History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 17

Author: McGroarty, John Steven, 1862-1944
Publication date: 1923
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 844

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Mr. Wright was born in Crawford County, Kansas, in the year 1876, and is a son of Rev. Isaac L. and Mary (Giffin) Wright, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Ohio. The father, a representative of a family that was founded in America in the Colonial period and that gave patriot soldiers to the War of the Revolution, was not only a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church but also applied himself effectively to farm development and enterprise as a pioneer in the states of Nebraska and Kansas. He was one of the old-time circuit riders, traveled many miles on horseback in the pursuit of his mission as a clergyman, and manifested much of consecrated zeal and devotion in his ministrations. His wife, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, likewise was a representative of Colonial

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

American lineage, and her earnest and gentle life was one expressive of all the Beatitudes imply. The parents were residents of Kansas and Okla- homa, respectively, at the time of their deaths.

In the public schools of the Sunflower State Frank W. Wright con- tinued his studies until he had profited by the advantages of the high school, and thereafter he served a thorough apprenticeship to the printer's trade, the discipline of which has consistently been pronounced equivalent to a liberal education. He worked in newspaper and job offices at Severy and Eureka, Kansas, and later became identified with newspaper work in Oklahoma, in an editorial capacity. In 1902 Mr. Wright came to Cali- fornia and became associated with Harry D. Williams in editing and publishing the Weekly Register at Whittier. For three years thereafter he was editor and manager of the Whittier Daily News by lease of the plant and business. His desire for less confining work led him to dispose of his interest in this paper and to turn his attention to the real estate business, in which he has here continued, with unequivocal success.

Mr. Wright is a stalwart advocate of the principles of the republican party, and has been specially influential in civic affairs in his home city. In 1916 he was elected a member of the Municipal Board of Trustees of Whittier, for a term of four years, and he resigned after serving eighteen months of his second term. Soon after his first election he was chosen chairman of the board, or mayor, and of this chief executive post he con- tinued the incumbent until his resignation, after his second election. In the World war period Mr. Wright was manager of the second local war- bond drive, and for one year was chairman of the organization of "Four Minute Men," who did splendid patriotic service in this section of Los Angeles County. For one year he was also local chairman of the Thrift Stamp sale, and he, was one of the speakers appointed to deliver addresses to recruited men. He was a member of the Los Angeles County Speakers' Bureau, of which Judge Wells was chairman.

Mr. Wright is the owner of income property at Whittier, was formerly identified with the citrus-fruit propagation interests of this locality, and is interested at the present time in oil leases and city subdivisions in the Whittier District. He is a member of the Society of Friends, of which his wife likewise is an earnest member.

In the State of Kansas Mr. Wright wedded Miss Pearl A. Thing, who was born in Illinois, and they have three children. Ralph enlisted for service in the World war, was stationed at Camp Lewis in the State of Washington, but on account of physical disability he was discharged prior to the close of the war. Millie is the wife of Harry S. Gibbs, of Whittier. Aileen is attending the public schools of her home city.

CLINTON JAMES CURTIS has been a Southern California business man for thirty years, was active in the growing and shipping of citrus fruit for some years, but since 1906 has been president and the guiding spirit of the Los Angeles Dock & Terminal Company at Long Beach. He came to Long Beach with a vision of the possibilities of a great port that would serve as one of the greatest centers of commerce between the land and the Pacific Ocean, and has devoted seventeen years to realizing his ambition.

Mr. Curtis was born at Winona, Minnesota, August 21, 1870, son of · Hermon E. and Mary (Camp) Curtis. His father was a banker at Winona, and died in Florida when a comparatively young man only about forty. The widowed mother died in Long Beach in 1918, and there is one other child, Mrs. Harmon R. Scott.

C. J. Curtis was educated at Phillips Academy at Andover, Massa- chusetts, graduating in 1890, and then entered Yale University as a member of the class of 1894, but was compelled to leave during his second year on account of illness. While recuperating he came to California in the Spring of 1893, and established himself in Redlands and soon became interested in orange growing and shipping. He became owner in 1897 of the West American Fruit Company, and made that one of the prominent corporations

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

engaged in the shipping of citrus fruit. He was also a director in the California Citrus Association.

