USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume II > Part 41
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
251
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Washington's headquarters while he was in New York during the Revolution.
William Franklin Knight was reared and until coming to Pasadena was a resident of Providence, Rhode Island. He attended public school there, Mory and Goff's Military Academy and the Berlitz School of Languages. He had a successful business career there for many years in the wholesale flour, grain and hay business, and was also active in the public life of the city. He served four terms as a member of the City Council, was president of the Rhode Island Business Men's Association and represented Rhode Island as vice-president of the New England Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Knight has been a resident of Pasadena since 1903, and has been prominent in many lines of civic and political activity. He served as president of the Board of Trade, now the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, as vice-president of the Board of Education, and in both positions devoted a large part of his time without pay. He was chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee when the new high school on Colorado Street was built. He was also one of the original syndicates that bought the property and organized the Annandale Country Club, serving as its first vice- president and two years as president. He was also the citizen who con- ceived the idea of a high bridge at the head of Colorado Street, and was appointed chairman of the committee that secured the plans and the money for its erection.
Mr. Knight was one of the three candidates for the appointment as postmaster qualified by civil service examination for that post. He was appointed by President Harding, and took charge of the office May 1. 1922. As postmaster he is also custodian of the Federal Building. The Pasadena Star-News commenting on his appointment said: "Appointment of Mr. Knight will be received with general satisfaction in the community. During his residence here for many years Mr. Knight has become well known and has identified himself actively and influentially with many useful civic and other movements. He is a man of recognized business ability. Mr. Knight will assume office with the confidence of the people, who may be counted upon to give him the earnest, faithful co-operation he should receive."
He is a republican, a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Valley Hunt Club and Overland Club, and is senior warden of All Saints Episcopal Church.
In 1887, at Lonsdale, Rhode Island, Mr. Knight married Carrie E. Pratt, whose father, Gilbert Walker Pratt, was for thirty-three years head of the Lonsdale Company and was president of the Pasadena National Bank at the time of his death. He was a descendant of Widow Walker of the Mayflower, and also of the first land owner and settler of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Knight have three children : Harold Pratt, Courtland Whitney and William Franklin Knight, Jr.
OTIS HENRY CASTLE. There is no vocation that commands greater respect and few which offer better opportunity for the display of character and ability than does that of the legal profession. The bench and bar of Los Angeles have long ranked with the most distinguished of the country, and the profession here represented has numbered among its members many men of high standing and wide reputation. Among the men who have attained distinction in the domain of law, and particularly as it applies to corporation and commercial litigation, is Otis Henry Castle.
Mr. Castle was born at Elk River, Sherburne County, Minnesota, June 3, 1891, and is a son of Henry and Ellen (Albee) Castle. His father, a native of England, was brought to the United States by his parents when a lad of about five years, and was variously engaged in business and financial trans- actions until becoming president of the Bank of Elk River. For some vears he made it a practice to spend the winter months in California, but it was not until 1907 that he settled permanently in this state. Since that time he and Mrs. Castle have been back and forth between Long Beach and
252
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Pasadena. Mrs. Castle, who traces her ancestry back to Revolutionary days in this country, and of whose family about fifty members fought as soldiers during the winning of American independence, is a native of Wis- consin.
