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 66

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

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peditions, and it was at such a time as this, De- cember 7, 1890, while hunting deer in the moun- tains north of Burbank, he was accidentally shot by a comrade who had mistaken him for a deer. The wound was mortal and he died instantly. His body was brought to Los Angeles and in- terred in its final resting place by his many warm friends, to all of whom the sad catastrophe had proved a great shock.

October 1, 1879, in Los Angeles, occurred the marriage of Henry Milnor Mitchell and Miss Susan Eleanor Glassell, who was born in San Francisco, a daughter of Andrew and Lucie (Toland) Glassell, natives respectively of Rich- mond, Va., and Columbia, S. C. Her paternal grandfather, Andrew Glassell, who was of Scotch origin and a native of Richmond, was a planter in the Old Dominion and a soldier in the war of 1812. During his last days he re- sided with his children in Los Angeles. He was the son of a Scotchman who settled upon a plantation in Virginia. The Scotch ancestors were strict Presbyterians. The original emi- grant married into the family of which General Taylor was a member, and their son, Andrew, married Susan Thornton, by whom he had six children. Of these, Andrew was born Septem- ber 30, 1827, and at the age of seven accom- panicd his parents to Alabama. In 1848 he was graduated from the University of Alabama, and in 1853 he was admitted to the bar of the su- preme court. On coming to California in 1853, lie secured a position as deputy United States attorney at San Francisco, and later engaged in private practice. During the Civil war he engaged in the manufacture of lumber near Santa Cruz, but later took up professional work at Los Angeles, where he assisted in organiz- ing the City Water Company and the Farmers & Merchants Bank. In 1880 he retired from practice, and thereafter gave his attention to superintending his landed estate until his death, January 28, 1901. In 1855 he married Lucie, daughter of Dr. H. H. Toland, who was born in Columbia, S. C., and became a pioneer physi- cian of California. He is remembered particu- larly by reason of his gift to the state of the Toland Medical College, now the medical de- partment of the University of California. The Toland family is of English and Scotch-Irish descent. Mrs. Glassell died in 1879, leaving nine children, all still living but Lucian, who died in 1900. When a girl Mrs. Mitchell was given excellent educational advantages, both in Los Angeles and Oakland, where she was a student in the Convent of the Sacred Heart. Her early advantages and subsequent travels, reading and self-culture have made her a val- uable addition to the society of Los Angeles. Her younger daughter, Lucie Milnor, resides with her, and the older daughter, Arline, is the wife of Charles Bedford, of Prescott, Ariz.

Chas Curtis

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHARLES CURTIS. The little town of Carpinteria (Spanish for carpenter shop), with its fruitful orchards and peaceful industrial en- terprises, claims no citizen more influential than Charles Curtis, known in the business world as a general merchant, and to his friends and asso- ciates as one of the strong bulwarks of the town. He is a native of Clinton county, N. Y., the little town of Mooers having also been the birthplace of his father, Michael Curtis. He was reared in his native place and received a common-school education, supplemented by a considerable knowledge of general business while yet a young boy. When old enough to assume re- sponsibility and take care of himself financially, he engaged as clerk in a general mercantile establishment in Montreal, Canada, whither his family had in the mean time removed.

In 1890 Mr. Curtis departed from Canada and settled in Carpinteria, Cal., where he became associated with Mr. Peterkin as a clerk. He was so favorably impressed with the opportuni- ties which seemed to exist for the worthy and industrious in this Southern California town that he associated himself with J. D. Dyer and bought out the mercantile business of J. A. Young. The firm conducted their affairs under the firm name of Curtis & Dyer for one year, at the expiration of which time Mr. Curtis bought out the interest of Mr. Dyer and has since conducted the business independent of partnership. He carries a fine stock of general necessities, and caters to a continually increasing trade, by no means local, as it extends far out through the county and to the west as far as Summerland.

Many of the interests in Carpinteria have profited by the business acumen of Mr. Curtis, and he is especially interested in the develop- ment of oil in the county, being a stockholder in numerous oil companies. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and was instrumen- tal in securing the organization of the same. In the affairs of the Presbyterian Church he is particularly prominent, is an elder and deacon, and takes an active part in the Sunday school as superintendent of the same. He is also further engaged in religious work as president of the Christian Endeavor Union of Santa Barbara county. Politically he is an ardent Republican, and was secretary of the Mckinley-Roosevelt Club. In 1898 Mr. Curtis married Susie Tobey, a native of California, and of this union there is one son, Randall D. Curtis.

