History of Los Angeles county, Volume II, Part 49

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

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He was associated with the firm Gage, Kinney & Jones in promoting most of Ocean Park's constructive development. During his earlier res- idence at Los Angeles he served as secretary of the street commission. At Ocean Park he built the Casino in 1903, the Ocean Park Bath House in 1905, the Masonic Temple Auditorium and Decatur Hotel in 1906, and in 1911 organized the Fraser Million Dollar Pier Company. To him belongs the credit of building the cement walks a mile and a quarter in length from the ocean front to Venice. He was president of the Topango Canyon Im- provement Company, the A. R. Fraser Company and was vice president of the Masonic Temple Association. The late Mr. Fraser was a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, a past master of Ocean Park Lodge and past grand patron of the Eastern Star of the State of California. He was a member of the Los Angeles and Santa Monica and Ocean Park Chamber of Commerce, was affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Maccabees and the Foresters, and a member of the Episcopal Church. He also belonged to the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Los Angeles Country Club, the Jonathan Club and for three years was president of the Community League of Ocean Park.

On July 17, 1877, Alexander R. Fraser married Miss Appolona Wedge, of Yale, Michigan, daughter of John Wedge. Four children were born to their marriage. Two daughters, Edna and Pearl, are deceased. Edna died in Germany in 1910, the wife of Richard Heiman. The two living children are Ethel and Earl A. Ethel, wife of Edward L. Prentiss, of Denver, Colorado, is the mother of two sons, Fraser and Edward Prentiss.

Alexander R. Fraser passed away April 28, 1923. He was laid to rest in Englewood Cemetery at Los Angeles, the services being held in the Ocean Park Masonic Temple under the auspices of the Eastern Star.

Earl A. Fraser, son of Alexander R. Fraser, and his active associate and now head of the amusement enterprises and other business established by his father at Ocean Park, was born at Yale, Michigan, January 14, 1883, but has spent most of his life in Southern California. He attended public schools in Los Angeles, and as a youth became associated with his father's amusement enterprises at Ocean Park. Subsequently he spent two years on a ranch in the Imperial Valley, but since then has devoted his time and attention exclusively to his father's and his own interest at Ocean Park. He was associated with his father in erecting the Fraser Building in 1914. Besides being president of the Ocean Park Bath House and Amusement Company he is vice president, secretary and general manager of the Million Dollar Pier Company. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Young Men's City Club and the Orioles.

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On July 21, 1906, Earl A. Fraser married Miss Lillian Farthing, of Sydney, Australia. She was born at New Castle, Australia, and was educated there and at Sydney. Mrs. Fraser is a member of the Ocean Park Woman's Club and the Iouka Club.

ARTHUR W. SWAIN. Successful men are those who have made the opportunities of their years most fruitful in experience and accom- plishment. By this standard one of the very successful men of the Whittier District is Arthur W. Swain. Mr. Swain had a broad and interesting variety of experience before he came to Southern Cali- fornia. He has lived here thirty years, and his friends and associates speak of him as a man who has given generously of his time and resources in connection with every important movement of the com- . munity.

Mr. Swain represents the sterling Quaker stock and people, one branch of whom founded the beautiful City of Whittier. He was born at Knightstown, Henry County, Indiana, in the midst of a large Quaker settlement there. His birth occurred October 24, 1856. His parents were William Henry and Elizabeth (Pickering) Swain. His mother was a cousin of the Pickering who founded the town of Whit- tier, being the leader of the Quaker colony in this locality. William Henry Swain was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, of the old Quaker stock of that faith. He was a cooper and carriage maker by trade. During the Civil war he joined Company H of the Thirty- ninth Iowa Infantry, and was taken prisoner at Corinth, Mississippi. He was sent to Libby Prison at Richmond, Virginia, and died at Belle Isle in that city.

