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 75

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

USA > California > 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 75

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

he vigorously worked to beautify the city. For his success in this work he deserves to be remem- bered as one of the city's benefactors. He cre- ated several subdivisions in the suburbs, and laid out one of the handsomest streets in Detroit, through the center of which was distributed in each block a park sixty feet wide, called Med- bury park. This was presented to the city with the proviso that his original plans be in no way allowed to deteriorate and that the beautifying process be kept up indefinitely. He established the building line back twenty-five feet, and this left the unusually large dimensions of sixty feet for park, sixty feet for pavement on each side of the park, and eighty feet for sidewalks and lawns. With a fine appreciation of the origina- tor's laudable project, the city has since taken commendable pride in carrying out his ideas, and the drives, walks and parks are surpassed by few cities. Mr. Robinson also laid out Robinson Ter- race, two hundred and seven feet of which are on Second avenue, and one hundred feet on Henry street, the whole constituting the most beautiful three-story terrace in the city. Adjoin- ing this he built his own brick residence, and next to that erected the Richelieu family hotel, an elegant structure three stories high. Numer- ous other buildings and improvements are attrib- utable to him, especially those on Cass park, all of which he eventually disposed of to other par- ties. Mr. Robinson was one of the incorpora- tors and directors of the Postal Telegraph Com- pany, which netted him enormous returns. He was also an incorporator and director in the Lake Huron and Michigan Steam Navigation Company, which owned and operated a large fleet of freighters between Buffalo and Chicago. As a director, as well as one of the largest stock- holders, he was interested in the Frontier iron works of Detroit, among the largest steam-en- gine builders on the lakes. He was also manag- ing director of the Hydro-Carbon Furnace Com- pany. Postmaster-General Don M. Dickinson was for years his associate partner in several large business enterprises.

Deciding upon an entire change of occupation and climate, in 1897 Mr. Robinson came to Santa Barbara and engaged in the oil business, his field of operation being Summerland. There he pur- chased the Wilson pumping plant and oil wells. The ownership and management of these wells is vested in the Robinson Oil Company, of which he is general manager. He is interested in oil in the Sunset district on the Kern river; also in the Southern Pacific Oil Company, of which he is managing director; and has besides a large interest in the Hickey-Robinson Drilling Com- pany at Summerland, of which he is finance man- ager. Broadening his scope of activity still fur- ther, he appreciates the prospects for oil in Texas, where he owns valuable oil lands. Hle is an incorporator and director of El Beaumont

Consolidated Oil Company, at Beaumont, Tex., also an incorporator and president of the Guar- antee Oil and Refining Company of Spindle Top. Tex. He is a member of the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce. While in Detroit he as- sisted in organizing the Board of Trade. Politi- cally he is a Republican, and fraternally is as- sociated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, being a charter member of the Santa Bar- bara Lodge.

In Rochester, N. Y., Mr. Robinson married Abigail Dyer, who was born in that city, and by whom he has two sons, Charles W. and Edwin S. The former, who is engaged in the oil busi- ness, is a director in the North Star Oil Com- pany, an incorporator and director of the Guar- antee Oil and Refining Company, and superin- tendent of the Robinson Oil Company's plant in Summerland. Edwin S. is treasurer of the Southern Pacific Oil Company, treasurer of the Hickey-Robinson Oil Well Drilling Company. treasurer of the Robinson Oil Company, an in- corporator of El Beaumont Consolidated Oil Company and an incorporator and director of the Guarantee Oil and Refining Company.

THOMAS BELL. The ranch of one hundred acres, owned and managed by Mr. Bell, is a worthy addition to the many splendid and pro- lific properties in the Ventura valley. Located two miles northeast of Oxnard, it has been fitted with all modern devices and improvements, fine house, barn, fences, hedges, windmill and pump- ing plant, for the irrigating of ten acres of lemons. There are also raised many other kinds of fruit for home consumption, as well as general farm produce.

