USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume III > Part 37
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87
El Monte High School worked on his father's ranch until his enlist- ment in the United States Navy. He was in the transport service and made numerous trips across the Atlantic during his twenty-three months of service. He escaped the submarines and other perils of the seas, and is now again associated with his father. Charles Richard Guess, the third and youngest son of Richard Guess, was born at Savanna, October 2, 1901, and is a graduate of the El Monte High School and the Los Angeles Dramatic School. He resides at home and assists in the duties of the ranch. Thelma Guess, the only daughter of Richard Guess, was born at Savanna, September 13, 1904, and graduated from the El Monte High School as a member of the class of 1922.
HENRY GUESS. There is something of an interesting nature which attaches to the first settler of any community. Through his long association with his locality he is given credit for the possession of knowledge of its history, while, naturally, he has the advantage of having had experiences out of the common. Likewise, the same kind of an interest attaches to the first white child born in a locality, and in this latter connection the distinc- tion is held by Henry Guess, now living retired at the junction of San Gabriel Drive and the Ocean to Ocean Highway, who was born on the old Lugo Rancho in Los Angeles County, January 14, 1853, a son of John and Harriet Guess, the former a native of Arkansas and the latter of Mobile, Alabama.
The parents of Mr. Guess were married at Louisburg, Arkansas, in 1848, and four years later came to California, settling at El Monte, the journey being made by ox-teams from Fort Smith, Arkansas, over the southern route, and consuming seven months on the road. There were eight children in the family, of whom four survive: Henry; Mrs. Sallie Slack, of San Gabriel; Richard, living on the old homestead at Savannah; and Mrs. Hattie Steel, of Savannah, a resident on the Ocean to Ocean Highway. John Guess devoted his life to ranching, and bought his first twenty acres in 1857, just south of Savannah, then a stage station. Later he acquired. inany acres in that vicinity and was looked upon as a well-to-do and sub- stantial citizen. A part of his land is now owned by his son Henry, and- other children occupy other portions of his property.
Henry Guess had little opportunity to secure an education, although for a time he attended the El Monte (shack) school. The first white child born in Los Angeles County, he lived on the Lugo Rancho at a time when conditions were in their most primitive form. One doctor cared for the needs of a territory many miles in extent. The Spanish dons were the predominating influence in the life of the new community, and these early title-holders were ready to feed man or beast that called at their ranchos. Mr. Guess needed no moving picture theatre to note the activities of horse thieves in his youth. He was practically reared on a horse himself and could ride any animal, and as a result was made a member of the vigilante committee which eventually put a stop to horse stealing in his part of the county. His first recollections of Los Angeles have to do with the post- office, the only one in miles. It was an old adobe building, with one door and one window, located at about what is now the junction of Spring and
Henry guess
Mary guess
225
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Main streets, where now stands the Temple Block. At this office a book was kept, and if one's name happened to be aligned therein he could receive mail, otherwise not. All mail at that time was brought by stage, but later Mr. Guess saw the first railroad train run from San Pedro to Los Angeles, and later witnessed the building of all the railroads in the county.
When he reached the age of twelve years Mr. Guess began to do a man's work in the saddle as a cattleman, and when he entered upon his independent career it was as a stockman. For years, when the range was free and taxes small, he ran cattle from the Kern River on the North to the Mexican border on the south, and through his own industry and good management amassed a competency that enabled him to retire from active business in 1902. He built his present modern home in 1917. Mr. Guess has been a lifelong democrat, but has never cared for public office, although he is a good citizen who supports worthy movements.
On March 15, 1875, Mr. Guess married Miss Mariette Arbor, who was born in San Bernardino County, California, in December, 1859, of English ancestry and of Australian parentage. Her parents came from Australia to Salt Lake City, Utah, and then made the journey overland, by mule team, in 1857, to San Bernardino County. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Guess ; Sallie, born at El Monte ranch in 1877, who married William Steel, a native of Arkansas, and became the mother of one girl and two boys, Ola, Robert E. and Henry T. After Mr. Steel's death she married Al Sickels, a native of Iowa, and lives at Pomona. John, born in 1879, died in 1880. Hattie, born October 4, 1885, remained unmarried and resided with her parents until her death on September 5, 1922. Lida, born Septem- ber 11, 1893, married Byron Winterer, of Nebraska, has three children, and resides at Pomona.
