History of Los Angeles county, Volume II, Part 83

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

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On June 12, 1918, he was operated on at the Clara Barton Hospital, in Los Angeles, from which operation he failed to rally, passing to the true joy of eternal peace June 20, 1918. He never married and was survived by an only brother, Henry Warren Burdick. The woven bond between them only death could break.

MRS. GENEVIEVE POTTER CASE and MRS. DOLLY POTTER EPPS, the famous Potter Sisters, Concert, Readers and Impersonators, were born in New York City. Their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Potter, came from Scotland and Ireland, when they were lad and lassie, lived and were married in New York City. So Genevieve and Dolly, as their friends love to call them, are of Scotch-Irish blood, which they back against any of the whole human race.

Their father passed away when they were children. Their beautiful, artistic mother saw their rare talent and cultivated it from babyhood. After graduating from Wesleyan College with the highest honors, they devoted all their time to attaining perfection in the beautiful art of voice culture and dramatic reading, which they used in a social and benevolent way.

They were married at an early age, soon after the death of their idolized mother, and lived in New York City. In a short time an accident robbed Mrs. Case of her lover husband. This drew the sisters more closely together if possible. On the sudden death of Mr. Epps eight months later, they came to Los Angeles by order of the family physician. They purchased a beautiful bungalow home and started in to plan large investments, which had to be given up when they received information of the wreckage of their large fortune. This was where their Scotch-Irish blood was their backer, and, brave and undaunted, they entered the Lyceum field as the Potter Sisters, Concert Readers and Impersonators. Their concert readings, com- mented upon by a famous author and lecturer, will give an idea of their wonderful achievement : "Their concert readings are marvels of ingenuity and training. Two voices as one blending in unbroken unison, gestures in such perfect harmony, and attitudes changing with such perfect accu- racy as to disarm the critic of his captious pen and compel involuntary bursts of rapturous applause. Their fine voices have compass, sweetness, volume, flexibility, purity and resonance."

During the second wonderfully successful year of their work, Mrs. Case failed in health, and they were compelled to give it all up, being loudly pro-

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claimed a sad loss to the public, which loved to see and hear these talented artists. Not being able to longer stand up under the nerve strain of their beautiful work, their artistic culture and rare gifts led them into writing for magazine and press, and the wonderful souvenir poem, "Beautiful Cali- fornia," which follows, shows their genius to bring out all the great pos- sessions of California in the most beautiful wording :

BEAUTIFUL CALIFORNIA

There's many a powerful country On the face of this beautiful ball, But O, loveliest California, You're the mightiest country of all.

O California! State enchanting ! Your fame all poets have sung ; The tale of your wondrous achievements Is the theme of every tongue.

Your kingdom is vast in proportions ; Deep down in your bosom of earth Gold lies in richest abundance : The first star in your glorious worth.

Golden fruits grow at your bidding The choicest and best to be found. Flowers, rare, gorgeous and fragrant Spring up from your magic ground.

Oil pours from your boundless dominions, The redwoods add to your fame ; And the homes of your fertile valleys Must ever linger with your name.

The grand, old ocean loves you, Bringing wealth through your Golden Gate: Mountains hover like a lover Round you, O fair, enticing State.

The sun gives you worlds full of kisses O sweet California of ours! And you kiss them out to your people In your sunshine, your fruits and your flowers.

From your missions old and so sacred, Chimed the dawn of your history bright : And the noble and reverenced Fathers There sheltered and fostered the right.

Your people are all from the brightest And the bravest of all lands, With brains to solve all problems That your mightiness demands.

O there's many a beautiful country On the face of this beautiful ball : But our beautiful California Is the fairest and dearest of all.

H. H. Low

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And O when life's fever is ended, And I lay me down to die : When my soul casts off its anchor And far outward bound am I :

When fade all earthly visions Before my fast dimming eyes May my soul pass through California On its way to Paradise.