MILTON THOMAS. To have come to Los Angeles during the days of its pioneer strug- gles; to have been identified with its history during the formative period of its growth, as- sisting in the establishment of churches, schools and philanthropic institutions; to have been an important factor in its material progress and its

transformation from a small, sleepy and strag- gling village to one of the foremost cities of the great west; such a life is worthy of record in the annals of local history. Worthy, therefore, of conspicuous mention among the early set- tlers of Los Angeles is the late Milton Thomas, whose most permanent monument is his work in connection with the upbuilding of the city.

Mr. Thomas was born in Kingston, Ohio, September 19, 1830, a son of John and Jane (Ford) Thomas, natives respectively of England and Ohio. His father crossed the ocean in boy- hood, settled upon a farm in Ohio, but later re- moved to Iowa and afterward became a resident of Kirksville, Mo., where his wife died. At an advanced age he came to California and bought ten acres on San Pedro street, near the corner of Washington, in Los Angeles. This land he set out in an orange orchard and built a resi- dence there, in which he died at the age of seventy years. Of his five children Milton was the eldest. He attended public schools in Iowa and gained his initiatory experience in inde- pendent enterprises as a farmer near Burling- ton, in Des Moines county, later engaging in the nursery and stock business, while he also taught several terms of school. By way of New York and Panama, in 1863 Mr. Thomas came to California, proceeding from San Francisco to Linden, San Joaquin county, where he bought land and engaged in ranching and dairy farm- ing. The year 1868 found him in Los An- geles, a straggling town of four thousand peo- ple, inhabiting unattractive adobe houses. Yet there was the same fascination of climate and scenery that still weaves its meshes around the stranger and still lures him into leaving old friends and old associations to enjoy the charm of the city by the twilight sea. A year after coming he bought a lot on South Spring, be- tween Second and Third streets, the present site of Los Angeles theatre. Here he erected a house of twelve rooms, which was the first building put up in that block. One of his next ventures was the purchase of a sheep ranch at the present site of Whittier, and for three years, until selling the property, he carried on a sheep business.

Perhaps Mr. Thomas is best known through his long connection with the nursery business in Los Angeles, in which he continued for twen- ty-five years. His first nursery was established on Main and Twenty-eighth streets, where he bought a ten-acre tract. Later he became the owner of eighty acres, his headquarters being on Jefferson and Main. After he sold a portion of that tract he returned to Twenty-eighth street and two years later established his nursery on Jefferson street and Grand avenue, buying thirty- five acres. For years he was the most exten- sive nurseryman in Southern California, and or- ders came to him from the entire surrounding

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country, for it was known that he propagated all kinds of trees and kept in stock everything that could be raised in this part of the state. After a long and honorable business career he retired to private life, and four years later passed away, September 19, 1894.

A firm faith in the Christian religion charac- terized the life and deeds of Mr. Thomas. When he came to Los Angeles only thirteen members of the Methodist Episcopal denomination, with which he and his wife were identified, could be found. The beginning was not encouraging, vet a start was made and from that time for- ward he was a steady and large contributor to the work. He assisted in building the first house of worship owned by that denomination in Los Angeles, and it is in no small measure due to his encouragement and liberal donations that there are now fifteen churches of his faith within the city limits. His activity as an official in his home church and his contributions to the other church buildings made him one of the most prominent Methodists in the city.

For some years a Republican, the importance of endeavoring to suppress the liquor traffic led Mr. Thomas to ally himself with the Prohibi- tionists, which was his party in later years. Fra- ternally he was connected with the Odd Fellows. He was a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce, a member of the California Fruit Growers' Association and the Southern Califor- nia Horticultural Association.

