USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume II > Part 62
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August 6, 1890, Mr. Cochran married Miss Alice Maud McClung of Canada. April 7, 1907, he married for his second wife her sister, Isabelle May McClung.
MISS LOUISE GUDE, a popular Southern woman who is giving dis- tinctive contribution to the cultural activities of the City of Los Angeles, maintains her finely appointed studios at 845 South Broadway, in the Majes- tic Theater Building, and is one of the city's representative exponents of the highest type of voice culture, she being a vocalist of exceptional talent.
Miss Gude was born at Owensboro, Kentucky, and is a daughter of William Lorentz von Gude, who was born in Denmark, and who was of age when he came to America. Being a graduate civil engineer, he practiced his profession in the southern states, and was prominently identified with railroad building in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky until his death in 1894, after which his family came to California.
The initiatory voice training received by Miss Gude was under the direction of Miss Elizabeth Carrick, and she had six years of pianoforte instruction under Thilo Becker, another of the leaders in music culture in Los Angeles. Thereafter she went to Germany, where she remained two years and where she continued her vocal studies under the preceptorship of Franz Proschowsky, a distinguished Danish musician. At the inception of the World war Miss Gude returned to the United States, and for a time continued her studies under the direction of William Wade Hinshaw, presi- dent of the American Singers' Association, and was in the meanwhile identified with the presentation of operas in the English language. She had also three years' work with Herbert Witherspoon, the talented operatic and concert baritone and known as one of the most successful voice teachers of the present day, his school being the most important institution of its kind in New York City.
In 1918, with the best of equipment for her work, Miss Gude opened her present studio in Los Angeles, and to the same has been attracted a substantial and representative supporting patronage, her attention being given specially to voice teaching and concert work. She is an enthusiast in her profession and is using her influence at all times and through every possible medium to make music more largely a part of the everyday as well as the cultural life of her native land. She also has had a definite touch with the more practical and prosaic phases of action, in that she was associated with her brother and sister and their widowed mother in the
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ownership and conducting of one of the leading retail shoe stores in Los Angeles, this being known as the Gude Shoe Store and being situated at 537 South Broadway.
MILTON S. BRENNER, who is successfully engaged in the real-estate and investment business in the City of Pasadena, with office at 100 East Colorado Street, was born in this city on the 5th of December, 1883, and is a son of the late Carl Brenner, an honored pioneer to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this volume, with adequate record concerning the family history.
Milton S. Brenner profited by the advantages offered in the excellent public schools of his native city, and after leaving school he was employed about four years by the Pasadena Novelty Company. For seven years thereafter he was a salesman in the clothing establish- ment of the firm of Brenner & Wood, of which his older brother, George J., is senior member, a sketch of his career being given else- where in this volume. Since 1912 Mr. Brenner has been engaged in the real-estate and investment business at Pasadena, and his opera- tions, invariably well ordered, have been of large and important scope, a fire-insurance department being a feature of his business.
Mr. Brenner naturally takes deep interest in all that touches the welfare of his native city, and in his business operations he has been able materially to advance local progressive movements. He is a republican, his basic Masonic affiliation is with Pasadena Lodge No. 272 F. and A. M., while in Pasadena Consistory No. 4, of the Scottish Rite, he has received the thirty-second degree. He and his wife are representative members of the Lincoln Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is serving as treasurer of the same.
April 12, 1911, recorded the marriage of Mr. Brenner and Miss Mary Paulk, who was born in the village of Mokelumne Hill, Calaveras County, California, her father, John F. Paulk, being now postmaster at Campo Seco, that county, and she having been nine years old at the time of her mother's death. Mrs. Brenner was educated in the public schools of Pasadena and in the Pasadena Business College, and through her paternal lineage is eligible for membership in the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Brenner have two sons, Robert Milton and William Carl.
WILLIAM M. SUCKSDORF. While his knowledge of horticulture and agriculture was limited to his experience on an Iowa farm, Mr. Sucks- dorf since coming to the Whittier District has proved his ability to cultivate and manage citrus groves with a splendid result. He is one of the very substantial men of the Whittier District, and has one of the fine home places on Catalina Avenue in East Whittier.