Arthur W. Swain was only a boy when his father gave up his life for his country. He spent his youth in New York, Chicago and Kan- sas. At the age of ten years he was working as a cash boy in the famous store of A. T. Stewart in New York. For a time he was office boy for a firm at the foot of Wall Street. While living in Chicago he ran away from home and spent three years as an apprentice to the baker's trade in Valparaiso, Indiana. Baking was the chief line of business for Mr. Swain for a long period of years. From Valparaiso he returned to Chicago, and was a baker at Braidwood, Illinois, where on September 15, 1881, he married Sarah A. Long. She was born at Morris, Illinois. daughter of John and Rosina Long.

After his marriage Mr. Swain was in the baking business at La Grange, Illinois, and for about ten years conducted a very prosperous enterprise there. Disposing of his interests in Illinois, Mr. Swain in 1891 came to Whittier, purchasing a ranch of five acres on Painter Avenue and ten acres in East Whittier, on California and Sixth streets. These tracts he had set out in oranges and lemons. This land is above the frost belt, and he suffered no loss in the freezes of 1913 and 1922. His property is valuable and is also a beautiful home site. His home he built in 1907. After coming to California Mr. Swain was in the baking business at Long Beach for two and one-half years. For four years he was instructor in baking at the Whittier State School. With these exceptions he has devoted himself to his extensive ranch- ing interests. His property on Painter Avenue he sold and subse- quently bought a hundred acre ranch at Strathmore in Tulare County. This land is set to oranges, chiefly navels. Mr. Swain is a member of the Whittier Citrus Association, and was one of the organ- izers and is the director and manager of the Strathmore Packing House Company in Strathmore. He is a member of the Whittier Chamber of Commerce, and was a director in the Old Whittier Board of Trade, of which the Chamber of Commerce is the successor. Mr. Swain was in Whittier when the population of the town was only twelve hun- dred, and its environment was largely cattle ranches and wild mustard.

Socially Mr. Swain is a charter member of the Masonic Lodge of

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Whittier, is a member of the Eastern Star Chapter and is a charter member of Whittier Lodge of Elks. He is a republican, and at one time was member of the Central Committee at Anaheim, where he lived two and one-half years. He was a delegate to the State Conven- tion when Daniels ran for Congress and Gage for governor. Both Mr. and Mrs. Swain are prominently identified with St. Matthias Episcopal Church. He served two years as its senior warden and for many years as a vestryman. Mr. Swain is a member of the leading social organiza- tion of the city and of the Hacienda Country Club.

Mrs. Swain has interested herself in the educational progress of the Whittier community. She was a member of the School Board of East Whittier when the new school building was erected, and served on the board altogether for six years. This school has one of the finest school buildings in the county. Mrs. Swain is a valued member of the East Whittier Women's Club and a former president, and is a past matron of Lyra Chapter of the Eastern Star of Whittier. Mr. and Mrs. Swain have two daughters: Florence Adele and Ada Frances, the latter of whom is the wife of William A. Palmer, fore- man of the Swain ranch at Strathmore, and they have one son, William Swain Palmer.

CHARLES SILENT died at Los Alisos Rancho, near Glendora, Cali- fornia, on December 14, 1918, leaving surviving him his wife, Mary Tantau Silent, who died at Carmel Highlands, Monterey County, Cali- fornia, January 8, 1921, Edward D. Silent, a son, and two daughters, Mrs. Frank J. Thomas and Miss Florence Silent, all residents of the City of Los Angeles at the time of Judge Silent's death.

Judge Silent was descended from an ancient German family of distin- guished lineage and was born at Baden, Germany, in 1842. When he was five years of age his parents came to America and located at Columbus, Ohio, where he lived until he came to California. When he was about twelve years of age he was forced to take upon himself the burden of life. and thereafter the responsibility of his support and education rested upon his shoulders alone. Borrowing the necessary funds from a friend, he embarked for San Francisco the following year, 1856, coming by way of the Isthmus of Panama and arriving at his destinaion in August of that year. He went to Drytown, Amador County, California, and was employed at various occupations for four years, attending school for two years and studying constantly. So efficient were his efforts that when he was seven- teen he passed the teachers' examination and received a first grade certi- ficate. For three months he taught in the country, then received an appoinment to the school where he had been a student, teaching there until 1862, when he entered the University of the Pacific at Santa Clara. At the close of the first term he was elected principal of the Santa Clara public schools, and, continuing his studies while teaching, received from the Uni- versity the honorary degree of A. M. in 1872. During all this time he had continued the study of law, being for a time in the law offices of S. F. & J. Reynolds in San Francisco, as a student, and later was deputy county clerk in Santa Clara County, in which position he familiarized himself with practice and pleadings and with the public records of that county. In 1868 he was admitted to the California bar and soon became junior member of the firm of Moore, Laine and Silent, of Santa Clara County, California. He remained in this firm for two years, then opened an independent office and until 1878 devoted his time between his professional, educational and commercial pursuits.

