History of Los Angeles county, Volume II, Part 22

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

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In speaking of her work, the Los Angeles Examiner said of Mrs. Clark :

"Mrs. Clark not only played some numbers in a masterly way, but also increased the interest of her audience with brief explanatory talks on different compositions."

The Pasadena Star-News: "Mrs. Clark played with characteristic fire and delicacy. ... And in response to enthusiastic appreciation of the beautiful program gave a very beautiful rendition of the difficult Liszt arrangement of the Lucia di Lammermoor."

The Pasadena Star: "Mrs. Clark as on previous occasions proved herself to be a pianist of extraordinary gifts, both interpretatively and technically. The Sonata of Beethoven was prefaced with an analysis that added greatly to the interest.

"The 'Etude Japonaise' was given with exquisite daintiness and verve, and, contrasting with the more profound numbers, gave evidence of the versatility of the musician.

"The MacDowell number was very beautifully rendered, and was fol- lowed by the difficult and brilliant 'Rigoletto,' this number being one of the high lights of the evening."

Mrs. Clark is a member of Matinee Musical Club, is chairman of the musical committee of the MacDowell Club, and was chairman and first vice-president of the Matinee Musical Club.

Mr. and Mrs. Clark had two sons born to them, both of whom served in the aviation branch of the service during the late war, the elder being an officer. Mr. Clark died in Switzerland during the war.

In her recital work Mrs. Clark has achieved much, and her presentations of groups of aspirants for consideration in the artist-pupil class have become a feature of the musical life of this section. Appreciative audiences are always at hand and the teachers offer only those proficient enough to prove

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thoroughly entertaining to the listeners, while Mrs. Clark's own work is beyond criticism, for she always plays with fine artistry and virile style.

LESTER F. MILLER. A resident of California from September, 1884, until his death in 1922, Lester F. Miller was identified with the growth and development of the business interests of Pasadena and Los Angeles, where he was connected with a number of important ventures. He was a native of Saranac, New York, born September 8, 1840, and when he was twelve years of age was taken by his parents to Munson, Ohio, acquiring his education in the public schools of that state, principally at Cleveland.

When the Civil war came on Mr. Miller had not reached his twenty- first year, but enlisted in the Forty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, with which he served until the close of the great civil struggle, participating in every engagement of his regiment from Stone River to the cessation of hostilities and rising from the rank of private to that of first lieutenant. A beautiful silk flag was made and presented by the ladies of Chardon, Ohio, to this Forty-first Regiment. The flag was borne through all the battles of this division. A furlough was granted to the regiment, and it was Lieutenant Miller who was commissioned to carry back the torn and tattered emblem to the ladies of Chardon. It now remains in that town, a cherished reminder of the Civil war in the U. S. A. In later years Mr. Miller was a member of John A. Godfrey Post, Grand Army of the Republic.

Following his military service, in which he had come safely through all his battles without wound of any kind, he returned to Munson, Ohio, where he engaged in a general mercantile business. There, April 22, 1866, he was united in marriage with Miss Celestia E. Taylor, of Chester, Ohio, to which state her parents had removed at an early date. Mr. and Mrs. Miller resided at Munson for several years, then removing to Bay City, Michigan, where Mr. Miller embarked in the wholesale produce business. In 1884 his health failed and, acting on his physician's advice, he came to California in September of that year, locating at Pasadena, where he was engaged in the real estate business. He actively engaged in subdividing into home sites, small ranches and orange groves for the rapidly growing population of Pasadena. Later he came to Los Angeles and became one of the founders of the Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company, of which he was secretary and general manager for a long period. A man of high principles, business integrity and personal probity, he was held in the warmest confidence and esteem by his associates and his death removed one who had at all times the interests of his city at heart. He was a charter member of the First Baptist Church of Pasadena and a deacon therein. He was buried at Pasadena.

Mr. Miller is survived by his widow, Mrs. Celestia E. Miller, of 5747 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, and three sons : E. H., of Los Angeles ; H. L., of Pasadena ; and G. E., of Hollywood.

