History of Los Angeles county, Volume II, Part 24

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

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Miss Brown can also be classed among the pioneer date growers of the state, she having a producing garden in the Coachella Valley, and is special- izing in the famous Deglet Noor variety.

ANDREW BONTHIUS, M. D., one of the representative members of his profession in the City of Pasadena, now confines his attention exclu- sively to the internal medicine phase of his chosen vocation has a repre- sentative clientage and maintains his office at 607 Central Building, his residence being at 950 Erie Street

Dr. Bonthius was born in the City of Chicago, Illinois, November 27, 1880, and is a son of Alje and Dirkye (Alkema) Bonthius, both natives of the Netherlands and members of substantial old families of Holland. The father of the Doctor was a skilled wagonmaker, followed his trade successfully in Chicago for a period of many years, and was a pioneer citizen of Roseland, a suburb of the great metrop- olis at the foot of Lake Michigan.

After having attended the public schools of Chicago Dr. Bonthius entered Hope College at Holland, Michigan, in which he continued his studies until the completion of his sophomore year. In continuing his academic course he became a student in Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, in which he was graduated in 1906, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. In the medical school of Northwestern University, which department is established in the City of Chicago, he graduated as a member of the class of 1909. After thus receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine his initial work in his profession was of unusual order, in that from 1910 to 1913, inclusive, he was appointed a medical missionary in the Reformed Church in America, assigned to Hope and Wilhelmina Hospitals at Amoy, China, and soon after his arrival there he also received the appointment of Con- sular Surgeon, attached to the American Consulates at Amoy, China. Upon his return to the United States Dr. Bonthius established his residence at Pasadena, where he has been engaged in successful practice since 1914. He also is an attending physician to the Los Angeles County Hospital. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the California State Medical Society, the Los Angeles County Medical Society, The Pasadena branch organization of the County Society, and a charter member of the University Club of Pasadena. He and his wife are zealous members of Westminster Pres- byterian Church, in which he is serving as an elder and as super- intendent of the Sunday School. The Doctor gives his political allegiance to the republican party.

On the 14th of June, 1908, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Bonthius and Miss Nellie De Young, of Chicago, who accompanied him to his post at Amoy, China, where were born two daughters, Ruth Jane and Dorothy, the only son, Robert Harold, and Lois having been born at Pasadena.

EDMUND WILLIAM COLEMAN. The Coleman family is one of the old ones of this country, the American founder of it having located on the James River in Virginia in 1632, and it was on this historic river in the Old Dominion that Edmund William Coleman, father of Mrs. Charles Willis Sanders, Miss Carrie E. Coleman, Margaret C. Bush-

andrew Bonchus

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nell and Edmund Reynolds Coleman was born in 1836. He was edu- cated in the Christian Brothers School at Mobile, Alabama, and went into a commission business in New Orleans, in which he continued very profitably until the outbreak of the war between the two sections of the country, when he cast his lot with the Confederacy and ren- dered valiant service in carrying dispatches and running the blockade. On one of his trips carrying contraband he traveled from Mobile, Alabama, to New Orleans, having with him at the time his wife and a small child. After the close of the war he went to Illinois, bought a farm and for a time was engaged in raising apples for the market. At the time of the great fire at Chicago, in 1871, he went to that city, but subsequently returned to New Orleans. His death occurred at Leesburg, Virginia.

Following his demise his widow took her three daughters and son to Munich, Germany, and spent three years abroad, traveling during the summer months and living at Munich in the winter time. Return- ing to the United States, the Colemans spent five years at Albuquerque, New Mexico, following which they came to California. Mrs. Cole- man was Miss Mary Walker prior to her marriage, and her father, George Elenore Walker, a native of Tennessee, moved to Illinois in 1809, being among the pioneers of that state.

