History of Los Angeles county, Volume II, Part 12

Author: McGroarty, John Steven, 1862-1944
Publication date: 1923
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 840

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HARRY S. DUFFIELD, a veteran actor whose character, ability and gracious personality reflected honor and distinction upon the American stage, was specially loved and admired in California, where he passed the closing period of his singularly gentle and idyllic life. He was the recognized dean of his profession in the United States at the time of his death, which occurred at his home in Los Angeles on the 13th of October, 1921.

Harry Saunders Duffield was born in a house opposite the Cathedral on State Street in the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, on the 3rd of May, 1850, and was a son of Saunders Balch Duffield and Sarah (Twogood) Duffield, both of whom attained to high reputation in dramatic and theatrical work, though the mother was still a young woman at the time of her death, which occurred at Charleston, South Carolina, November 1, 1854, when her son Harry S. was a child of four years. The latter after the death of his mother was placed in the care of Mr. and Mrs. James Jackson, loyal friends of his parents and residents at that time of New Orleans. Much of the early education of the future dramatic artist was received under the direction of private tutors, and his early training in the South left indelible impress upon him. Throughout his life, to the end, he was distinguished for the antebellum Southern touch in his dress; and for the stately urbanity and soft, winning courtesy of his speech and manner.

In 1857, when seven years of age, Mr. Duffield joined his father in Mobile, Alabama, and thereafter he continued his studies in an academy and later in Spring Hill College. In 1862, prior to his twelfth birthday anniversary, due to circumstances connected with the outbreak of the Civil war, he became separated from his father and went with Harry McCarthy, author of popular lyric songs of that period, and with him made a tour of the South, where he assisted in Mr. McCarthy's entertain- ments and also sold the latter's songs among the audiences. In 1862 the two were at Mobile, Alabama, and young Harry, though not yet thirteen years of age, contrived to enlist as drummer boy in the Twentieth Alabama Regiment, with which he served several months in the command of Gen- eral E. Kirby Smith, the distinguished Confederate officer. General Smith finally discovered the extreme youth of the boy, provided him with funds sufficient to enable him to return to his father, and had him sent through the Union lines under a flag of truce. He joined his father, who was the manager of a theater at Cincinnati, Ohio, and there he attended school for a brief interval. At the age of twelve years Mr. Duffield had gone to the City of New York, where he was employed by an actor named William H. Crisp to look after the latter's office and stage wardrobe. Shortly after- ward he made his first appearance on the stage, and spoke his first lines, as a page, and when the season closed he was employed as assistant to a magician, whose venture proved a failure. He then joined the Waldron family of players, which traveled under the title of the "Queen Sisters," and finally, after a period of somewhat turbulent experience, he rejoined his father in Cincinnati. The father was a leading stock-company man- ager of that day; with control of theaters in Cincinnati, Louisville and Nashville, and under his direction Harry received excellent tutorship which fortified him for the profession of his choice, his progressive advancement as an actor bringing him into contact with the many great players of that time and giving him splendid inspiration. He became a leading stock

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

actor in various cities, appeared in New York City, and gained approval also on the stage in the City of London.

In 1883 Mr. Duffield initiated his career as touring manager and star. In this connection his was the first company to play in cities and towns along the Northern Pacific Railroad, which had just been completed. The tour was extended into California, and involved much of pioneer theatri- cal experience along the Pacific Coast. His love for this beautiful South- land led him eventually to identify himself fully and loyally with California. He became a charter member of the distinguished dramatic company organized by Timothy Daniel Frawley, with which he continued seven years. He then joined the Oliver Morosco Stock Company, of which he was the dean and the only one to whom was granted a life contract by the great western theatric manager, Oliver Morosco. It was in the Morosco stock company that he faced his last audience, on the 1st of October, 1921. The fifty-ninth anniversary of his debut on the stage occurred on the 10th of September of that year, the occasion having been marked by a special tribute rendered to him at the theater by a large company of his brother Elks, a fraternity dear to his heart. At his funeral the members of his loved fraternity paid high tribute to the deceased. He was a life member and honorary life chaplain of Los Angeles Lodge, No. 99, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, in whose lodge room at Los Angeles a most beautiful and appreciative memorial address was delivered by his long-time friend and fellow-actor, James Neill. A fine heart and fine soul had indwelling in the mortal tenement of Harry S. Duffield, and he was loved by all who came within the sphere of his gracious, patrician and ever kindly influence. His memory will long be cherished in California and in the profession which he signally adorned and dignified. His funeral was held under the auspices of the Elks, and thus did the curtain fall on the final act of the career of a man who was good and true in all of the rela- tions of life. Mr. Duffield is survived by his widow and one son and one daughter by an earlier marriage.