Otis Henry Castle attended the grammar and high schools of Elk River, Minnesota, and the Pasadena High School, from which latter he graduated as a member of the class of 1909. He then pursued a literary course at Leland Stanford University, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1914, and subsequently took the law course and was graduated in 1916 with the degree of Jurum Doctor, or Doctor of Laws. While in col- lege he was editor of the college daily paper, called The Daily Palo Alta, and was also president of the University Conference, which was the gov- erning body of the students. During his term at law school he was student advisor. Admitted to the bar of California during the year of his gradu- ation, he commenced practice at San Francisco as attorney for the Southern Pacific Railway Company in connection with the oil suits under consider- ation at that time. He continued to be thus engaged until January, 1918, when he was called into active service during the World war and was com- missioned, April 1, 1918, as second lieutenant in the air service. For a time he was stationed at Scott Field, Belleville, Illinois, whence he went overseas. He had only reached England when the armistice was signed, and he there- fore did not see active service. He was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant, and on his return to the duties of civil life settled at Los Angeles, where he was engaged in the private practice of his calling for a short time. He then became associate trust counsel for the Title Insurance and Trust Company of Los Angeles, and later advanced to trust counsel of that con- cern. On February 1, 1922, he resigned this position and entered into part- nership with the law firm of Farrand & Slosson, attorneys for the California Fruit Growers' Exchange. On retiring from this firm, Mr. Castle has since practiced by himself, with offices in the Title Insurance Building of Los Angeles. His practice is principally in corporation and commercial law. Mr. Castle has demonstrated his ability and learning in a number of impor- tant cases, and is numbered among the most prominent of the lawyers of the younger generation at Los Angeles. He holds membership in the vari- ous organizations of his profession, and has always maintained a high stand- ard of professional ethics. In politics he is inclined to favor the republican candidate when other things are evenly balanced, but reserves the right at all times to give his vote to the candidate whom he deems is best fitted to handle the responsibilities of the position involved. He is a member of the University Club of Los Angeles, the Flintridge Country Club, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Delta Chi and Phi Beta Kappa frater- nities, and the Pasadena Post of the American Legion.
Mr. Castle married Miss Lois Gosney of Pasadena, daughter of Ezra S. and May Gosney, retired residents of that city, where they are very highly esteemed. A review of the career of Mr. Gosney will be found on another page of this work. Mrs. Castle was born at Flagstaff, Arizona, but as a child was taken by her parents to Pasadena, where she attended the gram- mar and high schools, later pursuing a course at Mills College, a school for girls located near Oakland, California, and Occidental College, Los Angeles. Mr. and Mrs. Castle occupy a modern and attractive home at 5523 Parmley Street, Los Angeles.
CAPTAIN JAMES HOATSON, who spent his last years in Southern Cali- fornia and died at his home in Hollywood February 27, 1923, was one of the greatest figures in the history of copper mining in America. He went into the mines when a small boy, and for many years was an executive in the great copper district of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan. His operations as a practical mine operator, developer and mine owner ex- tended to all the important copper districts of the country, including Montana and Arizona.
His greatest distinction was due to his association with the Calumet
James Hovatson
253
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
and Arizona Mining Company in the State of Arizona. He was largely responsible for bringing that obscure copper district into the field of great operations. He was familiar with copper mining in every phase. When a group of Lake Superior mining men determined to make a thorough test of the copper ore deposits in the Warren mining district of Arizona, Captain Hoatson was selected to make the investigation and acquire and develop the properties. The results of his findings and subsequent devel- opments inaugurated one of the richest copper fields in the world. It was largely due to his efforts that the original claims that went to make up the basis of operations at that time were secured, and from which such won- derful earnings have been won. His interest in the success of the district caused him without compensation to give much of his time toward the establishment of proper development operations in the mines. He loved to visit the property and often was found underground picking into the rock formations and apparently enjoying himself. The old "Irish Mag" shaft presented wonderful stopes in those days, which he delighted to ex- amine. His judgment of ground was regarded as practically infallible.
Captain Hoatson was a man of few words. He enjoyed the compan- ionship of his old friends, and when he formed the Calumet and Arizona Mining Company he gave all his old associates the opportunity to come in on the ground floor with him. Probably the greatest disappointment he ever felt was due to the refusal of some of the subscribers to certain blocks of stock in paying for them. He seemed to accept their change of mind as a personal slight to his judgment. But the many who did accept his offer never regretted it, since the Calumet and Arizona proved one of the richest copper mines on the continent, and still, after twenty years of operation, is very profitable. Captain Hoatson was vice-president of the Calumet & Arizona Mining Company and of the New Cornelia Copper Company, becoming vice president when the Calumet & Arizona was or- ganized, and accepting a similar post with the New Cornelia when that mining property was taken over by the Calumet and Arizona.
