read Scotch dialect admirably. He had a fair knowledge of music and was an excellent

Spanish scholar. In fact, he had information on a variety of subjects and was an interesting con- versationalist, possessing unconscious wit and humor, and with a quaint way of expressing his thoughts. His smooth brow and tranquil eye, at seventy, showed his serene disposition and cquable temperament, and his affable disposition made many friends and few or no enemies.

Occasionally he would refer to the old days of Los Angeles and tell pioneer stories. Friends would listen with surprised interest, but he was seldom in the mood to revert to the past. Fre- quently he was asked to contribute notes for publication, but he always smilingly declined; the same when asked to parade on the Fourth of July, not because he was not patriotic, but be- cause he was devoid of personal vanity and averse to display. Once he told the story of "Peg-leg" Smith and his mine, but the writer remembers only the end-there was no "Peg- leg" mine-only a myth to lure men to journeys and disappointments. Now and then he re- ferred to his trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles. He missed the occasional steamer and determined to come on horseback, but his pur- chase proving troublesome, he turned it loose and made the entire journey on foot. To one of his disposition the trip seemed neither long nor tedious, for he was young and in fine health and spirits, had two gold "slugs" in his pocket that he had mined in Napa mountains, and was interested in seeing a new country and so much of it. One night he came to a deserted hut and rested. A dry, stiff hide was by the side of the road. This he pulled over him and laughed as he did so, thinking it was better than nothing, and likening it to the comfort of a door for a covering.

A curious account is narrated of a night spent by George Hansen and William Moore in an old Spanish house that possessed crude carved wooden images of saints and apos- tles. The two men occupied the rooms where these relics were, but had not no- ticed them upon retiring. Awakening in the night, the moon was shining and lighting up the ghastly images in a startling manner, giving the young surveyors sensations of a curious presence in the room, and it is not surprising that they could not sleep.

William Moore left New York for California on the 4th of July, 1852, engaged about eighteen months in the lumber regions of Napa and in mining. He arrived in Los Angeles April 3, 1854, on the twenty-seventh anniversary of his birth. For a time he worked at carriage-mak- ing here, and helped to make the first carriage in the city, but soon applied himself to survey- ing, and continued in that business until a short time before his death. He was first connected with George Hansen in surveying and engi- neering, and they continued lifelong friends,

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sometimes alternating in office and at other times working together. His name appears on many of the maps on record in this county as surveyor, often as owner of property. For about forty-three years he worked and lived in and about Los Angeles, and meantime watched the growth of the place from a few scattered adobe houses to a city of one hundred thousand, with elegant public and private buildings. He sur- veyed ranches, county lines and city property, was familiar with Spanish grants and old titles, and was continually examining records and help- ing people to adjust their lines when in question. He laid out ditches, reservoirs and tunnels. In 1858-59 he was county surveyor; in 1873-74 served as city surveyor or street commissioner. These offices were then merged, and this was the first attempt to establish uniform grades in the city of Los Angeles. Very curious was the appearance of some of the main streets, as the writer remembers them. Some lots were up and some down, and steps and stairs were made to pass from one height to another, involving fatigue and circumlocution in walking a short distance. Strenuous opposition to improvement made the office of city surveyor anything but pleasant. He was often called upon in city and county courts to give expert testimony in old suits to settle boundaries, for at one time or an- other he had surveyed nearly every foot of land in the county. He had a keen memory for old landmarks and "corners" and could tell where to dig for long-buried stakes and "monuments." By disinterested advice and assistance . he en- deared himself to many old pioneers and Span- ish settlers, and was often consulted and ren- (lered valuable assistance freely.

The title of captain by which he was known came to him through his service as captain of a company of California infantry at the opening of the Civil war. In 1861 a wave of patriotism spread over our broad land, reaching the Pa- cific coast and the new state of California. Men quickly stepped into line and perfected them- selves in military tactics. It was then William Moore organized and drilled a company under the President's first call for troops of Los An- geles soldiers. Though impatient to go to the seat of war, they were doomed to disappoint- ment, for, instead of being ordered east, they were made home guards.

In the home of Gen. Volney Howard, of San Gabriel, January 3. 1874, Rev. C. F. Loop, of Pasadena, united in marriage William Moore and Mary E. Hall, a native of New York. George Hansen, Prudent Beaudry and a few other friends were present. Two children were born of the union, Florence and Hansen, twen- ty-four and twenty-two years old, healthy and happy young people, still living with their mother on East Twentieth street, Los Angeles, which has been the family home for twenty

years. Graded streets are invading their home neighborhood and their once prolific orchard is liable to be divided. The only son, Hansen Moore, who combines the names of two worthy surveyors and lifelong friends, is six feet and two inches in height and weighs two hundred and forty-five pounds. The daughter is a grad- tate of the Los Angeles high school.

In 1876 Captain Moore and his wife visited the Centennial, and visited his mother, sisters and brothers, who then lived near Philadelphia and in Missouri, and the reunions after an ab- sence of the son for twenty-five years were very pleasant. The dear old mother had prayed daily for her absent son, and could scarcely realize his actual presence. She would look long at the stout, mature man, and say he "could not be the slender William who left home to see the world so many years ago."

Captain Moore died January 11, 1897. The funeral took place in a pitiless rain. Friends and neighbors wended their way in carriages through splashing mud and water to bear him to his last resting place, but as they reached Rosedale cemetery the sun shone out clear for a few moments during the service. Shortly be- fore he died, after a brief sleep, Captain Moore raised one hand and then the other, then waved both at once, as though directing an assistant surveyor. Doubtless thoughts of the old voca- tion flitted through his mind, but at last the final signal was given and his course was run. Surveyors wave both hands to denote comple- tion, and that was evidently what he intended to express, failing to speak. His was a peace- ful, harmonious life; gentle and kind in his . home; cheerful and dignified among men. The manner of his burial was in keeping with his dislike for display. So far as learned his relatives are good citizens, doing their duty in their everyday life, to family, neighborhood and coun- try. Several pursued mechanical vocations; one was district attorney of Salina, Mo .; several were farmers and others soldiers. Two nephews, Walter B. and Robert A. Moore, were officers in the late war. The family has always been re- spected, and scores of Los Angeles pioneers knew and esteemed William Moore, the old sur- veyor.

JAMES C. RIVES. A career worthy of emulation from many standpoints, strong and discerning in its recognition and acceptance of opportunity, is that of James C. Rives, district attorney, horticulturist and promoter of the well-being of Los Angeles and vicinity. In main- taining the reputation of an enviable ancestry Mr. Rives has worked unaided along the de- vious paths to present success, for at a very early age he was face to face with responsibility and the formation of his own future. He was born near Atlanta, Ga .. January 4, 1846, a son

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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 55

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