One of the daughters of Edmund William and Mary Ann (Walker) Coleman, Mary Coleman, was married at Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Charles Willis Sanders, now deceased, but for a number of years one of the expert and successful civil engineers of Los Angeles, where he located in 1891. Mr. Sanders was connected with a large amount of construction work of the city, including that of building the Fourth Street bridge. For several years prior to coming to Los Angeles, from 1887 to 1889, he was in the employ of the A. & P. Railroad, now the Santa Fe, at San Bernardino. Mr. and Mrs Sanders became the parents of three children, namely: Lucy, who is traveling in China; Edmund, who is a resident of Barston, California; and Reynolds, who was killed in an auto accident in 1913. Mr. Sanders died in 1907, but his widow survives him. Her mother, although now an aged lady, is also living, and lives in the house she erected in 1893, moving into it on May 30th of that year. At that time it was the only house on the block. Her daughter built a residence on what was then a vineyard, Ninth and Bonnie Brae. These ladies have all lived to see wonderful changes come about in the city which has been their home for so many years, and in which they are held in such high esteem.

MAY ALLISON, "big sister" to hundreds of children of Los Angeles County, is trustee of the Superior Court, and as such holds the only office of its kind in the United States. The office, "Failure to Provide," was created by Judge Charles Monroe, under Juvenile Act, Penal Code, Section 272, and has jurisdiction when a father fails to provide for the support of his minor child. In such a case the mother of the neglected child, or some other responsible party, appears before the district attorney to whom complaint is made. He prepares a com- plaint, which is sworn to before the judge in charge of department 3 of the Superior Court. The judge orders a bench warrant for the arrest of the father, who is brought into court for the preliminary hearing. In nearly every case the delinquent father repents, promises to make proper provision, and the judge fixes the amount he is to contribute each week, determining it by the evidence presented to him. Miss Allison as trustee then takes charge of the case, and it is her duty to keep a docket of each separate case, and a set of books showing the payments made by the defendants each week, and the amounts paid out each week by her. She also keeps after those who fail to live up to their agreements, and if two weeks elapse without payment, unless for good and sufficient cause, she presents the matter

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to the court and obtains a bench warrant. The importance and value of her work is shown by the hundreds of cases on the calendar, and the increase in the collections from $25,000 in 1914 to $105,000, in 1921. Judge John W. Summerfield is in charge of Department 3 of the Superior Court, and he devotes Wednesday and Friday afternoons to the work of the "Failure to Provide" office. Others who have had charge of this department have been Judge Charles Monroe, Judge G. W. Craig, Judge Charles S. Crail and Sidney N. Reeve. Miss Allison has a stand similar to that used by a cashier in a bank, and her books are audited by the county. auditor.

Miss May Allison is a daughter of Clarence and Mary Addie (Thom- ason) Allison, the latter being a daughter of Judge Thomason, of Lov- ington, Illinois. Forty-five years ago Mr. Allison came to California and bought an orange ranch at Covina, Los Angeles County, where he still resides. He and his wife have four children, namely: Mrs. Vin- cent Kuehn, Sam Allison, Laura Evangeline Allison and May Allison, all of whom were born at Covina. For two years Miss Allison was a student in the University at Pomona, and then entered the office of which she is now trustee. At that time her director was Ewald E. Self. Miss Allison is a member of the Los Angeles City Club and the Woman's Athletic Club. It would be difficult to find anyone better fitted for her office than Miss Allison. Her sympathetic nature and knowledge of the details of her work, combined with her efficiency and capability, fit her in an especial degree for safeguarding the in- terests of the little ones under her watchful care.

MISS MARGARET CRAIG. One of a talented family of artists, Miss Margaret Craig chose photography as the means of expressing her artistic talent. She has been a teacher of photography, an illustrator and writer and she has conducted a studio in Pasadena and Los Angeles, where she has done some of the finest work credited to her profession.

Miss Craig was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her father, Robert Craig, was a native of Canada and for many years was engaged in the wholesale crockery business at St. Paul. Her mother was Margaret Bell, daughter of Captain Edwin Bell, one of the founders of St. Paul. Her sister, Marion Craig Wentworth, for some years engaged in settlement work in Chicago, and a teacher of expression and a dramatic reader, is author of "War Brides," played by Nazimova, and of "The Flower Shop," and the "The Bonfire of Old Empires." Her home is at Santa Barbara, California.

