USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume II > Part 44
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president of the Farmers Congress of the State of Colorado and once presi- dent of the National Educational Association of Illinois; Mary, who is the wife of Dr. D. C. Tyler, who is one of the oldest practicing physicians of Clifton, Kansas ; and Ellen S. and Florence F., who reside with their ven- erable mother.
Nicholas T. Edwards attended the public schools, the Illinois State Nor- mal University, Knox College, from which he was graduated with the degree of A. M., and the Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut, from which he was graduated B. D. in 1883. For twenty-five years he con- tinued in the work of the ministry, retiring from the same in 1906, and during his long pastorate served churches at Amboy and Kewanee in Illi- nois ; the Plymouth Congregational Church, Los Angeles, California; the First Congregational Church at Escondido, and the Plymouth Congrega- tional Church at Whittier. During these years he was instrumental in securing the erection of three churches. For several years he was treasurer of the Bethlehem Benevolent Board of Los Angeles, with Dana Bartlett, this philanthropy operating three hotels, a number of night schools and three churches, one at Dolgeville and two at Los Angeles, and additionally medical clinics. Many of these settlement activities were subsequently taken over by the City of Los Angeles. In the meantime Mr. Edwards, 1903, acquired a ranch property, and now has forty-five acres, a part of which is the old Leffingwell ranch, while the rest lies in La Habra, all of which is devoted to lemon growing.
Since the organization of the Exchange Lemon Products Company of Corona Mr. Edwards has been a director; formerly was a director in the Exchange Orange Bi-products Company of San Diemas ; has been a direc- tor of the La Habra Citrus Association since its organization ; a director of the Northern Orange County Citrus Exchange, which is the heaviest ship- per of the California Fruit Growers Exchange; a director of the California Fruit Growers Exchange & Supply Company ; and additionally is active in the recently organized Insect Pest Control Association of Orange County. After some nine years of expensive experimentation the Exchange Lemons Product Company of Corona, in which Mr. Edwards is much interested. has mastered the difficulties of citric acid production and now produces a chemically perfect product, the acid and oil standing the highest test of the American Pharmaceutical Association. The company's plant has a capac- ity of 2,000,000 pounds of citric acid annually, and already the company has contracted for all the citric acid and lemon oil it is able to produce.
Mr. Edwards married in 1883 Miss Blanche Fisher, of Princeton, Illinois, and they have had four children, all of whom were graduated from Pomona College; Herbert Nicholas, the eldest, is a member of the Cotton Exchange of New York City and is connected with a big brokerage house in New York City. He married Miss Aileen Slimon, whose father was a prominent physician in the City of London, England. Margaret died at Whittier at the age of sixteen years. . May Gertrude, the second daughter, resides at home. Frederick Newton, the youngest of the family. who is now a professor in Pomona College, during the World war enlisted in the Aviation Corps, was in training at Ithaca, New York, and later served at Dallas, Texas, where he was commissioned second lieutenant.
Nicholas T. Edwards married in September, 1917, Miss Grace Hollo- way, a teacher of domestic science in the Whittier High School, and they have one son, Arthur Edwards.
During the World war, Mr. Edwards was active in all patriotic move- ments, and as one of the Four Minute Men spoke all over the southern part of California. He has never been unduly active in local politics, but has taken an intelligent interest in civic welfare and was president of the Board of Education at Whittier for eight years and a director of the pub- lic library for two terms. In 1885, when he joined the order of Modern Woodmen of America, its membership was 5,000, its phenomenal growth being indicated by its present membership of over a million.
„ 23 Nanach M.D.
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OWEN MELVILLE HARRAH, M. D. Prominently identified with the medical fraternity of Los Angeles County is Dr. Owen Melville Harrah, who has been engaged in practice at Pasadena since 1914 with the excep- tion of the period which he spent with the Army Medical Corps during the World war. Energetic, capable and experienced, he has won the confidence of a large clientele, particularly in the suburb of Lamanda Park, where he is not only well known in professional circles but is accounted a construc- tive and valuable participant in civic matters.