In February, 1878, he was appointed by President Hayes as one of the supreme judges of Arizona, which office he filled until 1880, when he resigned to resume the practice of law in Tucson, Arizona, where for three years he enjoyed a lucrative practice. Failing health then compelled him to seek rest and recreation, and for several years he traveled. In 1885 he came to Los Angeles, where he resided until his death. Here as else-

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where he won professional distinction and was regarded as one of the most able attorneys in the state. He was for many years a member of the firm of Houghton, Silent and Campbell, but later practiced by himself, retiring from active practice in 1905. :

Judge Silent's achievements might be divided by at least three, and either division would make a fair showing for the life work of the average man. He was successful, far beyond the average in a financial way. The development of the railroad interests of the state, many years ago, felt the impulse of his strong hand, and in later years the development of Los Angeles owes much to his knowledge and ability.

In his legal work he made a name for himself that is both honored and honorable, and his standing before the bar of this state and Arizona was of the highest. Again he did much for the educational life of the state, and while practicing law in San Jose was one of the leading men in the activities that secured the establishment of the State Normal School there, the first normal school in California. He gave his attention to the development and execution of a plan for the beautifying of the school buildings and grounds of San Jose, that city being now known throughout the West for this particular condition.

While a resident of San Jose he was instrumental in the building of a railroad from that point to Santa Clara, this being one of the first railroads south of San Francisco. He also was head of the corporation which under his supervision constructed a railroad from Santa Cruz along the San Lorenzo River to the town of Felton, which is now a part of the line from Santa Cruz across the mountains to Oakland. It was also through his splendid foresight that the mammoth trees along this line were preserved and the land turned into a pleasure resort.

On settling at Los Angeles Judge Silent took an active part in the affairs of that city and county. He was one of the most active and effective members of the local Chamber of Commerce, and was instrumental in the accomplishment of many of the projects of that body. It was largely through his efforts that in 1897 the unemployed of the city set to work in the improvement of Elysian Park. A fund by subscription was raised, and all men applying for work were given employment at a dollar a day. In recognition of this service the Manufacturers and Merchants Associa- tion made him an Honorary Life Member. Later on he was appointed a member of the Park Commission of Los Angeles, and while such a member, in association with Mr. Henry O'Melveny, the parks were completely renovated, particularly the park now known as Pershing Square.

Judge Silent originally owned the property now called "Chester Place" in Los Angeles. Subsequently subdividing this place, he brought it to its present high condition of improvement. This place was named after his son Chester, who when a student at Stanford University was duck hunt- ing and accidently shot. It was Judge Silent's hope that this son would become associated with him in the practice of law, and upon his death he began to withdraw from the active practice of his profession. About this time he acquired Los Alisos Rancho, near Glendora, at which place he spent most of his time during the remainder of his life, although he main- tained a residence in Los Angeles. This ranch he improved until it became known as one of the most beautiful places in Southern California, noted for its lemon and orange groves, its parks, and its profusion of flowers and shrubbery.

In his political connection Judge Silent was always a faithful adherent of the principles of the republican party, although his support of the man and measure was always based upon the broad ground of ability, worth and the good to be obtained. Official preferment might have been his on many occasions had he listened to the advice of his friends and political adherents, but at all times he preferred the service of a private citizen and as such rendered invaluable service to his city.

Judge Silent was married twice. The first time in 1864, to a daughter of Rev. John Daniels, of Santa Clara. In 1872 he married a daughter of

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Y. M. Tantau, of Santa Clara County, who survived him but died in 1921, as stated in the first part of this article.

