USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume II > Part 56
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In political sentiment Mr. Charles has always been a republican. He is one of the three surviving charter members of the Grand Army Post at Whittier, of which he was the second commander, and in 1921 he served as commander of the post for the second time. For many years he has been a member of the Whittier Walnut Growers and the Whittier Citrus Associa- tions. He belongs to the Society of Friends.
JOHN HENRY KIBLER. In the development and progress of Hermosa Beach and the surrounding territory, a contributing factor of importance has been the real estate firm of J. H. Kibler Co. This concern, which since its inception early in 1921 has made rapid strides in the business world of Los Angeles County, was founded by John Henry Kibler, who at this time occupies a prominent position in business circles and is presi- dent of the local Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Kibler was born in Saline County, Missouri, January 24, 1880, and is a son of John Henry and Jessie (Reid) Kibler. His father, a native
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of Virginia, went, in young manhood to Missouri, where, after following his trade as a cabinet maker for some time, he established a general store and cabinet shop at Arrow Rock. His death occurred there in 1882, while his widow, a native of Missouri, survives him as a resident of Ramona, Oklahoma.
John Henry Kibler the younger was educated in a private school at Arrow Rock, Missouri, and Central College, Fayette, Missouri, after leaving which he took charge of his mother's store at Arrow Rock. He remained there until 1901, when he went to Hardin, Missouri, and en- gaged in the same business, but after one year sold out and removed to LaPlatte, in the same state, where he carried on a general merchandise business until 1903. His next location was St. Louis, Missouri, where he was connected for a time with a machine company, but later became manager for the Meenach Grocery Company, a position which he re- tained for several years. Coming to Los Angeles in 1909, he became identified with the Brent Furniture Company, in whose employ he con- tinued three years, and the Eastern Outfitting Company for two years. After this he became sales manager for the Germo Manufacturing Com- pany, and remained in that capacity until 1921, when he came to Hermosa Beach. On April 21 of that year he embarked in the real estate business. The business includes the handling of all kinds of real estate, and the com- pany has had three subdivisions on Hermosa Heights, as well as properties at Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach. The concern also handles rentals, loans and general insurance, and employment is given to eight people. The office was built in November, 1921, at the northeast corner of Hermosa and Pier Avenues. In November, 1922, a branch office was opened at 117 South Pacific Avenue, Redondo Beach. The present Hermosa Beach offices are in the Theatre building, corner of 13th Street and Hermosa Avenue. Mr. Kibler is a man of energy and progressive ideas, a fact which was early recognized by his associates, who elected him president of the Chamber of Commerce. He belongs also to the Realty Board of Hermosa Beach, the State Association and the National Association of Realty Men, and is a director in The First Na- tional Bank. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church.
On January 29, 1901, Mr. Kibler was united in marriage with Miss Irene Ritter, daughter of Henry and Anna (Woodruff) Ritter, of Arrow Rock, Missouri, and they have one son, Richard F., who resides with his parents. Mrs. Kibler, who was born in Montgomery County, Missouri, attended Hardin College, Mexico, Missouri, and the State Normal Col- lege of Missouri, and is prominent in social circles of Hermosa Beach and an active member of the Woman's Club.
HERBERT G. THROOP. D. C. In the different schools of medical prac- tice the underlying principle of healing is the same, although there may be a wide difference in method. Within comparatively recent years scientific investigation has disproved many old beliefs and ancient theories, and has thus opened the way for the modern methods now taught all over the country in the Osteopathic and Chiropractic Colleges, the graduates of which very generally meeting with most encouraging success in alleviating the physical ills of mankind. In Dr. Herbert G. Throop Whittier has a highly skilled practitioner of wide experience, pleasing personality and sterling character.
Dr. Throop was born at Lakeview, Montcalm County, Michigan, February 4, 1880, a son of Dr. C. W. and Frankie (Glazier) Throop, the latter of whom is deceased. She was born in Michigan of Canadian parentage. Dr. C. W. Throop was born also in Michigan, and later moved to Muncie, Indiana, where he is a prominent dental surgeon and a leading citizen, once city trustee, president of the Commercial Club and president
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of the Indiana Coal Company. He is a Mason of high degree and a Shriner.