Mr. Duffield's deceased wife, professionally known as Phosa Mc- Allister, has been called "the Mrs. Gilbert of the West." She was an especially gifted dramatic artist. Her death occurred in Glendale on the 23rd of December, 1909.

On the 21st of July, 1913, Mr. Duffield was united in marriage with Miss Jessie B. O'Dell who was born in the State of Missouri and who was eleven years of age at the time of the family removal to California. She is a daughter of Alfred J. and Mary Elizabeth (Adams) O'Dell, the latter a cousin of Maude Adams, the loved and distinguished American actress. Mrs. Duffield remains in the home which her husband provided, at 2742 Francis Avenue, Los Angeles, a place endeared to her by hallowed memo- ries and associations.

ALEXIS C. JEFFRIES. In the death of the late Alexis C. Jeffries, which occurred August 10, 1921, the City of Los Angeles lost a citizen who had impressed himself upon the community as a man of sterling character, broad intellect anl high ideals. An agriculturist by vocation and training, his inclinations led him to intellectual pursuits, and during his long, useful and honorable life he attained something more than local reputation as a Bible student.

Mr. Jeffries was born February 17, 1839, on a little farm near Canal Winchester, Ohio, and was the son of James H. and Mary M. (Benadum) Jeffries. His grandparents were James and Anna (Ball) Jeffries, both of Scotch and Welsh ancestry, residents of Virginia, where James Jeffries was an extensive planter and slaveholder and at one time was owner of 500 slaves. Eventually he lost all his possessions and in a four-horse wagon made his way to Ohio to begin life anew. There he passed the remainder of his career. By his first wife he had four children: Richard, Eliza, James H. and Benjamin. After her death he again married, and to

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

this union there were born five children: Sidney, Peggy, Inman, Henry and Sallie.

James H. Jeffries, the father of Alexis Jeffries, was born in Farquhar County, Virginia, January 21, 1811, and was eleven years of age when he accompanied his father's family to Ohio. They settled on what is now known as the Baldwin farm, near the corporation line of what is now the City of Lancaster, and there, as he grew to manhood, James H. Jeffries became the main support of the family, his father having become broken in health and spirit by his financial misfortunes. At the age of twenty-two years, September 23, 1833, James H. Jeffries married Mary M. Benadum, of Fairfield County, Ohio, and they moved to the vicinity of Winchester, where they purchased property and resided for a period of fifteen years. They became the parents of fourteen children : Jerome Hamilton, Isabelle Jemima, Josephine Electa, Alexis C., Alonzo Hanby, Lucius Otterbein, Dallas Kumler, Justina Victoria, Sophia Melissa, Legrand Edwards, Elnora Florence, Lucita Alice, Ida Isadora and Letitia Alcena. In 1848 the family moved to Pleasant Township, where they spent five years, and in 1853 purchased a farm in the northeast corner of Walnut Township, Fairfield County, on which they spent thirty-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Jeffries enjoyed fifty-four years of wedded life, were the parents of four- teen children, and had thirty-six grandchildren and five great-grandchil- dren. He died April 26, 1887, at the age of seventy-six years.

Alexis C. Jeffries was given ordinary educational advantages, but was a studious youth and spent much of his leisure time in reading. He was reared on the home farm, where he remained even after his marriage, leaving there to live on the farm belonging to his father-in-law. From there he moved to his own farm, remaining until 1881, when he came to Los Angeles and bought a 100-acre ranch on what is now known as the Hunter Highland View Tract. This tract of land was highly improved by Mr. Jeffries and his wife, and the home place, with its tall eucalyptus trees, which he planted himself, still stands as one of the show places of Los Angeles. At the time he farmed this piece of land he hired Chinese as laborers to do the work for him in gardening, and they lived on his place. As Los Angeles grew to be a city this farm became valuable close-in property, and a car line was established by the Los Angeles Railway Company running through the center of the tract, which was later sub-divided by the Jeffries family, a building corporation formed, and it is now a residential and business center of the city.