Mr. Sucksdorf was born in Germany, October 10, 1869, son of John and Dorothy (Luth) Sucksdorf. He lived in his native land sixteen years, and acquired a common school education there. On coming to the United States he went to Iowa and found his early opportunities in an Iowa farming community, and for many years was a highly respected resident there.
On coming to California in 1910 Mr. Sucksdorf chose Whittier as his place of residence. He bought ten acres of navel oranges on Catalina Street in East Whittier, and this has since been his home place. However, his interests as a citrus grower have been greatly extended. He bought twenty acres in La Habra, ten acres in lemons and ten acres in valencias, and is also owner of five acres of valencias in Happy Valley at North Whittier Heights. A large part of his property is above the frost line, and gives a never failing crop. One of the large individual producers of the Whittier District, he markets his fruit through three citrus associations, of which he is a member, the Whittier, North Whittier and the La Habra.
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Mr. Sucksdorf served as a school director while living in Iowa, and has always tried to do his part as a good citizen wherever he has lived. During the World war he was one of the Home Guards. He is a member of the Whittier Chamber of Commerce, the Elks Lodge and a republican. He and Mrs. Sucksdorf are members of the Luth- eran Church.
February 2, 1898, at Dennison, Iowa, Mr. Sucksdorf married Miss Minnie Mundt. Mrs. Sucksdorf is also a native of Germany, but was a small girl when brought to the United States. Her father, Deitrich Mundt, devoted many years to the management of his Iowa farm, but is now living retired at Dennison. The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Sucksdorf are: Miss Hertha, a graduate of the Whittier High School; Arthur, who has charge of the ranch property for his parents, and William, also a graduate of the Whittier High School.
REV. WV. A. SWAIN. Though death overtook him in his labors more than twenty years ago, there are several communities in Southern California that cherish with love and deep respect the memory of the late Rev. WV. A. Swain. He was a veteran of the Civil war, a man who had known adversity and struggle, who achieved the success represented by generous service to mankind and had been in the active ministry for a quarter of a century.
He was born in Illinois September 9, 1848. The Swains are an old Southern family of English descent. His father also became a soldier in the Union Army, and died before the close of the war from smallpox. The family moved to Iowa when Rev. W. A. Swain was a child. At the age of fifteen he enlisted in Company H of the Seven- teenth Iowa Infantry, and was in service from that time until the end of the war. Owing to his youth, though he was very large for his age, his father succeeded in getting him assigned to duty in the regi- mental band. This fact probably saved his life, since he became a prisoner at Andersonville, where he was required to teach music to the Confederates, having special ability in that line. For that reason he was given a little more liberty and better rations than the other prisoners, many of whom died from starvation and exposure in that notorious stockade.
Up to the time of the war he had attended public school, but after leaving the army his advancement was the result of diligent study and work on his own part. After a few years he directed his studies with a view to preparing for the ministry, and was ordained in the Methodist Protestant Church, later uniting with the Methodist Epis- copal Conference. Rev. Mr. Swain's labors as a minister were in the State of Iowa until 1891. In May of that year he came to California, and he was a beloved pastor at Florence, Covina and Fullerton until his death at Fullerton in 1899. Rev. Mr. Swain was physically and mentally a stalwart, and was distinguished by his uniform kindness to all and a deep consideration of the rights of others. He was a member of the Masonic Order and served as chaplain of Whittier Post, G. A. R.
Rev. Mr. Swain bought ten acres at East Whittier in 1893. He had this tract planted to oranges and lemons, and it was a portion of his estate when he died. Mrs. Swain still retains five acres of this ground, besides the home in Whittier. His first wife was Belle Sweem, and by that union there were six children : Homer, deceased ; Mary, wife of W. E. Garrett, of Santa Ana; Dora, deceased wife of Ira Houser, of Los Angeles ; Mrs. Emma Prouden, of Los Angeles ; Grace, and William Edgar Swain, of Yorba Linda.