BERNARD THEODORE HALBERG. In few sections of the West at the present time is true musical talent more quickly recognized or more gener- ously encouraged than at Los Angeles, for this beautiful, attractive city has undoubtedly become the artistic center that dominates much more than the State of California. To this city came the late Bernard Theodore Halberg in early manhood, and from then until the time of his death he was prominently identified with its musical interests.

Mr. Halberg was born at Provo, Utah County, Utah, in 1869, and died of heart failure at his home in Los Angeles on May 18, 1922. He was young when his parents removed to California and settled at San Jose. They are no longer living, but he is survived by two brothers and two sisters: Andrew, of La Junta, Colorado; John, of Clemenceau, Arizona ; Mrs. Charles Nelson, of Oakland, California ; and Mrs. Anna Nelson, of San Francisco. Mr. Halberg was especially proficient on the cornet and as trumpeter in orchestral work. While yet a young man he was a member

- Benj Folsom

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of the Catalina Band for several seasons and later for sixteen years was trumpeter in the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra .. During his entire period of residence at Los Angeles he was a member of the orchestras of leading theaters, playing in the Burbank, the Belasco, the Morosco and the Mason for a period of twenty-two years.

In 1897 Mr. Halberg married Miss Edith Houston, who survives. Her parents, James Edward and Lura Jane (McCready) Houston, on their wedding journey crossed the plains to Oregon in 1864, in a covered wagon, and on this journey found much of the romance endangered by encounters with hostile Indians and on one occasion their stock was stampeded. Her father became a man of political prominence, and during his last year in Oregon was his party's candidate for governor. Failing health led to his removal to California, where his death occurred in 1891. The mother of Mrs. Halberg survived him many years, her death occurring February 26, 1922.

Mr. Halberg was a Mason of high degree and a Shriner, being a member of Silver Trowel Lodge No. 415, F. and A. M .; Los Angeles Lodge of Perfection No. S, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite ; and Los Angeles Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He was a member also and active in the American Federation of Musicians, 'No. 47, Los Angeles. He was not only a thoroughly qualified musician whose talent amounted to genius, but was also a man of sterling character and commanded respect wherever known.

BENJAMIN FOLSOM. Though the active period of his career was past when he came to Pasadena, and he made few efforts to establish himself in professional work here, Benjamin Folsom was sincerely admired and respected in that circle of social intimates who could appreciate his dis- tinctive services at the bar and in diplomatic affairs, and his character and culture.

Mr. Folsom, who died at his home 727 North Orange Grove Avenue in Pasadena August 17, 1922, was in his seventy-fifth year. His home had been in Pasadena nearly twenty years. He was born at Folsomdale, Wyo- ming County, New York, December 5, 1847, son of Benjamin R. and Mary (Rathbone) Folsom. The Folsom family genealogy in America begins with the landing of John Folsom in 1638 at Hingham, Massachusetts. The late Mr. Folsom was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. His early education was acquired in the Attica Union School and the Wyoming Academy, followed by preparation for college in the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, New York. He entered the University of Rochester in the fall of 1867, pursuing the classical course and graduating A. B. and with honors in 1871. His alma mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree in 1888.

Following his college career Mr. Folsom had an interesting experience in journalism, serving as a correspondent during 1871-72, and in the latter year went to Europe as a correspondent for the New York World. The late Mr. Folsom was one of the pioneer "column conductors," and many years before that journalistic section had become so common he wrote a humorous column in the Buffalo Commercial under the nom de plume of "Bence de Quizby." His journalistic work included service with the Rochester Union Advertiser and the New York World. For many years he was an occasional writer for the press, and had the gift of fluent expression in both prose and verse. A poem composed by him on Nathan Hale, the famous Revolu- tionary martyr, did much to renew appreciation of that character and resulted in many cities erecting statues to Hale. Mr. Folsom possessed delicate wit and gentle humour, the direct expression of his kindly character, and he was greatly loved in his circle of intimate friends.