Margaret Craig was educated in the public schools at St. Paul, and received a diploma in art at the Teachers College of Columbia Uni- versity, New York. Her studies in photography were carried on under Clarence White, of New York, one of the World's foremost photog- raphers. Miss Craig started her studio work ten years ago at Pasadena, and for the past two years has been in Los Angeles, with a studio at 610 South Western Avenue. She is known as an artist photographer, and her interest is primarily in the artistic rather than the commercial side. She makes home portraiture a specialty, and also does much landscape and architectural portraiture. Examples of her work have been exhibited in a number of the large salons of New York, Philadelphia, in the World's Fair of San Francisco, and in the Photographer's International Exhibit at Los Angeles in 1921. She is teacher of photography in the University of California exten- sion courses and in the night school classes of the Polytechnic High School. Besides teaching and looking after her studio, she has done much magazine writing, usually illustrated work around photography. These articles have appeared in Harper's Bazaar, the House Beautiful, Sunset, Keiths, House and Garden, American Photography, California Southland and others.

HAIlawson

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NORMAN HOLT MORRISON, M. D. Among the men who for years were prominently identified with the medical profession of Los Angeles County, as well as with the social and industrial life of the City of Los Angeles, who by reason of high character and praiseworthy achievement attained to a notable distinction, none stood higher than Dr. Norman Holt Morrison, whose untimely death occurred July 3, 1921. He entered upon his medical career at McPherson, Kansas, and came to Los Angeles in 1887, and such was his force of character and natural qualifications that he attained distinction not only as a skilled physician and surgeon but also as the founder of the Santa Fe Hospital, which opened its doors in 1912.

Doctor Morrison was born at Dallas City, Missouri, two miles west of Louisburg, September 9, 1853, a son of John Holt and Emeline Morrison. His preliminary education was acquired at Hartford and Uniontown, Kan- sas, and in 1874 he came to California and took charge of a milk ranch in the vicinity of Santa Barbara, and remained there until 1877, when he began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. C. B. Bates, with whom he studied for three years. He then went to Kansas City, Missouri, and studied for three years with Doctor Halley. Going then to McPherson, Kansas, he entered upon the practice of his profession, and remained there for several years. Returning to California in 1887, Doctor Morrison estab- lished himself at Boyle Heights, then the fashionable part of Los Angeles, and two years later was appointed police surgeon, and was re-appointed in 1890. In 1892 he was made chief surgeon for the Santa Fe Railroad, and for twenty-five years he was chief surgeon for the Los Angeles Gas & Electric Company, and since his death his son, Dr. Weyland Morrison, has succeeded him in these two important positions.

In January, 1878, Doctor Morrison married Maria Cobb, at Marmeton, Kansas, and they had two children born to them: Lela Morrison Rice and Dr. Weyland A. Morrison. Mrs. Morrison died some years ago. On Sep- tember 5, 1906, Doctor Morrison married Irma Rhodes of Kansas City, Missouri, a member of one of the old pioneer families of that locality. Doc- tor and Mrs. Morrison had two daughters, Catherine Dillman Morrison and Marian Rhodes Morrison. Doctor Morrison was a Mason, and belonged to the California Club. In the light of what he ultimately accom- plished the record of his early career is most interesting and significant, for never was a man's success due more to his native ability and less to out- ward circumstances. He reaped only where he sowed, and the harvest, with its valued aftermath, came to him alone through energy, industry and per- severance. He reached his high position in his profession and community through no favors of influential friends, but worked his way up by sheer pluck and ability, and his achievement is therefore all the more praise- worthy.

HENRY ANTHONY WATTSON passed the closing years of his life in the City of Los Angeles, where for eleven years he was successfully established in business as a contractor in large construction work, and in his sincerity. his sterling integrity, his robust manliness and his creative energy he rep- resented most fully the fine type of western pioneers of the early days. His death occurred May 1, 1922, and from an appreciative article that appeared in a Los Angeles newspaper are taken the following extracts :

"Mr. Wattson, who had passed his seventy-sixth birthday anniversary, was one of the rugged pioneers of the West, and had an adventurous career as sailor and prospector before coming to Los Angeles and entering the contracting business, in which he enjoyed no small success. He constructed the Hill-street tunnel and had to his credit numerous other engineer feats of magnitude.