After disposing of these interests Mr. Curtis in January, 1906, came to Long Beach, and took the presidency and management of the Los Angeles Dock & Terminal Company; in the interest of this company he has acquired extensive tracts of land around the harbor, and the company now owns most of the territory immediately adjacent to the Long Beach harbor.

Mr. Curtis was president in 1917 and is a very active member of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the University Club of Redlands, has been president of the Virginia Country Club of Long Beach, and is an inveterate golfer. During the war he was a leader in all the patriotic programs assigned to Long Beach, and was chairman of the fourth Liberty Loan drive. He is a member of the Long Beach Rotary Club and Long Beach Lodge No. 888, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He attends the Congregational Church.

April 17, 1901, at Redlands, Mr. Curtis married Miss Lucy Kimberly, daughter of J. A. Kimberly, retired resident of Redlands, and former presi- dent of the Kimberly-Clark Company. Mrs. Curtis is interested in the Parents-Teachers Association, in the Young Woman's Christian Associa- tion work, and is a member of the Ebell Club of Long Beach. They have three children: Caleb Camp, now a sophomore in Yale University; John Kimberly, attending the Thatcher School for Boys in Southern California ; and Helen Kimberly, in grammar school.

CHARLES A. COCHENOUR. Without the efforts of the real estate men of any community it would be impossible for any progress to be made, and if this is true of the eastern communities, it is all the more a fact with refer- ence to a section like Los Angeles County, where the growth in realty values has been so phenomenal during the past few years. This progress has been marked by a series of brilliant efforts on the part of the men who have devoted themselves to exploiting the advantages of this favored section in every respect, thus inducing capital to invest and citizens to select it as a permanent place of residence. In addition to such valuable service these energetic realtors are doing still more, for they are giving a business-like and efficient supervision to the different properties and safe-guarding the inter- ests alike of owners and tenants. One of these alert, aggressive and resourceful men of affairs, one who has achieved more than passing prominence as a handler of realty, is Charles A. Cochenour, junior member of the reliable real estate firm of Loomis & Cochenour of 339 Santa Monica Boulevard, Sawtelle.

Charles A. Cochenour was born at Canton, Ohio, September 19, 1872, and during his boyhood and youth attended the public schools of his native city, gaining in them a sound understanding of the fundamentals of an education, since which time he has added to his store of knowledge through observation and contact with men of important interests. For some time after leaving school he was employed in the plant of the J. H. McLain Company of Canton, Ohio, and so dependable did he prove that he was successively promoted until he rose to be superintendent. In the mean- while, however, he had begun to handle real estate, and found that this side line was absorbing so much of his time and proving so profitable that he resigned his position and devoted all of his attention to it. In 1920 he left Canton for California, and after spending a short time at Westgate, located permanently at Sawtelle. For the first six months he was in a grocery business, but, although he was successful in it, he did not care to continue in that line, for he knew that his forte was handling real estate. There- fore, selling his store, which was on Fifteenth Street, he formed a partner- ship with G. W. Wiseman, under the firm name of Cochenour & Wiseman, January 1, 1921, and this association continued until August 1, 1922, when Mr. Wiseman retired, and Mr. Cochenour and O. L. Loomis organized the firm of Loomis & Cochenour to handle a general line of real estate and write insurance. This firm represents three old-fashioned insurance com-

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

panies, and are prepared to render the best of service in this line, as they are also in their realty department as well. Some of the very best real estate in Los Angeles County is in their hands, and they have been con- nected with several important realty transactions. Mr. Cochenour belongs to the Santa Monica Realty Board and the California State Realty Board. In him the Sawtelle Chamber of Commerce has a competent member, and he can always be depended upon to give a hearty and effective support to all measures calculated to be of benefit to his city, county or state. Frater- nally he belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a past grand and present chief patriarch of the last named order. In the creed of the United Brethren Church he finds expression for his religious faith.

