USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume II > Part 89
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In 1919, on his return to California from an extended automobile tour of the United States, he located in Huntington Park and entered the real estate business under the firm name of Hinton Realty Company. Owing to the rapid increase in business he took his wife and son into the business and at the present time is employing a sales force of nine persons besides themselves. Mr. Hinton is a member of the Huntington Park and Los Angeles Realty boards, also the California and National Real Estate asso- ciations and the Chamber of Commerce of both Huntington Park and Los Angeles.
Mr. Hinton is also very popular in fraternal circles. He is the treasurer of the Huntington Park Lodge of Elks, a member of the Royal Arch and Knights Templar of Huntington Park and is also affiliated with several other organizations.
JONAS S. KILLIAN. In the courage of the pioneer, the initiative and enterprise that set an example for others to follow, some of the highest honors should be paid Jonas S. Killian, now living retired at Los Angeles, while the magnificent property developed and founded by him is carried on to increasing success by his sons.
Jonas S. Killian was born near Jasper in Pickens County, Georgia, June 3, 1856, seventh in a family of ten children. His father, Lawson A. Killian, a native of South Carolina, engaged in mining at Dahloniga, Georgia, and later became a planter in that state. In 1887 he moved to California, and spent his last days at Monrovia. His wife was Martha Bedford, also a native of South Carolina, who died at Monrovia.
Jonas S. Killian was reared in Georgia, attended public schools there and an academy in Gordon County, and in the fall of 1878 moved to San Marcos, Hays County, Texas, where he engaged in farming and later in the mercantile business. In October, 1887, he left Texas and came to Mon- rovia, California, and subsequently moved into the El Monte district, where he acquired several hundred acres and with that land began the tasks of general farming and horticultural development that mark him as a strong factor in the development of this section of Los Angeles County. The land was naturally fertile, but a succession of dry years, with blasted crops, convinced him that profitable agriculture could not be continued without a dependable supply of water for irrigation, and it was his courage and per- sistency in developing an irrigation system from wells that makes Jonas S. Killian one of the big constructive men of Southern California. He was convinced that plenty of water could be obtained from underground sources, and in pursuance of this conviction he sunk an open pit, carrying it down as far as was possible by digging. "Failing to get the pit down as far as expected, he secured a hand drill rig, the only kind available in those days, and continued the deepening process until he reached a depth of about a
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hundred feet, from which depth an abundant supply of water rewarded his efforts. After the installation of a gas engine for power, he proved to him- self and others that wells would provide an adequate supply for irrigation purposes. This was the first pumping plant, as they are now known, to tap the vast underground streams of California, and this achievement has not only made a garden of his own properties, but his example has been followed by thousands of others, and doubtless has contributed as much as . any one thing to the varied horticultural development of California.
The Killian property, located one mile and a half northeast of El Monte, was planted to soft shell walnuts, and the three hundred acre walnut grove is the largest individually owned bearing walnut orchard in the world. In recent years Mr. Killian has sold the greater part of these interests to the firm of Killian Brothers, and he is now living in retirement at his home near Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Mr. Killian was prominent in the organization of the Mountain View Walnut Growers Association. He was made a Mason in Caldwell, Texas, subsequently transferring his membership to Lexington Lodge No: 104, Free and Accepted Masons, of El Monte, and is also a member of Alhambra Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. He has been a life long member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Killian married Miss Lucy White, a native of Madison County, Georgia, in Fairmont, Georgia, November 29, 1881. Her grandfather, Stephen S. White, was a native of Kentucky, who became a Georgia planter, and her father, William White, was born in Georgia and success- fully followed planting in Madison County. Her mother was Malinda Strickland, a native of Georgia. Mr. and Mrs. Killian had four children : Jonas E. Killian, Riverside banker ; Ernest Waldo Killian, orange grower and vinyardist of Exeter, California ; Howard S. Killian, walnut grower of El Monte, California; and Oliver Clay Killian, active in banking at San Gabriel, California. The mother of these children died in 1908. In 1917 Mr. Killian married Miss Gertrude Dunlap, prominent in club and educa- tional circles of Los Angeles County, and they are living at their home in Los Angeles.
