History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 22

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

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At Whittier on June 26, 1912, Charles Saunders married Miss Agnes L. Lee, who was born in Michigan and is a daughter of George W. Lee, a well known and substantial farmer in that state. Mr. and Mrs. Saunders have three daughters: Elizabeth, Marjorie and Harriet, the two older girls

Fordons Gunders

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being in school. Mr. Saunders and his family are members of the Meth- udist Episcopal Church, and he is a member of the Board of Trustees. He has always taken active interest in the Young Men's Christian Association, and is director of the local organization, belongs to the Whittier Chamber of Commerce, and is president of the Studebaker Dealers Association of Southern California. He is a member of the Hacienda Country Club and a charter member of the Lions Club, recently organized. The Saunders Brothers have other interests, owning a twenty-acre citrus grove, located just above Lindsay, California. In a general way Charles Saunders takes only a moderate interest in politics, but when he supports a candidate for any office the latter will be one in whom he can place confidence on the prohibition question.

Gordon Saunders married at Whittier, California, Miss Mabel E. Chase, and they have two children: Alice and Howard. Mr. Saunders and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is serving on the Board of Stewards. He belongs to the Whittier Chamber of Com- merce and to the Hacienda Club. Like his brother, he is independent in politics.

EDWARD O. LEWIS. While the material success achieved by a man is important, if he has been able so to conduct his life that its record shows that his dealings were carried on in accordance with the Golden Rule, then he has not lived in vain. The riches that are stored up in this world can be thrown aside, but those accumulated in the spiritual kingdom are of another calibre, and everlasting. There are some men who never achieve more than the success of this world; others who, while not attaining material prosperity, are recognized as moral leaders, and there are still others who so direct their actions that their material success is not achieved at the cost of their spiritual welfare. Of the last named class was the late Edward O. Lewis, of El Segundo, who in the comparatively short span of his life succeeded in several lines of endeavor and who in each of the communities in which he resides was known for his personal probity and business integrity.

Mr. Lewis was born at Cherokee, Iowa, February 12, 1872, and was a son of Judge C. H. Lewis. After attending the public and high schools of his native place he prosecuted his law course at the University of Iowa, and for a time practiced at Sioux City in his native state. Going thence to Montana, he embarked in banking at Stevensville, where he remained until 1913, coming then to California as manager of the El Segundo State Bank. In December, 1919, he resigned his position and established a real estate business, under the name of E. O. Lewis, which he conducted until his death in July, 1921. Mr. Lewis handled all kinds of real estate, insur- ance, rentals, loans, etc., and his first place of business was on Richmond Street, next to the City Hall. Later he purchased the site on Richmond Street and erected the building in which the business is now located, the enterprise being conducted by his widow. Mr. Lewis was twice mayor of Stevens, Montana, also city treasurer, and was appointed by the Gov- ernor of Montana on the board to revise the irrigation laws of the state. He was a Mason and was grand patron of the O. E. S. of Montana, and was grand inspector of the Grand Lodge, O. E. S., and was worshipful master of the Stevensville Blue Lodge six times. While he was not, strictly speaking, a public man or office seeker, while residing in Montana he served as a member of the Legislature, and was ever ready to accept the responsi- bilities of citizenship. A life long member of the Presbyterian Church, he served as an elder therein and was active in church work.

In 1899, at Cherokee, Mr. Lewis married Miss Mae Durkee, who was born, reared and educated at Cherokee, Iowa, and a woman of numerous accomplishments and much business ability, a member of the O. E. S., in which she is very active. Mrs. Lewis is the daughter of Charles A. and Mary A. Durkee, the latter of whom is living with her daughter. Charles Durkee, as well as Judge Lewis, was one of the pioneer settlers of Cherokee

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County. He was a contractor and prominent in the home community. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis became the parents of one daughter, Nina May, who resides with her mother at El Segundo.

WILLIAM HOLLAND CARTER. A favored son of California by birth, training and experience, William Holland Carter, commissioner of public works of Santa Monica has led an active and eventful career, in which he has been self-dependent since boyhood, when he sold newspapers on the streets of Los Angeles. His experiences have included active participation in soldiering, ranching, business ventures and public service, and in all he has established a commendable record.