Herbert G. Throop attended the grade and high schools at Muncie, and then became a clerk in a local drug store, became interested in medical science and later attended the Mechano-Therapy School in Chicago, from which he received the degree of M. T., and afterward took a business college course in the same city. Still later, with a determination to thor- oughly prepare himself for the healing art along the lines of the newer systems, he became a student in the Chicago-American School of Osteopathy, where he remained under instruction for three years. To help pay his own way while attending to his studies in Chicago Dr. Throop worked in an automobile factory. From there he went to Dr. Robert S. Carroll's sanitarium at Asheville, North Carolina, where he was employed professionally and took training for a nurse until his own health broke down, when he returned to his home in Indiana. A short experience in the mercantile business convinced him that even a doctor sometimes needs rest and, disposing of his business, he took a long rest in the West. Then he took a two-years' course in the Chiropractic College of Los Angeles, receiving the degree of D. C., and was licensed to practice on January 8, 1916, and in January, 1917, established himself at Whittier. In his practice he employs osteopathy, chiropractry and electricity, and has been very successful.
Dr. Throop married February 16, 1917, at Los Angeles, Miss Clara May Barrow, whose father, Ira Barrow, in early days conducted a farm in the famous Wilshire District. He owns his attractive Spanish type residence on Terrace Place. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and is worthy patron of the Eastern Star Lodge at Whittier.
JOHN G. SWAIN. Undoubtedly the real estate and insurance business offers to properly qualified men a fine medium for their activities, and a large amount of enterprise in this line is very apparent in the beautiful little City of Whittier, California. A leading insurance and real estate firm here is that of The Swain-Nanney Company, which is rapidly develop- ing properties, and through sound business policy is bringing much outside capital here for investment.
John G. Swain, senior member of the above named firm, is one of the representative and substantial business men of Whittier. He was born at McLouth, Jefferson County, Kansas, February 7, 1885, son of Loring R. and Lucy A. (Rice) Swain. On both sides Mr. Swain's ancestry is of English descent and of Revolutionary stock. His paternal grandmother was a Pickering, a name known in Nantucket, Rhode Island, before the Revolutionary war, later distinguished in South Carolina, and still well represented in Indiana. Loring R. Swain was born in Indiana and came from there to California in 1892. His people belonged to the Society of Friends, and he was reared in a Quaker community, and when he came to Los Angeles County he settled at Whittier, a name that recalls the cele- brated Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier. Mr. Swain resided here until 1910, when he bought a ranch near Modesto, California, on which he now lives retired. He married Lucy A. Rice, now deceased, who was born in Missouri. Her ancestors took part in the Revolutionary war, and her parents came into the West as pioneers, pausing first in Missouri and from there by ox-team reached Northeastern Kansas.
John G. Swain was eight years old when he accompanied his parents to Whittier, which place has been his chosen home ever since. He completed the public school course and then turned his thoughts to a business career. In 1905 he embarked in the wall paper and paint business under his own name, and conducted this enterprise very successfully for two years, when he sold out in order to become assistant postmaster under Postmaster C. F. Baldwin, in which position he continued for four years and then resigned. For eighteen months following Mr. Swain was bookkeeper in the Whittier National Bank, when he was called to the Whittier Home Telegraph &
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Telephone Company, where he remained seven years as assistant secretary.
In 1917 Mr. Swain embarked in the real estate and insurance business, continuing alone until July, 1921, when he formed a business partnership with L. C. Nanney, a well known educator and at that time teacher of chemistry in the Whittier High School. As a firm and individually the partners enjoy the full confidence of the community, not only as reliable business men but also as thoroughly informed realtors. Mr. Swain himself has handled much business property and many valuable ranches. He owns a comfortable, attractive home and a fine citrus grove on the Rivera- Downey Road, and has other interests in city and county.