FARRAR BURR PARKER, M. D. His service as a private practitioner had barely begun when Doctor Parker volunteered for the medical service in the World war, and became a surgeon in the regular army and saw nineteen months of duty overseas. He resigned from the army medical corps in 1920, and since June of that year has been in practice at Long Beach, his offices being in the First National Bank Building.
Doctor Parker was born at Memphis, Tennessee, November 26, 1886, son of Walter Loury and Ella (Burr) Parker. His father though too young to carry a gun was in the Confederate service during the Civil war, and for many years engaged in the insurance business. He died at New Orleans in April, 1912, and the widowed mother is still living in that city. Doctor Parker is the youngest in a family of three daughters and three sons, and the only one in California. His brother Walter Parker is general manager of the New Orleans Association of Commerce. Recently New Orleans held a great celebration at the completion of the industrial canal five and a half miles long connecting the Mississippi and Lake Pontchar- train, affording a new straight route to the Gulf for ocean steamers. The Press carried many new and feature articles regarding that celebration, and most of these gave prominence to Walter Parker, who is known as the father of the Industrial Canal.
Farrar Burr Parker attended grammar school at Winchester, Tennessee, graduated from Mary Sharp College in 1900, and the Boys' High School of New Orleans in 1903. He took his professional work in the College of Medicine at Tulane University at New Orleans, graduating Doctor of Medicine in 1916. After graduating he came West and was an interne in Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco, and from there went to Wyoming and was superintendent of a private hospital.
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Doctor Parker received a commission as first lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps, June 27, 1917, and was ordered to active duty at the United States Army Medical School in Washington, for the required course of study for commission in the regular Army Medical Corps. He took what was known as the "six years course" in the Medical School in Washing- ton, and was commissioned in September, 1917, first lieutenant of the Medi- cal Corps of the regular army. He was assigned to field duty with the Sixty-first Infantry at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a regiment ordered to Camp Greene, at Charlotte, North Carolina, for final training before going overseas. The Sixtieth and Sixty-first Infantry Regiments constituted the Ninth Brigade of the Fifth Division. Doctor Parker was Battalion sur- geon, and in that capacity participated in the battle of St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne campaigns. He was wounded in action in two battles and was Battalion surgeon in the trenches in several sectors. After nine- teen months of duty overseas and after his return to the United States he was stationed at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, the army medical center of education, and in November, 1918, was promoted to the rank of captain. He resigned from the service in 1920 in order to resume private practice and then located at Long Beach.
Doctor Parker was elected member of the literary fraternity Phi Delta Theta at Tulane University in 1911, was made a member of the Phi Chi in the University of California in 1916, and in 1920 became a Mason in Washington Centennial Lodge No. 14, Free and Accepted Masons, at Washington, D. C. He also belongs to a number of social and professional clubs and the Episcopal Church.
March 6, 1918, at Salisbury, North Carolina, Doctor Parker married Lillian Lucretia Pannebaker, daughter of William Albert and Rebecca (Mauger) Pannebaker. Her father was at one time master mechanic of the Tuscarora Valley Railroad and later proprietor of a machine shop at East Waterford, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1910 and where her mother is living. Mrs. Parker was born at Honey Grove, Pennsylvania, was educated in East Waterford, at Philadelphia, and in Washington, D. C. As a graduate nurse she had an active career in that profession, han- dling cases for private physicians in all the hospitals of Washington.