A native of Richland county, Ohio, Mr. Beli was born October 2, 1849, a son of William and Polly (Turbett) Bell, natives of Pennsylvania, and of German descent. He grew to. manhood in his native state and county, and was reared to be a practical farmer and good manager. His education was acquired in the public schools. and later in life lie added to his original fund of information by wide reading and general ob- servation. With wise discernment for the future he came to Southern California June 5. 1871. and settled in Ventura county, where he worked for Jake K. Gries, in whose employ he continued for seventeen years. Naturally, the faithfulness to trust. indicated by this long retention in one service, would bring its reward, and in 1875 he had accumulated sufficient capital from his sav- ings to purchase one hundred acres of land. So rapid has been his success that he also now owns four hundred and twenty acres in partnership with Mr. Gries, near Springville Postoffice, which is rented out to other parties and is on a paying basis.

Much of his success Mr. Bell attributes to the companionship and sympathetic assistance of his

492

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

wife, who was formerly Frances H. Rice, of Sutter county, Cal., and whom he married in June, 1887. Mrs. Bell is a daughter of Samuel and Rebecca Rice, the former of whom was an early settler in California. Mr. Bell is a Repub- lican in politics, and has held several positions of trust, among them being the office of super- visor, to which his district elected him in 1892. He is one of the well-known and honored agri- culturists of his neighborhood, and his rise in the world is the result of his own ability and deter- mination to succeed. He is one of the promi- nent members of the Pioneer Society, which was founded in 1873.

W. B. METCALF, treasurer of Santa Barbara county since 1892, was born in Hydesville, Hum- boldt county, Cal., September 3, 1862. Of Eng- lish descent, he comes of a family first repre- sented in America by the paternal grandfather, who settled in Massachusetts, where he was en- gaged in the woolen business. His son, O. D., the father of W. B. Metcalf, was born in Anson, Somerset county, Me., and was a merchant in that state until his removal to California, via Panama, in 1862. The mercantile business was resumed in Hydesville, Humboldt county, Cal., until 1868, when he came to Santa Barbara county and engaged in the sheep business on an extensive scale. His ranch, called Guadalasca, consisted of twenty thousand acres, and the sheep industry flourished thereon until 1877, when a severe drought and the consequent loss resulted in the sale of the property and a re- sumption of mercantile pursuits. At present retired from active business, Mr. Metcalf is liv- ing in Santa Barbara. His wife, formerly Sarah W. Dinsmore, was born in Somerset county, Me. Her father, B. T. Dinsmore, was a lumber- man in the east and crossed the plains in the late '50s, settling at Hydesville, where he was in- terested in stock-raising, farming and mercantile enterprises. In 1868 he changed his field of activity to Santa Barbara county, where he owned a ranch called San Ysidoro, upon which in 1871 he set out the first orange grove of the vicinity, and was successful as an horticulturist and stock-raiser. His useful and industrious life terminated in 1881. He was the father of six children, of whom four sons and one daugh- ter are living.

The education of W. B. Metcalf was acquired in the public schools of Santa Barbara county, and in 1880 he came to the city and entered the employ of the First National Bank. At the end of three years he assisted his father in his mer- cantile business, and in 1886 became one of the organizers, and the cashier, of the Santa Barbara Savings Bank. Upon the reorganization of the hank a year later as the Commercial Bank, Mr. Metcalf continued to be the cashier, and has held the position ever since. In 1891 the same

officers incorporated the Santa Barbara Savings & Loan Bank, Mr. Metcalf necessarily filling a similar position with the new concern.

As a stanch and uncompromising Republican Mr. Metcalf has ever taken a keen interest in the undertakings of his party, and has been promi- nently before the public since 1892, when he was nominated county treasurer and elected by a large plurality over two candidates. Assuming the duties of his office in January of 1893, he was re-elected county treasurer in 1894, by an increased majority, over the fusion ticket which represented three candidates. In 1898 he was further honored by his fellow townsmen by being re-elected without opposition, his term of office to continue until January of 1903. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Fra- ternally Mr. Metcalf is associated with Masonic Lodge No. 192, and with the Royal Arch Ma- sons, in which he is past high priest, and with St. Omar Commandery No. 30, K. T., of which he is senior warden. He is especially active in Santa Barbara Parlor No. 116, Native Sons of the Golden West. At the convention of the Native Sons at Santa Barbara in 1901, Mr. Met- calf was chairman of the local executive commit- tee that arranged for the entertainment of the convention guests, and worked for a year pre- viously to raise the $4,000 used in carrying out their plans.