On May 6, 1896, Mr. Cochenour married Miss Joette Yant, who was born, reared, educated and married at Canton, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Cochenour have four children, namely : Ellsworth, Ray, Leila and Ethel, all of whom are at home. Mrs. Cochneour belongs to the Daughters of Rebekah, and is a past grand of that order. Mr. Cochenour is a man who has never, in the slightest degree, overstepped the absolute bounds of jus- tice, and it cannot be said of him that he ever sought to benefit by the mis- fortune of others. His humane sympathy and charities have brought men to him in the strong ties of friendship, and his record is proof that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously.

THOMAS C. BUNDY, who has become one of the successful and influen- tial exponents of the real estate business in the City of Los Angeles, takes a due mede of pride and satisfaction in being a native son of California, his birth having occurred at Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, on the 8th of October, 1881. He is a son of Nathan Bundy, long a well known and popular citizen of this county. In the public schools of his native city Mr. Bundy continued his studies until he had profited by the advantages of the high school, and thereafter he completed an effective course in the Brownsberger Business College. After having been employed a short time in the Los Angeles offices of the Grand Trunk Railroad he took a position with the California Bank, and with this institution he continued his connec- tion until 1906, since which year he has been actively and successfully engaged in the real estate business, under the title of the Thomas C. Bundy Company. His operations have been of broad scope, and he has given special attention to the handling of business realty and the development of sub-divisions. Mr. Bundy did splendid work in the exploiting and develop- ing of the Wilshire Highland tract, at the corner of La Brae and Wilshire boulevards, this being a tract of ninety acres. He organized and is the present secretary of the Wilshire Country Club, is a member of the Los Angeles Country Club, The Brentwood Country Club, and is president of the Los Angeles Tennis Club, of which he was the organizer. Mr. Bundy has long held prestige as an expert in the game of tennis, as is evident when it is stated that in 1912-13-14 he was national champion in tennis doubles. His wife was for three years the world's woman tennis champion, and both still take great interest in the game, in which they continue to rank with the best talent.

December 11, 1912, recorded the marriage of Mr. Bundy and Miss May Sutton, whose name is nationally prominent in connection with tennis. Mrs. Bundy was born in England but was reared and educated at Pasadena, Cali- fornia. Her father, Captain A. De G. Sutton, was a resident of Los Angeles until his death in 1922. Mr. and Mrs. Bundy have four children : Nathan, Thomas, Dorothy and William.

SAMUEL V. CARLISLE, founder and president of the Sam V. Carlisle Printing Company at Santa Monica, established this flourishing enterprise on the 17th of January, 1919, and on the 20th of November of the following year the business was incorporated, with a capital stock of $10,000. Mr.

D.H. Woodward

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Carlisle became president of the company; George Boettcher, the vice- president ; and Mrs. Blanche E. Carlisle, the secretary and treasurer. The printing establishment of this progressive company is thoroughly modern in all equipment and facilities, and is situated at 1354 Third Street. Employ- ment is given to eight persons, all machinery is operated by electric power, and all kinds of commercial printing are handled effectively and expedi- tiously, the superiority of the work turned out in all lines constituting the best exploitive asset of the business.

Mr. Carlisle was born at Santa Monica on the 3d of July, 1890, and now has prestige as one of the progressive young business men of his native city. He is a son of Dr. Thomas B. and Sarah M. (Heistand) Carlisle, both of whom were born at Hillsboro, Ohio. Dr. Carlisle became a successful physician and surgeon, but later turned his attention to the practice of law. In 1887 he came with his family to Santa Monica, California, and after having been for a time associated with the affairs of the Soldiers Home at Sawtelle he engaged in ranch enterprise near Santa Monica, where his widow now resides, his death having occurred July 25, 1910. He was a democrat in political allegiance and was a member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, as is also his widow. Of the children Ernest O., Leslie O. and Homer H. reside at Glendale, this state ; Samuel V., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; and Thomas M., youngest of the number, resides at Glendale.

After leaving the Santa Monica High School Samuel V. Carlisle entered the University of California, in which he was a member of the class of 1914, though he was not graduated. As a boy he found employment in the office of the Santa Monica Outlook, with which he continued his service during the period of his attending high school, and in this connection he learned the printing business in all of its details, so that after twenty years of connection with the Outlook he was admirably fortified when he estab- lished the independent printing business of which he is now the executive head and which has been signally prospered under his vigorous and progres- sive management.