Doctor Harrah was born at Newton, Illinois, January 14, 1890, a son of Benjamin Franklin and Ada (Scoville) Harrah, natives of the Prairie State. His father, a lawyer by profession, followed that profession at Newton for about seven years, during which time he served a term as prosecuting attorney, and then went to Washington, D. C., where he has been the incumbent of a number of official positions, at the present being assistant auditor of the Panama Canal Commission. He is a democrat in his political allegiance. Of the two sons and two daughters in the family Owen M. is the only one residing in California.
Owen Melville Harrah attended the public schools of Washington, D. C., and after his graduation from Central High School entered George- town University, from which he was graduated in 1913 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For one year he was resident physician at Mary's Help Hospital, San Francisco, and in 1914 located for practice at Lamanda Park, which has since become a suburb of Pasadena. He is in general practice as a physician and surgeon, and the general confidence in which he is held is indicated by the extent and importance of his clientele. Dur- ing the World war Doctor Harrah enlisted in the United States Army Medical Corps, having previously taken a special surgical course at the University of California and at Leland Stanford University. At Camp Lewis he was commissioned a first lieutenant, subsequently was transferred to Camp Fremont, and then went overseas, where he saw about nine months of service. He was attached at various times to Base Hospitals Nos. 93, 224 and 212, was also with the headquarters office of the Amer- ican Army Ambulance Service with the French Army, headquarters being at Paris, and also had charge for a time of a hospital at Metz, Lorraine. Upon his return he resumed his practice at Pasadena, and in 1921 served as president of the Lamanda Park Board of Trade.
Dr. Harrah holds membership in the various organizations of his pro- fession, and as a fraternalist belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order Elks No. 672, of Pasadena; the Gamma Delta Psi high school fraternity and the Phi Chi medical college fraternity. He is a member of the First Congregational Church of Washington, D. C., and in politics gives his vote to the man he deems best fitted for the office at stake. The figure "13" has played quite a conspicuous part in Doctor Harrah's life, but he has yet to find that it has caused him any ill fortune; on the contrary, in fact. He was graduated from Georgetown University, Friday, June 13. 1913, and his name was thirteenth on the roll call. On March 13, 1915, at Lamanda Park, he married Miss Marigold Whitford, who was born at Washington, D. C. She was educated at the capital, where she attended high and normal schools and then became a public school teacher in her native place, subsequently following that vocation for a time in Texas. She is prominent in the social life of Lamanda Park and is a popular mem- ber of the Woman's Club. Doctor and Mrs. Harrah are the parents of two bright and interesting children: Owenita Margaret, born at Los Angeles, California ; and Patricia Darline, born at Alhambra, this state. The attractive family home is located at No. 2401 Oswego Street, Pasadena.
E. H. GREPPIN, who died in 1922, had for twenty-seven years been active in the business life of Los Angeles. He was managing director of the wholesale paper house of Blake, Moffitt & Towne.
Altogether he was a California business man for thirty-five years. He was born at St. Louis, Missouri, December 8, 1867. His father, Joseph
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Greppin, was born in Berne, Switzerland, was educated for the engineering profession, and came to America early in life and served during the Civil war as an officer in the navy. While in the navy he met Miss Cecile Haquette, and they were subsequently married. She was born in Lorraine, and was eighteen years of age when her father brought his family to America to escape the oppression of Germany. As soon as he reached America he draped the American flag about him and had his picture taken as a demonstration of his loyalty to his adopted country.
E. H. Greppin was educated in the public schools of St. Louis, and as a young man of twenty came to California, in 1887. In San Francisco he was first in the employ of the Evans Stationery Store and later went with the Union Lithographing Company. From that it was a transfer based on experience when he joined the wholesale paper house of Bonestal & Company as city and traveling salesman.
Mr. Greppin came to Los Angeles in 1895 and became manager for Blake, Moffitt & Towne. Subsequently he became one of the large stock- holders and was managing director of the business until his death.
His main interests were centered in this business and in his home. He married in 1890 Miss Kate Stillman, of St. Louis. They had been married thirty-two years when he died. Besides Mrs. Greppin two children survive, Mrs. Perry A. Howard and Lloyd E. Greppin.