Mr. Folsom was admitted to the New York bar in 1875, and practiced law at Buffalo from 1878 to 1886. He was a cousin of Frances Folsom, who was married in the White House to Grover Cleveland in 1886. The Father of Frances- Folsom had been President Cleveland's law partner in

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Buffalo, and the Clevelands and Folsoms were close friends. In 1886 President Cleveland appointed Mr. Benjamin Folsom United States Consul at Sheffield, England, and he was abroad engaged in his official duties there until 1893. Following that he resumed private law practice at Buffalo until 1902, and in 1903 located at Pasadena.

The late Mr. Folsom was satisfied to work in the ranks of the democratic party and never sought a nomination for office. He was affiliated with Washington Lodge No. 240, F. and A. M., at Buffalo, Talbot Chapter of the Rose Croix of the Scottish Rite at Sheffield, England, was a member of the University Club of Buffalo, St. George's Club at London, and the Sheffield Club at Sheffield, England. In California he was affiliated with Corona Lodge No. 324, F. and A. M., was a member of the California, Annandale and Valley Hunt Club, and was a member of the Episcopal Church.

October 11, 1893, at Muskegon, Michigan, Mr. Folsom married Ella Blanchard Howard, of Rochester, New York. Mr. Folsom is survived by Mrs. Folsom and one daughter, Mrs. Murray Bartlett, of Geneva, New York, wife of Dr. Murray Bartlett, president of Hobart College.

MIRIAM VAN WATERS, Ph. D., is a noble and gracious gentlewoman and practical humanitarian who has made a record of constructive service in sociological welfare work, and it may consistently be said that if she glories in any one thing it is in that of service to humanity. She now holds the office of referee of the Juvenile Court of Los Angeles County, and in the position finds ample scope for her optimistic and faithful service to those who greatly need the same. In a preliminary way it is but consistent to make liberal quotations from an interesting and helpful article which Dr. Van Waters contributed to the monthly bulletin of the Friday Morning Club of Los Angeles, under date of October 12, 1920:

"Scientific method, humanitarian spirit, democratic control-these three factors mark the real social work of today. They distinguish especially the Juvenile Court of Los Angeles, now become nationally famous. Working slowly, without publicity or show, a record of expert achievement has been set which should comfort the hearts of the citizens of California who made it possible, first, by enactment of the best Juvenile Court law in America; second, by support of its principles. But this law is most ignorantly misunderstood. Its text and practical operation should be as familiar as the Lord's Prayer to every humanitarian, for it is the instrument through which the community exercises its social parenthood in behalf of children whose physical parents have failed them. * *

* There is no more stigma in the mere fact that a child is a ward of the Juvenile Court than if we were in the Probate Court for the purpose of having a guardian appointed for an estate.

"The Juvenile Court is a chancery court having to do with matters of guardianship and proper parental control. If a child violates a law, the Juvenile Court law says: 'This child, because of the sanctity, the helplessness of his childhood, is incapable of committing crime.' The intention of the law is not conviction, but a thorough, scientific and human understanding and treatment-no punishment but education. The child who offends is a mal-adjusted child, not a delinquent. * *

* The Juvenile Court law is for the protection and enforcement of the legal rights of the child.

"In this brief space it is impossible to tell you of the many branches and channels of the work, and how every agency in the community aids, how many avenues are opened to the feet of youth: Protection for the parentless, re-education for the wayward, treatment for the sick, care for the feebleminded, hygiene for the psychopathic, custody for the radically defective and incorrigible, enforcement of law in behalf of the cruelly oppressed and neglected. This is the scientific and human way of treat- ing the problem, and this is the way it is done under the splendid law of California in the County of Los Angeles.

"Is it not then a pity, an ironic tragedy, that by community misinter- pretation of a law enacted by the community for the guarding and the control of children there should fall on the shoulders of the child who is known to be a court ward an utterly baseless, causeless reproach or stigma? The greatest single cause of juvenile 'delinquency' today is this attitude in the popular mind. We should create a fresh definition of delinquency; a delinquent act is one which causes us to lose faith in the

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dignity and integrity of human life. Only the acts of adults can cause us to lose faith in life, and no child ever came before the Juvenile Court save through the neglect, depravity, or the omissions of some adult. It is essential, therefore, that we arouse community understanding and com- munity responsibility."