"Born in Australia, Mr. Wattson shipped as a cabin boy and sailed around Cape Horn, coming to America as a stripling. He fought in some of the later battles of the Civil war, and at the conclusion of that struggle was one of the early prospectors in the Cripple Creek District of Colorado."

Mr. Wattson was born at St. Kilda, Australia, in the year 1846, his

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rather having been of Welsh and his mother of Scotch ancestry. His father was a skilled surgeon, and in addition to practicing his profession in Australia he there owned and operated a large plantation.

Henry A. Wattson attended school in both Australia and England, but was only a boy when he initiated his seafaring career. He was sixteen years old when he came to the United States, and in the Civil war his service was in the navy, principally in the command of Admiral Farragut. He gained promotion to a minor official post in the navy, and in connection with his service he was at one time rather seriously injured.

After the close of the Civil war Mr. Wattson crossed the plains with an ox team, passed through Wyoming and Montana and settled in Colorado. He was one of the pioneers who first engaged in mining operations at Leadville, that state, and also in the Cripple Creek District. He made and lost fortunes in his mining ventures, and in the early days he took part in many battles with the Indians on the frontier. Mr. Wattson continued his active alliance with mining, as prospector and producer, for a period of thirty-five years. He passed the winter seasons on his cattle ranch in Colorado and in the summers gave his attention to mining activities in the Colorado mountains. He lived up to the full tension of frontier life, remained unmarred by his various hardy experiences, and ever stood exemplar of strong and worthy manhood. As previously noted, he was engaged in heavy contracting business in Los Angeles during the closing period of his active business career. In this enterprise he was associated with C. A. Spicer, and the firm did a prosperous business in street paving. construction of tunnels and other forms of engineering work. Mr. Wattson was a loyal and public-spirited citizen, but had no inclination toward polit- ical activity. He was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity for many years prior to his death and was one of the honored members of the Pike's Peak Club at Colorado Springs. His generosity knew no limitations, and his personality was such that he won and retained a host of loyal friends. His was a life of adventure, and in later years he wrote much concerning the incidents and experiences of his eventful career-material of great historic interest and well worthy of perpetuation in stable published form.

At Florissant, Colorado, Mr. Wattson married Miss Mary A. Wilson, who was reared and educated in that state, where her father was a pioneer ranch man. Mrs. Wattson likewise had a wealth of experience in connec- tion with life on the frontier, and incidentally it may be noted that on three different occasions she crossed the plains with wagon trains. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Wattson has continued her residence in the beautiful home which he had provided, at 7611 Hampton Avenue, Los Angeles. The eldest of the surviving children is John A., of Superior. Arizona; R. A. was associated with his father in contracting enterprises and is still engaged in this business at Los Angeles ; Mrs. John Ferguson, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the eldest of the three daughters; Mrs. C. A. Spicer resides at Tempe, Arizona ; and Mrs. John Williams is a resident of Los Angeles.

WILLIAM JOHN KNOX McVAY was a resident of California only a brief period, but his widow established her home in Los Angeles, and his son, William E., became a prominent figure in local financial circles. His daughter is still a resident of this city.

Mr. McVay was born at Stuartstown, Ireland, in 1828, and his death occurred at Dixon, Illinois, December 16, 1897. Mr. McVay received his youthful education in his native land, where he was afforded excellent advantages, and at the age of seventeen years he came to the United States. He passed the first eleven years in New York City, and then removed to Dixon, Illinois, where he maintained his home for forty years and became an honored and influential citizen and representative business man of large financial interests. He was a man of brilliant mentality and much business acumen, and his character was the positive expression of a strong and noble nature. He wrought well in life and ever commanded the confidence and