FRANK J. WAGNER, M. D. It is not the fortune of every individual to gain prominence in his chosen calling, and it is unusual when a man secures a place of prestige in more than one line of endeavor. The successful pro- fessional man has not always the capacity for business success or the qual- ities that go to make for leadership in civic affairs. Therefore the standing of Dr. Frank J. Wagner, of Santa Monica, may be said to be somewhat unusual, as he is not only a skilled and successful physician and able busi- ness man, but also one of the leaders in the advancement and development of his adopted city, as president of the Greater Santa Monica Club.
Doctor Wagner was born at South Canaan, Wayne County, Pennsyl- vania, October 30, 1873. He acquired his early education in the public schools of Carbondale, and after some further preparation enrolled as a student at the Medico-Chirurgical College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1901, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. This training was followed by one year's work as an interne in the Buffalo (New York) Hospital, and Doctor Wagner then entered upon the practice of his profession at Carbon- dale, where he continued for eight years, with constantly increasing suc- cess. Attracted to Santa Monica by the possibilities and opportunities opening up in this region of California, in 1910 he disposed of his practice at Carbondale and settled at Santa Monica, which has since been his home. He has built up a large and lucrative professional business, and while so doing has gained an enviable place in the ranks of his profession. He is a valued member of the Los Angeles County Medical Society, the California State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and is a close and careful student of his profession, a skilled practitioner and a physician of sympathetic bearing and kind heart. He has served his com- munity two years in the capacity of health officer. In politics Doctor Wag- ner maintains an independent stand and prefers to vote for the man rather than the political organization. His religious connection is with the Pres- byterian Church, and as a fraternalist he holds membership in the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He likewise belongs to the Brentwood Golf Club. Doctor
226
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Wagner has a number of business connections, and is president of the Prudential Realty Company and vice president of the Santa Monica Sav- ings Bank. He is an active member and enthusiastic worker of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce. While always interested in civic affairs, Doctor Wagner has been more energetic recently in espousing the cause of Santa Monica as president of the Greater Santa Monica Club. This or- ganization was formed in February, 1922, for the purpose of carrying on a continuous publicity campaign, for which a large and adequate fund has been raised, in which the attractive features of Santa Monica as a home, an amusement and recreation center and a thriving business locality will be presented to the outside world. All of its meetings are open to the public, and the organization will be ready and willing at all times to cooperate with any civic body engaged in movements calculated to advance the city's welfare. The club already has a membership of 200, and initial steps have been taken to develop the body along social lines. The officers are as fol- lows: President, Dr. Frank J. Wagner; secretary and treasurer, R. R. Patterson; trustees of the publicity fund, Harry M. Gorham, Frank H. Ayers and Dr. Frank J. Wagner; Board of Directors, Harry M. Gor- ham, Frank H. Ayers, Frank E. Bundy, Rev. W. H. Cornette, Dr. Frank J. Wagner, B. F. Bailey, W. W. Bennett, E. B. Conliss, W. H. Carter, M. M. Frazer, H. M. Fresman, C. N. Hawes, T. A. Johnson, S. F. Koch, F. E. Lee, J. A. McHenry, E. P. Nittenger, R. R. Patterson, Nate Sabin, W. J. Stadelman, Rev. Charles Scott and R. S. Teele:
On December 12, 1906, Doctor Wagner was united in marriage with Miss Lulu A. Diaz, a daughter of Frank M. Diaz, of Homestead, Penn- sylvania. Mrs. Wagner, who was born and educated at Elizabeth, Penn- sylvania, is a woman of intellectual attainments and social graces, and is the present president of the Santa Monica Bay Woman's Club.