The marriage of Mr. Metcalf and Frances Chamberlain occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mrs. Metcalf being a native of Jacksonville, Ill., and a graduate of the Illinois Female College by which institution she received the degree of A. B. To Mr. and Mrs. Metcalf has been born one child, Stanley.

JARRETT T. RICHARDS. The history of the Richards family in America dates back to the latter part of the eighteenth century, when Rev. Lewis Richards was sent to Virginia as a missionary by Lady Huntingdon. There he mar- ried a Miss Custis, a member of the family to which belonged the first husband of Martha Washington. Their son, John Custis Richards, a native of Maryland, engaged in the wholesale mercantile business in Baltimore, but died in Chambersburg, Pa. Next in line of descent was John Custis Richards, Jr., M. D., one of the most influential physicians of his day and local- ity. Born in Baltimore, June 1, 1812, he was thirteen when he became a pupil in Bel Air Academy. In 1830 he matriculated as a sopho- more in Yale College, where he continued his studies until the close of the junior year, but was then called home by the extreme illness of his mother and brother, who shortly afterward died, leaving him the only survivor of a large family. Turning his attention to the study of medicine under Dr. Samuel Baker, professor of anatomy in the University of Maryland, he

493

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

afterward entered the University, from which he received the degree of M. D. in 1834. The early years of his professional life were passed in Baltimore, where he not only had a private practice, but also engaged in hospital work and was dispensary physician for a time. The confinement of city life proving too ex- hausting, in June, 1837, he removed to Cham- bersburg, Pa., where he soon built up a large practice and became a prominent citizen. His character was typical of the gentleman of the old school. Possessing the highest principles of honor, he was incapable of a mean act or an unkind deed. His devotion to Christianity was shown not alone by his membership in Falling Springs Presbyterian Church, but also by every act of a noble life. During the Civil war he acted as surgeon in charge of the hospital at Chambersburg, and in 1863 was appointed on the staff of the surgeon-general, as one of the volunteer aid corps of surgeons of Pennsylvania. July 3, 1864, when Chambersburg was burned, lie and other prominent citizens were captured and held for ransom, while threats were made to burn the city if a certain sum was not paid. The price being refused, the city was burned, the prisoners turned loose, and he hurried to his home, vainly hoping he might be in time to save something, but the effort was futile, and indeed he barely had time to escape from the burning city. Later he returned and assisted other citizens in the rebuilding of the town. He was an organizer of the Franklin County Medical Society, of which he was long a valued member. His death occurred June 11, 1874. We are in- debted to the Records of the Pennsylvania Medical Society for the above sketch of the life and ancestry of Dr. John Custis Richards.

In Chambersburg, Pa., where he was born November 1, 1843, Jarrett T. Richards received his primary education. Exceptional advantages were his, for he was privileged to study on the continent from 1861 to 1863. On his return he entered Columbia College, from which he was graduated in 1866, with the degree of LL. B., receiving at the same time the second prize in municipal law. During the same year he began to practice in New York in the office of Brown, Hall & Vanderpool, after which he spent sixteen months in Erie, Pa., and in 1868 came to Cali- fornia, arriving in Santa Barbara November 3. From that time to this he has engaged in pro- fessional work and is now the oldest practitioner in the city. Meantime he has been active in local affairs, and in 1875 served as mayor, while at another time he was city attorney. In 1879 he was one of the Republican candidates for justice of the supreme court, but the fusion between the Democrats and the Workingmen's party, caused the defeat of the whole Republican ticket, with one exception. As a citizen, he was pronounced in his opposition to railroad subsidy,

which he helped to defeat, saving the county from bonds and debt. As an attorney, he has been prominent in the litigation in this and Ventura counties during all the years of his residence in California. He is connected with the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce, is connected with the State Bar Association and for some time served on the state central com- mittee of the Republican party.

R. H. PINNEY. The executive and business ability of Mr. Pinney has contributed in no small degree to the upbuilding of many important en- terprises represented in Pasadena. Preceded by a many-sided career in different parts of the mid- dle west, he came to California in 1885, and has here availed himself of opportunities which have not only netted him large personal returns, but have placed many others in comfortable circum- stances. Possessing the gifts of insight and en- thusiasm himself, he has also the faculty of trans- mitting his plans to others, and thus enlisting their sympathy and co-operation.

