History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 31

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

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Charles F. Richardson received somewhat limited educational ad- vantages in his youth, but early gained a full measure of experience in pro- ductive work. In earlier years he farmed for and with his father, and later

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

he engaged independently in teaming and in dry-farming upon a large scale. His major prestige, however, has been gained in truck farming, and with the advent of automobiles he was one of the first to establish a road- side market for the sale of vegetables and other farm products direct to the consumer. His first market was conducted in a thatched shed on the Ocean to Ocean Highway, and from this modest inception has been devel- oped a large public market that supplies fresh fruits and box vegetables the year round. He now has a well improved place of fifty-four acres, the value of which he has seen advance from $30 to $2,500 an acre. Mr. Rich- ardson is now one of the largest and most successful truck farmers of Southern California, and has developed a unique and effective system of direct marketing. His business policies have been liberal, fair and pro- gressive and he has won worthy success. Among his earliest memories are those pertaining to accompanying his father in market trips to Los An- geles, which then had a population of about 400 people, for the sale of vegetables of the best type. Mr. Richardson is a native son who has found in California ample opportunity for successful achievement, and is one of the substantial citizens of his native county.

In the year 1896 Mr. Richardson married Miss Kate Bratain, a native of the State of Indiana, and they have four children: David B., who was born December 4, 1896, is successfully engaged in farming and gardening in the San Gabriel District, is married and has two children, James and David; Katherine, born January 17, 1901, is a normal-school graduate and is now a successful and popular teacher in the public schools; Mary Irene, born August 30, 1904, is a graduate of the El Monte school ; and Charles F., Jr., who likewise remains at the parental home, was born June 15, 1908.

HENRY DALTON, or as known in pioneer days as Don Enrique Dalton, at one time owned the Azusa ranch and was one of the .men of wealth and substance in the years before the American occupation.

He was born in London, England, October 8, 1803, son of Winnall Trobally and Anna Dalton. George Dalton, a brother of Henry, came out to California in 1851 and established a family that has been known down to present times in Los Angeles County. Henry Dalton was early apprenticed to an older brother as a merchant tailor, and became a member of the Tailors Guild. At the age of fourteen he was overcome by a spirit of adventure and leaving England went to Peru. Only once, in 1832, did he return to England. However, he never renounced the citizenship of his native land, and he died a subject of Great Britain. For twenty-five years his home was in the City of Lima, where he built up an extensive trade as a mer- chant and was also British consular agent. His chief associate there was James Bowman, who later lived in San Francisco. They owned a number of ships trading up the West Coast, and information supplied by these ships probably caused Henry Dalton to investigate California.

In the fall of 1843 he left Mazatlan as super cargo on the Mexican brig Soledad, and after the voyage arrived in Los Angeles, where he bought from Rafael Gurrado, father-in-law of Governor Downey, for four hun- dred dollars, part cash and part merchandise, a lot fronting on both Main and Spring streets, with its north line on Court Street. On the Main Street frontage he built an adobe store, and this he made the headquarters of a mercantile business, shipping his cargoes from Peru, and exchanging goods with local rancheros for their hides, tallow, grain and wine. He had a manager in charge of this business until 1860. On the Spring Street frontage Henry Dalton built the first modern residence in the Pueblos, known as La Casa De tres Picos (the three sisters). It was finished inside with mahogany, was a one and a half story building, and at the time the most pretentious home in the little city.

Henry Dalton invested heavily in lands, including the Azusa rancho. During the revolutionary period of 1844 he acquired a large tract of land from Luis Arenas, the deed being dated December 19, 1844, and the Mexi- can government had to abrogate some laws in order to make the sale. His

A. P.C Jones.

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

landed estate, at one time one of the largest in the county, was entirely swept away in subsequent years through litigation over faulty boundaries and defective titles. While little has been written concerning Henry Dal- ton, some of his papers constitute a valuable source of information on early history in Southern California. For many years, beginning in 1845 and continuing unbroken from October, 1856, until September, 1883, he kept a diary of daily occurrences at Azusa, making notes himself every day he was at home and at other times during his absence Mrs. Dalton or his oldest son, W. A. Dalton, kept up the record. He also preserved a number of legal papers, the most valuable being briefs on cases in the United States courts.