In Des Moines county, Iowa, March 10, 1854, Mr. Thomas married Miss Elizabeth Archer, who was born in Bond county, Ill., the youngest child of Hezekiah and Mary (Black) Archer, natives of Sangamon county, Ill. Her father, who was a soldier in the Blackhawk war, re- moved from Illinois to Des Moines county, lowa, in an early day and bought about two thousand acres of land, from which he improved large and valuable farms. At the time Burling- ton had only three log cabins. His death oc- curred in Iowa when he was seventy years of age. The Archer family is of Pennsylvania ciescent, and more remotely of New England stock. Of his nine children all but one attained maturity, and seven are still living. One son, William, who came to California in 1860, is a retired stockman at Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo county. Elisha, who came to this state in 1862, is a capitalist of Salinas. DeWitt, a pioncer of 1860, is a stockman at Lompoc, Santa Barbara county. George died near Salinas and John near Stockton. Another brother, E. G., remains on the old farm in Des Moines county, lowa.

Two daughters were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas. Mary T., who married John Alexander Brown, a resident of Los An- geles, was a graduate of the first class of the Los Angeles high school (1875) and received

first honors, also a $50 medal from Governor Downey. Later she was graduated from the San José Normal School, after which she taught school for six years. She died in 1892, leaving two children, Ellen Margaret and Herbert Brown. Laura T., Mrs. A. F. Carter, was grad- uated from the Los Angeles high school in 1882, and is actively connected with many important public movements in this city. In Ransom Home, of which her mother has been a mem- ber of the board of managers for eight years, she too is actively interested. Both are charter members of the Central Women's Christian Temperance Union of Los Angeles, which was organized during a visit made by Frances Wil- lard to the coast. In this Mrs. Carter officiates as secretary, and she has also been president of the Union of Unions, and for ten years its cor- responding secretary. Since the first year that Temperance Temple was projected, Mrs. Thomas has been active in this work, and until 1900 she served as a member of the Temple board. Besides these and other activities, she has maintained a supervision of the estate since the death of Mr. Thomas. Recently seven acres on Jefferson street, between Hope street and Grand avenne, have been laid out in lots, under her supervision. Her former holdings south of the railroad have been disposed of, but she retains, among other properties, a ranch of eighty acres near Chatsworth Park in the San Fernando valley. Among the citizens of Los Angeles, and particularly among the pioneers, she is well known, and everywhere she is es- teemed and admired for those gentle and cul- tured traits that have characterized her from girlhood.

ARTHUR F. CARTER. Descended from New England progenitors, Mr. Carter was born in Connecticut January 27, 1854, a son of John R. and Delia (Stockwell) Carter. His father, who was a manufacturer, gave up his business interests in order to serve his country during the Civil war, becoming a member of the Eighteenth Connecticut Infantry. His valor as a soldier was never more marked than in his last engagement, at Piedmont, W. Va., where he was killed in action. His only son, Arthur F., was educated in New England, and in 1875 went to Colorado, where he en- gaged in sheep and cattle raising at Box Elder Creek, twenty-five miles from Denver. In De- cember, 1881, he came to California, and a few months later settled in Los Angeles, becoming an employe of Milton Thomas. His business qualifications led to his admission into partner- ship by Mr. Thomas, who gave him entire charge of the nursery until it was closed out. Since then he has given his attention to an oversight of the Thomas estate and various holdings in Los Angeles. May 12, 1886, he was

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united in marriage with Miss Laura Thomas, and they now make their home with Mrs. Thomas, ministering to her happiness and re- lieving the loneliness which the death of her husband brought upon her.

HARRISON M. BOWKER. Associated with the beauty of Los Angeles, with the intelli- gence and culture of its citizens, and with that artistic appreciation without which the city had never challenged the admiration of all who so- journ here, is the name of Bowker, of Ellendale Place. Harrison M. Bowker was born in Hins- dale, Cheshire county, N. H., July 31, 1835, a son of Windsor and Sarah (Osgood) Bowker, and grandson of Asa Bowker, who served in the war of the Revolution. The family is of English descent, and the emigrating ancestors settled in Massachusetts long before the strife for colonial independence. Windsor Bowker was born in Massachusetts, at Phillipston, Worcester county, and was for many years a farmer at Hinsdale, where he was killed in a runaway. He married Sarah Osgood, a native of Wendell, Mass., and daughter of Joseph Osgood, born in Massachusetts, and a tanner and farmer by occupation. Mrs. Bowker, who died in New Hampshire in her forty-ninth year, was the mother of five children, of whom Har- rison M. is the youngest but one, and the only living child. One of the sons, Judge John S. Bowker, came to California in 1849, and en- gaged in mining here and in Nevada. At one time he was county recorder at Reno, Nev., in which city he met a tragic fate at the hands of a criminal whom, as judge, he had decided against. Temporarily he recovered from the assault, although left for dead, but he finally succumbed to his wounds.