Mr. Carter was born at Oakland, California, August 15, 1879, and is a son of George W. and Jennie (Irving) Carter. His father, born in February, 1850, at Boston, Massachusetts, was a woolen manufacturer at Lowell, that state, until 1874, in which year he came to California and took up his residence at Oakland. Later he moved to Los Angeles and then to Monrovia, where for a number of years he applied his abilities and energies to cattle ranching, a venture in which he won some success. He is now retired from active pursuits and a resident of Santa Monica. During the Indian war G. W. Carter was retained by the United States Government to purchase army mules for the quartermaster's depart- ment. He is a republican in politics and as a fraternalist holds member- ship in the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His religious faith is that of the Congregational Church. Mrs. Carter was born in August, 1848, at Calais, Maine. In the family there were nine children: George I., who resides in South America; Carrie T., deceased; William Holland, of this review ; Frank G., Fred and Marie, who are deceased ; Howard B., of Santa Monica ; and Milda M. and John, who are deceased.

William Holland Carter attended the graded and high schools of Oakland and Los Angeles, and in the latter city utilized his leisure time by selling newspapers. Later he furthered his education by attendance at the University of Southern California, and following the completion of his studies there joined his father in ranching in the vicinity of Monrovia. Later he entered the employ of the Pacific Transfer Company, remaining with that concern for two years as an office clerk, and went then to Pomona, California, where he was identified with packing and canning houses. For a time also he was employed by the Chino Sugar Refinery, and was so engaged at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, when he enlisted in the Seventh Regiment, California Volunteer Infantry. During the Philippine insurrection he was with the Twenty-eighth Regiment, United States Regular Army, later being promoted first sergeant and trans- ferred to Company G, Thirtieth United States Infantry, his service cover- ing a period of three years. Receiving his honorable discharge, he again became associated with his father, in Tulare County, and continued to be engaged in ranching until 1908, when he became manager of the Bay Cities Laundry Company at Santa Monica. From this position he went again to Los Angeles, at this time not to sell papers, but to superintend the concrete department in building the concrete tunnels of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, and when that project was completed spent two or three years in general construction work for the City of Venice, this state. In 1911 Mr. Carter took up his residence at Santa Monica, where he took charge of the street department in the capacity of superintendent. He was made commissioner of public works in 1914, and has held that post since that time. During his administration of affairs the department has prospered and the city has benefited greatly. A man of ripened and specialized experience, the problems that confront the department have been easily solved by him and he has brought the service up to the highest point of efficiency, making it one of the principal factors in the city's development and growth. Mr. Carter is a stanch republican in his political adherence, and he and his family belong to the Episcopal Church. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Order of Eagles and the Modern Woodmen of America, and also holds membership in the Santa Monica Commercial Club, the Union League Club and the Greater Santa Monica Club.

In September, 1914, Mr. Carter married Miss Pearl H. Hunting, a daughter of Charles and Lewin (Ashton) Hunting, of Santa Monica, and to this union there have been born four children: Pearl A., William H., Alice Margaret and Charles I. Mrs. Carter was born at San Bernardino, California, but as a child was brought to Santa Monica, where she received a high school education. A woman of superior attainments, she has taken an active part in civic affairs and formerly served as city treasurer, a position in which she rendered the city excellent service. She is also greatly interested in club life, and is a leading and popular member of the Santa Monica Bay Woman's Club, the Sunshine Club, the Killkare Club and the Union League Club.

EARL NEWMIRE. A scholarly attorney, with broad experience in his profession, Mr. Newmire is not only a prominent lawyer, but one of the leading men of enterprise in the community of Huntington Park.

He was born in Iowa, September 4, 1888, son of Charles and Ola (Cutshall) Newmire. He spent the years of his boyhood in his native state, and during 1902-03 was a student in the high school at Wilton Junc- tion, Iowa. In 1903 the family came to California, and he continued his education in the Mission High School at San Francisco in 1904, and during 1905-06 attended high school at San Pedro in Southern California. From high school he entered the University of Southern California, and was graduated Bachelor of Laws in 1909. His law course was supplemented by study in the law office of Frank James from 1907 to 1910. During 1910 he was acting deputy district attorney of Los Angeles County, also served as secretary of the Purity Election League in that year, and from 1910 to 1912 was counsel for the Legal Aid Society and other charitable organizations.

