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 56

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

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of Dr. Burrell and Elizabeth A. (Taylor) Rives, natives, respectively, of Fulton and Morgan counties, Ga., and the mother a descendant of the Alexander H. Stephens family. The pa- ternal grandfather, Rev. Jackson Rives, was born in Virginia and came of a family long represented in the Old Dominion, the immigrat- ing ancestor having come from the home of his forefathers in England. Later bearers of the name shouldered their muskets on the fields of Bunker Hill and Brandywine.

Rev. Jackson Rives was a clergyman in the Baptist denomination in Georgia, and in later life entered the mercantile ranks, his useful life extending beyond the Biblical allotment to more than a cycle of years. His son, Dr. Burrell Rives, was a graduate physician and practiced his profession in Georgia and Virginia. During the Civil war he sided with the Confederacy, and was a surgeon in Gen. Joe Wheeler's division of General Bragg's army. In 1867 he started for California with his family via the southern route, but upon arriving at Sulphur Bluffs, Tex., re- mained there for two years. In 1869 he again started across the plains and through Arizona to San Diego, locating in the Los Nietos val- ley, near the present site of Downey, where he practiced medicine until his death in 1880, at the age of forty-one years. His wife, who is living with her son, James C., is the mother of six children, four of whom attained maturity, and three are living, James C. being second. Edward is a pharmacist, while John Logan, a graduate of the State Normal, is engaged in educational work in Los Angeles.

A vivid recollection is still retained by Mr. Rives of the journey across the plains from Texas, of the ox teams with their obstinate en- durance, the raids upon the stock by the In- dians and the ever-present dangers of the over- land trail. He was educated at the district schools of the Los Nietos valley, but because of the early death of his father was obliged to go to work when fourteen years of age that he might assist in the family maintenance. He therefore applied himself to the printer's trade in Los Angeles, and between 1880 and 1884 worked on the different dailies in the city. In the mean- time he had gained a fair knowledge of general newspaper work, and in 1885 started the Downey Weekly Review, a periodical managed with gratifying success for three years. An opportunity presenting itself to dispose of the paper on good terms, he applied himself to the further study of law, with which he had already familiarized himself during the leisure of the past few years. Upon being admitted to the bar in 1887 he began to practice in Los Angeles, where his correct understanding of legal science. his personal kindliness and tact won for him an almost immediate recognition.

As a stanch adherent of Republican princi-

ples and issues Mr. Rives has ever taken a keen interest in the undertakings of his party, and in 1898 he was nominated for the office of dis- trict attorney, and was elected by one of the largest majorities ever received by a county official, his showing being nearly five thousand over his opponent. January 1, 1899, he assumed control of the office, the arduous duties of which necessitate the employment of six deputies. The administration of Mr. Rives has been well received throughout, his executive ability, his decisive handling of difficult situations, and his devotion to the best interests of the people, hav- ing won for him the praise of all who believe that public office is public trust. For many years he has been on the state central commit- tee and the county central executive committee, and has taken an active part in stumping the state.

Notwithstanding the fact that his most aggres- sive and responsible interests have been cen- tered in Los Angeles, Mr. Rives has always lived at Downey, where he owns an eighty-acre ranch, and one of the most delightful Southern California homes imaginable. September 4, 1889, he married Mary Lee Crowell, a native of Arkansas, and sister of C. T. Crowell. To Mr. and Mrs. Rives have been born four chil- dren, Edward L., Robert C., Howard and Pau- line. Mr. Rives is extensively engaged in hor- ticulture, and upon his finely improved and ap- pointed ranch has sixty acres of orchard, forty- five of which are walnut bearing, the remainder being devoted to oranges. He is a member of the Los Nietos and Ranchito Walnut Growers' Association, the Southern California Fruit As- sociation, and the Chamber of Commerce. Fraternally he is associated with. the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of the Maccabees, and the Independent Order of Foresters. He is popular and a welcome visitor of the principal social and business organiza- tions in which Los Angeles abounds, notably the Jonathan and the Union League Clubs, and numbers among his friends the most desirable social element of the city and its surroundings. In personal appearance Mr. Rives so strongly suggests the great slave emancipator that he has come to be known as the Abraham Lincoln of California.

