History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 26

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

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On July 12, 1909, Doctor Canby married Miss Louise Bowmann, who was born at New Haven, Connecticut, and is a member of one of the old and honorable New England families of the country. Doctor and Mrs. Canby have one son, Charles Bowmann, an intelligent lad now attending school.

EVAN H. HUGHES, D. C. For centuries the ills of humanity were treated through the old schools of medicine, a remedy being sought and administered for each disease, and in critical cases resort was had to the knife. The twentieth century has seen a new science developed, and one which is working a radical change in methods and treatments, with very amazing results. Like every other newly discovered truth, it has met with strong opposition, but today the chiropractic profession is no longer in its infancy, but has attained to a vigorous growth. The phenomenal suc- cess of chiropractic in great numbers of cases formerly considered hopeless has led thousands of people to become adherents of this remarkable spinal adjustment treatment, and consequently the demand for skilled practi- tioners has grown accordingly. Through this demand a big profession has been opened for ambitious men and women looking for a field of usefulness not over-crowded, and one of these able men who has achieved a very enviable reputation as a chiropractor is Dr. Evan H. Hughes, of Van Nuys.

Doctor Hughes was born at Oskaloosa, Iowa. February 16, 1893. After attending the grammar and high schools of Colfax, Iowa, he entered the Barrett School of Chiropractic, from which he was graduated in 1917, and he was graduated from the Palmer School of Chiropractic in 1919, with the degree of Doctor of Chiropractic, and entered upon the practice

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of his profession at Corydon, Iowa, remaining there until 1920, when he came to Van Nuys. Here he has established himself permanently, and has built up a very valuable connection. His offices are in the Bank of Van Nuys Building. Doctor Hughes belongs to the Iowa State, Progres- sive, California State and National Associations of his calling. Since coming to Van Nuys he has allied himself with its Chamber of Com- merce. He maintains membership with the Masonic fraternity and the Order of Eastern Star, to which last-named organization his wife is also a member, and she belongs to the Woman's Club as well.

On December 11, 1916, Doctor Hughes married Miss Marguitte Lewis, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, and they have one daughter, Billie Evelyn. Mrs. Hughes was born at Oskaloosa, Iowa, and there she received her educa- tional training. Doctor and Mrs. Hughes are numbered among the younger members of society at Van Nuys, and have already attached themselves to a number by the warm tines of personal friendship and mutual regard.

EARL EDWARD GRAHAM, D. D. S. The twentieth century in its opening years has seen many most remarkable changes, but in nothing has more progress been effected than in the profession of dentistry, which has been elevated to the importance of any other of the learned callings, and its members are regarded as being among the most important factors in the prevention of disease and the preservation of the good health of the people. Mere academic knowledge, however, is not sufficient in this profession. The successful practitioner must also have a manual dexterity, and a real liking for his work in order that he may render a service that is satis- factory and efficient. Dr. Earl Edward Graham, who is carrying on a large practice in dentistry at Van Nuys, is a man who not only has been thoroughly trained, but who also has already had a natural aptitude for the calling to which he has devoted himself, and he is receiving the recogni- tion to which he is justly entitled on account of his exceptional abilities.

Doctor Graham was born at Stone City, Kentucky, August 2; 1895. He attended the grammar schools and subsequently the high school of Manual Arts of Los Angeles, and then took up the study of dentistry in the University of Southern California, from which he was graduated in 1919, with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. He began his practice at Van Nuys, where he has since remained.

On May 30, 1920, Doctor Graham married Miss Gertrude Witter, of Los Angeles. Doctor Graham belongs to the Greek letter college fraternity Psi Omega. Professionally he maintains membership with the Los Angeles County Dental Association, the Southern California Dental Association and the National Dental Association. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic Order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Since coming to Van Nuys he has united with its Chamber of Commerce and Kiwanis Club, and is active in both of these organizations. A young man of energy and public spirit, he is greatly interested in the further development and improvement of Van Nuys, and can be confidently relied upon to give an intelligent support to all worthy movements which have these objects in view.