WILLIAM CHARLES SMITH, D. D. S., is one of the distinguished mem- bers of the dental profession in California, was for sixteen years professor of dental pathology and therapeutics in the department of dentistry of the University of Southern California, and from 1893 to 1907 he was engaged in the general practice of his profession. Since the latter year he has special- ized as an orthodontist, and has gained high standing in corrective den- tistry. He has been a resident of the City of Pasadena since 1894, here maintains his offices at 600-601 Citizens Savings Bank Building, and his present attractive home has been his place of residence for the past twenty- six years. The Doctor is a republican in political allegiance, he and his wife are here earnest communicants of the parish of All Saints Church, Protestant Episcopal, he is affiliated with Corona Lodge No. 324, A. F. and A. M., and is a member of the Annandale Golf Club.

The Smith family of which the Doctor is a representative is of staunch English lineage and was founded in the State of New York in the Colonial period of our national history, members of the family having there inter- married with representatives of prominent Holland Dutch families of the early days. When the Revolutionary war was precipitated the Smith family in New York was loyal to the British crown, and under these con- ditions ancestors of the Doctor removed to the present province of Ontario, Canada, and settled near Hamilton. On the old homestead of the Smith family, known as "Mountain View Farm," is still standing, and in excellent preservation, the ancient stone house which was erected about the year 1812 and which commands a fine view of the City of Hamilton and of Burlington Bay. In this ancestral homestead is found a splendid array of old mahogany furniture, copper luster-ware, cut-glass table ware, etc., all in perfect condition. There also is preserved as a family heirloom a fine old violoncello that was the property of Isaac Smith, a great-uncle of Dr. Smith of this review. With this instrument Isaac Smith led the singing in Rock Chapel, a quaint old church in the immediate neighborhood. In this venerable church worshiped many of the ancestors of Dr. Smith, as well as kinsfolks of the Rymal, Ryckman and Bogardus families. John F. Smith, father of the Doctor, passed his entire life in Ontario, Canada, was a skilled chemist, and the drug business which he established at Hamilton more than seventy years ago is still conducted by one of his sons. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah M. Stevens, was born at Cape Vincent, New York, of English ancestry, and she likewise was a resident of Hamil- ton, Ontario, at the time of her death.

Dr. William C. Smith was born at Hamilton, Ontario, September 5, 1868, and in the public schools he continued his studies until he had completed the curriculum of the high school. In 1893 he graduated from the dental department of the University of Buffalo, New York, with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery, and prior to this he had been for six years engaged in the drug business. In his special field of practice Dr. Smith further fortified himself by a post-graduate course in the Angle School of Orthodontia, in which he was graduated in 1907. At Pasadena he has long controlled a large and representative practice, here he has stood forward as a citizen of marked loyalty and progressiveness, and here he and his wife have a circle of friends that is limited only by that of their acquaintances.

On the 14th of June, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Smith and Miss Evelyn Stella Andrews, in the City of Chicago. Mrs. Smith's venerable father, Robert E. Andrews, ninety-five years of age in 1922, has recently returned from a visit in Europe, he being a man of remarkable mental and physical vigor, notwithstanding his patri- archal age. Dr. and Mrs. Smith have three children, all of whom were born and reared in California : Robert Harvey, an ensign in the

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Reserve Corps of the United States Navy, in which he was in active service in the World war period, married Miss Doris Shaw ; William Castleman, the second son, is a lieutenant of the Reserve Corps of the United States Army ; and Evelyn E., the only daughter, is the wife of Lieutenant Martin Connelly, of the United States Navy.