HON. CHARLES H. IVINS, A. B. A pioneer of 1852 on the Pacific coast and of 1856 in California, Judge Ivins is now a resident of Santa Monica, which in his opinion possesses the most equable climate of any of our coast cities. He is a member of a colonial family of New Jersey, whose original emigrants to America came from Scotland. His parents, Charles and Elizabeth (Shinn) Ivins, were natives of New Jersey, and in 1841 settled in Iowa, dying in Keokuk, that state. The mother

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was a member of a Quaker family, of Holland- Dutch extraction. Of her children two sons attained mature years, and one of these, Wil- liam, died in Keokuk. Three daughters, Mrs. Seaton, Mrs. Hanxhurst and Mrs. Patterson, make their home in Oakland, Cal., while the remaining daughter, Mrs. Jansen, is a resident of Los Angeles.

In Bordentown, N. J., Charles Henry Ivins was born April 1, 1829. About 1841 he accom- panied the family via Philadelphia and the canal, thence by boat down the Ohio and up the Mis- sissippi, to Keokuk, Iowa. A short time after- ward he returned east as a student in Princeton College, from which he was graduated in 1848 with the degree of A. B. Two years later he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in Keokuk. However, the allurements of the unsettled west aroused his ambition. Thousands were seeking the Pacific coast in the hope of gaining a fortune, and he joined one of these parties of gold seckers, with the inten- tion of going to California, but while en route inis plans were changed somewhat. The ox- train left Keokuk in April, 1852, for what proved to be a very hard trip across the plains, via Omaha, the Platte, north of Salt Lake, and on to Oregon. During the same year the ter- ritory of Washington had been organized, and the recognized qualifications of Mr. Ivins led to his appointment as a district judge of the new territory, which had its seat of government at Olympia. The district over which he presided centered at Port Townsend, where he made his headquarters. For four years he continued in the position, and later was appointed judge of admiralty, which office he filled for two years.

Meantime Judge Ivins had made a trip to California in 1854, and had been so delighted with the prospects here that he decided to re- move to the state. In 1857, on resigning the office of judge, he settled at Petaluma and em- barked in the cattle business, which he con- ducted upon so large a scale that at one time he had two thousand head of cattle. on his range. Later he bought a large ranch and range in Mendocino county, where, however, the severe winters caused a heavy loss in his 1:erds. His next venture was the erection of a large hotel at Markleyville, Alpine county, Cal., but this business not proving financially re- munerative, he returned to Petaluma, where he resumed ranching. The purchase of a tract of land near town proved a wise investment, as it was later sold to good advantage. Reports concerning San Luis Obispo county led him to remove there. One thousand acres, compris- ing a part of Santa Rosa rancho, he purchased tor $1.75 an acre, the price being low on ac- count of recent droughts. Two years later the price had risen to $15 an acre. His purchase comprised the northeast corner of Santa Rosa

rancho, and was watered by Santa Rosa creek. No improvements had been made, but under his oversight soon fences had been built, a house had been put up, and other buildings erected as needed. During the last two years of his stay in Petaluma he had made $8,000 in his dairy, and on coming to San Luis Obispo county he brought his stock with him, after which he engaged in cattle-raising, dairying and general farming for eight years. He still owns one thousand acres known as the Ivins ranch of Santa Rosa, and this land is rented to two dairymen.

On leaving the stock business and resuming the practice of law, Judge Ivins made his home in Oakland for three years and practiced in San Francisco, after which he conducted a general practice at Santa Rosa and erected a beautiful residence in that town. However, on account of his wife's ill health, he deemed a change ad- visable, so removed to Alameda, where he built an attractive home and engaged in law practice. The change not proving as beneficial to his wife as had been anticipated, in 1893 he took her to San Diego, and the following year es- tablished their home in Santa Monica, which has proved to be the climate needed to restore her healthı. Since coming here he has built a commodious residence on Ninth and Arizona streets, and has carried on a general law prac- tice in Los Angeles and vicinity.