Mr. Carlisle is possessed of a fine baritone voice and is much in demand in connection with musical affairs. In the World war period he led the community singing at Santa Monica, besides having been otherwise active in the advancing of general patriotic service. He has acted as director of the choral department of the Santa Monica Bay Woman's Club, and also of the Woman's Choral Club at Culver City, besides directing the community singing at the Municipal Auditorium in his home city and of the musical work in the local Methodist Episcopal Church. He is an active and loyal member of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants Association, as well as the Rotary and the Greater Santa Monica Clubs, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His wife is a member of the Santa Monica Bay Woman's Club, and both are popular factors in the representative social activities of their home com- munity.

June 16, 1913, recorded the marriage of Mr. Carlisle and Miss Blanche Evelyn Nichols, who was born at Olean, New York, but reared and edu- cated in California, her parents, William J. and Alice M. (Jones) Nichols, being now residents of Santa Monica. Mr. and Mrs. Carlisle have four children : Lois E., June Ellen, Robert Vernon and Alice Margaret.

REV. THEOPHILUS H. WOODWARD, PH. D., D. D. The historian makes no mistake when he asserts that Los Angeles County, California, is one of the garden spots of the world. Yet, there are those still living who can look back to the time when all this section of the state was an almost treeless reach of land extending miles toward the Pacific, its greatest yield being gophers and waving fields of wild mustard, the yellow blooms of which reached more than a man's height. Wonderful has been the transforma- tion. Two well remembered men who assisted in bringing this change about

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in the neighborhood of the beautiful little City of Whittier were Theophilus H. Woodward and A. C. Hazzard.

Theophilus H. Woodward was born in 1850, near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and died in the City of Whittier on May 21, 1922. He was four- teen years old when he accompanied his father, William Woodward, to California, the journey being made by ox-team and many hardships being met. A home was established at San Jose, where he had school privileges, and later attended Pacific University, where he pursued his theological studies. In the course of his lifetime he became a man of recognized learning. In early manhood he joined the Northern Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and under that jurisdiction was actively engaged in ministerial work for twenty-three years.

In 1900 Mr. Woodward came to Whittier, at which time he transferred to the Southern Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and after- ward served the churches at Santa Monica and Orange. In 1907 he prac- tically retired from the ministry, and at that time purchased seventy-three acres opposite the old Leffingwell ranch, and to the development and improvement of this property he devoted the rest of his life. It was a source of great interest and much enjoyment because his studies had made him enough of a scientist to become an expert on soils. His experiments with his own property resulted favorably because he had come to under- stand climatic conditions in regard to growth, and intelligently carried out his various undertakings. He put down a well that developed sufficient water to irrigate nearly 100 acres, and thus solved one of the great problems. When he acquired what is now known as the Los Coyotes ranch a part of it was set out in walnuts, but these trees he gradually replaced with citrus, and time proved the value of his judgment.

In March, 1878, Mr. Woodward married Miss Hattie Hazzard, a daughter of A. C. Hazzard, then a resident of San Jose. Mr. and Mrs. Woodward became the parents of two children: Grace G., who died in 1902, at the age of nineteen years; and Ray, a lawyer by profession, who is caring for his mother's several properties. Ray Woodward married Miss Ruth Fletcher, and they have three children: Grace C., Albert F. and Fred A.

The late A. C. Hazzard, father of Mrs. Woodward, came to California via the Isthmus route in April, 1864. He was one of the pioneers of Whit- tier District, and took an active part in every interest of the community. When he came here in 1878, at a time when much of the wind swept land in the county could be purchased for a dollar an acre, he had the real pioneer far-seeing vision and prophesied that the time would come when this county would approach its present condition and Los Angeles, from climate, situation and surroundings, would become one of the large cities of the United States. He lived to see a part of his prediction come true. In association with a Mr. Gunn he secured 1175 acres of land, which was first sown in wheat but now mainly given over to citrus growth. The setting out of trees was one of his interests, and this concerted movement has resulted in changing the former high winds into the gentle zephyrs which help to make, in their breath from the sea, the climate so enjoyable. Beside Mrs. Woodward Mr. Hazzard is survived by two other daughters and two sons : Alice, wife of Dr. Robert Dundas, of Los Angeles; Eva, wife of William Brokaw, of the San Joaquin Valley; and Fred A. and George, both of Whittier. Mrs. Woodward owns a half interest in the seventy- three acres of Mr. Woodward's estate, and additionally has thirty acres in walnuts and over thirteen acres in oranges and lemons. Mr. Woodward was a director of the Walnut and of the East Whittier Associations, was a director of the Memorial Cemetery and belonged to the Masonic fraternity. He was so esteemed in his community that at one time his fellow citizens urged his nomination for the United States Senate.