At Pasadena, California, on February 14, 1906, Mr. Swain married Miss Clara M. Heydenreich, a native of Pasadena and a daughter of Frank H. Heydenreich, who is now connected with the William-Wilson Company. He is one of Pasadena's pioneer residents and can look back forty-five years, when his farm covered the site of the Methodist Church on the corner of Colorado Street and Marengo Avenue. Mrs. Swain is a graduate of the Pasadena High School, and prior to her marriage was a student in Throop Polytechnic College. Mr. and Mrs. Swain have two sons, Frank Garland and Loring John, both of whom attend the Rancheto district school, their father being a member of the School Board of the same.
In politics Mr. Swain is a republican and active in the councils of his party, frequently serving as a delegate to conventions and as a member of important committees. He is a member of Whittier Lodge No. 323, F. and A. M .; is a past chancellor commander of Whittier Lodge, Knights of Pythias; is secretary of the Whittier Realty Board; and belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club and the Hacienda Country Club. With his family Mr. Swain has membership in St. Matthews Episcopal Church at Whittier, in which he was a vestryman for many years.
EGBERT J. GATES,* who has his office at 600 Kerckhoff Building in the City of Los Angeles, is a member of the California Senate, is president of the Huntington Beach Company, and a director of the Consolidated Realty Company, which owns the fine Consolidated Realty Building at the southwest corner of Sixth and Hill streets, Los Angeles. In connection with corporation and investment enterprises he has gained place as one of the progressive men of affairs in Southern California, and takes deep and loyal interest in all that concerns the welfare and advancement of his native state.
Mr. Gates was born at San Jose, California, July 24, 1869, and is a son of Freeman and Addie M. (Rhodes) Gates, both now deceased. Freeman Gates was a pioneer in educational work in California. He established his residence at San Jose in 1852, and there founded the San Jose Institute, one of the early institutions of higher education of the state. His death occurred at San Jose in 1872. His widow survived him by almost fifty years, and at the time of her death, August 30, 1921, when in her ninetieth year, was a resident of South Pasadena. Of the family of four sons and two daughters four attained to years of maturity : Mabel E. died in 1881 ; Carroll W. died October 24, 1920; Dr. Howard B. died May 8, 1914, in Rome, Italy ; and the subject of this review is the only survivor.
1 After attendance at the public schools Mr. Gates entered the University of California, from which institution he was graduated in 1893, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He abandoned his plans for entering the medical profession, and thereafter was associated with mining and cattle enterprises in Mexico and Arizona until 1904, from which year until 1909 he was in New York City as a representative of the large mining and cattle interests of the late Colonel William C. Greene. Since 1909 Mr. Gates has resided in Southern California and has engaged in business in Los Angeles.
*Senator Gates died suddenly, July 1, 1923, while visiting in the East, after the above sketch was in type.
Daniel S. Devine
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As a supporter of the principles of the republican party Mr. Gates has been active in political affairs since 1912, in which year he was elected a representative of Los Angeles County in the Lower House of the State. Legislature. The excellent record which he made in this connection had a definite popular reflex when, in 1916, he was elected to the State Senate from the Thirty-fifth Senatorial District and was re-elected in 1920. In the 1921 sessions he was chairman of the finance committee of the Senate, besides being a member of other important committees.
Mr. Gates holds membership in the Los Angeles Athletic Club and the Flint Ridge Country Club. His basic Masonic affiliation is with South Pasadena Lodge No. 367, A. F. and A. M., and he is affiliated also with the Knights Templars and the Mystic Shrine, as well as with the Delta Kappa Epsilon college fraternity. He is an active member of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. The religious alliance of the family is with the Protestant Episcopal Church.
At Kansas City, Missouri, on the 18th of June, 1902, Mr. Gates wedded Miss Dorothy Vernon Stiles, who was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, and whose higher education was obtained in Wells College. Mrs. Gates is a daughter of the late Judge Edward H. Stiles, whose death occurred at South Pasa- dena in May, 1921, his wife having died at Long Beach, California, in December, 1911. Judge Stiles attained distinction as a lawyer and jurist in both Iowa and Missouri, in which latter state he was associated in the practice of law with Governor Crittenden, who had previously served as governor of Missouri. Judge Stiles served in both branches of the Iowa, Legislature, and also as reporter of the Supreme Court of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Gates have four children : Dorothy Vernon, Tirzah Maris, Free- man Egbert and Howard Stiles. The family home in South Pasadena is at 1120 Buena Vista Street.