December 28, 1887, at Aledo, Illinois, Rev. Mr. Swain, married Miss Kittie G. Graham. She was born in Mercer County, Illinois. daughter of J. C. and Ann Graham. Mrs. Swain is a member of the Whittier's Club, and was its president in 1917-1919. She is a also
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a member of the Associated Charities Board, the Woman's Relief Corps, Methodist Church and the Women's Republican Study Club of Los Angeles.
Of her three children the oldest is Alma, who is a graduate of the University of Southern California and of Northwestern University at Chicago, Illinois, and is now the wife of Alan Bruce Campbell, an attorney, in the district attorney's office at Bakersfield, California. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have two daughters, Jean and Katherine. The only son of Mrs. Swain is Frank Graham Swain, a Whittier attorney, whose career is sketched elsewhere. Miss Kathleen Swain, at home with her mother, is a graduate of the oratorical department of the University of Southern California.
FRANK G. SWAIN. Prominent among the younger generation of lawyers practicing at the Los Angeles County bar is Frank G. Swain, of Whittier. He has been engaged in practice here since early in 1919, during which time he has attained a recognized standing in the ranks of his calling, and since December, 1921, has served in the capacity of city recorder.
Mr. Swain was born at Florence, Los Angeles County, California, June 25, 1892, and is a son of William A. and Kittie (Graham) Swain. His father was born in Iowa, being a member of a family of Revolutionary stock and of Scotch-English descent, and for many years was a minister of the Methodist Church, having filled numerous pulpits in California, among them that at Fullerton, where his death occurred. He was greatly respected by all who knew him and much beloved by the members of his several congregations. Mrs. Swain, who survives her husband, is a native of Illinois. She has been prominently identified with the club life of Whittier and is a member of the Woman's Club, of which she has served as president.
Frank G. Swain attended the public schools of Whittier, to which community his parents had first removed in 1896. Later they lived at Fullerton and other cities, but in 1902 Mrs. Swain returned to Whittier, and here the son graduated from the high school in 1909. Later he attended the University of Southern California, but his studies here were interrupted by one year's undergraduate work at the University of Wyoming, following which he returned to the University of Southern California and graduated in liberal arts in 1914, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then went to the University of Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, graduating in 1916 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence. In 1916 and 1917 he took some work with the College of Law of the University of Southern California, and was admitted to practice in March of the latter year. In May, 1917, he went into the United States Army, attending the Officers' Training Camp, and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He was assigned to the Sixty-third Infantry at the Presidio, and served continu- ously there and at Camp Meade in Maryland until receiving his honorable discharge February 1, 1919.
For a few months thereafter Mr. Swain was in the law offices of Donald Barker at Los Angeles, but in October, 1919, opened his own offices at Whittier, where he has since followed the general practice of his profession. He is a republican in politics and has taken an active interest in local affairs. On December 15, 1921, he was appointed city recorder, an office which he is filling with ability. In November, 1922, Mr. Swain was unanimously elected Justice of the Peace of Whittier Township for a term of four years. He is a member of Whittier Post No. 51, American Legion, which he has served as commander. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
On January 4, 1918, Mr. Swain was united in marriage at Palo Alto, California, with Miss Merle Kissick, a native of Colorado, and a daughter of Mrs. Ella C. Kissick, of Laramie, Wyoming. To this union there has been born one daughter, Frances Deering.
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LOUIS DUP. MILLAR. It has been said that architecture is the primal expression of all art, and in the history of every nation the first step upward has ever been manifested by architectural improvement. The conceptions of a gifted architect, wherein he naturally employs dignity and nobility of design, make his profession an exponent of the beau- tiful, and its accompanying practical relations of utility under his expert pencil are brought into harmony and stand the test of time and change. There are many beautiful and substantial structures at Pasadena, and one of the city's leading architects is Louis duP. Millar, who for the past thirteen years has been actively concerned making this one of the most beautiful cities in Southern California.