WILLIAM HENRY GAYNOR, who died September 22, 1922, probably ranks supreme as an authority on Masonic ritual and history in Southern California. He had held some of the highest posts in the various bodies of Masonry at Los Angeles, and was also one of the city's able business men.

He was born in New York City, December 30, 1860, and was only sixty- two when he died. ITis father, William Henry Gaynor, Sr., was a native of England, while his mother was Marion Lightfoot. The late Mr. Gaynor was one of two sons, he being the older. When William H. Gaynor was five years of age his parents moved to Indiana, and later they went to live on a large farm at Marion in Noble County, Iowa.

Mr. Gavnor was for forty years actively identified with the hardware business. He came to California in 1880, and promoted the Pasadena

Milliaust Taymor

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Hardware Company. He was connected with that house for nine years, and then removed to Los Angeles and became associated in business with the Harper Reynolds Hardware Company on North Main Street. He became head of its Builders Hardware Department, and was an active man in the firm for thirty-one years. The last two years before his death he left the house of Reynolds Company and again became associated with the Pasadena Hardware Company, and continued his work, so far as his health permitted, until shortly before his death.

His Masonic honors were many, and his funeral was conducted by the Knight Templar Commandery. He was a member of the Signet Chapter, R. A. M., was father of Southgate Chapter, a past commander of the Los Angeles Commandery No. 9, and in 1913 served as grand high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter of California. He was also a Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Council and of Al Malaikah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His greatest happiness was derived from his home, and he was most devoted to the welfare and comfort of his wife and children.

In 1889 he married Miss Lulu Lenox, who is of Scotch ancestry. Besides Mrs. Gaynor there are two children, Miss Alta Gaynor, a teacher of manual art in the Glendale School; and William Alfred Gaynor.

FRANKLIN M. BRAVENDER, a progressive member of the City Council of Hermosa Beach, and a leading representative of the real estate business in this part of Los Angeles County, was born at Waterloo, Iowa, on the 10th of June, 1865, a son of Luke and Jane (Clark) Bravender. The parents were born in Yorkshire, England, and the father was a boy at the time of the family immigration to the United States. He was a man of energy, uprightness and good judgment, became a pioneer in the State of Iowa, where he was successful as an agriculturist and stock-grower, and in that state he and his wife continued to reside until their deaths.

The public schools of the Hawkeye State afforded Franklin M. Bravender his preliminary education, which was there supplemented by his attending Iowa College at Grinnell. After a period of successful service as a teacher in the public schools of his native state he completed a course in a leading business college at Burlington, Iowa. For a time thereafter he was employed in a bank in that city, later was there identified with a wholesale business house, and finally he engaged in the general merchan- dise business at Armstrong, Iowa. In 1901 he came to California, and after remaining one year in the City of Los Angeles he engaged in the real estate business at Hollywood. In 1921 he removed to Hermosa Beach, and as a real estate man he is here doing effective and successful service in furthering civic and material growth and prosperity. He is a valued mem- ber of the local Chamber of Commerce and the Realty Board, is giving loyal service as a member of the City Council, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Modern Woodmen of America, and holds membership in the local Masonic Club and the Automobile Club, his wife being a member of the Woman's Club of Hermosa Beach, the Amaranth Club and the chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.

June 6, 1891, recorded the marriage of Mr. Bravender and Miss Anna Hayden, of Kossuth County, Iowa, she having been born at Omaha, Nebraska, but having been reared and educated in Iowa, where she attended one of the state normal schools. Mr. and Mrs. Bravender have two sons, Paul R. and Norris F., both of whom remain at the parental home.

WENDELL W. TODD. Whether it was chance or fate which led Wendell W. Todd to Van Nuys, it is certain that this growing little city of Los Angeles County has gained thereby a valuable citizen, and at the same time there has come to him here excellent business opportunities, the improve- ment of which is placing him among the successful realtors of this region. Although one of the more recent comers, he has already acquired the posi- tion in his community to which his abilities entitle him, and is keeping pace with its expansion, rapid as that is. Mr. Todd is the senior member

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of the reliable realty firm of Todd & Heard, which came into being May 1, 1922, when he and Charles K. Heard formed their present partnership for the purpose of conducting a general real estate and insurance business. Four persons aid the partners in attending to the different details, and some very important transfers and other business has been placed in the com- petent hands of these young men. Their place of business is conveniently located at 260 Sherman Way, Van Nuys.