EDWARD MILES GWIN is a citizen of Los Angeles County who has per- sonally witnessed the development of the Whittier District from a gigantic mustard field into one of the garden spots of Southern California. How- ever, he is by no means an old man, and is just in the prime of his business carcer. He has followed several lines of work, but in recent years has become a noted authority on prophylaxis work in horticulture.

Mr. Gwin was born at Anaheim, California, July 10, 1872, son of John Henry and Drusilla (Evey) Gwin. A complete sketch of his honored father appears elsewhere in this publication. Edward Miles Gwin was six years of age when his parents removed to Lake County, and he attended school in Big Valley and in Scott Valley. In 1887 he entered Whittier College, and completed his studies in that fine old Quaker institution of learning under Doctor Kauffman.

After leaving college Mr. Gwin was associated with his father in the butcher business at Whittier for eight years. He left that to take up the livery business, and one feature of his establishment was the operation of stages between Whittier and Los Angeles. In 1896 he established a general livery at Downey, and continued in business there until about 1905. He then removed his business headquarters to Long Beach, and made a special feature of keeping saddle horses for rent.

In the last fifteen years or more Mr. Gwin found his time and talents fully occupied in his horticultural specialty. In the perfection of fruit trees from disease and insects by the use of chemicals, Mr. Gwin's experience constitutes him a foremost expert. When and how to apply sprays most effectively is the branch of horticultural enterprise which he has mastered. Many large owners of orchards with extensive spraying equipment secure him to supervise the work, knowing that the orchards will have better service from him than at their own hands.

Mr. Gwin has been successful in business, and has interested himself in everything for the civic betterment of his community. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, Loyal Order of Moose and a charter member of the Woodmen of the World. April 13, 1897, he married Miss Mary Louise Pearce. She was born at Downey, and her father was Joe Pearce, a pioneer of Southern California who came from Texas. Mrs. Gwin is an active worker in the Baptist Church. They have two children : Arla, born in 1914, and attending school at Whittier, and Edward Pearce Gwin, born in 1920.

WILLIAM WALLACE LOWE. The late William Wallace Lowe was one of the men responsible for the early development of Long Beach, and at the time of his death he was one of its oldest inhabitants. From the time he located in what was then only a sheep pasture he had great faith in the future of this favored locality, and he was spared to see his hopes blossom into one of the finest municipalities in Southern California. He was a pioneer in the establishment of a well ordered business community, and his wife also deserves the tribute of history for the part she played in giving Long Beach its first educational institution and some of its civic ideals.

The late Mr. Lowe was born at Pickaway, Ohio, in 1843, but as a young man left Ohio for more western surroundings. For some years his home

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was in Nebraska where he was engaged in the live stock and grain business. Mr. Lowe came to California in 1883, and in the following year located at what is now Long Beach, but was then called Willmore City. Upon his arrival he opened the first store, and conducted it for a time, and then went into the real estate and insurance business. He was the first postmaster in Long Beach, being appointed by President Cleveland in 1884. The present W. W. Lowe building stands on the site once occupied by his store and in which was conducted the first postoffice.

Mr. Lowe was thoroughly identified with the best interests of Long Beach, enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his fellow townsmen and could be depended upon to support by his influence and by his means any- thing that had for its object the general good of the community. He was one of the donors of the property occupied by the Young Men's Christian Association Building. He was very charitable, and his gifts for philan- thropic purposes were numerous and generous. A zealous member of the First Congregational Church of Long Beach, he worked industriously in its behalf from the time he helped to organize it until death claimed him on December 3, 1910, when he was sixty-seven years of age.

The late Mr. Lowe was prominent in Masonry, passing through the lower bodies of the York Rite to the Knight Templar Commandery. He was a member of Long Beach Commandery No. 40, Knight Templar, and of Al Malaikah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He also belonged to the Knights of the Maccabees and to the Fraternal Aid. For many years he worked hard in behalf of prohibition. No one would have welcomed more heartily the passage of the eighteenth amendment than he. For eighteen years he was actively identified with the Southern California Chautauqua Association. Moral causes of all kinds readily enlisted his support and cooperation. His funeral services, attended by a large concourse of people who gathered to pay the last respects to one they honored, were held in the First Congregational Church under the auspices of the Masonic Fraternity. In his passing Long Beach lost one of its most representative citizens, and his family and friends a beloved member who always cherished them and worked for their continued happiness. Such men are rare and the com- munity which possesses them is fortunate indeed.