HARRY J. BORDE, who owns and conducts most successfully the Hotel Windermere, situated on the ocean front at Santa Monica, has made this attractive hostelry one of the popular resorts of Los Angeles County and the same caters to a discriminating and representative patronage. The nucleus of this modern hotel was the house erected in 1895 by Henry Keller, the original residence having later been leased to Mrs. Susan Boles, who conducted the place as a hotel until 1902, when the property and business were purchased by Mrs. Rosamond Borde, mother of the present proprietor and manager. Mrs. Borde purchased also the adja- cent property and connected the two houses, which she utilized for hotel purposes until 1910, the year which marked the erection of the present hotel building, which originally contained 30 guest rooms. In 1912 Mrs. Borde added 30 rooms, and in 1918-19 she purchased two adjoining lots This gracious and popular woman passed to the life eternal on the 3d of April, 1920, and in the following year her son Harry added fifteen rooms to the hotel, which now has seventy-five guest rooms, handsomely ap- pointed and equipped with the best of modern facilities. The entire build- ing has been remodeled and has steam heat, with the best of baths and other requisite accessories.

Harry J. Borde was born at Truckee, Nevada County, California, on the 15th of November, 1891, and is a son of Dr. Harry J. and Rosamond (Lehman) Borde, the former of whom was born in the city of Limoges, France, and the latter was born and reared in the state of Tennessee. Dr. Harry J. Borde was a boy of four years when he accompanied his parents from France to the United States, and the family home was established at San Jose, California, about the year 1870. Dr. Borde profited fully by the advantages of the public schools at San Jose and thereafter entered the medical department of the University of California, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1885 and with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He was thereafter in service as a surgeon of the United States Navy, and finally he assumed the office of chief surgeon of the French Hospital in the city of San Francisco. Later he engaged in the private practice of his profession, with standing as one of the skilled and representative surgeons of San Francisco, where he continued his success- ful professional labors until his death, in 1903.

Harry J. Borde acquired his early education in the public schools of Santa Monica and in 1914 he was graduated in Leland Stanford, Jr., Uni- versity, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Thereafter he completed a two years' course in the law department of this university, from which he received the supplemental degree of Juris Doctor.

When the nation became involved in the World war Mr. Borde enlisted and entered a cavalry training camp, in which he won commission as second lieutenant and was assigned to a machine-gun battalion, from which he subsequently was transferred to the air service. After the armistice brought the war to a close he received his honorable discharge, with the rank of first lieutenant, and he then engaged in the practice of law at Santa Monica, in partnership with F. J. Heney. He continued in the work of his profession until the death of his loved and devoted mother, when he succeeded her as owner and active manager of the Hotel Winder- mere. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks and the Phi Kappa Sigma and Phi Alpha Delta (legal) college fraternities. He is a loyal and valued member of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, and holds membership also in the City Club and the Greater Santa Monica Club. His political allegiance

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is given to the republican party and he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian Church.

December 1, 1917, recorded the marriage of Mr. Borde to Miss Evelyn Jamieson, daughter of Mrs. Ida Jamieson, of Spokane, Washington, and the one child of this union is Harry J. III.

The mother of Mr. Borde was a woman of culture and most gracious personality. She attended the California College for Women, at Santa Rosa, and in later years was active and popular in cultural and social circles, besides having gained marked success as a business woman, in the management of her hotel property. She was a member of the Santa Monica Bay Woman's Club and was a director of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce at the time of her death. Her religious faith was that of the Presbyterian Church. The wife of the subject of this review was born at Spokane, Washington, received her higher education in historic old Wellesley College, and is a popular figure in the representative social ac- tivities of her home community.

LOUIS PHILIP POMEROY. In two widely separated communities the late Louis Philip Pomeroy achieved success in the constructive work of a building contractor, and his life was a fine example of energy, straightforwardness and honor.

He was born in Yarmouth, Maine. in 1855, son of Ebenezer Y. and Abigail (York) Pomeroy. His parents were also natives of Maine, and were of old New England stock. Louis P. Pomeroy was edu- cated in the public schools of his native city and as a youth learned carpentry, and having executive qualifications he gradually worked into the contracting industry. He followed that business for many years at Yarmouth, and in 1906 came to California.

During the remaining years of his life Mr. Pomeroy did a business as a contractor over a large section of Los Angeles County. He well fulfilled by his work his reputation for reliability and honesty. Many splendid homes ranging in cost from ten thousand dollars to forty thousand dollars were built by him in Pasadena and vicinity. The building that was his last and in a sense the culminating example of his building genius was the Andrew Jackson School in Pasadena.

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume II, Part 49

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