James Hoatson was born forty miles from Glasgow, Scotland, in 1846, and was seventy-six years of age when he died. He was the oldest son of Thomas and Grace (Lorimer) Hoatson, and came from a family of miners. His father in Scotland had been underground superintendent of one of the mines at Lead Hills. In 1850 the family came to Canada, set- tling at Bruce Mines on the north shore of Lake Huron, Ontario, where Thomas Hoatson took charge of the underground operations in the mines. James Hoatson went to work in these mines under his father at the age of eight years. Shortly afterward the family removed to Hancock, Michi- gan, where Thomas Hoatson spent one year in the employment of the Quincy Mining Company, and from there went to the Ridge Mine in Ontonagon County, Michigan, where the family lived six years. In 1870 Thomas Hoatson was appointed underground superintendent of the Calu- met and Hecla mine, and held that position until his death in 1897.
In the meantime James Hoatson was acquiring a wide range of mining experience. He had charge of the development operations of Isle Royale in Lake Superior, and from 1876 to 1887 had charge of the Delaware mine in Keweenaw, where he married. With the opening of the Butte District in Montana Captain Hoatson resigned his position at Delaware and for ten years had a broadly diversified experience in the mining district of Nevada, Idaho and Montana. The greater part of his time was spent at Butte, where he became underground superintendent for the Butte and Boston Mining Company. In 1897, at the death of his father, he returned to Calumet, and acted as assistant underground superintendent for the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. Then, as noted above, he became associated with a group of Northern Peninsula men interested in the de- velopment of the copper fields of the Southwest, and with the organization of the Calumet and Arizona Mining Company in 1901 he was elected vice president. Captain Hoatson was a Mason, being a member of the various bodies, including Ahmed Temple of the Mystic Shrine.
254
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
June 9, 1879, Captain Hoatson married Eliza Anderson, daughter of James Anderson, of Scotland. Mrs. Hoatson survives him, residing at 4900 Los Feliz Boulevard in Los Angeles, which had been the residence of Captain Hoatson for several years. He came to Los Angeles on the advice of his physicians. Captain Hoatson is survived by two brothers, John, of Ajo, Arizona, and Thomas H., of Calumet, Michigan, and two sisters, Mrs. T. F. Cole, of Greenwich, New York, and Mrs. W. P. Harlow, of Boulder, Ohio.
His friends all called him "Dear Captain Jim." He was kindly, a practical philanthropist, a man of wealth who used it liberally and wisely and made a great many people the better and happier for his presence.
C. ELMER ANDERSON. There can be no doubting the fact that con- centration along any one line is productive of gratifying results. The indi- vidual who distributes his energies over too wide a field has neither the opportunity nor the vitality to develop properly. Especially is this true at the present time, when competition is so strenuous and men have to be thoroughly familiar with their particular line of endeavor in order to meet and overcome opposition. With the exception of a very short period of time the entire career of C. Elmer Anderson has been devoted to the type- writer business, and at present his establishment at Pasadena, conducted as the Anderson Typewriter Company, is one of the finest to be found in Southern California, while his branch house at Long Beach is also attracting favorable attention and a rapidly growing patronage.
Mr. Anderson was born July 20, 1890, at Cadillac, Michigan, and is a son of Charles I. and A. Charlotte Anderson, now residents of Pasadena, but formerly of Cadillac, where the father was engaged for a number of years in the lumber business. Four sons of this couple are living: C. Elmer, the eldest ; Lawrence A., who has been identified with the National Piano Manufacturing Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, since leaving school, and is now assistant superintendent of that company's plant ; Holger S., a veteran of the World war, former bookkeeper for the Cobb & Mitchell Lumber Company and for Grauman's Million Dollar Theatre, Los Angeles, and now bookkeeper for Keller Brothers, distributors for Studebaker auto- mobiles at Pasadena; and Alvin E., former bookkeeper for the Anderson Typewriter Company at Pasadena and newly-appointed manager of the Long Beach store of this company.
