USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume II > Part 86
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On May 30, 1915, he married Miss Merle Dee Elliott, daughter of Herbert M. and Ella E. (McLean) Elliott, of Marion, Indiana. She was born at Holly, Michigan, was educated in the public schools of Marion, and studied music in Oberlin College Conservatory. She became proficient on the piano and pipe organ, graduating in 1904, and for several years she employed her talent playing for theaters, chiefly motion picture houses in Indiana and Illinois. She took up the study of chiropractic with her hus- band in Ross College at Fort Wayne, and graduated in 1921. She is a member of the Eastern Star and Rebekahs.
Herbert M. Elliott, father of Mrs. Clark, is now retired and lives with his daughter in Huntington Park. He was born in Holly, Michigan, and during many years of residence at Marion, Indiana, became distinguished as an attorney, a manufacturer, and particularly for his philanthropic work. He became known as "the children's friend," and devoted much of his time to finding homes for orphan children. In his home city in Indiana he was secretary of the Federation of Charities, was for a dozen years secretary of the Grant County Hospital Association, was president of the Young Men's Christian Association, was a leader in the Presbyterian Church and superin- tendent of its Sunday School, and taught a men's class of 150 members. He also acted as judge of the Juvenile Court there.
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JAMES C. SAVERY. The phenomenal development of Long Beach in the past few years has not been accidental. Contributing to it has been the whole-hearted cooperation with municipal officials of a group of public- spirited individuals ever working in harmony for a Greater Long Beach. A leader in this group is James C. Savery, whose tireless and unselfish efforts have brought to successful culmination many worth while civic undertakings.
James C. Savery was born at Chicago, Illinois, October 18, 1887, and in a western sense may justly claim to be of pioneer descent. He is a son of James C. and Mary Montana (Moog) Savery, the latter of whom sur- vives and has been a resident of Long Beach for a number of years. Her parents crossed the plains in 1864, and she was the first white child born in Montana, and is today the youngest member of the Montana Society of Pioneers.
James C. Savery, Sr., came to California in 1849, and during his entire life was a man of business importance. He was a banker at Des Moines, Iowa, where he built the original Hotel Savery, and his name is still pre- served in the present magnificent structure in that city. He was identified in western colonization with the American Emigration Company. He acquired large mining interests in Montana, and owned the famous Cable gold mine in the Rocky Mountains and his last days were spent in his summer home there.
Mr. Savery's early. life was spent in New York City and in Montana. He was graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1911, with his Bachelor of Science degree, and took post-graduate work there in 1912, during his university career attracting attention by his literary talent. He was elected president of the Harvard Dramatic Club, and wrote stories for the magazines even then. Following his graduation he devoted himself to literary pursuits in New York, and traveled in Europe. He chanced to be in Berlin, Germany, at the outbreak of hostilities in the World war, and immediately returned to the United States to be prepared to answer the call should his own country be drawn into the conflict.
In 1917 Mr. Savery enlisted for military service and was assigned at first to Camp Kearney and made a name for himself by entertaining the hospital patients through his talents as a pianist and monologist. After going to France he saw hard service at the front for a time, but later was transferred to the hospital center at Mars-sur-Allier, and there, because of a display of literary genius, the commanding officer made him one of the organizers and the editor of The Martian, a magazine for the wounded soldiers. He was untiring in his efforts to bring this publication to a high standard, and he succeeded in making it a recognized and most helpful adjunct in preserving the morale of the soldiers. His articles breathed the right spirit, and many of his verses and jingles were reprinted in the United States and highly commended.
Mr. Savery's dramatic talent was early recognized. On graduating from Harvard University he wrote the senior play that was produced by the Hasty Pudding Club of Boston and New York, and is the author of still another well received play. No less distinguished a person than the lamented Charles Frohman employed him when he went to New York and made him manager of the New Play Department of the old Empire Theater, and he acted also in the capacity of an international play broker. This work naturally brought him into close association with congenial people and with a most broadening effect particularly interesting to one possessed of genius.