Mr. Jeffries spent twenty years in agricultural operations and achieved success through industry and good management, always maintaining a policy of rugged honesty that won the confidence of all with whom he associated. During his later years he spent more and more time in the study of the Bible, which he always regarded as the great masterpiece of literature and in its truths of which he firmly believed. Retiring from the life of an agriculturist, for the last thirty years he traveled extensively through England, Australia and India, and all through the Holy Land. A man of the highest personal character, he inspired respect and esteem. He was the author of several books on the Bible, which he had published and distributed amongst people interested in religious subjects. At the time of his death he had completed his last writing and sent to press six thousand volumes, making provision that these books should be distributed where they would do the most good and be most appreciated. Up to the time of his last illness he had always enjoyed rugged health, his death being caused by an attack of heart trouble, which occurred at the home of his daughter, Mrs. L. E. Boyer, 3291 Arroyo Seco. Interment was made at Inglewood Cemetery. Mr. Jeffries was in his eighty-second year.

On February 20, 1861, Mr. Jeffries was united in marriage in Ohio with Miss Rebecca Boyer, who died in 1911. and to this union were born ten children, of whom two died in infancy, the others being: Almeda F., the widow of Lewis E. Boyer of Los Angeles; Calvin C., who resides in the East ; Lydia, the wife of J. H. Southworth, of Ocean Park. California ;

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Thomas, now deceased ; John H., of Los Angeles ; James J., former world's heavyweight boxing champion; Charles, of Los Angeles; and Lillian, the wife of C. O. Metcalf, of San Pedro, this state.

The late Lewis E. Boyer, husband of Almeda F. Jeffries, was born at Canal Winchester, Ohio, being the son of Marcus L. Boyer and Sarah Dowdall, who were the parents of nine children, two dying in infancy, the others, most of whom reside in Ohio, being: Lewis E., of Los Angeles; Daniel G., Mary Weiser, Grace Fellers, Margaret Coffman, Gertrude Roller and Nancy Young, wife of Dr. J. H. Young, of San Diego, Cali- fornia. At the time of his death, December 25, 1921, he was in his sixty- first year. He was for twenty-two years in the employ of the Los Angeles Pacific Railway, now a part of the Pacific Electric System, and with the organization of the Personally Conducted Trolley Trips about nineteen years ago became a guide of that service. During those years Mr. Boyer probably formed a greater number of acquaintances than any other man in this section of the country, and his popularity with tourists was never equaled. His personality and his courtesy in looking after the well being of his clients were lastingly impressed upon many people, as evidenced by the hundreds of letters which he received from all parts of the country seeking information and calling to his mind the enjoyable time spent with him. During these nineteen years he had been a reliable human encyclo- pedia of knowledge regarding Los Angeles and the adjacent territory through which he traveled, and became, more and more as the years passed, a valuable public servant in the fullest sense of the term. In nineteen years he made in excess of 6,000 trips over his circuit, and it is not to be doubted that during that time he addressed at least a half million persons. He contributed his share to the upbuilding of the country as one of the oldest and most loyal employes of his company and as an obliging, courteous and at all times reliable worker, in his field of endeavor. He is survived by his widow and five children, all of whom are residents of Los Angeles : Sarah Rebecca, wife of Dr. R. E. Smith, James A. Boyer, Harold C. Boyer, Charles L. Boyer and Marvin L. Boyer.

OSCAR FREEMAN is a retired resident and business man of Pasadena, and has lived and been an active factor in the community for forty years. He has combined the capital spirit of the business man with a love of books and the humanities, and is one of Pasadena's most accomplished citizens.

He was born in Walworth County, Wisconsin, October 18, 1856. and has never married. His parents were William and Mary (Cole) Freeman. As a boy he attended public schools at Genoa, Wisconsin, and from an early age began assisting his father, who for many years conducted an extensive lumber business at Genoa Junction, Wisconsin. It was under his father that he acquired a thorough business training and education.