Mr. Todd is a Hoosier, as he was born at Bedford, Indiana, June 12, 1893, a son of Thomas M. and Addie (Foster) Todd. Brought to Califor- nia in 1899 by his father, Wendell W. Todd was reared in the Golden State. Upon first coming to the state Thomas M. Todd located at Redlands, and for some years was one of the prominent figures of that city, where he was engaged in merchandising and the handling of real estate. Subsequently he moved to Long Beach, California, and he is now living in honorable retirement at Pasadena, California.

The educational training of Wendell W. Todd was received in the public schools of Redlands, Long Beach and Pasadena, and following the com- pletion of his school days he worked for the Pasadena Telephone Company. Later he was with the Hodges Cattle & Loan Company of El Centro, Im- perial County, California, for a year, and had a promising future with this large concern, but his plans were interrupted by the war. He enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-third Field Artillery as a private, and was sent to Camp Kearney, California, but was later transferred to the Quarter- master's Department and made a corporal, and was continued in the service until February, 1919, when he was honorably discharged.

Returning to California, Mr. Todd became a traveling salesman for the Layne & Bowler Pump Company of Los Angeles, continuing in this position for eighteen months, at the expiration of which period he and Mr. Heard opened their present business, as before stated. Mr. Todd belongs to the Van Nuys Realty Board, the California Realty Board and the National Realty Board, and to the Van Nuys Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the American Legion.

On December 22, 1917, Mr. Todd married Miss Fern Vallikett, of Los Angeles, and they have one son, Norman Richard. Mrs. Todd is a native daughter of California, and received her educational training in the schools of Los Angeles. She is a member of the Woman's Club of Van Nuys, and is interested in public matters, being a lady of intelligence and ability, and in accord with her husband's ideas with reference to making their home community a still better city.

HENRY P. PLATT. In every portion of the civilized world the organs manufactured by the Robert Morton Company of Van Nuys carry the fame of their producers, and aid in forwarding the culture of the people. Here and there, far beyond the outskirts of civilization, they are also dis- covered, for the territory of this great concern embraces the entire world, and in even savage breasts is the love of music enthroned. However, the main object of this company is to build organs for theatrical use, as it controls many patents on large orchestral organs embodying all the differ- ent tone colors of the large organs with those of the percussion instrument and instrumental effects. This company was organized at Los Angeles in May, 1916, as a subsidiary of the American Photo Company of America which operates other organ and instrument factories in different parts of the United States, with home offices at San Francisco. The present officials of the Robert Morton Company are: H. J. Werner, president; M. J. Samuels, vice president ; A. L. Abrams, vice president ; H. F. Charles, vice president ; R. P. Mathews, vice president ; P. G. Jacobus, Junior, secretary and treasurer ; manager, H. P. Platt. The company is capitalized at $500,- 000. The plant at Van Nuys has a floor space of 35,000 square feet, and employment is given in the plant to 130 people, so that this is one of the leading industries of the town. The company owns five acres of ground, and other buildings will doubtless be erected on it in the near future to

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meet the expansion of business. The trade name is The Robert Morton Organ. In addition to the magnificent orchestral organs the company manufactures both church and home organs. The output of the factory during 1922 was over eighty of the large organs, all of which were specially built. With one of the large orchestral organs the same effects can be obtained as with a complete orchestra. Everything is manufactured in the Van Nuys plant, even to the castings of the metal pipes from the raw materials.

The efficient manager of this important industry, Henry P. Platt, is a native son of California, as he was born at Santa Barbara, April 4, 1871, and he is a son of John C. and Louise (Riveraux) Platt. John C. Platt was born on Staten Island, New Jersey, and his wife was born at Saint Louis, Missouri. Early in life he was a musical director and pianist, but later on came to Los Angeles, and from 1846 until his death was engaged in the abstract business. Both he and his wife are now deceased.