After the signing of the armistice Mr. Savery returned to the United States and came to Long Beach. During the eight years that his mother had resided here he had made frequent visits, but other interests, largely literary and musical, had called him away, but on this occasion he became so impressed that he lost no time in deciding to locate here premanently. He immediately took deep interest in civic affairs, becoming an important factor in the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce. He gave largely of his time and much capital to the erection and decorating of the new Chamber
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of Commerce Building, which was opened and appropriately dedicated on August 1, 1922. He is president of the Belmont Heights Improvement Association and president also of the East Ocean Improvement Association, and has made many heavy real estate investments here. In addition to large holdings in residential property throughout the city he is part owner of the office building, formerly known as the Moody Building, situated at Ocean Boulevard and Pine Avenue, in the center of the business district, which now bears the name of the Montana Building. The private residence of his mother and himself, at 1200 East Ocean Boulevard, is one of the show places of the city. He owns also a cabin in the Rocky Mountains that he built with his own hands, and it is his custom each summer to hie to this picturesque spot, with a typewriter, a fishing rod and a camera, and pass a few months practically alone with Nature. He is not only an author, a dramatist, a musician and composer, but is also so skilled a photog- rapher that he has won several international prizes in this art.
At present Mr. Savery is largely interested in establishing a very choice residential section in the east end of Long Beach, to be known as Berkeley Square, his plans being along ideas suggested in foreign travel. He is of generous and charitable nature, and in the recent Salvation Army drive served as a division leader. He has long been a member of the famous Lambs Club of New York, belongs to the Order of Elks and also to the Rotary Club. He attends the First Congregational Church of Long Beach and is a member of its music committee.
FRED H. BUTTERFIELD is one of several brothers who have become prominent in business affairs in Los Angeles County. He is a successful building contractor, and has developed a splendid organization for handling the finer types of homes and apartment houses.
Mr. Butterfield, whose home is at Long Beach, was born at Branson, Missouri, December 23, 1892. He was a child when his parents moved to Oklahoma, and he acquired his early education in the public schools of Norman and also attended Oklahoma University, located at Norman. Leaving Norman in 1911, he came direct to Long Beach, and for the past twelve years has been in the building and contracting business.
Mr. Butterfield had the entire responsibility of promoting and building the handsome structure at 323 West Fourth Street in Long Beach known as the American Homes. He is also a builder of bungalow courts, and at this writing has about twenty-five buildings of that type under construc- tion. He and his brother, A. R. Butterfield, promoted and built the Chester- field, an "own-your-own apartment building," at the southwest corner of Fourth and Chestnut. Mr. Butterfield for a number of months has had about two hundred men on his pay roll, and probably no one of the younger group of building men in Long Beach has a better business.
He is an ex-service man, having spent about eight months in France with Battery D, Second American Artillery Battalion. He was in St. Mihiel campaign, also in the Argonne, and he returned to this country February 7, 1919, and was given his honorable discharge at Camp Kearney. He went over on the converted German liner the America.
Mr. Butterfield is a member of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce. His home is at 464 Cerritos Avenue in Long Beach. He married at San Bernardino, June 19, 1922, Miss Rosetta Spear. Mrs. Butterfield was born and educated in Champaign, Illinois, her people being a wealthy pioneer family of that rich farming section of Illinois.
LYNN SAMUEL ATKINSON, who died May 15, 1923, was a conspicuous figure in construction and engineering circles on the Pacific Coast. . He was equipped with a wonderful range of technical skill and ability to handle all problems involved in construction work, but his greatest distinc- tion was his resourcefulness and his courage that made him willing to undertake tasks frequently declined by contractors and engineers whose technical ability ranked on a par with his.
LYNN S. ATKINSON
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Mr. Atkinson, who spent the last fourteen years of his life in Southern California, was born at Shreveport, Pennsylvania, December 2, 1864, son of George W. and Nancy J. Atkinson. He came of a family of men whose careers were identified with constructive enterprises. His grand- father, his father, six of his brothers and his son have all been construction men, and monuments to their skill abound throughout the South and the West, in public buildings and other structures.