In 1857 and again in 1858 Judge Ivins re- turned to visit his old friends in Keokuk, Iowa, both these trips being made via Panama. Judge Ivins married Miss Mary Elenora Cole, a daughter of Gen. Edward Cole, a hero of the Mexican war. She was born in Rochester, N. Y., and reared in Keokuk, Iowa. Possessing mental powers above the ordinary, these have been developed by an excellent education and subsequent wide range of reading. Indeed, her literary attainments make her conspicuous in circles to which the gift of a broad mind and a gifted pen is the open sesame. In the work of the Federation of Women's Clubs she has been active, and she has the distinction of hav- ing officiated as the first president of the Coterie Club of Santa Monica, which she organized. She still holds an official position in the state federa- tion of Women's Clubs. One of her papers, concerning the community property rights of women, attracted more general attention than any recent article from a woman's pen. In re- ligion she is of the Episcopalian belief, as is also Judge Ivins. Their only son, Ernest C., is the present sheriff of San Luis Obispo county, and their only living daughter, Mrs. Cora Jessie Stewart, resides with them. Another daughter, Mrs. Kate M. Hoefler, died in San Francisco.

In many respects Judge Ivins is particularly fitted for the office of jurist. Nature endowed him with a power of keen analysis, a discrimina-

W.E. Sawtelle

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tive mind, clearness of judgment and an impar- tial spirit, which rendered liis decisions on the bench fair and just. His conclusions were reached slowly, but when once his mind had formulated certain opinions and arrived at cer- tain conclusions, he was seldom proved to be in error. More than once, since coming to Santa Monica, these qualities of which he is the possessor have been used for the benefit of the city, in matters pertaining to the municipal wel- fare. While he is a Democrat at all times, yet partisanship has had no place in his career.

W. E. SAWTELLE. The town of Sawtelle was founded by the Pacific Land Company, whose officers are Robert C. Gillis, president; W. T. Gillis, vice-president; Robert F. Jones, secretary and treasurer; W. E. Sawtelle, man- ager. The organization of the company dates from 1897, and the following year the map of the Barrett Villa tract, two hundred and twenty- five acres, was recorded. In June, 1901, the Lindsay addition of one hundred acres was mnade, while in October, same year, the Pacific farms, comprising about four hundred acres, were laid out, making a total acreage of seven hundred and twenty. It had been the original intention to name the town Barrett, but when a petition was made for a postoffice, the gov- ernment notified them that there was a post- office in the state named Bassett and the simi- larity betwen the two would result in much con- fusion; therefore another name was essential. The residents of the villa at once requested that the name be made Sawtelle, in honor of the company's manager and representative, and thus the name was adopted which is now in use.

In many respects the location of Sawtelle is unexcelled. It lies on the line of the Los An- geles & Pacific Railroad, fourteen miles from Los Angeles and three miles from Santa Mo- nica, and within easy access of both by means of the half-hour car service. It possesses the additional advantage of being within one-half mile of the Soldiers' Home, where $500,000 is paid out annually by the government. This same proximity makes the town strictly pro- hibition, as under the laws of the state liquor cannot be sold within one and one-half miles of the Home; hence as a residence point for fami- lies wishing to rear their children in the midst of desirable surroundings it affords special ad- vantages. An abundance of water is obtain- able from sixty-five to seventy-five feet below the surface, and about fifty wells have been sunk without one failure to secure water. In addition, the town site possesses a water sys- tem. The town is subdivided into four hun- dred and thirty house lots, three hundred and seventy-five acreage lots and thirty ranches con- taining from four to twenty acres each.

When the company built its office, in the

spring of 1898, the building stood in the midst of a barley field. A store was erected at the same time, and this formed the nucleus of the present town. Sales moved very slowly the first year, and the real activity did not begin until the summer of 1899, since which time over one-half of the property has been sold. Within three years the town grew from a single cottage to one hundred and fifty residences, and almost every day during the season witnesses the com- pletion of some building and the beginning of another. This fact in itself proves the brisk- ness of sales, a fact which is noteworthy by rea- son of dullness in sales in many other towns. Perhaps one reason of this is found in the fact that the frequent dry seasons have retarded sales elsewhere, but here, the town not depend- ing upon fruit orchards for its existence, build- ing goes on apace unaffected by the quantity of rain supply.