C. Elmer Anderson received his education in the public schools of Cadillac, Michigan, from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1907, following which he served an apprenticeship in a typewriter factory at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Later he became a tool-setter for the West Michigan Machine and Tool Company of Grand Rapids, and from that city went to Momence, Illinois, where he was a typewriter mechanic in a typewriter factory for a short time. Mr. Anderson's next location was at Syracuse, New York, where he was identified with the L. C. Smith & Broth- ers Typewriter Company, this being followed by employment with the Fox Typewriter Company in the New York City office of that concern. Mr. Anderson then returned to Illinois, as an employe of the Woodstock Type- writer Company of Woodstock, manufacturers of Woodstock typewriters. after which he went to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was associated with the Underwood Typewriter Company. Returning to Cadillac, his birth city, he decided that he would become a druggist, and with this end in view spent one and one-half years in a drug store. At the end of that period he was convinced that he did not care to follow the business of pharmacist, and, taking his earnings, in 1912 he came to Pasadena. Upon his arrival he noted the fact that the city contained no typewriter store, and, realizing the possibilities of virgin territory, immediately grasped the opportunity and opened a modest but fully-equipped repair shop. The business succeeded from the start, and in 1913 he opened the first typewriter store at Pasadena, a repair shop and salesroom located in the Boston Building. Later he moved to a ground floor location at No. 173 East Colorado Street, subsequently
1
1
255
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
taking a lease at No. 250 East Colorado Street, the present site of the Model Grocery Company. When his lease expired he did not renew, but moved to the Southeast corner of Raymond and Colorado Streets, in the. heart of the business district of Pasadena, and has one of the finest exclusive typewriter stores on the Pacific Coast. The Anderson Typewriter Company acts as agents for Corona and Royal typewriters, but also sells, rents and repairs all makes, in addition to handling the Sundstrand adding machine. In 1922 Mr. Anderson opened a branch store at 143 Pine Avenue, recently removed to the northeast corner of Pine and Broadway, in the heart of the business district of Long Beach, and is likewise proving a great success, being agents for the same typewriters and giving the same kind of superlative service to its patrons. To be located with a five year lease.
Mr. Anderson is one of Pasadena's most progressive young business men. He was one of the five originators of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, of which he was one of the first Board of Directors, and is still a member, and is a charter member of the Pasadena Kiwanis Club. He served four years in the chairs, and has just retired after serving a year as exalted ruler of Pasadena Lodge No. 672, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Black Bird Rib- bon Factories, Incorporated, of Los Angeles, manufacturers of black record typewriter ribbons, and in politics is a republican.
On May 3, 1917, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage with Miss Mildred Hill, of Pasadena, at this city, a daughter of G. G. Hill, a former railroad man and now a rancher of Antelope Valley. Mrs. Anderson, who is a high school graduate of Pasadena, was brought to this city when three months old by her parents from her birthplace, Adrian, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have one daughter, Barbara Lucile, born at Pasadena October 26, 1919.
CLYDE A. OVENSHIRE. The increasing popularity of the athletic and recreational game of lawn tennis in this and other countries has brought about marked changes in the instruments used in play, and one of the principal improvements has been made in the racket. In perfecting his Crown City and Brookside rackets, than which there are no superiors anywhere, Clyde A. Ovenshire has at the same time developed one of the prominent industries of Pasadena, which has added to the city's manufacturing prestige and has given the m'aker a reputation that extends to athletic circles everywhere in the land.
Mr. Ovenshire was born at Blissfield, Lenawee County, Michigan, August 26, 1884, and is a son of Elijah A. and Eva E. (French) Oven- shire. His father was a product of the agricultural community of Ogden Township, Lenawee County, Michigan, whence he went to Detroit, that state, and in 1903 came to California and located at Los Angeles. There Mr. Ovenshire became proprietor of the American Pattern Works, a position which he still retains, although he is now making his home at Hollywood. Mrs. Ovenshire, who was born in the same community as her husband, passed away in 1918, at Los Angeles. They were the parents of three children : Clyde A .; Velma, who is now Mrs. Sharps, of Los Angeles, and Hazel, who is now Mrs. Fairgrieve, of that city.
Clyde A. Ovenshire received his education in the public schools of Detroit and Lansing, Michigan, and as a youth learned the trade of pattern making at the former city. He worked at the trade at Detroit until 1902, in which year he began a series of journeys which took him to various parts of Canada, Mexico and the United States. Feeling the need of further preparation, he then pursued a course in the International Correspondence School, in mechanical engineering. and also studied law in Texas. For about two years he was a resident of Toledo, Ohio, whence he came to Los Angeles in 1904. In 1905 he went to Texas, and in the same year and 1906 was in Mexico, follow- ing which he returned to Los Angeles, where he remained until 1911.