The late Mr. Greppin in many ways showed a sympathy and under- standing of young men, and was very helpful to his youthful friends in getting started in business. He was prominent in fraternal and club circles, being a Knight Templar and Scottish Rite Mason, a life member of the Mystic Shrine, and was a member of the Jonathan Club and the Wilshire Country Club.
PETER CORNELIUS PRUGH, D. D. The lives of some men refute the statement that "the evil that men do lives after them," for they are filled with noble deeds of self-sacrifice, and the influence of their actions endure long after all that is material has returned to dust. The late Dr. Peter Cornelius Prugh, clergyman, philanthropist and reformer, was one of the men of national repute whose years, although numbering close to the one hundred mark, seemed few enough to hold all of the good he accomplished. Possessed of untiring energy and great capability, he used his talents for others, and was especially active in promoting the welfare and providing for the care and education of destitute children. Both East and West have cause to remember him with great and affectionate respect, and as long as the various movements which he sponsored remain his name will be cherished and reverenced.
Doctor Prugh was born near Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, on his father's farm, September 13, 1822, and he died on his son's ranch. South San Gabriel Boulevard, Los Angeles County, California, in May, 1919. He was a son of John and Catherine (Hains) Prugh, natives of Maryland, but very early settlers of Ohio. Securing land in Montgomery County, they cleared off the heavy forest growth and erected a log cabin, in which they reared their seven sons and one daughter.
After attending the primitive country schools of his native county Peter C. Prugh went to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and became a student of the Reformed Church College and Theological Seminary at Mercersburg. that state, from which he was graduated eight years later and ordained a minister. His first charge was the church of his faith at Xenia, Ohio, and he was located there for a period of twenty-one years, during which time he won the affection of his own people and the respect of those of other denominations. While at Xenia he entered upon his long career of useful philanthropy which was to give him national fame. It was during his pastorate at Xenia that war was declared between the North and the South, and like so many other men of his cloth, although regretting the necessity for warfare, went into the conflict as chaplain, and exerted himself in behalf
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of the Ohio relief work chiefly, and also ministered to the sick and wounded. A large amount of his service was on the James River, and he and his organization were to be found on the battlefields after some of the most important battles of the Virginian campaigns, including those of Cold Harbor, the Wilderness and those in the vicinity of Richmond. All through the war he was also much interested, and endeavored, and successfully, to interest others in caring for the unsupported children and wives of the soldiers. After the close of the war he turned his attention toward provid- ing a refuge for the disabled soldiers of the conflict just concluded, and also for the orphan children of soldiers, and established the first Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home in the country, locating it at Xenia, and served it as chaplain for four years. So successful was this undertaking that others of a charitable nature began to look into the management of this institution and plan similar ones, and in time all of the states organized these homes, all modeled after the one founded by Doctor Prugh. Changes in work and location took him away from the Xenia home, but he never lost his interest in it, nor in children, and he was interested in their welfare, and planned to assist "God's little ones" as long as he lived. He was a man who understood children and could influence them, even the most depraved, and was never happier than when surrounded by a crowd of his little friends.
During his ministry Doctor Prugh became so impressed with the evils of intemperance that he sought for some influence to combat its evil power, and while at Xenia was instrumental in organizing the Woman's Temper- ance Crusade. He was one of the organizers and charter members, fifty years ago, of the National Reform Association, which now has its head- quarters at Washington, District of Columbia, but its beginnings were at Xenia.
After his years of usefulness at Xenia Doctor Prugh was called to Germantown, Ohio, as pastor of the Reformed Church of that city, and continued with it, to its great good, for six fruitful years. His wonderful work in behalf of orphans had attracted the attention of men and women all over the country by this time, and he was placed in charge of the orphans' home of his church at Butler, Pennsylvania, and here, in the work he loved, he remained until he was eighty years of age, when he retired. The model methods adopted by him in the management of this home were later adopted by the State of Pennsylvania when it took over the institution. In the interval between his retirement and the assumption of the responsibility for it by the state Doctor Prugh took the orphans into his own home and cared for them, and did not feel that the task was a heavy one.