July 31, 1847, Henry Dalton was baptized at San Gabriel Mission, this ceremony taking place just prior to his marriage to Maria Guadalupe Zamorena, daughter of Augustine Vincent Zamorena and his wife, for- merly Maria Luisa Arguello, both representing historic families in South- ern California. A bell given by a priest at her wedding is now in the pos- session of her son Joseph at Azusa. Henry Dalton died in his eighty-first year, on January 21, 1884. His widow survived him until September 1, 1913. Of their eleven children four died in infancy. Those who grew up were: Winnall Augustine, now deceased, who was a resident of Arizona ; Louisa, who married William Wolfskill and died in 1887 ; Soyla, who mar- ried William Cardwell, of Azusa; Henry, who is married and lives at Tuc- son, Arizona; Elma, deceased, was the wife of J. B. Plummer, of San Fernando; Valentine, deceased; and Joseph, who is married and lives at Azusa.

Joseph R. H. Dalton was born in Azusa, December 17, 1869. He re- ceived his education in the public schools in Azusa, and was first engaged in work on his father's estate in Azusa. He was improving the place at the time of his father's death, the ground consisting of forty-eight acres. He took care of his mother until her death, September 1, 1913. He built his present home on West Sicora Madre Street in Azusa, where he has reared his family. He inherited 101g acres, and then bought the interest of another brother. A part of this he sold and now has about five acres, which is all planted to citrus growth.

He is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters and the Azusa Citrus Association. He married May 3, 1905, in Pomona, Trimdah Macias, a native of California and a decendant of one of the old Spanish families. They have one daughter, Inez Esperanza Dalton, five years of age. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dalton are members of the Catholic Church.

FRANK C. JONES, M. D., D. O. When a community loses from its citizenship so useful and beneficent a member as the late Dr. Frank C. Jones of Los Angeles, it well may deplore the fact, for men of his mental calibre, personal uprightness and ripened experience in medical science are not too plentiful when the ills of humanity are considered. Dr. Jones was born at Rockford, Illinois, April 13, 1857, and died at Los Angeles, California, March 20, 1922. His parents were William and Sarah (Winterbottom) Jones.

Dr. Jones spent the first ten years of his life at Rockford, and then accompanied his widowed mother and his two sisters to Chicago, in which city he earned his first money by selling newspapers. He had public school privileges, then learned the machinist's trade and worked at the same in Chicago and Morris, Illinois, and also served as a drug clerk, through these activities being able to support himself and take care of his mother and sisters.

In 1876 he entered upon the study of medicine in the medical department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and received his medical degree in 1880, immediately afterward entering medical practice in Guthrie County, Iowa, first at Panora and later at Herndon, meeting with such success that he sought a wider field at Des Moines, and while there became interested in and identified with the osteopathic movement in that state and later was

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

honored by election to membership in the Des Moines Still College of Osteopathy, one of the earliest schools of the profession.

In 1882, at Panora, Iowa, Dr. Jones married Miss Emma Maddick, who was born at Gloucester, England, April 2, 1857. Her parents were Thomas and Ann Maddick, who came to the United States in 1859. Mrs. Jones was educated in this country, and holds a certificate permitting her to prac- tice the science of osteopathy, and for a number of years she was of great assistance to her husband in his professional work. In 1889 he was appointed postmaster at Herndon, Iowa, and in 1891 was appointed surgeon for the D. M. N. & W. Railroad. In 1896 he removed to Des Moines and practiced there until 1900, in which year he came with his family to California.

In 1902 Dr. and Mrs. Jones removed to Sunnyside, Washington, where both engaged in the practice of osteopathy until 1912, when they came to Los Angeles. His fame had preceded him, and he was invited to become a member of the faculty of the Pacific College of Osteopathy, and continued an instructor there for four years, then decided that his duty lay more definitely in practice than in teaching. In his handling of the typhoid epi- demic at that time his phenomenal success in treatment, losing but one case out of 1,187, brought testimonials from many representative organizations and a badge of honor from the Pacific College of Osteopathy. Likewise, in the epidemic of influenza more recently hundreds of cases came under his care and he never lost a patient. He was so devoted to his profession, so sympathetic, and so unremitting in his care in times of sickness that at last even his strength broke down and his health became impaired, and his fatal illness was of comparatively short duration, a matter of but a few days.