DONALD WILLS DOUGLAS. The manufacture of flying craft, until re- cent years an industry practically in its infancy, lately has been developed to such a surprising degree that even the hopes and expectations of its most ardent supporters have been surpassed. The United States, really the cradle of this industry, has made up for its former apparent laxity and lack of interest, and for some time past the achievements of American manufacturers in this direction have attracted world-wide interest. One of the firms which is contributing materially to the nation's prestige in this field of endeavor is The Douglas Company, Incorporated, of Santa Monica, the president of which is Donald Wills Douglas, a brilliant young engineer of much capability and broad experience.
Donald W. Douglas was born at New York City, New York, April 6, 1892, and received his early education in the public schools of the metropo- lis. He attended the United States Naval Academy from 1909 to 1912, following which he pursued a course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Sci- ence as a member of the class of 1914. He then assisted in instruction in the aerodynamical course of the same institution for one year, and in 1915 came to Los Angeles, California, as chief engineer for the Glenn L. Martin Company, in the construction of aeroplanes. In December, 1916, he went to Washington, D. C., as chief civilian aeronautical engineer for the United States Signal Corps, and in November, 1917, again joined the Glenn L. Martin Company forces, this time at Cleveland, Ohio, as chief engineer. In April, 1920, Mr. Douglas came to Santa Monica, and shortly thereafter assisted in the organization of the Davis-Douglas Company, which was capitalized at $50,000, and was originally located at Los Angeles, with David R. Davis, president ; Donald W. Douglas, vice president ; and Will- iam M. Henry, secretary and treasurer. Subsequently the company leased the flying field of the Goodyear Rubber Company. In August, 1921, a reorganization was effected, the new concern taking the name of The Douglas Company, and being incorporated for $100,000, and in May, 1922, took possession of its present quarters at 2435 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa
227
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Monica, California. This company is now the largest producer of air craft in California and the only one in the state to have United States Government contracts, two of which have been completed, with another one under way. The product of the concern, which is considered standard by the United States Navy, for whose use the machines are manufactured, is equipped for both land and water, and includes numerous new features and advanced developments. It is known as the "Big D T No. 2 Torpedo Plane." In the modern plant, where 40,000 square feet of floor space is available for use, 160 people are given employment. The present officials of the company are: President, D. W. Douglas ; vice president and sec- retary, W. M. Henry ; and treasurer, H. P. Grube, and these form the Board of Directors with Harry Wilbur Elliott, Mrs. D. W. Douglas and Mrs. W. M. Henry.
On June 5, 1916, Mr. Douglas was united in marriage with Miss Char- lotte Ogg, who was born at Creston, Iowa, and educated there and at Marion, Indiana, at which latter city she and Mr. Douglas were married. They have three children: Donald W., Jr., William Edward and Barbara Jean.
C. C. BOWERMAN, manager of the Lankershim Branch of the Security Trust & Savings Bank of Los Angeles and a director of the Guarantee Building & Loan Association of Hollywood, has been a resident of South- ern California since his boyhood, and has here found ample scope and op- portunity for effective achievement along productive lines, he having been especially progressive and influential in connection with business affairs and civic advancement at Lankershim.
Mr. Bowerman was born at Wellington, Province of Ontario, Canada, on the 8th of October, 1877, and he was eight years of age at the time of the family removal to California. Here he received the advantages of the public schools of Los Angeles and Monrovia, and in 1898 he graduated from the University of California, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After leaving the university he became identified with the orange-packing industry at Monrovia, and later was chosen bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Monrovia. In this institution he was ad- vanced to the position of assistant cashier, and later he gave five years of characteristically efficient service as secretary and treasurer of the David- son Contracting Company of Monrovia. In 1913 he established himself in the retail grocery business at Lankershim, and with this enterprise he con- tinued his connection until 1919, on June 15th of which year he was elected vice president and manager of the Bank of Lankershim. He is an active and valued member of the Lankershim Chamber of Commerce and the local Kiwanis Club, and is a Knight Templar Mason. Mrs. Bowerman is a woman of culture and gracious personality, her higher education having been obtained in Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, in which state she was born and reared. At Lankershim she is a popular member of the Woman's Club and the P. E. O. Society.
December 21, 1906, recorded the marriage of Mr. Bowerman and Miss Hazel Stark, of Clarion, Iowa, and they have two children, Doris.and Duane.