For a time after leaving the Orphans' Home he lived at Butler, Penn- sylvania, and was active in Sunday School work, and displayed an active interest in the Young Men's Christian Association, in which he had been a zealous worker at Xenia. At the age of ninety-two, in 1915, he came to California, and in spite of his venerable age could not be persuaded to relinquish his efforts in behalf of others, but taught in the Sunday Schools of Los Angeles County, and frequently preached, and many beautiful and inspiring sermons live after him in the annals of Southern California. From the time of its organization he was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic ; belonged to the Centinarian Club, and for three years was its president. In his youth he was a whig, but later became a republican, and continued to give the latter party his support as long as he lived. His first presidential vote was cast for William Henry Harrison. He heard Henry Clay deliver his famous "Compromise" speech in the United States Senate chamber, and he was proud of the fact that he had a personal acquaintance with Abraham Lincoln.
Doctor Prugh married Miss Charlotte Hassler, born at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, a year after his call to Xenia, Ohio. She died July 17, 1898, at Butler, Pennsylvania. During their long and happy married life she was an earnest and helpful co-worker of her husband, and for years was matron of the Orphans Home of Butler, Pennsylvania. Of their family
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seven children grew to maturity, namely: E. N., who is president of Conroy, Prue and Company, mirror manufacturers, of Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania ; Rev. John H., who was a follower in his father's magnificent work, was for thirty-five years a minister of Grace Reformed Church, and died at the age of sixty years, after a life devoted to others; Daniel, who was also connected with Conroy, Prue and Company, is deceased ; W. S., who is an orange grower and oil producer of Alhambra County, California ; Mrs. D. N. Harnish, who was the fifth child; Miss Grace, who with her sister, Mrs. Harnish, is a resident of California; and Etta, who died at Butler, Pennsylvania, when twenty-three years old, was a teacher and very active in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
BRAXTON B. MINGS, M. D. Not only has Dr. Braxton B. Mings made a success as a practicing physician, but also as a rancher, and although now retired from his former calling, he finds plenty to occupy his time and attention in handling his valuable property, which is located two miles south of El Monte. Doctor Mings was born at Gilmer, Upshur County, Texas, March 5, 1863, a son of Mac Mings, a native of Alabama, who went to Texas. He married Cynthia N. Vise, a native of Indiana, and they had two sons, the elder being S. J. Mings, who is still living in Texas, where he, too, was born.
Doctor Mings attended the common and high schools of Gilmer and the high school of Longview, Texas, and acquired his medical training in the medical department of the University of Kentucky, from which he was graduated February 26, 1896, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately thereafter he began the practice of his profession at Gates- ville, Texas, and remained in his native state until 1902, and in that year came to California. Settling at El Monte, he bought the practice and busi- ness block owned by Doctor Cave. The latter Doctor Mings subsequently sold, and its site is now occupied by the First National Bank Building. For eight years Doctor Mings continued his practice at El Monte and Los Angeles, but then retired from it, preferring to devote himself to work he had found more congenial and less exacting.
He purchased forty-five acres of the Baldwin estate, and here he main- tains his beautiful home. Doctor Mings had made several trips to Cali- fornia prior to settling here permanently in 1902, and on one of these' visits met Miss May Dobson. He returned to California, and the two were married August 22, 1888, in the hotel parlors of the Hotel Nadean, the best hotel in Los Angeles in those days. Doctor and Mrs. Mings returned to his Texan home and continued to reside there until 1902, when they came back to the Golden State. Two children were born to them, namely : Dollie and Travis B.
Dollie Mings was born June 14, 1889, in Levita, Texas, and was educated in the graded schools of Levita and the high school of El Monte, and took a commercial course at Brownsberg's Business College, Los Angeles. She married C. W. Rowland, nephew of the oil magnate, W. R. Rowland, who is manager of the American Gas Company at Santa Marie, California, his uncle being the owner of this plant. Mr. and Mrs. Rowland have one daughter, Dorothea, who was born June 17, 1918.