A native of Woodhull, Steuben county, N. Y., Mr. Pinney was born November 10, 1847, a son of William H. and Sarah (Henck) Pinney, na- tives respectively of New York and Pennsylva- nia. The paternal grandfather, Ovid, was a man of force and determination, and accomplished much during the course of his well-directed life. He was born in New York, and for many years was a broker in Albany and Buffalo, which cities owe much of their subsequent prosperity to his efforts in the early days. He laid out many of the important parts of Albany, and otherwise contributed towards its substantial growth. Upon his removal to Minneapolis, .Minn., he became identified with the pioneer real estate interests of that city, where his death occurred. His son, William H. Pinney, was for many years a farmer in New York state, remov- ing at a later period to Redbank, N. J., and still later to New Brunswick, N. J. In the latter city he represented the Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany of New York, and still later represented the same company in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was very successful in the Buckeye state, but finally dis- posed of his business there and removed to Fort Scott, Kans., where he engaged in the banking business. About 1894 he came to Pasadena, where he lived in retirement until his death in 1898. He was a man of firm convictions, a stanch Abolitionist, a Republican, and a devoted member of the Universalist Church. Of the seven children in his family who are still living Mrs. V. E. Farmer and Lou M. are residents of Los Angeles; George H. is a broker and real estate dealer of Los Angeles; H. J. lives in Pasa- dena; and Chas. W. is engaged in the banking business at Caldwell, Idaho.

Until his tenth year R. H. Pinney lived in New York, and then accompanied the rest of his

194

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

father's family to New Jersey. He was educated in the public and private schools of New York and New Jersey. In 1865 he removed to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, and soon after spent a year on a farm near Berlin, Sangamon county, Ill. He was afterward assistant postmaster of Berlin, and in time postmaster, and at the expira- tion of his term of service associated him- self with the firm of Hayden & Ransom. a large mercantile firm at Jacksonville. After three years he removed to Lincoln, Neb .. and engaged in clerking, and was for a time steward of the "old Atwood House," and later the new Hotel Steward of that city. In the fall of 1872 he built the first building in Fairmont. Fillmore county, Neb., fifty miles west of Lin- coln, and started the first store in the place. The embryo hamlet was called Hesperia, but with the advent of the railroad the name was changed to the more practical one of Fairmont. Mr. Pinney became the first postmaster of the town, holding the office for many years, and in time becoming one of its most prominent and in- fluential citizens. He owned a large stock farm and started an implement business in connection with his general merchandise store. He secured a large mail contract from the government, be- tween Columbus, Neb., and Belleville, Kans. He also engaged in the brokerage business, and was justice of the peace for many years.

During this time Mr. Pinney represented the Equitable Loan and Trust Company of Omaha, Neb .; Newark, N. J., and Boston, Mass., placing for them many hundreds of thousands of dol- lars, taking as security the beautiful farms in Fillmore and York counties, at such reasonable rates of interest as to enable him to establish a very remunerative business. But on account of ill health of his family he was forced to a more sunny climate. In the spring of 1885 he located in Los Angeles. Two years later he disposed of his business in Fillmore county and later he sold his farm upon which he had been raising fine stock, and upon settling in Pasadena en- gaged in the real estate business. This venture proved a costly experiment and he withdrew, the loser by $40,000. The following year, in 1888. he started a feed and fuel business, in which he made a success. This was disposed of in 1899. that he might devote all of his time to the Mu- tual Building and Loan Association, in which he was a director, and of which he was appointed secretary. This association has done a great cleal for Pasadena, and by reason of its practical methods has made it possible for many to own honies who would otherwise be unable to pur- chase them. Mr. Pinney is also a member of the firm of Pinney & Nash, dealers in real es- tate, insurance and loans, through whose hands have passed some of the most important deals in the history of the city.

The mining and oil resources of California

have been recognized by Mr. Pinney to no small extent, and in the former capacity he is inter- ested in the Imperial Mining, Milling and Smelt- ing Company, at Imperial. In 1901 he organ- ized the Revenue Oil Company, bought forty acres of land near Bakersfield, Cal., and incor- porated the company. This property has proved a profitable investment, and the six wells sunk produce about ten thousand barrels per month, which has enabled the company to pay dividends. Mr. Pinney is secretary of this company. He fills a similar position with the Amazon Oil Company, operating upon forty acres of land in the Kern river district, where also there are six pumping wells. He organized and is secretary of the Hickler Oil Company, owning two hun- dred and seventy acres of oil land near Piru, Ventura county, adjoining a producing property. He is a member of the Pasadena Board of Trade and of the Merchants' Protective Association.