DANIEL S. DEVINE has been a resident of Hermosa Beach since 1918, and since September 15, 1920, he has here held the office of postmaster. His administration has been most efficient and popular and he is recognized as one of the vital and public-spirited citizens of this attractive community.
Mr. Devine was born at Holyoke, Massachusetts, July 15, 1878, and is a son of John M. and Mary (Moran) Devine, the former a native of Westminster, Massachusetts, and the latter of England. The parents are now residents of California, where the father is actively identified with operations in the Sunset oil fields.
The present postmaster of Hermosa Beach gained his early education in the schools of Springfield, Massachusetts, and he then devoted two and one-half years to the study and practical work of landscape gardening. For seven and one-half years he was associated with the Oliver & Howland Company at Springfield, Massachusetts, and he then came to California and established his headquarters at Fresno. For seven years he was con- nected with the Sunset Oil Company, and thereafter he was in the post- office service at Bakersfield, whence he came to Hermosa Beach in 1918, In the meanwhile he had served as a soldier in the Spanish-American war, as a member of a Massachusetts regiment, and has active affiliation with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, but belongs to the Spanish-American War Veterans Association, which indicates his continued interest in his old comrades. Mr. Devine is one of the vital and progressive members of the Chamber of Commerce in his home city, and holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On the 11th of July, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Devine and Miss Martha T. Hartney, of Collinsville, Connecticut, at which place she was born and reared. The two children of this union are Martha May and Arthur.
JAMES ELLIOTT McNEIL, a veteran in the service of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in the City of Los Angeles, was one of the venerable and honored citizens of the metropolis of Southern California at
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the time of his death, on the 22d of May, 1922, and his character and achievements, as combined with his long period of residence in Los Angeles, render most consistent the memorial tribute which is paid to him in this publication.
Mr. McNeil was born in the City of Hamilton, Province of Ontario, Canada, on the 16th of March, 1847, and thus was seventy-five years of age at the time of his death. His father, John McNeil, was born in the North of Ireland, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and was a boy when he established his residence in Canada, where he was reared and educated and where he passed the remainder of his life, he having contracted a second marriage after the death of the mother of the subject of this memoir. James E. McNeil gained his early education in his native province, and he was a young man when he moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and there established a home for his younger brothers and sisters after the father's second marriage. The intrinsic loyalty and unselfishness of his nature were shown in this early provision for and care of his brothers and sisters, to whom he was virtually both father and mother. In Iowa he became identified with railroad service, as did also his brothers, and his ability and loyal efficiency brought to him advancement in his chosen field of activity. For the first three years he held the position of brakeman in the service of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, and thereafter he was a conductor in the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, by which he was advanced to the office of train master at Waterloo, Iowa. For an interval he was employed in the State of Texas, and he then resumed his position of train master with the Illinois Central in Iowa, where he remained until 1887, when he came to California and assumed the responsible office of inspector of track and roadway for all lines of the Santa Fe system west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Of this position he continued the able and valued incumbent until his death, and in the meanwhile he maintained his home in the City of Los Angeles-a period of thirty-five years, with incidental pioneer honors. The life of Mr. McNeil was ordered on the highest plane of integrity and earnest stewardship, and he commanded unqualified popular confidence and esteem.
On the 22d of November, 1921, Mr. McNeil suffered the fracture of his right shoulder in a railway accident at Mickenburg, Arizona. He was with a party of ten railway officials making a tour of inspection on the Santa Fe Railroad, and in the accident caused by the breaking of an axle on one of in cars of the train five of the party were killed and four injured. Mr. McNeil returned to Los Angeles and seemingly recovered from the effect of his injury, but it became evident eventually that the injury, as coupled with his advanced age, was the immediate cause of his death. He was a man of marked mechanical genius as well as splendid executive ability, and a num- ber of railroad devices invented by him are of special value and are in use today on many railroad lines, including one known as the McNeil Railroad Anchor.