The late Mr. Atkinson was reared at Shreveport, was educated there, and finished his education in the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. For twenty-five years his home was at Colorado Springs, and while there he built many public works and smelters in the Rocky Mountain region.
.Moving to California in 1909, Mr. Atkinson was especially concerned in highway construction, but did much other general building work. In 1911 he built the Polytechnic High School at Long Beach, and during that contract he set a precedent among employers of labor in California by granting his men a Saturday afternoon vacation with full pay.
While Mr. Atkinson followed unusually liberal policies in handling his workers, and undertook many contracts which were refused by others, he had the enviable reputation of always fulfilling his contracts on time. The most notable example of his work in Los Angeles is the Broadway Tunnel, originally built in 1900, on such a restricted scale that traffic avoided it so far as possible. It had to be reconstructed, and the contract was awarded to Mr. Atkinson for an estimated cost of $200,000. He undertook this in 1913. It has always been regarded as a wonderful engineering and construction achievement, a splendid monument to the builder. The tunnel is 752 feet long, 40 feet wide and 22 feet high, and since its completion has been the most used and the most necessary artery for all traffic between the business district and the residential sections lead- ing to Hollywood, South Pasadena and foothill and valley towns. The walls are laid up of two thicknesses of brick, with a facing of white glazed tile. Among other features that have drawn the praise of construction engineers are the adequate lighting and fine drainage facilities.
Mr. Atkinson built many miles of public highway, and one of his last state highway contracts was the road leading into Mojave. This was a twelve and one-half mile stretch of highway across the Mojave desert.
Several years ago one of the local Los Angeles papers published an article from which the following is a brief extract: "One of the great engineering feats of the twentieth century is now in operation in the building of seventeen and one-half miles of California State Highway across desert lands, beginning fourteen miles south of Bakersfield and ending at the foot of Tejon Pass. In the early days the building of a railroad required the building of a good wagon road first, whereby material could be carried forward to the construction point. Today the order is reversed and railroads are used in building good roads. With the auto- mobile at its present high state of perfection it is the popular method of travel and good roads are demanded over which the machines travel. When the difficult section of desert land road building between Bakersfield and Tejon Pass was projected the proposition was twice advertised and each time Contractor Lynn Atkinson was the only bidder. He was the only contractor willing to tackle so difficult a proposition. It meant the building of seventeen miles of straight roadway, the longest piece of straight highway in the state. The survey traversed an old lake bottom for a distance of two miles, and this required a five foot fill for that dis- tance. Most of the way was over a sandy desert, where wagoning and auto truck transporting would be impractical if not impossible. In con- structing this, first a mountain stream partly washed away and endangered a mile of the highway, which necessitated the building of a masonry dam a mile in length."
In 1916 an article in the Los Angeles Times, reviewing the achieve- ments of Mr. Atkinson, stated: "For years he has wrestled with the
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unforeseen obstacles and difficulties that beset the path of the general contractor and builder, especially in a country like Southern California where nature imposes unlooked for impediments to progress, seemingly for the sole purpose of testing and trying men's metal. In this field Lynn S. Atkinson has developed and shown forth to the best advantage."
Mr. Atkinson showed a broad and comprehensive interest in all affairs of city and state, was public spirited, and gave his help either financialy or personally to any enterprise which would benefit the people at large. He was of a kindly nature, and fond of saying "Be kind and do your best." In his character he represented the devoted husband, the loving father and stanch friend. He was a member of the City Club, and for twelve years took an active part in that organization. He was also a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and was a Knights Templar and Scottish Rite Mason. His funeral services were conducted under the auspices of Wilshire Lodge of Masons.
In the midst of practical undertaking Mr. Atkinson was ever a student and thinker. He wrote a great deal, and contributed a number of articles to trade and technical journals and to the newspapers, and wrote a number of short stories and poems. He was well traveled, having taken several trips abroad. Just prior to his death he had devised a wonderful plan for taking care of the difficult problem of traffic in Los Angeles. All who had been privileged to examine the plan called it the work of a great genius, but Mr. Atkinson passed away before he had an opportunity to present it to the proper officials.