Mr. Newmire was engaged in private practice alone at Los Angeles from 1912 to 1915. In 1916 he formed the corporation known as the Torrens Title Registry Company, and was its secretary and manager until 1918. In that year he and Fred A. Watkins became associated as attorneys under the firm name of Newmire and Watkins. They dissolved partnership in 1919, in which year Mr. Newmire was appointed examiner in department One, under Judge York of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County During 1919-20 he also practiced law.

During the last two years at Huntington Park Mr. Newmire has been one of the busiest of men. During 1922 he handled a notable building project involving the erection of 116 houses on a subdivision nearby. In the same subdivision he erected thirty-three more houses in the early months of 1923 and in addition looked after valuable oil lands at Santa Fe Springs and attended to a multitude of social, business and lodge engagements. He also continued his law practice in the Superior Court, and handled heavy volume of duties involved in his office as justice of the peace of San Antonio Township. This township is the largest and one of the most important in Los Angeles County, having a population of approximately one hundred thousand and containing within its area the enterprising cities of Hunting- ton Park, Montebello, Vernon, Watts and South Gate, besides such unincor- porated communities as Bell, Belvedere Gardens, a portion of Boyle Heights, Cudahy, Maywood, Florence, Miramonte and Nadeau. His Justice Court Mr. Newmire has made a model of judicial decorum and dignity.

Mr. Newmire in 1912 married Lottie P: Giroux, and since 1921 their home has been near Huntington Park. They have a daughter born in 1914 and a son born in 1916. Judge Newmire is a member and trustee of the Florence Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally he is affiliated with Rising Light Lodge No. 397, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Hunting- ton Park Chapter No. 127, Royal Arch Masons, Los Angeles Council No. 11, Royal and Free Masons, Los Angeles Commandery No. 9. Knights Templar, Jinnistan Grotto, and Al Malaikah Temple of the Mystic Shrine.

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He is also a member of the Huntington Park Lodge No. 1415, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is a director of the building corporation erecting the new Elks home. He is a member of the Huntington Park Chamber of Commerce, is president of the Lions Club of Huntington Park, and a director of the State Bank of Huntington Park.

PAUL DAHLITZ has been a resident of Los Angeles County for more than thirty-seven years. When he arrived in 1885 Los Angeles had a population of about sixteen thousand. It was a growing and prospering country, but land outside the city was to be had almost for the taking. He lived through that boom period, endured the vicissitudes of the era that followed, and his experience altogether has been such as to put him in intimate touch with the growth and development of the county. Mr. Dahlitz has been an esteemed resident and a business man of Whittier for thirty-five years.

He was born in Germany, August 13, 1854, son of Fred and Mary Dahlitz. In 1866, when he was twelve years of age, his father was killed in the war between the Prussians and the Austrians. Paul Dahlitz had a common school education, and in 1876, at the age of twenty-two, came to America. While still new to the ways of the country he worked one year on a ranch in Texas. Having learned the trade of baker in Germany, he took up that as his regular vocation, and in the course of his experience he arrived at Los Angeles in 1885. It was in the capacity of a baker that he made his presence useful in that city, and in 1888 he came to Whittier. Mr. Dahlitz was in the baking business at Whittier until 1902. For several years he and his wife had a hard struggle. Whittier until the early nineties was a community with little business and with a rather unpromising future. Mr. and Mrs. Dahlitz were happy when the receipts would pay the bills. The establishment of the State School at Whittier first brought their busi- ness above the level of mere existence. What he was able to save from his business Mr. Dahlitz used to purchase a young walnut grove of six acres at what is now 1006 West Bailey Street, near Los Angeles Boulevard. By the time he retired from the bakery business in 1902 this grove was suffi- ciently advanced to require his full time. He replaced some of the trees with Valencia oranges and lemons. It is a business that has brought a profit corresponding to the labor invested, and he still has his attractive home on the six acre tract. He also bought a grove in Yorba Linda, but later sold that. Mr. Dahlitz is a member of the Whittier Walnut Association and the Whittier Orange and Lemon Association.