Dr. Jones is survived by his wife and their only son, Raymond Jones, who was born October 4, 1884, and whose home is in Sunnyside, Wash- ington. He has a domestic circle of his own, two daughters and one son : Mildred Lenore, Raymond Wesley and Mary Maxine. In early life Dr. Jones attended the Baptist Church but later became a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Los Angeles, of which he was a faithful member at the time of his death. He belonged to numerous scientific bodies and held sixteen diplomas from different educational institutions.

F. H. ALLEN. The retail merchandising interests of the Montebello community are capably and worthily represented by F. H. Allen, whose modern and well systematized establishment is illustrative of the integrity and ability of its owner. During his business career he has experienced many of the vicissitudes of business life, but through all his activities he has remained true to his ideals and standards, and his success is therefore all the more well merited and gratifying.

Mr. Allen was born at Jamesport, Missouri, July 16, 1869, and is a son of Cyrus T. and Mary V. (Clowes) Allen, the father a native of Vir- ginia and the mother of Michigan. Cyrus T. Allen was the owner and op- erator of a transfer business at Jamesport, and he and his wife were the parents of five children, of whom F. H. was the third in order of birth. Mr. Allen relates and is justifiably proud of the fact that one of his family was the founder of the city where is now located the University of Michi- gan. It seems that this pioneer Allen, with his wife and family, while traveling to the West stopped for a time in Michigan, where they built an arbor at their camp. In honor of his wife, whose name was Ann, Mr. Allen named the camp Ann Arbor, and upon this site the present city of the same name has grown. After founding their camp the Allens were so satisfied with their surroundings that they remained in that locality for many years and were highly respected.

After attending grammar school to the age of thirteen years F. H. Allen began his mercantile career in a humble way. His training in this line was thorough and comprehensive, and to his knowledge thus gained he attributes much of his success. In 1903 he turned his face westward, and after spending six months in New Mexico in April, 1904, arrived at Los

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Angeles, where for a year and one-half he was in the employ of the Los Angeles Street Railway Company. He then went to El Monte, where he clerked for I. F. Baker for two and one-half years in a general merchan- dise store, and in 1908 first came to Montebello, then a community which in its entirety had only 135 houses. In partnership with R. N. Bird he purchased from William Paulson, the pioneer merchant of Montebello, a modest establishment, and the firm of Allen & Bird conducted a general merchandise and grocery store for two years and four months. Mr. Allen then disposed of his holdings to Bert Coffman and returned to Los An- geles, where for six months he conducted a general merchandise business at the corner of Baldwin Street and East Lake Avenue. This did not prove satisfactory and he returned to El Monte, where he again became a clerk, this time for the firm of Baker & McDonald. When formerly a resident of Montebello Mr. Allen had noted the possibilities of the community, and in April, 1912, he returned and again established himself in business, as the proprietor of a general merchandise and grocery business at Cedar Street and Whittier Boulevard. Later he sold his grocery department to W. R. Tucker, and in August, 1922, moved to his present quarters on Whittier Boulevard, where he conducts a modern establishment and car- ries a full line of dry goods, shoes, hats, etc. He has established himself firmly in the confidence and esteem of a large patronage, and is known as one of the hustling and energetic business citizens of his locality.

In 1897 Mr. Allen was united in marriage with Miss Fannie N. Bowen, who was born at Gallatin, Missouri, June 19, 1874, a daughter of James Allen and Nannie (Simmons) Bowen, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky. Mrs. Allen, who is one of eight children, all liv- ing, born to her parents, was educated in Missouri and graduated from Gallatin High School at the age of seventeen years. She was a charter member of the Montebello Woman's Club, and its first chairman at the time of its organization, and at present is chairman of the welfare commit- tee thereof. She belongs to the Rebekah Lodge. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have one child : Thomas H., born May 21, 1899, at Gilman City, Missouri, who was'educated at the grammar school and the Montebello High School. When the United States entered the World war young Allen showed his patriotism in a most determined effort to get into the service of his coun- try. The week after war was declared with Germany he was the first man from Montebello to enter the service, joining the Marines and going from Mare Island to Virginia, where the final examinations disqualified him on account of injuries he had sustained to one foot. He gained the rank of sergeant and after re-examination at Quantico, Virginia, he was honorably discharged. Returning to Montebello he reenlisted in the radio service and served at Goat Island and Mare Island to the close of the war. He is now in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad as a locomotive fireman. Thomas H. Allen married Miss Freda Smith, of Topeka, Kansas, June 5, 1920. She has been a resident of California since childhood, and she and her husband are the parents of one child: Dorothy Mae, born June 12, 1921.