In Lincoln, Neb., Mr. Pinney married Rose T. Ballard, who died in Pasadena, leaving three children: William H., who was a student in the public schools of Pasadena and of the Univer- sity of Southern California, and is now advertise- ment writer for Hale Brothers, of San Francisco: Frank V., who was educated at Throop Institute and Los Angeles Business College, and is vice- president of the Arizona Newspaper Publishing Company, with headquarters at Bisbee; and Zola L., now the wife of Harry J. Royal, of Los Angeles, Cal. The second marriage of Mr. Pin- ney occurred in Pasadena, and was with Kath- arine L. Tower. a native of Massachusetts. Mr. Pinney is associated with the Royal Arcanum, the Knights of the Maccabees, and the Frater- nal Brotherhood. Since his boyhood days in Illinois he has been an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in Fairmont. Neb., he helped to organize the Methodist Episcopal Church of that town. In Pasadena he is connected, as steward, treasurer and secretary of the executive committee, with the First Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and was a member of the building committee when the magnificent new edifice was erected. In politics he was a Republican, but since 1887 has been allied with the Prohibition party. He is a stanch advocate of temperance, not only as the term is applied to intoxicants, but in the general affairs of life.

IRA O. SMITH. During the last eighteen years of his life the city of Los Angeles claimed the citizenship of Ira O. Smith, who for a time came and went in the busy marts of trade, later retiring to a merited rest from former activity. A stately personality, carrying under a reserved demeanor a splendid business capacity and un- impeachable integrity, he had a nature which drew its chief inspiration from the appreciation and good-will of intimate friends, and from the love of those gathered around his own fireside.

Alemanas

497

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

The keynote to his character was his love of home, and his business success was bounded on all sides by the strictest honor. His death, May 8, 1901, removed one of those who constitute an undercurrent in the community of never-varying strength.

Like so many who find in the City of the An- gels a pleasant place in which to spend their mature years, Mr. Smith came here crowned with a reputation as one of the most successful and progressive pioneers of another part of the country, his efforts having been directed to the upbuilding of Michigan. A native of Victor, Monroe county, N. Y., he was born in January of 1827, and when eleven years of age removed with his parents to Flint, Mich. His father was one of the founders of Rochester, N. Y., and a promoter of the Erie canal. In a state renowned for its lumbering opportunities, his son naturally became interested in this line of occupation, and at the age of twenty went to Grand Haven, Mich., where he was thus engaged for five years. In the midst of an almost impenetrable forest he purchased the well-known Black Lake mill, and bent his energies to not only operating the same, but to clearing the surrounding country, making roads, and transforming the wilderness into a business center. It is not surprising that his reward was equal to his labor, and that in 1862, after disposing of his milling interests, he had to show for his pains a considerable fortune. After removing to Muskegon, Mich., his pro- nounced business insight found vent in connec- tion with the Muskegon Booming Company, the largest lumber organization in the state, of which he eventually became president. As proof of his good management it is only necessary to state that the stockholders received an annual dividend of twenty per cent. While amassing a large fortune in Muskegon, he held numerous official positions in the city, and was successively elected county clerk, registrar, supervisor and al- derman, filling these offices of trust with singular regard for the best interests of the community. After removing to Ashland, and engaging in the manufacture of lumber with a former partner from Michigan, the goddess of fortune still con- tinued to direct his undertakings, and to retain him as one of the favored sons of toil.

Upon removing to Los Angeles Mr. Smith de- cided to retire from business activities, although after a time he became a director in the Citizens' Bank, and in this capacity was associated with leading business men of the town. Two months before his death, owing to long continued rheu- matism, he retired from the bank association, and was thereafter confined to his home. During his life here his favorite recreation was duck hunting, at which he was an expert. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and a Knight Templar. Mr. Smith was twice married, and is survived by his wife, who was formerly Mrs.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 75

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