ROSCOE W. BLANCHARD, of Lankershim, is associated with his brother William A. as one of the two principals of the Blanchard Lumber Com- pany, which has developed a substantial jobbing and retail business in lumber, cement, lime, sash, doors, building paper, and general lines of building material, with well equipped yards at Lankershim and Burbank. In connection with the business is retained an average corps of ten em- ployes, William A. Blanchard having charge of the company's business at Burbank and Roscoe W. of the headquarters business at Lankershim. where the two brothers founded the enterprise in 1911, under the present title of the Blanchard Lumber Company. The large and well equipped
228
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
yards of the company at Lankershim are established at the corner of Blakeslee Avenue and Lankershim Boulevard.
Roscoe W. Blanchard was born at Morenci, Michigan, on the 5th of October, 1882, and is indebted to the public schools of his native state for his early educational discipline. As a youth he went to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where he gained practical experience in the lumber business and whence he came to California in 1911, the year in which he and his brother established themselves in the lumber business at Lankershim, as previously noted in this sketch. Mr. Blanchard is one of the loyal and progressive citizens and representative business men of Lankershim, is a director of the Bank of Lankershim, mentioned on other pages of this work, and he is a valued member of the local Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club. He is a republican in political allegiance and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, his wife being a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and also of the Woman's Club of Lankershim.
In June, 1905, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Blanchard and Miss Lotella Overmire, of Gary, Oklahoma, she having been born and reared in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Blanchard have four children: Roscoe W., Jr., Dorothy, Lemoine and Maude.
ARCHIE N. WIGGINS, widely known as the "watermelon king" of Southern California by reason of his great success in the propagating and handling of watermelons, is one of the most loyal, liberal and progressive citizens of his native town of El Monte, and when it is noted that here he was born on the 19th of August, 1863, it becomes evident that the family name is one to which pioneer distinction attaches. He is a son of Thomas Jefferson Wiggins and Ellen (Vise) Wiggins, both of whom were born and reared in Missouri, of Scotch ancestry. In the historic year 1849, which marked the discovery of gold in California, Thomas J. Wiggins, then a young bachelor and a resident of Texas, became a member of the company which included his future wife and her father, Nathan Vise, and which set forth from Missouri on the long and hazardous journey across the plains to the New Eldorado in California. The train of carts and wagons depended upon ox teams for motive power on this momentous overland trip, and the journey was made along the old Southern route, via Yuma, San Diego and through Warner's ranch. In the company was the Chilson family, two members of which were killed by Indians when passing through the Warner ranch. Nathan Vise was captain of the emigrant train, which was frequently menaced by Indians, the savages having followed the train on one occasion and having killed a lot of its livestock. Captain Vise proved a true diplomat, and by trading with the Indians and otherwise treating them fairly he gained their confidence and good will. The Indians followed the train four days and nights, and Captain Vise then met the chief in council. For an American woman, whom he found a captive with this band of Indians, Captain Vise effected release through trading commodities, and later he had the satisfaction of returning her to her own people in California. The little party of colonists first settled in San Diego, and about a year later removal was made to the El Monte District of Los Angeles County. Here Captain Vise maintained his home for a time, and he then removed to the vicinity of Visalia, a town named in honor of him and his wife, by a combination of his surname with the family name of his wife, Salia. Captain Vise later made a trip to Texas, and there he was killed in a hurricane or cyclone. His family remained in El Monte. Thomas J. Wiggins and Ellen Vise were united in marriage after they came to California, and they became the parents of five sons and three daughters: Hattie is the wife of John Bender, of Glendora ; Archie N., immediate subject of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; Matilda is the widow of John Stark; Amy is the
archie higgins
229
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
wife of Edward O'Neill; Mark, Jacob and Thomas reside at El Monte, and William is a resident of Fresno.
Thomas J. Wiggins drove an ox team in crossing the plains in 1849, and thus walked virtually the entire distance. He was eighteen years of age when he came to the El Monte District, and in this locality he lived during the greater part of the time until the close of his long and useful life, his death having here occurred in 1916 and his widow having here passed away in 1918. With ox teams Mr. Wiggins trans- ported from San Pedro the first lumber brought to El Monte, and he had much to do with the early development of this district. He became a rancher, and in early days was a Government contractor in the hauling of freight to Fort Yuma and Fort Cajon. He did well his part in the formative period of the progress of Los Angeles County, and he and his wife were honored and venerable pioneer citizens of the county at the time of their deaths.