In 1893, at Urbana, Illinois, Mr. Atkinson married Miss Mary Marks. In 1909, while they were abroad in Europe, she died at Geneva, Switzer- land. Of this marriage Mr. Atkinson had a son, Lynn S. Atkinson, Jr., who is a construction engineer and is now handling the $400,000 contract involved in building the Cave Creek Dam in Arizona.
In January, 1911, Mr. Atkinson married Miss Lulu Wells, at Los Angeles. Mrs. Atkinson has two small sons, John Wells and Robert Wilson Atkinson. Mr. Atkinson is also survived by a daughter, Miss Thelma. Mrs. Atkinson and her children reside at 1645 Huntington Drive, South Pasadena.
JEAN WILLIAMS, M. D. Enjoying a large private practice as a physi- cian at Hollywood, Doctor Williams has earned some of the important dis- tinctions of professional achievement both in the East and West, and is a woman of exceptional range of tastes and accomplishments.
She was born in Newark, New Jersey, daughter of James and Jean Marks. She is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Doctor Williams as a girl attended the Hasbrouck Institute, the oldest private school in New Jersey. Her edu- cation was continued in the Trenton Normal School, and in 1905 she was graduated Medical Doctor from the New York Medical College in the Hospital for Women. Doctor Williams married Herbert C. Williams of Elizabeth, New Jersey, who was in the oil business.
For several years after graduating Doctor Williams remained in New York City engaged in practice. For a number of years her work as a phy- sician was done at Summit, New Jersey. Besides looking after a private practice Doctor Williams for some years was editor of health and hygiene departments of the Woman's Home Companion. She was also president of the Fortnightly Club at Summit, one of whose members was Mrs. Hamil- ton Wright Mabee.
Doctor Williams came to Los Angeles in 1919, and soon afterward opened her offices in Hollywood. She is a charter member of the Holly- wood Business Woman's Club, is a member of the Los Angeles Business and Professional Woman's Club, and a member of the several medical societies in California. She is a good business woman, and has shown ability to turn over her real estate holdings to advantage. She has a splendid house on Franklin Avenue and one on Amelita Street. In her home on Gower Street she has preserved many interesting heirlooms,
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some of which were once in the possession of an early governor of New Jersey. There are also numerous oil paintings, chairs and china of an early Colonial period.
ORTUS BENTON FULLER. It is a matter of deep regret that so many men who have been prominently identified with the development of Los Angeles County and the Imperial Valley have passed away, but there is a satisfaction to those they left behind them that their work is still of real value to this region, and that during the years accorded them they accom- plished so much and built up reputations for honest dealing and uprightness of character. One of these pioneers in several lines was the late Ortus Benton Fuller, vice president of the Pioneer Truck Company, president of the C. H. and O. B. Fuller Company and its subsidiaries, the flying "V" Cattle Company, the Santo Domingo Ranch Company, and the Parker Cattle Company, manager and large stockholder of the Los Angeles Ware- house Company, vice president of the Enterprise Construction Company, and a public spirited citizen of Los Angeles.
Ortus Benton Fuller was born at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, September 5, 1865, son of Benjamin Harrison and Mary Ann Fuller. His educational training was received at Mount Pleasant, where his father was a general merchant, and after the latter sold his store Ortus B. Fuller accompanied the family on their migration to the West. For a time Benjamin H. Fuller was Indian agent at Montana, and then, having become impressed with the advantages of California, moved to this state, after a sight seeing trip to Catalina, and, purchasing an orange grove at Azusa, thoroughly identified himself with that community. He served in the grand jury, and performed other public duties, and became one of the well known figures in Los Angeles County. When he brought his family to Azusa he was accompa- nied by a colored family whose members had been servants of the Fuller family for a long period. A man of great energy and business foresight, Benjamin Fuller with his sons, O. B. and Charles Henry, operated the first box factory at San Jacinta, California, which manufactured crates to be used in shipping oranges. These three later purchased the Pioneer Truck Company, which at one time owned one truck and two wagons and devel- oped it to its present proportions, this concern during its long career hauling every kind of freight, including theatrical properties. Subsequently very desirable contracts were secured with wholesale concerns, and a general hauling business is still carried on.