When' Mr. Freeman came to Pasadena, about 1883, he interested himself in the lumber business, and upon the organization and incor- poration of the Pasadena Manufacturing Company in 1887 he became a stockholder and was elected its first secretary. This industry, manu- facturing and handling sash, doors and mill work of all kinds, is one of Pasadena's thriving industries today and is the second oldest manu- facturing institution in the city, the premier honors in that respect being claimed by the Kerckhoff-Cuzner Mill & Lumber Company. Mr. Freeman was actively connected with the Pasadena Manufactur- ing Company until he retired in 1915.

Since then he has found many interests to claim his time and attention, including the duties of public spirited citizenship. At his home on Pleasant Street he has one of the finest private libraries in the city. He is a member of Pasadena Lodge No. 272, F. and A. M. Is a member of Al Malaikalı Shrine of Los Angeles reaching it through bothi 'the York and Scottish Rites and has membership in Pasadena

Not Celler

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Commandery No. 31 and Pasadena Consistory No. 4. He is also a thirty-third degree Mason and is a past officer in all the York Rite bodies. He is a director in the California Security and Loan Cor- poration. In politics he is a republican.

LEWIS R. MCKESSON is president of the Pasadena Manufacturing Company, the oldest industrial establishment in the city except the Kerckhoff-Cuzner Lumber Company. Mr. Mckesson has been actively associated with this business for over twenty years, and has had a great deal to do with its success and solid prosperity. The company are manufacturers and dealers in sash, doors, mill work, glass and hardwood lumber. The headquarters are at 145-227 South Broadway.

Mr. Mckesson was born at Genoa Junction, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, February 14, 1883, son of George W. and Sarah (Robert- son) Mckesson., The Mckesson and Robertson families have been in the United States for several generations. His grandfather, James Mckesson, was an early settler of Wisconsin and was a farmer, carpenter, dancing master, and had a range of accomplishments that made him an invaluable factor in a new country. He was elected and served as a member of the Legislature. The grandfather Robertson was also an early settler in Kenosha County. George W. and Sarah (Robertson) Mckesson were also born at Genoa Junction, and they still live there and own the old homestead taken up by James Mckesson from the Goverment. George Mckesson followed farming until he retired. He has been active in county politics, and is a republican .. In the family were four sons and one daughter. The oldest is James C. Mckesson, named for his grandfather. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, and is a land holder and lawyer living at Richmond, Virginia. The only daughter, Mary, is Mrs. A. B. Cooper, of Toledo, Iowa. The other children are all in California, George W. Mckesson, Jr., being secretary and treasurer of the Pasadena Manufacturing Company and has lived in Pasadena since December 1921 ; while Harold F. is a resident of San Bernardino.

Lewis R. Mckesson, the third child in the family, was educated in the public schools of Burlington, Wisconsin. Soon after leaving school he came to Pasadena, in 1901, and entered the service of the Pasadena Manufacturing Company in the capacity of a collector, at forty dollars a month. This business was established in 1887. Mr. Mckesson has been connected with every department, and he acquired a financial interest in the business in July, 1918, and since that date has been president.

Mr. Mckesson is a republican voter, is a York Rite and thirty- second degree Scottish Rite Mason, member of Pasadena Lodge No. 272, A. F. and A. M., and Al Malaikah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the Kiwanis Club of Pasadena, the Union League Club of Los Angeles, the Pasadena Golf Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of the City Planning Commission of Pasadena, his membership in these organizations indicating his public spirited interest in all the important affairs of the community.

At Pasadena, November 4, 1912, Mr. Mckesson married Miss Ruby L. Breed. She was born and educated in Milwaukee, was a graduate of the Pasadena High School, and she died at her home in Pasadena, April 12, 1922. Mr. Mckesson, whose home is at 1445 Loma Vista, has one son, Howard F., born July 28, 1917.

WILLIAM F. CRELLER has through effective service and correct methods developed in the City of Pasadena a substantial and prosperous plumbing and steam and hot-water heating business, with well equipped headquarters at 120 West Colorado Street, and he is also one of the progressive and

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

loyal citizens who take deep interest in all that concerns the communal welfare.

Mr. Creller was born on a farm in the Province of Ontario, Canada, February 10, 1875, and is a son of Adam H. and Julia A. (Livingston) Creller, both natives of the same county as is their son. The father was continuously identified with farm enterprise during the major part of his active career, and about the year 1897 he came with his family to River- side, California, in which district he was associated with orange culture until 1912, when he established his residence at Pasadena. Here he was connected with the city park department until his death in 1919, his widow being still a resident of this city and the subject of this review being the eldest of the three surviving children.