In 1867 Mr. Lowe married Miss Belle McKee. She was born in Ohio, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Kellen) McKee. She was a child when her father died in Ohio, and her widowed mother subsequently took her family to Nebraska, and Miss Belle McKee grew up in that state under conditions close to the frontier, and there she met and married Mr. Lowe.

To Mrs. Lowe belongs the credit and honor of naming Long Beach. At a meeting of citizens held for this purpose she proposed the name of Long Beach appropriate for the fact that the beach there is ten miles in length. Her suggestion met with the approval of all.

She was instrumental in getting the first school in Long Beach, and with a few other energetic women secured the donation of a site for the school where the Buffum Building now stands on Broadway and Pine streets. After two weeks this property was sold and the school was then conducted in a tent at the corner of First and Pine streets. The first teacher was Miss Grace Bush.

Mrs. Lowe was a member of women's organizations and gave her time and support to all measures for the improvement of the community. She was past matron of the Order of the Eastern Star at Long Beach. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lowe were people of vision and had every confidence in the future business of their chosen community. They believed that time would see a city stretching from the mountains to the sea. Mr. Lowe lived to see a part of this dream realized, and his widow, who passed away April 8, 1918, saw a more complete fulfillment of the picture. Mr. Lowe repeatedly said that the time would come when they would see manufacturing plants on the flats in the western end of the city.

Mr. and Mrs. Lowe had two children, Ethel M. Lowe Schattman, who died in 1899; and Vinnie E., wife of Col. Charles L. Heartwell, of Long

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Beach. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe were also survived by a grandson, Max S. Lowe, whom they adopted in his infancy.

OSCAR F. HEARTWELL. The late Oscar F. Heartwell was one of the very remarkable men of his times, and was spared to pass his ninety-fifth birthday. He was born near Phelps, Ontario County, New York, May 30, 1818, and died at Huntington Beach, California, May 5, 1913. His father was Benjamin Heartwell, and his grandfather was Capt. Joseph Heartwell, of Heartwellville, Vermont, which was named in his honor. He was one of the "Green Mountain" soldicrs in the American Revolution. Benjamin Heartwell marricd Jane Burnett, a daughter of Brig. Gen. William Burnett, who served with that rank in the United States army during the War of 1812. The Heartwell family is a very vigorous one, and Oscar F. Heart- well also traced back to sturdy stock on his mother's side. Her mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Pierce, was a cousin of President Pierce, and she lived to be ninety-nine years and six months old. Her mother's mother was a daughter of General Granger, a noted American soldier, and she lived to be ninety-one, and her sister lived to be ninety-three. His father and mother lived to be eighty-three and eighty-six, respectively.

Oscar F. Heartwell adopted farming as a calling, and by careful experi- ments developed new varieties of grain, including wheat and oats, which proved of much profit to the farmers of that day. He was a well-educated man, for in addition to the usual training given to lads of his time and locality he had the advantages offered by the academy of his native placc, and New Brunswick, New Jersey, College, but on account of ill health could not complete his course there. Returning to Oak's Corners, New York, he taught school for a time, and then in addition to his farming engaged with his father in contracting and building, assisting in the con- struction of the first railroad to cross the State of New York when it was being built near his home. Both he and his father were first-class joiners and carpenters by trade.