JOHN ALBERT ELLIS. In the tasks allotted to men's lives, not the least in importance or the most insignificant in their impress upon character and

Mrs Theophilus I Woodward

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

destiny are those which minister to mankind's recreative needs. In this connection attention may be called to the Venice Pier merry-go-round, the largest and finest mechanical amusement device of its kind, the owner of which is John Albert Ellis, who has had experience in a number of lines of endeavor, but who of recent years has devoted his undoubted abilities to the promotion of various amusement enterprises at and in the vicinity of Venice and Santa Monica.

Mr. Ellis was born at Marshfield, Missouri, September 17, 1880, a son of Rev. John Bainbridge and Eliza Tennessee (Matthews) Ellis. His father, a native of Tennessee, received his Doctor of Divinity degree in young manhood and has passed his life in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the parents now being residents of Springfield, Missouri. After attending the public schools of his native state John A. Ellis pursued a course at Morrisville College, of which his father was presi- dent for several years, following which he applied himself to farm work for four years. He next entered the Union National Bank of Springfield, Missouri, with which he remained four years, resigning to become paying teller of the National Exchange Bank of the same city, a position which he retained one year. In 1908 he came to the Pacific Coast, locating first at Seattle, Washington, where he was connected with the treasury department of the Exposition for nine months. He came to Venice in October, 1909. when he established the Venice Pier merry-go-round. This was conducted very successfully until destroyed in the big conflagration which swept the amusement park in 1921, and Mr. Ellis immediately started the erection of the largest, finest and best device of its kind in the United States, in addition to the building connected therewith, both being thrown open to the public January 14, 1922. The merry-go-round is sixty-one feet, nine inches in diameter, with a cresting of seventy-eight feet, and weighs 76,000 pounds. It has a capacity of 105 people, including miniature horses for the little folk, and is operated by electric motive power. The lighting effect, in five colors. is furnished by 2,600 electric bulbs, and the gayly colored machine includes gold-leaf decorations. The device has refined and dignified surroundings, and the management is constant in its efforts toward conducting a moral, pleasing and absolutely safe enterprise.

Mr. Ellis is one of the best known figures in the amusement business on this part of the coast, and has several important connections. He represented the Southern California Amusement Corporation at the San Diego Exposi- tion, being general manager and a stockholder ; is secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Redondo Racing Coaster Company, which built its plant in 1912 and still continues its operation, and holds membership in the Venice Amusement Men's Association. He is also a member of the Cham- ber of Commerce. As a fraternalist he belongs to Santa Monica Lodge No. 369, F. and A. M., and to Santa Monica Lodge No. 906, B. P. O. E.

On April 13, 1911, Mr. Ellis was united in marriage with Miss Bessie A. Taylor, who was born at Grand Rapids, Michigan, and educated at Knoxville, Tennessee, a daughter of E. R. Keith, of Springfield, Missouri.

OSCAR A. HUBB, D. O., D. C., PH. C. Among the institutions contri- buting to cure of afflicted humanity, one that has met with much success since its inception is the Hubb Health Institute at Santa Monica. Founded in 1921, it has attracted patronage by the thoroughness of its equipment and the skill of its staff, and the success of its treatments has been commen- surate with the claims made for their efficacy in obstinate cases.

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 17

Author: McGroarty, John Steven, 1862-1944 Publication date: 1923 Publisher: Number of Pages: 844

Author: McGroarty, John Steven, 1862-1944
Publication date: 1923
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 844