At all times he has interested himself in the local affairs of the com- munity, is a republican in politics, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, is a past grand of Whittier Lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows, has filled various offices in Whittier Lodge of Masons, the Royal Arch Chapter and the Knights Templar Commandery, is a member of Al Malaikah Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Los Angeles, and he and Mrs. Dahlitz are members of the Whittier Chapter of the Eastern Star.

By a previous marriage Mr. Dahlitz had two children: William P., a rancher of Whittier, and Amanda, wife of P. Berger, of San Francisco. On June 23, 1893, at Los Angeles, Mr. Dahlitz married Miss Mary Lindner. She was born in Vienna, Austria, daughter of Valentine and Mary (Berg- stein) Lindner, farmers of that country. Her grandfather at one time was a large land owner in Austria. The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Dahlitz are: Richard C., a drilling foreman in the oil fields, who married Miss Rebecca Doderill and has a daughter, Marjorie; Paul Albert, also a driller in the oil fields ; and Walter M., still in school.

THOMAS BANBURY. The memory of his sterling character and the visible evidences of his constructive activity remain as a record of the late Thomas Banbury in Pasadena and vicinity, that having been the section of Los Angeles County with which his career was most signally identified.

He was born at Banbury, England, and his family during the middle ages were associated with some interesting English history, including the

Paul Dahlitz

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founding of the place known as Banbury Cross. His father was also Thomas Banbury, and when the son was a child the family moved to Can- ada. Thomas Banbury grew up at Toronto, and at the age of sixteen went to live with an uncle, Col. Jabez Banbury, in Iowa. He attended school there for a time and then returned to Toronto. After the death of his parents he became entirely dependent on his own exertions, and did some of the strenuous work of the woods and lumber camps.

Suffering a weakness of the lungs, and to avoid the uncertainties of life in the cold North, Thomas Banbury came out to California, leaving his wife and children in Toronto. Renting the Kewen ranch, he farmed this for two or three years, and in the meantime his health was so much improved that he sent for his family, who joined him. Soon afterward he bought the first lot of land from the Lake Vineyard Association, adjoining the Indiana colony at Pasadena. This land lay between Fair Oaks and Marengo Avenue. While developing this land he took up the work of contracting, and in this capacity was associated with some of the first public improve- ments of Pasadena, including the building of streets and reservoirs. He also was a contractor for the grading of the railroad from Los Angeles to Pomona, and did some of the ditch contracting in the City of Los Angeles. One interesting phase of his work in this line of business was the construc- tion of the new trail up Mount Wilson. Mr. Banbury also bought and developed fourteen hundred acres at Etiwanda as a fruit and raisin proposition.

Mr. Banbury before leaving Canada married Miss Catherine Brown, of Nova Scotia. She died in 1893. To their marriage were born six sons and one daughter, the first two being born in Canada. They were: Samuel, a resident of Pasadena; Flora, deceased; Thomas, a captain in the United States Navy; Martin, whose home is at Seward, Alaska; George, in Ketchican Island, Alaska; Raymond, deceased ; and Elgin, a resident of Pasadena.

Five years after the death of his first wife Mr. Banbury married Mrs. Mary A. (Richardson) Bennett. She was born in San Francisco, daughter of Solomon Richardson. Mrs. Banbury was one of the original Indiana colony at Pasadena, and she recalls the killing of two white men by the Indians in the Arroyo Seco. These men were shot to death with arrows. Mrs. Banbury was a girl then, and recalls the hasty formation of a posse that pursued the murderers, who, however, escaped in the mountains. At that time it .was still unsafe, on account of the wild cattle, to walk alone over ground where is now the closely built section of Pasadena. Mrs. Banbury's first husband, whom she married in 1879, was Will J. Bennett. He was a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was a brother of Henry G. Bennett, one of the original Indiana colony which came to Pasadena in 1873. Henry G. Bennett was for twenty-eight years secretary of the Pasadena Land and Water Company. Will J. Bennett joined his brother in 1874 and had one of the eighty acre ranches on Orange Grove Avenue where Belle Fontaine Street now lies. He cultivated oranges and grapes and had a mixed orchard. He died there in 1885. Mrs. Banbury by her first marriage had two children, both natives of Pasadena. The daughter, Agnes M., is the wife of Harry C. Lillie, a Los Angeles attorney, and their two children are Harold and Clarence Lillie. Her son, James H. Bennett, now an assayer and chemical engineer at LaPaz, Bolivia, has an ex-service record in the World war. He volunteered in San Francisco with the 604th Regiment of Engineers, went overseas, and was on active duty until the signing of the armistice. He was discharged as a Master Engineer. James H. Bennett married Miss Mabelle Bahse of San Bernardino. Mrs. Mary A. Banbury resides at 411 South Mariposa Avenue.