Growing up at Los Angeles, Henry P. Platt attended the public schools of that city and those of San Francisco, and then was in the employ of H. J. Woollacott of the latter city for three years. Returning to Los Angeles, Mr. Platt was secretary of the Board of Education of that city for three years. He then was connected with the Alaska Commercial Company of Alaska for four years, leaving that concern to go into the abstract busi- ness with his father, and maintained this association until he became manager of his present company in 1916.

Mr. Platt is a thirty-second degree Mason and belongs to the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Shrine Club and Hollywood Club, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Van Nuys Chamber of Com- merce. In him the Van Nuys Christian Church has one of its sincere members and generous supporters.

On November 24, 1894, Mr. Platt married Miss Eva Anna Forbes, of San Francisco, who was born, reared and educated in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Platt have three children, namely: Helen Irene, who lives at San Francisco, married Leonard M. Wade, and they have two children, Janice W. and Leonard M., Junior; Isabella Louise, who is a junior in the Uni- versity of California ; and Carol Evelyn, who is a student of the Hollywood High School.

HERBERT J. PENFIELD is one of the enterprising and progressive repre- sentatives of the real estate business in Los Angeles County, and as a realtor he is a member of the firm of Penfield & Forsyth, with headquarters in the vigorous little City of Lankershim, the junior member of the firm being R. L. Forsyth and the partnership having been formed in September, 1922. The firm has in charge the exploitation and development of the fine North Lankershim subdivision, comprising seventy acres, and its office head- quarters are at 5200 Lankershim Boulevard.

Herbert J. Penfield was born at Bucyrus, Ohio, on the 28th of Septem- ber, 1881, and is a son of Dr. Charles S. and Jennie (Jefferson) Penfield, the former of whom likewise was a native of Bucyrus, Ohio, and the latter was born at Hudson, Wisconsin. Dr. Penfield was long and suc- cessfully engaged in the practice of his profession, and was known as an able physician and surgeon whose earnest stewardship was shown in his service to his fellow men. He died in the year 1914, and his widow now resides at Van Nuys, California.

He whose name introduces this review was a child at the time of the family removal to the West, and he gained his earlier education in the public schools of Spokane, Washington. Thereafter he continued his studies in the public schools of Hudson, Wisconsin, his mother's native place, and in 1904 he graduated from the University of Minnesota. After leaving college he became bookkeeper and teller in the First National Bank of Hudson, Wisconsin, in which institution he won advancement to the office of assistant cashier. He retained this position fifteen years and then, in 1918, came to California, where for the ensuing year he held an execu-

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tive position in the shipyards at Los Angeles. He then became associated with the Searles Realty Company at Hollywood, and after continuing his connection therewith for two and one-half years he formed a partnership with R. L. Forsyth and engaged independently in the real estate business at Lankershim. He is secretary of the Lankershim Realty Board, and is identified also with the California State Real Estate Association and the National Association of Real Estate Boards. In the York Rite of the Masonic fraternity he is affiliated with the Blue Lodge and Chapter, is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Lankershim, he and his wife hold mem- bership in the Presbyterian Church, and he is affiliated with the Zeta Psi college fraternity.

August 1, 1905, recorded the marriage of Mr. Penfield and Miss Mary Hutchcroft, who was born at Petrolia, Province of Ontario, Canada, a daughter of William Hutchcroft, and who was reared and educated in Northern Wisconsin. The pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Penfield is brightened by the presence of their six children, namely: George, Wilder, Jean, Patricia, Frederick and Herbert.

MRS. O. SHEPARD BARNUM. Many years a teacher and one of Califor- nia's foremost women in the influence she has exercised on educational affairs, Mrs. O. Shepard Barnum began her work in Los Angeles County, has continued it here, but in later years has expanded her influence through various organizations in the cause of education over the state and in the nation at large. One who knows her work well speaks of her very distin- guished ability and splendid character, tactfully, but not at the expense of truth, as a woman of great insight and many sided capability.

Mrs. Barnum, whose maiden name was Mary H. Gilmore, was born at Grinnell, Iowa. Her ancestors were New England people, and two of them, Captain James Gilmore and Lieutenant Daniel Wilkins, were officers in the War of the Revolution in New Hampshire regiments. Her father, Quincy Adams Gilmore, was born in Goshen, New Hampshire, March 1, 1825, and died December 12, 1900. Her mother, Ann Wilmarth Gilmore, was born in Newport, New Hampshire, November 3, 1829, and died April 24, 1895. They joined a colony of Dartmouth College people who became pioneers in the State of Iowa.