Mr. McNeil was a man of broad mental ken, of well fortified convictions and of utmost civic loyalty. His political allegiance was given to the repub- lican party. He was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and was a popu- lar member of the City Club and the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
At Onawa, Iowa, in the year 1882, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McNeil and Miss Ann Gillett, and they thereafter maintained their home at Waterloo, that state, the greater part of the time until their removal to Cali- fornia." Mrs. McNeil survives her honored husband and resides in the attractive home which he had provided at 737 South Ardmore Avenue. With her remains her only daughter, Miss Edna, who graduated from Mills College and who is a successful and popular kindergarten teacher at the Los Angeles Bible Institute. The only son, Lyle, graduated from the Los Angeles College of Medicine and later took a post-graduate course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the City of New York, this being the medical school of Columbia University. Dr. McNeil is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in Los Angeles, and specializes in
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obstetrics and gynecology. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
THEODORE PARKER LUKENS, banker, realty operator, lover of nature, "Father of Reforestation," was born at Concord, Ohio, October 6, 1849, a son of William Ellison and Margaretta (Cooper) Lukens, and died at Pasadena, California, July 1, 1918. Prior to moving to Cali- fornia in 1880 Mr. Lukens was engaged in the nursery and fruit grow- ing business at Rock Falls, Illinois, and afterward for a number of years was engaged in real estate operations at Pasadena. In 1891 he became cashier of the Pasadena National Bank, and three years later was elected its president. He had the qualities that made him a leader, 'and in many ways was one of the real builders of Pasadena. He was interested in the city's first street car line, built the first sidewalk, helped to bring the first steam railroad into the town, was a charter member of the Public Library, president of the Pasadena Board of Trade, president of the Board of Trustees of Pasadena, and for eight years was mayor of the city.
In the meantime Mr. Lukens had become deeply interested in reforestation work, and in order to give it his attention as acting forest supervisor he relinquished his position as president of the Pasadena National Bank. More than almost any other man of his time, he seemed to realize that the surrounding mountains were the only source of water supply, which was dependent largely upon the forests on the mountain slopes. He was so deeply and unselfishly interested that for many years he devoted his time and personal means to making ex- haustive experimental tests of trees best suited for reforestation, utilizing burned over areas on the mountains. He served as collab- orator with the United States Government in the Division of Forestry from 1900 to 1904, and as forest regent and forest expert from 1905 to 1906. His work met with marked success, his experiments proved of the greatest value, and the thousands of conifers flourishing on the mountain sides back of Pasadena are mute monuments to his wisdom and public spirit. Mr. Lukens married first at Sterling, Illinois, Miss Charlotte Anne, daughter David Dyer, of Manchester, Vermont. His second marriage took place in July, 1906, to Miss H. Sibyl Swett, daughter of Rev. Josiah Swett, D. D., of Highgate, Vermont.
HELEN LUKENS GAUT. Although not born in California, Helen Lukens Gaut, of Pasadena, authoress, poetess and composer of music, has passed almost her entire life here, and her voluminous writings breathe forth an admiration and deep affection for her adopted state that no native daughter could excel.
Mrs. Gaut was born in Whiteside County, Illinois, only child of The- odore Parker and Charlotte Anne (Dyer) Lukens.
Mrs. Gaut has been active with her pen for some twenty years, and her contributions to the leading magazines of the day have made her very familiar to the reading public. A great lover of nature, like her father, in all her writings may be discovered some reference to its beauty and benefi- cence, and her vivid descriptions of trips to the hills and through the forests, with both serious and lively comments on incidents by the way, aroused unusual interest and encouraged her to further effort. Many of her news- paper and magazine writings are pleasantly illustrated, as in the beginning she bought a camera and frequently was able to add interest to her stories by having a photograph of some person of prominence in the background, in one case no other than the great naturalist, John Muir. Some of her illustrated articles on "The High Sierras" and on the "Desert" are works of art in every sense. A booklet entitled "Trails to Peace" brought her treas- ured letters from the late Henry Watterson, John Muir, Elbert Hubbard and many other notables. A ten page article in the Cosmopolitan under the caption of "The Music of Nature" brought her many complimentary
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