In June, 1842, Oscar F. Heartwell married Julia Ann Webster, a daugh- ter of James Webster, a relative of Noah Webster of dictionary fame. Eight children were born of this marriage, five sons and three daughters. One of the daughters died in infancy, and six children now survive. The youngest child is over sixty. At the time of his death Mr. Heartwell had fourteen grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. After the death of his wife he went to Hastings, Nebraska, and lived with his son James B. Heartwell, and later lived with his son Charles D. Heartwell, and they all moved to Huntington Beach, California. Mr. Heartwell was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for fifty years, and during that time held many of the offices of his order. He early united with the Presby- terian Church, and was for years a leader of the choir of his local church, and used in such service his bass viol and violin, being very proficient on both instruments. After coming to Huntington Beach he became a well- known figure, and "Grandpa" Heartwell, as he was affectionately known, was much beloved by the children of that neighborhood. His long and use- ful life, which reached way beyond the ordinary span of years, was filled with good deeds and kindly thoughts, and his example of right living can- not help but be an inspiration to others to do likewise.

JAMES BENJAMIN HEARTWELL. For more than twenty years the name of Heartwell has stood for financial stability and personal integrity at Long Beach. The passing out of life of the late James Benjamin Heartwell removed from this city one who had been very active in its business and social life, and in the solid enterprises of public importance that he founded his memory will long be perpetuated.

Mr. Heartwell was born in Sencca County, New York, July 4, 1843. His father, Oscar F. Heartwell, was born in 1818, at Geneva, New York, and his mother, Sabrina (Webster) Heartwell, was a native also of New York and a member of the same family that gave the great lexicographer

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to the world. Mr. Heartwell was prepared for college in the Geneva Classi- cal Institute, but threatened ill health prevented his entering college at that time and perhaps turned his attention to a business rather than a profes- sional career. After completing a course in Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, in 1864 he entered the First National Bank at Geneva as a bookkeeper, and in 1866 became cashier, serving in that capacity until 1870, when he resigned.

Mr. Heartwell moved then to Des Moines, Iowa, where in association with others he organized the Iowa Loan & Trust Company, of which he was secretary for eight years. In the meanwhile his wife's failing health caused him anxiety and this led to the family removal to Hastings, Nebraska, in 1881, where during the next thirteen years Mr. Heartwell became one of the leading citizens. In 1882 he was one of the organizers of the Nebraska Loan & Trust Company and was its president, served two years as city treasurer, and in 1886, on the republican ticket, was elected a mem- ber of the Nebraska State Senate. Subsequently he was appointed post- master of the City of Hastings, and it was upon the close of his term in this office that he came to California.

In 1894 Mr. Heartwell established his home at Riverside, and was engaged there in orange culture until the spring of 1900, when he came to Long Beach, with which place he was identified afterward until his death on February 5, 1913. In 1900, in association with his son, Col. Charles L. Heartwell, he organized the First National Bank of Long Beach, with a capital of $25,000, serving one year as vice president and afterward as president of this institution. He was associated also with his son, Colonel Heartwell, in the organization of the Citizens Savings Bank, of which he also was president, and subsequently occupied the same relation in the Mutual Trust Company. He had still other interests, and was a prominent factor in the Interstate Dock & Lumber Company, and the Mutual Build- ing & Loan Association. In the business world his exceptional ability as a financier and organizer was very generally recognized.

Mr. Heartwell married in the State of New York Miss Sarah Jane Dibble, who was born in Connecticut, but of old Virginia ancestry. She survives and with their two sons, Charles L. and James F., resides at Long Beach. Mr. Heartwell was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church at Long Beach, and throughout his entire life had been consistent in his church relations. He was a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner, a member of Los Angeles Consistory No. 3 and Al Malaikah Temple, Mystic Shrine. He was the organizer of Long Beach Commandery No. 40, Knights Templar, and was its first eminent commander. He was a member of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, and his business judgment was often consulted in relation to its activities. He was a man of worth in every rela- tion of life, generous, honorable, upright and trustworthy.

COL. CHARLES LEONARD HEARTWELL. No kind of history could be written of Long Beach, California, without extended mention of Col. Charles Leonard Heartwell, who for over a quarter of a century has been prominently connected with the business, public and social life of this com- munity, has been identified with military affairs through several wars and continues to have a deep interest in the California National Guard. He is a man to whose foresight and optimism his fellow citizens owe much of their prosperity.