Dr. Miriam Van Waters was born at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and is a daughter of Rev. George B. Van Waters, D. D., arch-deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Eastern Oregon. Dr. George B. Van Waters is a scion of a sterling Holland Dutch family that was early founded in the State of New York, and his wife, whose maiden name was Maude Vosburg, was born in Pennsylvania, though a representa- tive of another of the fine old Holland Dutch families of New York. Dr. George B. Van Waters attended fine old Kenyon College, at Gambier. Ohio, one of the first educational institutions established by the Church of England in the western part of our national domain and always main- tained under the auspices of the Protestant Episcopal Church, representing the "same household of faith." After leaving this college Dr. Van Waters attended Harvard University, and after his ordination to the priesthood of the Protestant Episcopal Church he was for several years rector of the church at Greensburg, Pennsylvania. There he became specially interested in the missionary movement of the church, and this led to his coming to the West, where he established a series of churches and missions in the State of Oregon. He was for twenty years rector of St. David's Church at Portland, and after being made an arch-deacon he traveled and lectured extensively in advancing the work of the church in that state. The Doctor has the distinction of being the first clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church to take a stand in recognition of divorce on other than the strict canonical grounds now recognized by the church, and on this score he was for some time subjected to severe criticism. He has written and lectured much on comparative religion and philosophical subjects, and is recognized as one of the distinguished clergymen of his church. He and his wife now maintain their home at Portland, Oregon.

Miriam Van Waters acquired her early education in the schools of Portland, Oregon, and in 1908 she graduated from the University of Oregon, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, this having been supple- mented by her reception of the degree of Master of Arts from the same institution in 1910. In former years she did effective newspaper work in Portland, and also taught for a time in the University of Oregon. In advancing her education she was for three years a student at Clark Univer- sity, Worcester, Massachusetts, and she received from this institution her degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Within this period she was also doing effective social-welfare work in various reformatories in the East, and at Clark College she became a fellow in anthropology, in recognition of special work she had done. She received her degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the year 1913, and thereafter was employed for some time by the Boston Juvenile Court and the Boston Children's Aid, the foremost organization of its kind in the United States. In this connection Dr. Van Waters continued her effective service about one year, and she then returned to Oregon and became superintendent of the Juvenile Detention Home of Portland. In May, 1917, she here took the civil-examination for super- intendent of the detention home of Los Angeles County and in the follow- ing August she was assigned to the charge of Juvenile Hall. Here she introduced the policy of trained workers, scientific method, playgrounds, and brought about the retention of four additional nurses and a competent staff of physicians and psychologists. In 1920 El Retiro was established. and she became its first superintendent, this being an opportunity home and school for girls. She is still instant in her earnest service in behalf of this excellent institution, and she has served as referee of the Juvenile Court of Los Angeles since May, 1920. She holds court on Monday, Thursday and Saturday of each week at Juvenile Hall, and is accessible at her offices on Tuesdays and Fridays. Dr. Van Waters hears all the evidence and directs

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all legal matters pertaining to girls up to the age of twenty-one years, as well as boys to the age of thirteen. She is an enthusiast in her work, is animated by abiding human sympathy and tolerance, and rejoices in the opportunity to aid the young. The doctor is a valued member of the Professional Women's Club, the Women's Athletic Club, and the Los Angeles Business Women's Association. She holds membership in the American Anthropological Association, the American Sociological Asso- ciation, and the American Prison Association. In 1921 she was called to the national capital as a special consultant in connection with the United States Public Health Service, with special reference to preventive and protective work for girls. A splendid service is that which Dr. Van Waters is giving, and she is ever striving to expand its scope in human sympathy and helpfulness. She is loyal to the state and city of her adoption, and in them she is loved and honored.

MILDRED DOROTHEA ROBERTS is a young Los Angeles woman who has applied her abilities and energies with remarkable success to the field of business and banking. Since coming to Los Angeles she has been con- nected with the Citizens National Bank, and recently was chosen president of the Mutual Betterment Society of that institution.