Mrs. Barnum early in childhood left her Iowa home and traveled with her family for a number of years in Colorado and in California in search of health. As a girl at Los Angeles she attended the public schools and gradu- ated in 1885 from the eighth grade in the Old Temple Street School, where the Court House now stands. She finished her work in the high school in 1888, and in 1894 graduated from the University of California, with the degree of B. L. Subsequently she was elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa. During 1896 she did graduate work at Radcliffe College, Cam- bridge, Massachusetts. June 22, 1897, she was married at Pasadena to O. Shepard Barnum, M. D.

Mrs. Barnum engaged in the teachers' profession in 1898. From 1899 to 1904 she was connected with the Stet Normal School of Los Angeles, and from 1905 to 1912 was principal of the Cumnock Academy. Since then her work has been directed to local and national organizations of an educational character. Since 1913 Mrs. Barnum has been a member and vice president of the California State Board of Education. Since 1919 she has been director of the South Pacific Section of the American Associa- tion of University Women. She served as president of the Department of School Patrons of the National Education Association from 1910 to 1912. was chairman of the Department of Education, General Federation of Woman's Clubs, from 1911 to 1914 and from 1918 to 1920. She was for years chairman of the Pacific Coast Territorial Committee of the National Board of the Y. W. C. A.

Mrs. Barnum is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, American Association of University Women, the Civic Association, the Galpin Shakespeare Club, Woman's Progressive League, and was president

Mary &. Barn

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of the Friday Morning Club in 1919-21. She is a member of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.

OSCAR A. DUNCAN has been a successful representative of real estate enterprise at Lankershim since 1914, in which year he here became asso- ciated with G. B. Ennever in the handling of local realty. He has since been identified prominently and successfully with the development of attractive subdivisions, including the Tujunga tract of forty acres and the Hartsook tract of the same area. He has been resourceful also in the development of the subdivision known as the Hollywood Country Club Acres, a tract of forty acres, and has dealt also in townsite lots at Lanker- shim. He now conducts a substantial and representative general real estate and insurance business, with special attention given to exchanges and rentals. His business is now one of independent or individual order, he is vice president of the Lankershim Realty Board, besides being an active member of the California State Realty Board and the National Realty Board. He is a progressive member of the local Kiwanis Club and the Chamber of Commerce, and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in connection with which he is a life member of the Masonic Club at Hollywood.

December 7, 1910, recorded the marriage of Mr. Duncan and Miss Jennie Smith, of Taylor County, Iowa, and their pleasant home is estab- lished at 12271 Sherman Way.

REV. WALLACE NELSON PIERSON, M. A., rector of the Church of St. Augustine by the Sea at Santa Monica, one of the important parishes of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Los Angeles County, is ably upholding the fine traditions and pastoral prestige of this parish, which was formed in the year 1893. Under mission auspices services in the present parish were initiated in 1886, and it was not until 1893 that the parish was formally organized, as a part of the diocese of Southern California. Rev. Henry S. Jeffries, M. A., served as rector for the little mission church from 1886 to 1889, the modest church edifice having been erected for the mission in 1886. Rev. Orrin Judd became the local rector in 1889, and was succeeded by Rev. P. S. Ruth, who continued his ministrations until October 19, 1890. Rev. Ivan Merlin-Jones became the pastoral incumbent on the 1st of September, 1891, and it was under his earnest regime that the parish was formally organized as such. He continued as the rector of the new parish until 1897, and in January of the following year Rev. E. W. Meany assumed charge, which he retained until April, 1900. Thereafter Rev. John D. Brown was rector of the church until January 1, 1915, and on the 1st of the following May the present rector, Rev. Wallace N. Pier- son, assumed the pastorate, in which he is most effectively continuing the zealous and consecrated work that had previously been carried forward by his predecessors. The church edifice was enlarged and modernized in 1912, and the parish house was erected in 1891.

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 26

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