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high regard of his fellow men. In 1863 he became an elder of the Presby- terian Church at Dixon, and both he and his wife long continued active in the work of this church. In 1895 Mr. McVay and his wife came to Cali- fornia to visit their son, the late William E. McVay, and they remained one year. He was preparing to establish his home in Los Angeles at the time when death set its seal on his mortal lips. In October, 1898, Mrs. McVay returned to Los Angeles, and was accompanied by her only daughter. Mrs. McVay here erected the attractive and modern residence in which she maintained her home until her death, March 24, 1922. Her maiden name was Sarah Moore Strain, she was born in Canada, and her father was a successful school teacher in that province for many years. The family home was at Oregon, Wisconsin, at the time when she became the wife of Mr. McVay, their marriage having been solemnized July 1, 1861. Mrs. McVay was eighty-nine years of age at the time of her death, and her funeral was held from Immanuel Presbyterian Church, of which she became a member on establishing her home in Los Angeles. The house which she here erected is now owned and occupied by her only surviving child, Mrs. Roy Sumner, and is situated at 1167 West Twenty-ninth street. Of the son William E. more specific mention will be made in a later paragraph of this memoir. Mrs. Sumner, whose maiden name was Emma Burton Mc Vay, was born and reared at Dixon, Illinois, and received the best of educational advantages. She accompanied her mother on the removal to California, and here was solemnized her marriage to Roy Bennett Sumner, who was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and who is a son of the late Daniel Bennett Sumner. The father came to this state many years ago and established himself in the implement business at Los Angeles, as a member of the firm of Arnott & Sumner. This pioneer business is still continued and is now conducted under the title of Arnott & Company. Roy B. Sumner has been prominently identified with the manufacturing of railway safety devices, switch towers, etc., and is at the present time associated with Dyas & Company, one of the representative industrial and commercial concerns of Los Angeles. He and his wife have one son, Edward McVay, who will graduate in the Los Angeles High School as a member of the class of 1923.

William E. McVay came to California thirty-three years ago and became associated with the Security Loan, Trust & Savings Bank of Pasadena. Later he became one of the large stockholders and able and valued execu- tives of the Guaranty Trust & Savings Bank of Los Angeles, of which great institution he was vice president at the time of his death, August 29, 1921. He married Kate Bryant of Princeton, Illinois, and their five living children are Laura E., Helene S., Silence K., Frances A. and William Bryant. He was an active member of Immanuel Presbyterian Church, as is also his sister, Mrs. Sumner, and he was known for many years as one of the representative business men and loyal and progressive citizens of Los Angeles.

MRS. LILLIAN LOUISE HOLLINGWORTH, the popular founder and executive head of the Hollingworth School of Millinery, in the City of Los Angeles, has achieved especially high reputation and marked success in her chosen profession, that of millinery designer and instructor. Her artistic ability has been developed through wide and varied experience, and high valuation is placed on the splendid work she has accomplished within the period of her residence in the fair metropolis of Southern California.

Mrs. Hollingworth was born in London, England, a daughter of Augustus John and Catherine (Rings) Peinecke. She gained her rudi- mentary education in her native land, and was but nine years old when the family came to the United States and established a home in New York City. In the schools of the national metropolis she continued her educa- tional work by attending until she was fifteen years of age. Entering the millinery workroom of Frederick Loeser & Company of that city, she remained with that establishment five years and gained technical experience

Vol. II-8

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of much value. In 1904, after returning from a European trip, she was employed in turn by Louise & Company, Francois, and the Lichtenstein Millinery Company, representative houses in New York City. In January, 1909, she came to Los Angeles, and after here serving two seasons as designer for A. Fusenot & Company, of the Ville de Paris, she entered, in 1910, the employ of the Butler-Schutze Company, a leading wholesale millinery firm in the City of San Francisco. She continued her association with this company four years, and at the close of the Panama-Pacific Exposition she returned to Los Angeles, was granted a special state certifi- cate to teach in the city schools, and on the 26th of September, 1916, was assigned to the Polytechnic Evening High School, in which she continued her effective services as a teacher until October, 1921. The bi-monthly exhibits of beautiful hats, from seventy-five to 100 in number, made by Polytechnic students under her instruction, were a noteworthy feature not excelled by that of any other teacher of the art in Los Angeles. Relative to one of these exhibits the Poly Owl, a publication of that institution, gave in 1919 the following estimate: "Throughout the entire display one could see the ever present originality of Mrs. Hollingworth, and, to quote one of the visitors, 'She is a genius, and one cannot say enough of her work and her popularity among her students.'"

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume II, Part 24

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