Until his eighteenth year Mr. Bowker lived on his father's farm, and in the mean time attended the public schools in New Hampshire. A younger brother being taken sick while attend- ing Oberlin College, Mr. Bowker cared for the invalid and eventually completed his own educa- tion at Oberlin. In 1859 he went to Oshkosh, Wis., and at the end of two years to Beloit, Wis., where he worked as bookkeeper in a manufac- turing establishment. At St. Louis, Mo., whither he removed in 1870, he held a position as bookkeeper with a wholesale house, and in time became interested in the first grain elevator built in that city, which construction was en- tirely destroyed during a cyclone. In 1882 Mr. Bowker became associated with Los Angeles, and' at the end of two months bought the fifteen acres which has since been transformed into Ellendale Place, considered the most beautiful of the residence places in the city. Four years after purchase the place was laid out with a park in the center, but the park has since been re- placed by a boulevard, with the parks on the

sides. The property extends from West Adams street south, the lots are two hundred and four- teen feet deep, one hundred and twenty feet wide, and have seventy feet of driveway, leav- ing twenty-five each side for lawns. Mr. Bow- ker has also purchased sixty acres of land on Pico Heights, called the Washington and Pico Street Heights tract, east of Western avenue, and extending from Washington to Pico streets. The important thoroughfares in this tract are Oxford, Cambridge and Roxbury avenues and Dorchester and Pellissier streets.

No small share of the development of Ellen- cale is attributable to the co-operation of Mrs. Bowker, after whom this ideal building place is named, and for whom it is intended as a lasting monument to her graces of mind and character. Formerly Ellen Sanger Currier, she was a native of North Troy, Vt., and a daughter of John Wenneck Currier, also born in North Troy, and granddaughter of Ezekiel Currier, a farmer of the Green Mountain state. John Wenneck Cur- rier was a farmer in Vermont, and afterwards became interested in the lumber business on a large scale. With his six brothers he became a heavy owner of lumbering interests in Canada, and one of these brothers, Joseph Currier, was for sixteen years a member of the Canadian par- liament. John Wenneck Currier was an active member and worker in the Baptist Church, and continued to exert a strong influence in that re- ligious denomination up to the time of his death in Vermont. Through his marriage to Mary Butterfield Elkins he became allied to an envia- ble Revolutionary ancestry, for Mrs. Currier. who was born in Peacham, Mass., was a daugli- ter of Josiah Elkins, a native of Massachusetts, who, with his son, Capt. Curtis Elkins, was at the battle of Plattsburg. The ancestors came from England and Scotland. To Mr. and Mrs. Currier were born eight children, of whom three daughters and one son are living, Mrs. Bowker being the fourth. One of the sons, Hon. J. W. Currier, Jr., of North Troy, Vt., has been repre- sentative many times, and during the Civil war served the Union cause as a member of the Tenth Massachusetts Infantry.

Mrs. Bowker was reared in Vermont until her twelfth year, after which she lived with the rest of her family in New Hampshire. In 1867 she removed to St. Louis, and there, as in other places of residence, availed herself of every op- portunity for improvement. A great reader, slie has also learned much from observation, and has four times visited Europe for study and rec- reation. The development of Ellendale has proved an inexhaustible source of delight to her, and many of the ideas which have been incor- porated in the general plans originated in her artistic brain. Mr. Bowker has been a Repub- lican ever since General Fremont's time, but active politics have entered but slightly in his

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plans for activity. Formerly a Congregation- alist, he assisted in the construction of Plymouth Church, on Lovelace avenue, as a trustee and member of the building committee, but has now changed his allegiance to the Independent Church of Christ. He is a man of liberal tend- encies, and has been, and still is, one of the chief factors for progress of Los Angeles.