She was born in New York City, July 5, 1888, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Roberts. Her mother was a native of Germany and was brought to America when a child. Her father was born in New Jersey, of an old family of that state. He was a wood-carver by trade and an inventor.

Miss Roberts was in her teens when both her parents died. She finished her education in the schools of New York City, and after beginning her business career took night courses in college and finished a business course in Jersey City. Her business career began in the establishment of a manufacturing confectionaire, and later she was private secretary to a New York importer. In 1915 she came to California, and was one of the first seven women employes of the Citizens National Bank. She began as secretary to the cashier, and later became secretary to the president and assistant to the head of the note department. In connection with her other responsibilities she was chosen head of the Mutual Betterment Society, composed of the junior officers and heads of the departments of the bank to act on special problems.

Miss Roberts has built a home on one of the lovely hills of Los Angeles, commanding a beautiful view on every side. When not busy at the bank she spends her time in the work of her gardens.

ALFRED MONTGOMERY, the famed "Farmer Painter" who knew life and loved it; whose genius and talent found effective expression in divers directions ; whose philosophy of life was as clear and genuine as that of Walt Whitman; who was a thinker and a doer; and who, though frequently called erratic and visionary, came more closely to the castle of his dreams than is vouchsafed to many men, passed the closing years of his life in California, gloried in the glories of this state, and here gave himself to his fellow men, even as he had during the prior years of a really wonderful career. The limitations of this publication make impossible more than a brief tribute to the memory of this splendid personality, but even in the concise statements here given there abides much of inspiration.

For sixteen years Mr. Montgomery had maintained his residence in Los Angeles, and here, at his beautiful home, 1246 West Forty- eighth Street, he found solace and satisfaction until death set its seal upon his mortal lips. He passed away on the 19th of April, 1922.

Alfred Montgomery, nature's lover and nature's genius, was born at Lawndale, Illinois, on the 20th of April, 1857, and was a scion of pioneer ancestry in both Indiana and Illinois. . His father, Walter Crockett Montgomery, was a nephew of the great frontiersman David

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Crockett, whom in many ways the subject of this memoir is said to have been like. Conditions and circumstances were such that Alfred Montgomery never attended school, but it has been well said that he "studied at the plow handle." He was a boy at the time of his mother's death, and his father, knowing of no other means of caring for his eleven children, indentured most of them to neighboring farmers, Alfred having thus been "bound out" for a period of ten years and for the sum of $100. His youth was one of hard work. He earned his first money-twenty cents-by selling rhubarb, and with this money he purchased a slate, to aid him in his studies. By selling skunk-skins he earned money to buy a dictionary. The only intellectual person he knew at that stage of his life was the minister, and he garnered much of his early vocabulary by listening to the sermons of this clergyman. After applying himself vigorously to study for two years he gained his first teacher's certificate, at the age of sixteen years, this cer- tificate having been given to him by William Hawley Smith. Like Lincoln, Mr. Montgomery overcame early educational handicaps, for true genius recognizes no obstacle as insuperable. He made an ex- cellent record as a teacher in his native state, and later became prin- cipal of the drawing department in the public schools of Topeka, Kansas, he having been the first person in the United States to hold such a position. There he gave play to his artistic talent, developed without any technical instruction, by painting portraits, which he sold for ten dollars each. Lorado Taft, the distinguished sculptor who is still with the great Chicago Art Institute, had been abroad for the study of European art, and maintained to his friend, Mr. Montgomery, that only through study abroad could success in art work be assured. In contradistinction to this view, Mr. Montgomery created his own school of purely American art, and through his admirable depicture of corn, sheep, chickens, etc., he became eventually known from coast to coast as "The Farmer Painter." He took the common, the ordinary things of life and glorified them with his superb art. For calendar use his picture entitled "Down on the Farm" has been more greatly repro- duced than any other picture in the United States. This picture was hung at the Paris Exposition in 1890, and later was sold for $10,000. His paintings are to be found in galleries and private collections throughout the United States. Among the manifold tributes paid to Mr. Montgomery through the newspaper press after his death, the following is one which shows the general attitude of appreciation :

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume II, Part 22

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