Mr. Millar comes of a family of architects. He was born at Monks- town, Ireland, July 26, 1877, and is a son of Richard C. and Matilda G. (Orr) Millar, natives of Ireland, who passed almost their entire lives in the City of Dublin. Richard C. Millar for many years occu- pied a foremost place in Dublin as an architect, and was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He came of an old family that has numerous distinguished members, and was a second cousin of the present Earl Haig, formerly Sir Douglas Haig, now field marshal of the British Army. Still another relative, who often has been an honored guest in the Millar home in Ireland, is Marconi, whose achievements in wireless telegraphy continue to amaze the world.
Of his parents' family of eight children Louis was the second in order of birth and is the only one whose home is in America. His brothers and sisters are: A. G. C., who succeeded his father and since the latter's death has been at the head of the business so long estab- lished in Dublin ; C. R., who is a colonel in the British Army, received the D. S. O. medal for services in the World war; C. H., who is an electrical engineer ; E. S., who is a dairy farmer in South Africa ; Mrs. R. G. Leonard and Mrs. L. L. Fox, both of whom live in Dublin ; and Dorothy A., who is a hospital nurse in South Africa.
Louis duP. Millar received his early education in private schools, where he was prepared for Trinity College, and in 1902 he graduated from that famous institution with the degree of B. E. Before enter- ing Trinity, however, when twenty years old, he began to work in his father's office as an architect, and continued there as circum- stances permitted as long as he remained in Ireland, this special train- ing proving of inestimable benefit. He was married in 1906, and in 1907, accompanied by his wife, he came to the United States. They landed at New York and came directly to Riverside, California, and shortly afterward Mr. Millar became a member of the firm of Jeffrey, Van Frees & Millar, architects at Los Angeles, where he remained until 1909. He then came to Pasadena and opened an office in the Braley Building, where he has continued. He is widely known in his profession and is also a magazine writer and an authority on architecture.
In the City of Dublin, Ireland, on March 21, 1906, Mr. Millar mar- ried Miss Ethel A. Lett, who was born in Dublin but was educated in private schools in England. She belongs to an old and prominent family, and among her family connections numbers Sir David Beatty, whose mother's second marriage was to H. A. Lett, an uncle of Mrs. Millar. Mr. and Mrs. Millar have one daughter, Margaret duP., who was born at Pasadena, California, March 1, 1912.
In 1913 Mrs. Millar and her little daughter returned to Dublin on a visit to relatives, expecting to return to California in the course of a few months, but she remained too long in her old home and when ready to depart found it impossible to do so on account of the dread presence of war. Thus five years passed by before she could secure passage, and it was in February, 1919, that she once more reached Pasadena. In the meanwhile she had assumed duties and responsi- bilities to which she had never been accustomed, and for her unselfish
R. E. Deble
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devotion, whether at work in munition factorics or in hospitals, she received commendation typificd in a gold and a silver badge issued by the British Government, which she prizes very highly. Mr. and Mrs. Millar attend St. Mark's Episcopal Church, in which she is leader of the choir, possessing a cultivated soprano voice. Her musical edu- cation was received in the best studios of Dublin and London.
ROY E. DEEBLE has been a resident of Long Beach since the year 1911 and is here a prominent representative of the real-estate and insurance business. In this important field of enterprise he is senior member of the firm of Deeble & Chapman, which was formed in 1912, and which has its office headquarters at 19 Locust Avenue. This progressive firm does a general real-estate business, with special attention given to the handling of city and suburban property, besides which it has been a vital force in open- ing and placing on the market of a number of attractive and important sub- divisions at Long Beach. Mr. Deeble is also a director of the City National Building Company of Long Beach, and was the promoter of the construc- tion of the fine twelve-story building of the City National Bank, this mod- ern structure being owned by tenants, each of whom will own his own office in the building. This is the first building to be erected under such condi- tions and provisions in the entire United States and when completed, prob- ably in the year 1923, it will represent an expenditure of approximately $1,500,000 and constitute one of the finest office buildings on the Pacific coast. The site of the building is at the corner of American Avenue and Ocean Boulevard, and the unique policy brought to bear in its erection was originated by Mr. Deeble, who has charge of selling in the building floor space to be owned by tenants, great credit being due him for the splendid work he has done in financing and successfully carrying forward this splen- did project, which specially marks him as a man of both constructive thought and action. His coadjutor in the conducting of the substantial real-estate and insurance business is S. R. Chapman.