From his boyhood Ortus Benton Fuller had cherished an ambition to become a cattlemen, and as he matured he decided to gratify this, and bought a tract at Cucamonga and at Corona, California, and while he was starting his cattle business his brother conducted the trucking business. Mr. Fuller was successful from the start, in raising cattle and grain, and as he loved horses he had some very fine specimens of horse flesh. He and his brother became partners in this venture, and they established the Flying "V" Cattle Company in Arizona, the Jalama Rancho and Cattle Company at Jalama, California, the Santo Domingo Cattle Company in Mexico, the Parker Cattle Company and the "Three Bar" Cattle Company in Arizona, and owned a ranch at Heber in the Imperial Valley as well as one at Corona. Mr. Fuller with Fred Bixby and Lichtenberger Brothers built the Los Angeles Warehouse, and he continued a large stockholder in that enterprise and managed it. For some years he served as the vice president of the Enterprise Construction Company ; was interested in the Southern Cali- fornia Fertilizer Company, the Acetylene Welding Foundry at Vernon, California, in partnership with Mr. Babbitt, and in the Associated Meat Packing Company. He and Fred Bixby owned the only Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, known as the Construction Company Theatre. Six months prior to his demise he began to center his efforts on the management of the Los Angeles Warehouse Company, and two weeks before his death won the silver cup at the Uplifters Club for riding, lassooing, mounting and dis- mounting. Although his malady was of long standing, he was only con-
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fined to his bed for a week, and his death, which occurred October 18, 1922, came suddenly. Not only was he a man of importance in his own country, but he was aiso highly regarded in Mexico, and when he went to our sister republic to visit his ranches, he traveled under passes from Huerta, Obregon and other dignitaries.
Ortus B. Fuller married Daisy Du Bat, of New York City, and they had two daughters born to them, Mary Muriel, who is Mrs. George L. Colburn ; and Rhea Ruth, who is a student of Smith College and a gradu- ate of Ratcliffe College. After leaving Ratcliffe Miss Fuller was abroad for several years doing scientific research work, but had returned home before her father's death.
A man of broad vision and unusual capabilities, Mr. Fuller always operated upon a large scale, and never failed in bringing his undertakings to a successful conclusion. He was one of the men who early recognized the vast possibilities of Los Angeles County and never ceased in his efforts to boost his home city and county. The Arizona Cattle Growers Associa- tion, the Jonathan Club, the Uplifters Club and other organizations had in him an honored and active member, and his loss will long be felt among his former associates, who saw in him not only the successful business man but also the lovable man and real friend.
WILLIAM R. STAATS has been a permanent figure in the financial affairs and constructive business enterprises of Los Angeles County for over thirty-five years. While his name has been identified with the management of a number of corporations it is perhaps most familiarly associated with the William R. Staats Company, which was established in 1887 and of which Mr. Staats is chairman of the board. This is one of the largest organ- izations handling government, municipal and corporation bonds in Califor- nia, and has offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco as well as in Pasadena.
Mr. Staats was born in Orange, Connecticut, August 8, 1867. The family is of Holland-Dutch origin, and his ancestors came from Amsterdam, Holland, and settled along the Hudson River, near Albany, in 1642. In the maternal line his ancestry goes back to the beginning of Quaker settlement in America, and were identified with the first settlement of Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. The parents of Mr. Staats were Henry T. and Mary Jane (Macy) Staats. His father, now a retired minister of the Con- gregational Church at Pasadena, was pastor of a number of permanent churches in Connecticut, and was the first pastor of the Pilgrim Congrega- tional Church in Pasadena. William R. Staats was one of a family of seven children, and he has two living sisters and three brothers and one half brother by his father's second marriage. His brother John S., is secretary of the William R. Staats Company and is assistant manager of the San Francisco office of the firm.
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