WILLIAM LOMAX GRAVES. This name, borne by father and son, was one of exceptional prominence in several sections of Southern California for more than half a century. The founder of the family in California was a physician who had been a surgeon in the Confederate Army, came West to rehabilitate his fortune, and after practicing medicine as a pioneer he finally moved to Los Angeles, where he was well known as a banker and through his constructive activities.

Dr. William Lomax Graves was a native of Alabama, and the old family home is still standing there. He was a descendant of the Tenant family, conspicuously identified with the founding of Princeton College. Doctor Graves came to California in 1869. He was then a young man, accom- plished in his profession, but absolutely without fortune. He located at Centerville, about fifteen miles from Fresno. This was then a small com-

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munity, and surrounded with a very sparsely populated district. As the only physician and surgeon he rode and drove for many miles, frequently over the mountains, to look after his patients.

Doctor Graves married Miss Laura Phillips. She came to Centerville with a family named Mordecai, and was also a native of Alabama. Her father was a soldier of the Confederacy. In the early days she taught school in Centerville. Doctor and Mrs. Graves continued to reside at Cen- terville for a number of years and later at Fresno. About 1900 they re- moved to Los Angeles, and lived in this city until their deaths. Mrs. Graves died in 1915, and Doctor Graves passed away in April, 1917. He became one of the organizers of the Merchants National Bank of Los An- geles, and served it as vice president and later as president and director. At the time of his death he was also a stockholder in the Security Bank. For many years the Graves home was at the corner of Eleventh Street and Figueroa. Mrs. Graves was a charter member of the Friday Morning Club, and a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy and Daughters of the American Revolution. Her father, Moses Phillips, was an officer in the Mexican war. Doctor Graves was also associated with the organiza- tion of the Globe Milling Company. At one time he had extensive interests in boats engaged in lumber transportation in coastwise traffic.

Doctor Graves had two children, who reached maturity, William Lomax, Jr., and Emily Graves, the latter now Mrs. William C. McGarry, of New York.

William Lomax Graves, Jr., who died in 1916, a year before his father, was a man of liberal education and very successful in business. He at- tended a military school in Kentucky, and later the Harvard Military School in Los Angeles. For many years he was known as an owner of thorough- bred horses and a patron of the track and show rink. His horses won thirteen cups in horse-shows. In business he was connected for many years with the Southern California Edison Company. William L. Graves, Jr., was a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner and a member of the Los Angeles Athletic Club. On November 10, 1908, he married Miss Mary Hubbell, a native of Los Angeles City and a daughter of Judge Stephen Hubbell, reference to whom is made elsewhere in this work. He is sur- vived by Mrs. Graves and one son, William Lomax, now twelve years old. Mrs. Graves is a graduate of Marlborough School in Los Angeles.

RALPH O. CHURCH, cashier of the Burbank Savings Bank and of the First National Bank of Burbank, came to this community in 1908, on April 1 of which year he organized the Burbank State Bank and the Bur- bank Savings Bank. In May, 1911, he reorganized the former institution into the First National Bank of Burbank, the latter institution continuing in existence under the same name. The institutions are owned by busi- ness men of this community, the president being H. A. Church, who is also at the head of a number of other financial enterprises of this section. The banks mentioned are conducted as members of the Federal Reserve System, and their combined resources amount to $1,250,000.