Archie N. Wiggins acquired his early education in the Old Mission school now known as the Temple School, at El Monte, he having been one of the seven American pupils in the school, all of the other pupils having been Spanish children. As a youth he plowed with an ox team on his father's ranch, and his active career has continued to be marked by close and successful association with agricultural and live-stock industry. He has made a record as a large raiser of grain and hay. His maximum fame in the industrial field, however, attaches to his wonderful success in raising watermelons, and in this line his record is one of both quantity and quality of production. He has engaged in propagating melons at as distant a point as Elsinore, in which locality the melons ripen fully three weeks earlier than in Los Angeles County. He has sold melons at wholesale for as high a figure as $1.25 each. In this line of enterprise he conducts operations each season on a large scale, and utilizes heavy trucks in the transportation of his products, which ever command the highest market prices. As a young man Mr. Wiggins sold potatoes in Los Angeles at the rate of forty cents a hundred, and he also sold wood at the old-time wood market on Spring Street, in front of the old adobe county jail. The buildings in the metropolis of Southern California at that time were nearly all of adobe construction, and the market for his wood was very uncertain. Mr. Wiggins saw the first railroad train pull into Los Angeles from San Pedro, on the old narrow-gauge road. He has driven a four- horse team down Main Street in Los Angeles when the street was a foot-deep in thin mud, the splashing of which frequently drove pedes- trians to the shelter of nearby buildings. It was the privilege of Mr. Wiggins also to see the first automobile in action in Los Angeles, and he well recalls the old stage coaches, which then constituted the most effective medium for rapid transit. The stage station at El Monte was for some time maintained at the old Dodson Hotel, and in the early days virtually each mercantile establishment kept a barrel of whisky, from which a customer could obtain a drink free.
Mr. Wiggins has been a most vigorous worker in behalf of good educational facilities in his home community, and when the matter of voting for the providing of a union high school at El Monte came up he was in favor of raising $25,000, but acquiesed in the appropria- tion of $16,000 for the buying of ground and erecting the school build- ing. He was at the time associated in both the livery business and in farm enterprise with J. D. Cleminson who is a trustee of the high- school district of El Monte in 1922. These two men worked inde- fatigably in favor of the movement for the new high school, and at the election the movement was successful by a small majority. The present modern high school building at El Monte is one of the finest in Los Angeles County, and its equipment and service are of the highest standard. About the year 1901 the firm of Cleminson & Wig-
230
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
gins bought property on Main Street in El Monte, and in front of the same put down the first cement sidewalk in the town. They also brought the first brick to El Monte.
Mr. Wiggins was especially active and influential in bringing about the original closing of saloons at El Monte. He was appointed a deputy constable by Benjamin Davidson, the county constable, and at that time the Sunday-closing ordinance was not observed in the least by the seven saloons in the town. Though the community had only three persons who openly advocated prohibition, Constable Wiggins courageously fought to compel the closing of the saloons on Sunday, and after a series of offenses on the part of the liquor men who had promised observance and had been arrested and fined, a petition was then circulated and signed to revoke the licenses, which was done by the County Board of Supervisors. It has thus been a satisfaction to him to witness the elimination of the liquor traffic by the national prohibition amendment.
In 1891 Mr. Wiggins wedded Miss Mamie Kleinforge, who was born at Sacramento, California, January 9, 1867, a daughter of Louis and Annie (Shewgrew) Kleinforge, who were residents of that city at the time of their deaths. Mr. and Mrs. Wiggins have had four chil- dren: Charles, born April 11, 1892, died June 20, 1905; Louis J. was born May 31, 1896; Lavelle Bassett was born September 8, 1897, and is now engaged in the grain and feed business at El Monte ; and Edwin Mckinley was born October 23, 1901, and is now engaged in farm enterprise. All of the children had the advantages of the El Monte High School.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.