MRS. MABEL ROCKWELL. The art of dancing is a form of amusement or exercise which dates back to the early Egyptians, who ascribed that invention to there god Thoth. It corresponds to a universal primitive instinct in man, and is practiced by the Forest Indians of Brazil, the South Sea Islanders, the Zulus and the native Australians exactly as it was in the earlier stages of every civilized modern race. Among the ancient Jews, Miriam danced to the sound of a trumpet, and David danced in procession before the Ark of God. The Cretan Chorus, moving in measured pace, sang hymns to the Greek god Apollo, to whom Pindar applies the name of "The Dancer," and one of the muses, Terpsichore, was the especial patroness of the art. Today the art of dancing is universally practiced in civilized countries, as the enjoyment and benefit derived therefrom have become more and more appreciated. This has brought about the founding of various institutions for instruction in this, as in any other art, and one of the leading enterprises of its kind is the Mabel Rockwell School of Dancing, located at Redondo Beach, the proprietress of which is Mrs. Mabel Rockwell, a dancer since childhood and the creator of a number of popular dances.
Mrs. Mabel Rockwell was born at London, England, August 25, 1888. and received her education in private schools. Her maternal grandfather was Thomas Hinton, for some years librarian of the City Library of Lon- don, and her father is James Pickthall, who was the owner of a large music store on Regent Street, London. Mr. Pickthall brought the family to the United States in 1895 and settled at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he built two planing mills and also was the owner of a music store. He is now retired and makes his home in Florida. After locating with her parents
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at Cedar Rapids Mrs. Rockwell attended the Cedar Rapids High School. Even as a child she gave evidence of love for and skill in dancing, and one of her specialties which found great favor was her interpretation of "the Dancing Doll." In 1918 she decided to make commercial use of her talents, and in June of that year came to Redondo Beach. Prior to this she had experience in a school, in partnership with Professor Fithian, in the Flower Auditorium, Los Angeles, but closed that school on coming to the Pavilion 'at Redondo Beach, where she now has a large and select class of students, also maintaining a branch at Santa Ana. A staff of six instructors are maintained and a ballet department is under the instruction of Mrs. Maude Putnam. Mrs. Rockwell is the originator of the "International Fox Trot," the "Harding Glide" and the "Turtle Trot." She belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and the Women's Club, and is well and favorably known in social circles. She is a charter member of the California Association Masters of Dancing and a member of the Advisory Board of the organiza- tion. On March 25, 1923, she was elected one of the committee of three to entertain the Masters of Dancing from all over the world, to be held in Los Angeles in August, 1923.
Mrs. Rockwell is the mother of three children: Charles Dana, John D. and Marie Louise, all at home.
CLEMENT L. REINBOLT, who is engaged in the general plumbing and steam-fitting business at Hermosa Beach, has been in the most significant sense one of the founders and builders of this fine little city in Los Angeles County.
Mr. Reinbolt claims the old Buckeye State as the place of his nativity. his birth having occurred at Fremont, Ohio, on the 8th of October, 1879, he being a son of Daniel and Catherine (Kiser) Reinbolt. The public schools of Ohio gave to Mr. Reinbolt his earl yeducational privileges, and he was a vigorous and ambitious young man of twenty-one years when he came. to California and was placed in charge of the development enterprise of the Hermosa Beach Land & Water Company. He continued his service in this important executive capacity for al period of nine years, and then engaged in the plumbing business at Hermosa Beach, where he now controls a sub- stantial business that necessitates his retention of a corps of eight employes. Mr. Reinbolt had charge of the installing of the original water plant at Hermosa Beach, as did he also of the present modern water and sewer systems. His initial service in this locality was the laying out of the town · site of the attractive little city which is now his home and to whose every interest he is vitally loyal. He is here the owner of a number of valuable. properties, is chief of the local fire department, is an influential member of the Chamber of Commerce, is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he and his wife are com- municants of the Catholic Church.
On the 3d of June, 1908, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Reinbolt and Miss Jeanette F. Smith, who likewise was born and reared at Fremont. Ohio, and who is a daughter of George E. and Catherine (Darr) Smith. Eldon, younger of the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Reinbolt, is deceased. and the older is Evron Richard, who remains at the parental home.