WILLIAM S. FURMAN began the practice of law in his native State of Ohio, subsequently went West to Arizona and Colorado, and is now perma- nently located in Los Angeles County, one of the able lawyers at Burbank.

Mr. Furman was born in Ohio September 8, 1874. He attended public

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schools there, and graduated in law from the Ohio Northern University at Ada. For six years he practiced law at Sidney, Ohio, and held the office of prosecuting attorney of Shelby County, and was also city attorney and prosecuting attorney of the police court. Prior to commencing the prac- tice of law he was engaged in the newspaper business at Ottawa, Ohio, and for one year was city editor of the Toledo Blade. In 1904 he commenced the practice of law at Sidney, and from there moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and subsequently to Colorado. Mr. Furman has been located at Burbank since 1922. He has a general practice, with considerable corporation business, and has some private investments that identify him with this Los Angeles community.

During the World war he was a colonel in the United States National Guard, and had charge of the training school at Golden in that state. He is also a veteran of the Spanish-American war, having served as lieutenant with an Ohio regiment. Mr. Furman is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Fraternal Order of Eagles and Burbank Grove No. 241, United Ancient Order of Druids.

WILLIAM JAMES RILEY, president of the State Bank of Burbank, is one of the able financiers of Los Angeles County, and a man who has won the confidence of the public through years of faithfulness and conscientious endeavor. He was born in San Diego County, California, in January, 1883, a son of Francis M. and Frances (Webb) Riley, natives of Tennessee and Missouri, respectively. They came to California in 1881, and for years were successfully engaged in ranching, but are now living comfortably at Hawthorne, California.

Growing up in California, William James Riley attended the public schools of San Diego and Redondo Beach, but after he reached maturity went to Yuma, Arizona, and was deputy recorder of Yuma County until 1903, in which year he became associated with the Bank of Yuma. Subse- quently he went to Clifton, Arizona, and was there engaged in the banking business until 1921, when he came to Burbank, California, and assisted in organizing the State Bank of Burbank in September of that year. This bank is capitalized at $50,000, and has a surplus and undivided profits of $3,300. There are about 1,200 depositors, and the deposits amount to over $400,000. The banking home is a handsome brick structure with orna- mental stone front and with twenty foot ceilings, which was built by the stockholders. This building is equipped with all modern devices for con- ducting a large banking business, including burglar alarm system and safety deposit boxes. The first officials were: William James Riley, president ; E. J. Jackson, vice president ; and C. B. Fitzsimmons, cashier. In Novem- ber, 1922, Mr. Fitzsimmons resigned, and J. B. Brown was made cashier, and C. H. Kline was added to the board and made a vice president.

Mr. Riley is interested in civic affairs and is an active member of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, which he is now serving as president, and he also belongs to the Rotary Club and the Choral Club. The Presbyterian Church holds his membership, and he is a trustee of the church of that denomination at Burbank. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic order and to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and through his mem- bership with the Sunset Country Club he finds congenial social diversion.

On August 10, 1907, Mr. Riley was united in marriage with Miss Jessie C. Cummens, of Clifton, Arizona, and they have one daughter, Frances Elizabeth, who is at home. Mrs. Riley was born at Waukon, Iowa, and there she received her educational training. Both she and Mr. Riley are very popular at Burbank, where they have gathered about them a circle of pleasant companions.

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 22

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