The early education of William F. Creller was acquired in the public schools of his native province in Canada, and later he took a course in a business college at Saginaw, Michigan. In that city he also learned the plumber's trade, with further experience in the City of Detroit, and he continued to work as a skilled journeyman at his trade for a number of years. In the meantime his parents had come to California, but is was not until 1900 that he followed them to this state. He passed the first year at Riverside, and since 1901 he has maintained his home at Pasadena. In 1904 he here engaged in business in an independent way, and he has become one of the most successful representatives of the plumbing and heating business in the city. While a resident of Michigan he became a private in the Saginaw Light Infantry, in which he won promotion to the office of captain.

Mr. Creller is a loyal supporter of the principles of the republican party, and he served four years, 1914-18, as a member of the City Com- mission of Pasadena. He is a member of the local Rotary Club, and also of the Flint Ridge Country Club, besides which he was chairman of the athletic committee of the Tournament of Roses Association of Pasadena, in the promotion of the annual tournaments of which he has been active and influential since 1914. He is scout master of Troop No. 16 of the Boy Scouts of Pasadena. Mr. Creller is a past master of Pasadena Lodge No. 272, A. F. and A. M. ; is a past commander of Pasadena Commandery, Knights Templars, besides which he has received in the time honored fraternity the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, is affiliated with the temple of the Mystic Shrine in the City of Los Angeles, and is a past patron of the Pasadena Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, of which his wife likewise is a member, as is she also of the local Shakespeare Club and the Woman's Relief Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Creller are active members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in their home city.

At Saginaw, Michigan, on the 9th of September, 1896, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Creller and Miss Iva Maude Charland, who was born and reared in Michigan and who graduated from the West Side High School at Saginaw. Bernice C., the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Creller, was born at Lansing, Michigan, and is a graduate of the Pasadena High School and of the Potts Business College of this city, she being now the wife of R. I. Strand, of Pasadena.

Mr. Creller is one of the "live wires" in the City of Pasadena, is specially prominent in the Masonic fraternity, and no one has been more vital and enthusiastic in bringing success to the annual Tournament of Roses in this city, an event that attracts visitors and admirers from far and wide.

ERNEST FOTHERGILL CROSHER. In noting business solidity and enter- prise at Pasadena, attention may be called to the development of the drug business under the able ownership and management of the owner and proprietor of the two leading drug stores here, Ernest Fothergill Crosher, who has been indentified with this line of business all his life.

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Mr Crosher was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1873, a son of John and Isabelle (Fothergill) Crosher. His father was born September 16, 1844, and died January 15, 1880. He had great talent as a musician. On May 8, 1872, he married Miss Isabelle Fothergill, who was born at Fort Kingston, Ontario, Canada, June 21, 1849, and died January 26, 1920. She was a daughter of Capt. Robert Fothergill, who was born in Wales in 1803, and died in 1879. He was captain in the Royal Engineers on Her Majesty's Ship Cherokee, took part in the siege of Sebastopol in 1853, and was twice decorated by Queen Victoria, receiving the Baltic and the Chinese medals. He married Mary Warray, born in 1808, at Chamberwell, near London, England, and died at Newcastle, Ontario, in 1880. The mother of Mr. Crosher was the youngest of their seven children.

Ernest F. Crosher was but seven years old when his father died. He was primarily educated at Newcastle, Ontario, where he completed the high school course and then entered Trinity College School at Port Hope, Ontario. On August 1, 1891, he signed apprentice papers with Stott & Jury, druggists, at Bowmanville, Ontario, to serve four years, the contract providing that he should receive $72 for the first year, $96 for the second, $120 for the third and $200 for the fourth year, the first payment to be made six months from date. . The terms of the contract were faithfully lived up to, and after four years of study and practical experience Mr. Crosher entered the Ontario College of Pharmacy at Toronto, where he remained one year and was grad- uated therefrom in 1896.

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume II, Part 12

Author: McGroarty, John Steven, 1862-1944 Publication date: 1923 Publisher: Number of Pages: 840

Author: McGroarty, John Steven, 1862-1944
Publication date: 1923
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 840