Mr. Deeble was born at Avoca, Luzerne County. Pennsylvania, on the 13th of August, 1890, and is a son of Solomon and Ruth (Davis) Deeble, of whom more specific record is given on other pages, in the personal sketch of his brother, William F. Deeble.
Mr. Deeble gained his youthful education in the public schools of Car- lisle, Indiana, and in the Scranton Business College, Scranton, Pennsyl- vania. Thereafter he was bookkeeper for the Bellevue Coal Company, at Carlisle, Indiana, for a period of about three years, and he then, in 1910, came to California, and became associated with real-estate business in Los Angeles. About one year later he removed to Long Beach, and the record given in the initial paragraph of this review indicates the influence he has exerted in connection with progressive real-estate operations in this com- munity.
Mr. Deeble is a loyal and valued member of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce and the local Realty Board, besides being a member of the California Real Estate Association. He is a republican in political alle- giance and is affiliated with Long Beach Lodge, No. 888, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He owns and occupies an attractive residence at 217 Euclid Avenue.
At Sullivan, Indiana, on the 21st of August, 1907, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Deeble to Miss Geneva Hammond, who was there born and reared, she being a daughter of the late Grant and Minnie (Burton) Hammond. Mrs. Dceble was about seven years of age at the time of the tragic death of her parents, who were drowned while on a pleasure trip on the Wabash River. Mrs. Deeble is a popular factor in the social activities of Long Beach and is here a member of the Friday Morning Club. Mr. and Mrs. Deeble have five children : Margaret, born in Indiana ; Solomon, born at Los Angeles, California; Roy E., Jr., and Joseph, born at Long Beach, and Jane, also born at Long Beach.
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JOHN H. BURKE, attorney-at-law with offices in the First National Bank Building, has been in practice at Long Beach for the past five years, and has been a Californian since early childhood. Mr. Burke as a boy took upon himself the responsibility for his education and not only acquired a very thorough and liberal schooling, but has received a splendid practice and a reputation as one of the leading attorneys of Los Angeles County.
Mr. Burke was born at Excelsior, Wisconsin, June 2, 1894, son of M. H. and Emma J. Burke. His father was a lumberman in Wisconsin, Minnesota and California, and brought his family to California twenty-two years ago. He is now living retired at Willowbrook in Los Angeles County.
John H. Burke graduated from the Long Beach High School in 1913. His subsequent earnings and efforts enabled him to attend Santa Clara College for two years, where he was in the school of liberal arts, and he also attended the University of Southern California law college. He was admitted to the California bar in 1917, and began practice at Long Beach in March of that year. For one year he was in partnership with Mr. Lar- zelere under the firm name of Desmond, Larzelere & Burke, and since then has conducted his growing practice alone. He also owns some oil interests in the Long Beach oil fields.
Mr. Burke in August, 1918, entered the Field Artillery Officers' Train- ing School at Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky, and was discharged Novem- ber 26, 1918, just a week before completing the work preparatory to a commission. Mr. Burke has two big interests in life, his profession and his home, and outside of those takes only a modest part in several organizations. He is a republican, a life member of Long Beach Lodge No. 888, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Woodmen of the World, American Legion, Long Beach Bar Association, and is a Catholic, a member of St. Matthews Parish of Long Beach.
At Riverside, California, June 8, 1918, he married Miss Geneva Marie Anderson, daughter of Otto and Nora (Lundy) Anderson. Mrs. Burke was born and educated in Colorado. They have two children, both natives of Long Beach, John Harley, Jr., and Jeanne Marie.
AMERICAN SAVINGS BANK OF LONG BEACH. A unique record in bank- ing growth was established by the American Savings Bank of Long Beach, when, seventy-five days after the opening of the institution, its total resources climbed beyond the million dollar mark. The bank was opened July 1, 1922, with a paid up capital of $200.000, and on the 15th of Septem- ber its deposits totaled over $670,000. The bank is located at American Avenue and Fourth Street, in what has been termed "The Hub of the City."
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