Referring to the personal history and geneal- ogy of Mr. Sawtelle, we find that he descends from a Huguenot family that fled from France at the time of the revocation of the edict of Nantes and sought refuge in England, whence subsequent generations went to Massachusetts. Richard Sawtelle, a native of Groton, Mass., soon after the Revolution settled in Norridge- wock, Somerset county, Me., where Indians still roamed through the large forests. His son, George, was born there, became a merchant. and in 1861 was appointed postmaster under President Lincoln, which position he filled twen- ty years or more. He was a member of the Con- gregational Church and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His marriage united him with Sarah Peet, who was born at Norridgewock and died there. Her father, Rev. Josiah Peet, a na- tive of Connecticut, became a Congregational minister in Maine. It was the custom in those Puritan days for the citizens of a town to select their minister, and in accordance with that cus- tom Rev. Mr. Peet was so chosen as the Nor- ridgewock preacher.

In the family of George and Sarah Sawtelle there were three sons and one daughter. Of these Mrs. Hopkins continues at the old home: Dr. F. G., of Providence, R. I., was a member of the Third Maine Battery during the Civil war; F. J. is an architect ; and W. E., the young- est of the four, is manager of the Pacific Land Company and a resident of Los Angeles, Cal. The last-named was born in August, 1850, in the house where his father first saw the light. In 1869 he went to Worcester, Mass., where later he became interested in the Sanford-Sawtelle Company, a mercantile house founded in 1835. and in which he is still a stockholder. His mar- riage, in Portland, Me., united him with Miss Mary Wheeler, who was born in Indiana, and by whom he has two daughters, Katharine and Barbara. On account of the health of Mrs.

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Sawtelle, which he hoped a change of climate would benefit, in 1896 Mr. Sawtelle brought his family to California. For a short time he re- mained in San Diego, but in 1897 became one of the organizers of the Pacific Land Company. in which he is still actively interested. In na- tional politics he is a Republican. During his residence in Worcester he was a member of the board of trade. With his family, he attends the First Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles. Per- sonally, he is a man of active mind, fertile brain, keen perceptive faculties and indomitable en- ergy, and it is largely due to these qualities that he has made a success of his work with the land company, for the founding of a town is an ar- duous enterprise and he who undertakes it must necessarily possess qualities of a high order, if he would bring a gratifying degree of success to the undertaking whose management he has assumed.

FRANCIS A. HOLLENBECK. In trac- ing the genealogy of Mr. Hollenbeck of Los Angeles, we find that he descends from a family that came from Holland to America in a very early day. For many years succeeding generations lived in the east, where they were principally connected with agricultural pursuits. His father, Silas C., son of John Hollenbeck, was born in Akron, Ohio, March 4, 1824, and while still in his youth accompanied his parents to Illinois, settling in Winnebago county. During the long period of his residence there agriculture formed his chosen occupation and brought him gratifying returns from a financial point of view. However, desiring to spend his last years in a less severe and rigorous climate, he decided to seek a home in California, and accordingly during 1882 settled at Verdugo, Los Angeles county. Buying a tract of sixty-six acres, he set out the same in various kinds of fruits and clevoted himself to the care of the land and the trees. While in Illinois he had served as super- visor, but after coming to the Pacific coast his connection with politics was limited to the cast- ing of a Republican ticket at elections. Though his life was one of great activity, embracing in its earlier half many difficulties and hardships, his stalwart physique was not undermined by his constant labor; indeed, until shortly before his death, it was constantly remarked that he bore his years unusually well. He died June 5, 1001, when seventy-seven years of age.

By the marriage of Silas C. Hollenbeck to Mary Ann Reed, who was born in New York and died in Illinois, four children were born, viz .: Francis A., of Los Angeles; Julia B., Mrs. Henry W. Benson, of Florence, Cal .; Willard, cleceased, and Edward H., of Verdugo. The oldest of the three. Francis A., was born in Win- nebago county, Ill., February 1, 1849, and as a boy received such advantages as his native

county afforded. Under the wise training of his father lie was qualified to assume responsibilities of his own and ably conduct extensive farming interests. When twenty-six years of age he left home and went to Thayer county, Neb., where he bought a quarter section of farm land. The placing of the ground under cultivation, the erection of needed buildings and the general oversight of the place, consumed his time and attention and brought him fair returns for his care and trouble. Meantime, his father had re- moved to California, and the reports he sent back were so encouraging that the spring of 1885 found him in Los Angeles county, where he bought one hundred and eighteen acres near Florence. The larger portion of the land was devoted to general farm pur- poses, although there was also a vineyard. In the cultivation of this property he engaged for twelve years, finally selling the land in 1897 and removing to Los Angeles, where he is now interested in the real estate business, with office at No. 215 Currier block. Like his father, he has always been a firm believer in Republican principles, but has not been an active participant in politics, and as yet has never consented to hold office, although his information concerning matters of public moment and his high ideals of citizenship would make his services valuable in an official capacity.