Colonel Heartwell was born at Geneva, New York, July 1, 1869, a son of James Benjamin and S. Jennie (Dibble) Heartwell. Both came of old and distinguished families, the father born in New York and the mother in Virginia, and throughout their lives they were estimable in every rela- tion of life. The father was prominent in Masonic circles in California, and was the first commander of Palos Verdes Commandery at Long Beach. For many years he was in the banking business.

In Colonel Heartwell's childhood his parents moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where he attended the public schools, and later to Hastings, Nebraska,

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where he was graduated from the Hastings High School and later from Hastings College, an institution founded by his father. He completed his education in the University at Zurich, Switzerland. Upon his return to Hastings, Nebraska, he embarked in the banking business there and later in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was in 1897 that Charles Leonard Heart- well became so impressed with the natural advantages of Long Beach that he decided to locate here, and later, as he came to realize what the majority of his 1,200 fellow citizens seemed to fail to do, the wonderful future possi- bilities of this ideally located town, he invested heavily in real estate, thus giving encouragement to others. From these investments great fortunes have been developed and Colonel Heartwell's judgment vindicated. He was identified with early banking here, and was assistant cashier of the old Bank of Long Beach. In 1900 he organized the First National Bank of Long Beach, of which his father became president and he cashier, and was the moving spirit for many years in enterprises of great business impor- tance to this section. Although now retired from business activities, he continues as nominal president of the Heartwell-Lowe Company, a family affair.

Colonel Heartwell has by no means lost his interest in the field of poli- tics, in which he has been influential so long, and was an important factor in bringing about the election of Governor Richardson. He is proud to be called a "stand-pat" republican, and rejoices in being able to recall many hard fought and victorious political battles. He is a member of the Republican State Central Committee, and a member also of the Los Angeles County Republican Central Committee and is chairman of the Seventieth Assembly District. For nine years he was city treasurer of Long Beach.

In Colonel Heartwell is found one of the heartiest supporters of the California National Guard. He was sponsor for the organization of Com- pany H, California National Guard, at Long Beach, of which he is an honorary member, and was an active member of the state organization from 1907 to 1911. His military record throughout is entirely creditable. Dur- ing the war with Mexico he qualified as lieutenant-colonel in the Quarter- master's Department, but was never called into action, and he was first lieutenant of a company organized in Long Beach for service in the Spanish- American war. During the World war he served in numerous patriotic capacities, and largely on account of his admiration for Secretary Hoover, accepted the duties of sugar director for the Los Angeles County unit. He has a personal acquaintance and many warm friendships with prominent men from all over the country, and if they visit Long Beach they are pretty certain during the interval to be found in Colonel Heartwell's comfortable office in the Heartwell-Bixby Building, situated on the corner of Pine and Ocean avenues. Colonel Heartwell can entertain his visitors well, for he has a fund of interesting incidents of a long and busy life to draw upon, and has on view many valuable relics of early Long Beach that are exceed- ingly interesting and of scientific value. Here, also, he has a volume that discloses an innocent hobby-the collecting of rare postage stamps, many of his French colony stamps being very rare.

Colonel Heartwell married at Long Beach Miss La Verne Lowe, who is a daughter of the late W. W. and Belle (McKee) Lowe, who came to Long Beach in 1884, and long were people of prominence here. Mrs. Heartwell belongs to the Ebell Club, and Chapter A. F. of the P. E. O. Society, belongs to the Eastern Star and is a member of Long Beach Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Colonel Heartwell is a member of Palos Verden Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the Chapter and Commandery at Long Beach ; to Long Beach Lodge No. 888, Elks ; to the Long Beach Knights of Pythias ; and to the Eastern Star. He is a member also of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Jonathan Club of Los Angeles, the Union League Club of Los Angeles, the Virginia Country Club of Long Beach and the Auto- mobile Club of Southern California, and through patriot ancestors, to the Sons of the American Revolution. He is a member of the First Congrega-

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tional Church of Long Beach, and was chairman of the building committee when the present fine edifice was erected. He is interested in many chari- ties, and is chairman of the Near East Relief at Long Beach.

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume II, Part 83

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