256
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Moving then to Pasadena, he was put in charge of the pattern works of the Reliance Manufacturing Company, a concern with which he was connected until about 1914. Mr. Ovenshire next took charge of the American Pattern Works at Los Angeles, and remained in that capacity until 1920, when he came to Pasadena and embarked in busi- ness under his own proprietorship of the Reliance Pattern Works. Later he discontinued this name and is now operating under his own name. At the same time he began the manufacture of hand made tennis rackets of a special design and quality. At the start he con- sidered the pattern making business the most important, but he soon found it necessary to give more and more time to the manufacture of the rackets, and eventually he gave up pattern making altogether in order to keep up with the demand for the tennis implements. At the present time he is unable to meet the demand for his "Crown City" and "Brookside" rackets, which are shipped to wholesale and retail merchants all over the United States and have also found favor in foreign countries. Mr. Ovenshire has made a close and careful study of the business of manufacturing these articles, which are Pasadena products and advertised as such by the Chamber of Commerce and Pasadena generally. His own name is used on these rackets as a trade name, showing that he personally backs each racket that leaves his factory.
During the World war period Mr. Ovenshire was past the age limit, but did not claim exemption and was ready to do his part should the occasion arise. He did considerable Governmental work and was a supporter of all war activities. He is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood, the Pasadena Tennis Club and the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce. Politically he is a republican, but has not engaged in public matters.
On July 26, 1911, Mr. Ovenshire married at Los Angeles, Cali- fornia, Hazel A. Kellar, who was born at Detroit, Michigan, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Kellar, who have been residents of Los Angeles since 1902. Mrs. Ovenshire received her education in the public schools of Detroit and the Polytechnic High School, Los Angeles, and is a woman of more than ordinary attainments and accomplishments. She and her husband are the parents of two daugh- ters, Alma Emmeline and Virginia Marie, both born at Pasadena.
LESLIE ILLINGWORTH HOOD. At 329 East Colorado Street is situated one of the important and splendidly equipped mercantile establish- ments of Pasadena, the same being devoted to the handling of sta- tionery, books, filing devices, general office supplies, kodaks and other photographic accessories, etc. The business, broad in its scope and of representative character, is conducted under the corporate title of A. C. Vroman, Inc., A. D. Sheldon being president of the company and Leslie I. Hood, its secretary and treasurer.
Mr. Hood was born at Sioux City, Iowa, on the 9th of November, 1888, and is a son of Marshall J. and Clara (Illingworth) Hood, both of whom were born at Lancaster, New York. Marshall J. Hood established his residence at Sioux City, Iowa, in 1888, and there con- tinued as a leading business man, in the handling of books, newspapers, etc., until his death in 1904, his widow being still a resident of that locality in the Hawkeye State. Surviving the father are also three sons : Wayne A., eldest of the children, is vice-president and manager of the Producers Mutual Dairy Association, at San Diego, California, and in his personal sketch on other pages of this work may be found additional data concerning the family history. Frank M. is engaged in the general merchandise business at Sargents Bluff, Iowa, and is one of the progressive and influential citizens of that village. The youngest of the children is he whose name introduces this review.
In the public schools of his native city Leslie I. Hood continued
Joseph A Condix.
257
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
his studies until he had profited by the discipline of the high school, and since the age of twelve years he has been continuously associated with the book and stationery business. He thus depended largely upon his own resources during the period when he was attending school, he having been in the employ of the Sioux City Stationery Company for a period of ten years and having in the meanwhile con- tinued to attend school. After leaving the employ of this company he effectively amplified his experience through alliance with the repre- sentative book-publishing houses of the Bobbs-Merrill Company, In- dianapolis, Indiana ; and George H. Doran, of New York City. As a traveling book salesman he made an excellent productive record with each of these concerns, his incidental travels having covered the east central states and the State of New York. In February, 1912, Mr. Hood came from New York to California, and on the 2d of that month, the day of his arrival in Pasadena, he here took a position as a book salesman. He entered the employ of the late A. C. Vroman, whose death occurred in 1916, and has been continuously identified with the Vroman house since that time, he being now manager of its large and modern book department and also being secretary and treasurer of the company, a dual office which he has held since 1918.
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.