W. A. BONESTEL. It would be difficult to find a man better versed in all departments of the lumber business than is W. A. Bonestel, manager of large lumbering concerns in Ven- tura and other points of the state. A native of Greene county, N. Y., in the midst of the beau- tiful Catskills, he was born March 26, 1848, and is a son of C. D. Bonestel. Until 1861 he lived in his native county, and acquired his rudimen- tary education in the public schools there. On coming, via Panama, to San Francisco, he con- tinued to attend the public schools, supple- mented by attendance at Oakland College until the junior year. In 1867 he had the distinction of being appointed a cadet from Nevada to West Point, and returned east via the Panama route, but instead of entering the academy, he returned to Greene county, N. Y., and remained there until his removal, in 1869, to Decorah, Winne- shiek county, Iowa, where he prepared for fu- ture emergencies by learning the cooper's trade. This occupation was practically applied until 1881, when he removed to Ventura, his last year in the Iowa town being also devoted to his re- sponsibility as street commissioner, from which position lie resigned to come to California.

It was not until locating in Ventura that Mr. Bonestel became seriously interested in the lum- ber business, and his affairs were at first con- ducted under the firm name of Chaffee & Bone- stel. The yards were managed by himself until the concern was closed out in 1889. In 1891 he was one of the incorporators of the People's Lumber Company, of which his father was pres- ident and himself manager. The concern has a large yard in Ventura, which does a large busi- ness. In 1898 there was established an addi- tional yard in Oxnard, which, by the way, is the largest managed by the company, and in 1899 a yard was put in working order at Santa Paula, all of which are under the direct control and management of Mr. Bonestel. How well he is adapted to this particular manner of work is evidenced by the enormous output of the com- bined yards, the large patronage accorded the company in all parts of the county, and the rep- utation for reliability and solidity which their enterprise has created. Mr. Bonestel is also in- terested in oil production, and has interests in several prominent and paying concerns. He is a member of the Board of Trade, and was the first vice-president of the same in Ventura. As regards devotion to the welfare of the commu-

nity, he may be counted on to assist in further- ing any just project for improvement.

In Decorah, Iowa, Mr. Bonestel married Mary Riley, a native of London, England, and of this union there are two children: Charles, who is bookkeeper for the People's Lumber Company, and Margaret, who is a graduate of the high school class of 1901. Mrs. Bonestel is a member of and active worker in the Episcopal Church.

L. E. BLOCHMAN. The home of Mr. Blochman in Santa Maria represents all that is cultured and hospitable in this delightful South- ern California town. A westerner by birth and training, Mr. Blochman was born in San Fran- cisco, Cal., in 1856, was educated in the gram- mar and high schools of his native town, and as an initial means of support engaged in educa- tional work. In 1879 he began bookkeeping, for which he is so admirably fitted, and in 1881 associated himself with the firm of Weilheimer & Coblentz (subsequently Coblentz & Schwa- bacher) in the capacity of bookkeeper and gen- eral manager. In connection with his work he has maintained an interest in the upbuilding of this district, has appreciated its possibilities, and grasped its opportunities. The agricultural in- terests have materially benefited by his investi- gation and study, and to his efforts in organiz- ing, with others, in 1888, the Gum Tree Grow- ers' Association are due the splendid eucalyptus trees which in places protect this valley from the sea winds. By writing and otherwise he has continually advocated tree planting in the valley and town. For the twenty years that he has resided in the Santa Maria valley he has been a close observer of the weather. He is considered an authority on this subject, and has become associated with the State Weather Bureau. He is a Republican in politics and is a particularly earnest advocate of temperance.

In 1888 occurred the marriage of Mr. Bloch- man and Ida Twitchell, one of the leading edu- cators of Santa Barbara county. A graduate of the Iowa Agricultural College, Mrs. Blochman was valedictorian of her class, and has since mainly devoted her time to teaching. For sev- eral years before her marriage she was principal of the Santa Maria grammar school, and is now English and history teacher of the town high school. In 1886 she was the regular nominee for county superintendent of schools, and would have been elected had it not been for the preju- (lice against lier sex. She has been a member of the board of education for several years sub- sequently. Few women in the state have a more exhaustive knowledge of botany than has Mrs. Blochman, as evidenced par- ticularly by her exhibit of California plants at the World's Fair. She is a delightful and amiable woman, who has turned her abil-

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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 66

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