CARL K. BRONEER, a skilled architect and builder, is one of the success- ful exponents of high-grade building enterprise in Hermosa Beach and its vicinity, and his progressiveness is manifest alike in his business operation and his attitude as a loyal citizen.
Mr. Broneer was born in the City of Denver, Colorado, November 21. 1880, and is a son of Carl W. and Dolly (Crim) Broneer, the former of whom was born in Denmark and the latter in the State of Iowa, where their marriage was solemnized. Carl W. Broneer was a youth when he came to the United States, and he early became a resident of California, as is showrt by the statement that in 1869 he engaged in the restaurant business in the City of San Francisco, where he remained several years. Thereafter hc
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was for four years a resident of Denver, Colorado, and in 1894 he came with his family to Los Angeles, where he engaged in the restaurant busi- ness. He passed the closing years of his life at Hermosa Beach, where he died in 1921, his wife having preceded him to the life eternal.
Carl K. Broneer acquired the major part of his early education in the public schools of Los Angeles, and after leaving school he was employed eight years in the Los Angeles offices of what is now the Pacific Electric railway system. He next gave two years to farm enterprise, and he then engaged in the photographic business in the City of Los Angeles, where he gave his attention exclusively to the photographing of babies. Prior to this time he had also been engaged at different times in building operations in connection with his father, and by so doing gained a thorough insight in construction. In 1921 he established himself in the building business at Hermosa Beach, and substantial success is attending his well - directed activities in this field: He is an acuve member of the local Chamber of Commerce, and is an alert business man and progressive citizen whose circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances.
November 21, 1912, recorded the marriage of Mr. Broneer and Miss Jessie Stevens, who was born and reared at Birmingham, Alabama, but whose parents, Charles M. and Pearl (Hill) Stevens, are now residents of Los Angeles. Mr. and Mrs. Broneer have two winsome little daughters, Dollie Louise and Betty Pearl.
WALTER ROBERT HUGHES. In a varied and decidedly active career Walter Robert Hughes has visited numerous countries of the world, and it may be taken as a compliment to Hermosa Beach that a man as widely- traveled as he should decide to make this community his permanent homc. A civil and mining engineer by profession, he is now extensively interested in the real estate business, and as the head of the Hughes Realty Company has transacted a number of large and important operations.
Mr. Hughes was born at San Bernardino, California, June 23, 1878, and is a son of Joseph H. and Mary (Boren) Hughes, the former a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and the latter of San Berardino, California. His maternal grandfather was Judge A. B. Boren, who located at San Bernar- dino in 1850 and after many years as a leading attorney of that city was elevated to the Superior bench. Joseph H. Hughes, who was for some years a banker at Spokane, Washington, died in that city in 1898, and Mrs. Hughes is also deceased.
As a lad Walter Robert Hughes was taken by his parents to Spokane, Washington, in the public schools of which city he received his early educa- tion. Subsequently he pursued a course at the State College of Washington, from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1898, receiving the degree of Mining Engineer, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession. After about seven years in various parts of this country he went abroad, and for about ten years traveled all over Europe and Australia as a mining engineer, meeting with numerous experiences and often facing hardshps. Arriving at Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1915, he became the proprietor of a theatre there, which he conducted until 1917. In that year he returned to his native land and, locating at Seattle, Washington, embarked in the real estate business. He remained there until July, 1921, when he came to Hermosa Beach, and in partnership with E. B. Kinney founded the Hughes Realty Company, an association that still continues with offices at 60 Pier Avenue. Messrs, Hughes and Kinney in their co-partnership relation handle all kinds of real estate, loans, rentals, general insurance and exchange. Contracting through C. K. Broneer, Mr. Hughes has built seventy-five houses during 1922, and in various ways has done much to build up and develop this wonderful section of California. Mr. Hughes is a member of the Hermosa Beach Realty Board and of the California State and National Realty Boards. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masons.
On November 1, 1918, Mr. Hughes was united in marriage with Miss Evelyn F. Harris, of Hermosa Beach, who was born at Los Angeles and received her education in the public schools of that city.
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