Travis B. Mings was born at Gatesville, Texas, November 24, 1890, and was educated in the El Monte High School. Although his parents desired him to further pursue his studies, the young man evinced such a strong inclination toward a business life that he was permitted to leave school at the age of eighteen years and buy his present ranch on Lexington Road near El Monte. Here he has since been very successfully engaged in operating this ranch, on which he is carrying on truck farming and rais- ing fine stock, his full-blood Holstein cattle being noted all over California. In all of his operations he has been remarkably successful and has made a large amount of money in his ventures. Fraternally he maintains member- ship with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, both of El Monte. Travis B. Mings
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married Miss Hazel Beck, December 29, 1914. She is a daughter of Edward and Eliza Beck, pioneers of the El Monte District. Mr. and Mrs. Mings have two daughters ; Lula Mae and Beulah Elizabeth.
Doctor Mings is one of the best-known men in his locality. He is a Blue Lodge Mason, and zealous in behalf of his order. While not operating as extensively as his son, he has made a decided success of ranching, and would not exchange his mode of life for anything that might be offered him. Fully alive to the wonderful possibilities of this region, he only marvels that he remained away from it as long as he did.
Mrs. Mings is a daughter of William R. Dobson, born in Cranford County, Arkansas, September 3, 1839, a son of Gannon Magby Dodson, of Virginia, whose father was an extensive planter of that state. Gannon M. Dodson married in Kentucky in 1832, and moved to Missouri the following year, settling on the Sauk River, but four years later went to Arkansas and bought land, now the present site of the town of Van Buren. This was then a wilderness, and he worked hard clearing the land, on which he erected a home. His last days, however, were spent at Little Rock, Arkansas.
Growing up in Arkansas William R. Dobson attended school held in a little log cabin, and when he reached maturity, engaged in farming. The outbreak of war changed his plans, and he enlisted in Company B, Third Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, known as "Gratiot's Brigade," and served throughout the war. At the battle of Springfield, Missouri, he received a saber wound, and in the one at Fayettesville, Missouri, he was shot and his left arm broken, but he rode 600 miles through Texas with his arm in a sling before he received medical treatment for his injury.
Following the close of the war and his honorable discharge he remained in Texas and was engaged in freighting out of Galveston until 1868, during which time, having saved $8,000, he decided to come to California, and made the trip overland, landing in El Monte September 28 of the same year. A shrewd business man, he was successful, and by 1880 had acquired ownership of the El Monte Hotel, and continued to operate it until 1905, when he sold it so as to devote his entire time to the ranch he had purchased in the vicinity of El Monte.
Before leaving Texas he married Miss Clarissa C. Jones, a native of Alabama, a daughter of William L. Jones, of El Monte, and who died here in 1901. Mr. Dodson died at El Monte, March 21, 1921. Mr. and Mrs. Dodson had six children, namely: William B .; May; Clay and Elbert, twins ; Foster, who resides at El Monte; and one who is deceased. During the '70s Mr. Dodson was one of the most popular tavern keepers of South California, and is still remembered for his excellent service to the public during times when it was more difficult to conduct a hotel than now. He was a life-long democrat, and never lost his interest in public matters.
RUFUS W. BURNHAM is one of the oldest men in the service of the internationally known mercantile agency of R. G. Dun & Company. That firm was established in New York in 1841. While one of the oldest mercantile agencies in America and with a widespread service that makes the name "Dun" a common phase in commercial transactions, it is a matter of interest to note that Mr. Burnham became associated with the company more than forty years ago and has therefore been in its service through more than half of its total existence.
Mr. Burnham, who had charge of the Los Angeles branch agency since 1894, took charge of this office seven years after it was established in 1887. The first location of R. G. Dun & Company in Los Angeles was 232 N. Main Street, where the office was maintained over twenty years, and since 1908 Mr. Burnham has had his headquarters in the International Bank Building. Through the experienced direction of Mr. Burnham the Dun & Company Agency has become an indispensable factor to the busi- ness community, and has facilities for the most perfect and reliable informa- tion as to credits and financial conditions generally.
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