Ralph O. Church was born at Marshalltown, Iowa, in 1880, and is a son of Henry Arthur and Margaret (Owen) Church. He received his early educational training at a school in Marshalltown, following which he pursued a course in a military school in Minnesota, and in 1900 entered a general merchandise store at Gilman, Iowa, where he obtained his intro- duction to business methods. He was thus occupied for a period of seven years, at the end of which time he turned his attention and interest to the lumber business at Liscomb, Iowa, where he conducted a yard. Subse- quently, in connection with this enterprise, he operated a grain elevator and general mercantile establishment, and built up a trade that extended all over the surrounding country for several miles. In the fall of 1907 Mr. Church made a trip to California, and was so impressed with the pos- sibilities and opportunities of this region that he at once decided to make this locality his permanent home. Accordingly he disposed of his holdings

Paul Johnson 1

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in Iowa and settled down at Burbank, where he has since been one of the prominent factors in the business and financial world.

Mr. Church married at Gilman, Iowa, in 1901, Miss Florence Rockhill, of Gilman, and they are the parents of two children: Margaret, attending the Westlake School for Girls at Los Angeles; and Ralph Owen, Jr. Fraternally Mr. Church is affiliated with the Masons, being treasurer of the Burbank Blue Lodge No. 406, and a member of Glendale Commandery, Knights Templar. He is also a member of Glendale Lodge No. 1289, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is president of the Commercial Club of Burbank and is vice president of the Burbank Building and Loan Association, a member of the Realty Board and a member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce. In politics a republican, he has taken an active part in civic affairs, and from 1912 to 1915 served as treasurer of Burbank, in addition to which he is now a member of the Board of Education. He acts as treasurer of his Masonic lodge. Although his father occupies the position of president of the banks of which Mr. Church is cashier, the latter is the one who comes into the closest touch with affairs and the depositors and is really the directing head. His other inter- ests, with those of banking, make him an exceedingly busy man, but he always finds time to do his full share in promoting the moral and material welfare of Burbank.

PAUL FRANKLIN JOHNSON is a scientist, an experimenter and inventor in the modern field of radio, and these interests and attainments dominate all his various business interests, though these alone would distinguish him. Mr. Johnson is proprietor at Pasadena of the radio store and the Altadena radio laboratory, dealers in radio and scientific apparatus. His father was a pioneer in experimental work with the wireless, and the son was associated with him and inherits many of his gifts and scientific tastes.

Paul Franklin Johnson was born at Downsville, Dunn County, Wiscon- sin, October 13, 1874. He has an interesting ancestry running back nearly five centuries to William Johnson, who in 1462 was living with his wife, Sarah, in Burton upon Trent, England, and in 1458 in Uttoxhather. A grandson of this ancestor, William Johnson III, born in 1490, is the first of the line known to have had a coat of arms. William Johnson V, born in 1602-3, married Elizabeth Clement, of Tunbridge, Kent, in 1632, and shortly afterward settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts, where there is record of them joining the church, February 13, 1634-5. One branch of the family has always remained in Charlestown. John Johnson, son of William V, and seventh of the line, was born June 19, 1633, and was an infant when brought to Charlestown. In 1657 he moved to Haverhill, became one of the early proprietors there and was honored with many offices. He served as an officer in King Phillip's war in 1676. In 1691 he was a representative to the Provincial Legislature. He was killed by Indians at his own door August 29, 1708, as were also his third wife and Ruth, the wife of his grandson Thomas, Thomas being a direct ancestor of Paul Franklin Johnson. They were buried in the old Pentucket bury- ing ground. When slain Ruth held her only child, Lydia, one year and six days old, in her arms, but the child miraculously escaped the tomahawk. The second wife of Thomas Johnson was Rachel Ordway. Their fifth son, Seth, was born March 6, 1722-3. Amos, son of Seth, was born May 9, 1750, lived in Pelham, New Hampshire, served in the American Army during the Revolution, and was the great-great-grandfather of Paul Frank- lin Johnson.

Warren Seymour Johnson, father of Paul Franklin, was born in Leicester, Vermont, November 6, 1847. He was a child when his parents moved to Wisconsin, and though he grew up in a wilderness remote from special advantages, he developed a remarkable range of talents and accom- plishments. As a young man he worked on the farm, was a printer, sur- veyor, school teacher and was an excellent teacher, though his education had been largely acquired through his own efforts. He was principal and

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 31

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