CALEB T. CROWELL. On first coming to California, in 1871, Mr. Crowell settled twelve miles southeast of Los Angeles, where he built the first business house in the now thriving vil- lage of Downey. The name which the town bears was given it by Mr. Crowell in honor of his personal friend, ex-Governor John G. Dow- ney. As yet no railroad had been built through this section of Los Angeles county, but three years later the Southern Pacific Company cpened a branch road from Florence to Dow- ney, and within another year this had been cx- tended to Anaheim. After two years as a merchant in Downey Mr. Crowell turned his attention to farming and horticulture, and while endeavoring to secure water for irrigation pur- poses he bored a well, which, although not fur- nishing a sufficient flow for irrigation purposes, proved to possess mineral properties of great value. Soon afterward he sold the well to Dr. Fulton, and for a time it was known as Fulton's well, but more recently has borne the name of Santa Fe Springs.

Near Clinton, Hinds county, Miss., Mr. Crowell was born October 28, 1850, the eldest child of Hon. R. P. and Amanda (Perdue) Crowell natives, respectively, of North Carolina and Georgia. His paternal grandfather, Ed- mund Crowell, a soldier of the Revolution, spent his entire life on a plantation in Halifax county, N. C., and there died. The maternal

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

grandfather came from France to Virginia, later going to Georgia and finally settling upon a plantation in Mississippi. When quite young R. P. Crowell went to Mississippi with an uncle, Mr. Lowe, and for some years followed survey- ing and civil engineering, but afterward turned his attention to planting. In 1854 he removed to Arkansas, where he bought a plantation on the Red river, near Texarkana, and became the owner of Egypt farm and Cypress Brook farm. Both in Mississippi and Arkansas he served as county surveyor. At the breaking out of the Civil war he was a member of the Arkansas legislature, in which body he used his influence in opposition to secession and in favor of the state remaining in the Union. His death oc- curred August 12, 1865, soon after the fall of the Confederacy. His wife survived him some years, dying in Downey, Cal. Fraternally he was a Mason in high standing. Of his five children all but one are living, and three reside in California, namely: Caleb T., Mrs. J. C. Rives, wife of the district attorney of Los An- geles county, and Joseph, in San Jose.

When the family moved to Arkansas Caleb T. Crowell was four years of age. After his father's death he was sent to a college in Clarksville, Tex., and later began clerking in Shrevesport. La., thence coming to California in 1871. Seven years later he returned to Texarkana, Ark., where he engaged in the manufacture of lumber and later followed the same occupation in other parts of the state. When the lumber supply of Arkansas was practically exhausted he went to Northern Louisiana, where he operated two inills. A similar business was conducted in Luf- kin, Angelina county, Tex., where he owned an interest in a fine milling plant and about twenty- five miles of railroad, of which he is still a director. The Lufkin Land and Lumber Com- pany, in which he is a director, has one of the finest lumber mills in the United States, and has a manufacturing capacity of 250,000 per day. At this writing he is still president of the Crowell & Spencer Milling Company at Longleaf, Rap- ides parish, La., which owns its own railroad and a mill with a capacity of 80,000 per day. During his residence in Louisiana he also acted as manager of the company. The plant which he organized in Arkansas and which was incor- porated under the title of Bodcaw Lumber Com- pany is now the largest milling plant in the state, and owns its own railroad, one hundred and thirty miles long. Of this he also acted as presi- dent and manager for some years. In 1893 he returned to California and built an attractive residence at No. 901 South Union avenue, where hie and his family have since made their home. His wife is identified with the Baptist Church, and he has been a contributor to the same, also to various philanthropies. In politics he is a Democrat and a member of the Central Club.

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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 56

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