History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 5

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

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Mrs. Lewis is a daughter of Duncan Stuart Kennedy and Mary (McDonald) Kennedy, both representatives of the staunchest of Scottish stock. One of the maternal ancestors of Mrs. Lewis was Sir John A. McDonald, the first premier of Ottawa, Canada. Duncan S. Kennedy became a successful representative of the real estate business in the State of Pennsylvania.

At Towanda, Pennsylvania, September 6, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of George Corbin Lewis and Miss Jane Kennedy, and the death of Mr. Lewis occurred four years later, in 1906. Katharine, the one child of this union, remains with her widowed mother and is now engaged in the moving picture art, in which she is appearing under contract with Mr. Ince.

HERMAN BRUSSOW. The chief reason for Mr. Brussow's substantial success and position in the Whittier community has been unremitting labor combined with sound intelligence. He is recognized as an expert in all phases of citrus culture. He has been more or less closely identified with the citrus fruit business during the twenty years he has been in California. Mr. Brussow came up from the ranks, applied for American citizenship after leaving the enforced military routine of Germany, and a final proof of his sound Americanism was the satisfaction he felt. in having a son represent the family among the armed forces of America in France during the late war.

Mr. Brussow was born in Germany, July 29, 1866, son of Carl and Johanna Brussow. His parents came to the United States in 1891, and thereafter lived on a farm near Saginaw, Michigan, until their deaths. Herman Brussow was given a common school education in his native land. At the age of twenty-two he was impressed into the army, and his three year term of service expired in 1891.

In 1893 he joined his parents at Saginaw, Michigan, and during the next eleven years he made gradual progress in acquiring American ways and some limited capital by employment in the lumber industry and as stable boss for the John D. Schem Brewing Company.

On coming to California in 1904 Mr. Brussow worked for Mr. Plotts in the oil fields. Following that he took up ranch work, being successively employed by Mrs. Mary Sanborn, Charles Swain, Max Sanborn, Mr. Faucett and A. W. Swain. In the meantime, in 1905, he bought three

Just Sitron

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

and one-half acres on Catalina Avenue in East Whittier. On this ground he and Mrs. Brussow built a comfortable and modern home and set the rest of the land to oranges. Subsequently, with their son, they bought eight acres in LaHabra, and this also is in oranges. Mr. Brussow out of his experience as an owner and worker for others has mastered the details of citrus culture, and his services are in great demand. In addition to looking after his own property he takes care of forty acres of citrus groves for other owners. He is a member of the Whittier and LaHabra Citrus Association. -

While living at Saginaw Mr. Brussow was a member of the German Arbiter Verein. He and Mrs. Brussow are members of the German Lutheran Church, and Mrs. Brussow belongs to the Lutheran Aid Society.

Mrs. Brussow was formerly Miss Bertha Mueller. She was also born in Germany, a daughter of William Mueller. Walter Brussow, oldest of the three sons of Mr. and 'Mrs. Brussow, is an oil driller for the Union Oil Company, and by his marriage to Miss Fern Earley, of Whittier, has a son Karl. Harry Brussow, also an oil field worker, married Zoe D. Hart, of Kentucky. Rineholdt, the youngest son, assists his father in the ranch work.

The soldier representative of the family was Harry Brussow, who enlisted in the Fifty-fifth Ammunition Train. He was trained at Camp McArthur, and then went overseas to France and his command was scheduled for front line duty when hostilities ceased at the signing of the armistice. Harry was only seventeen when he joined the army, but readily gained the consent of his parents to do his bit in the great war.

Mr. and Mrs. Brussow made a five months' visit to Germany in 1922, visiting Mrs. Brussow's sisters and brothers, whom they had not seen for thirty years. They visited old places and old scenes, but were glad when they started back on the homeward journey to the land of their adoption, the land whence their children were born and the country which all of them enthusiastically name as their home.

JAMES ALEXANDER GIBSON. Much of distinction and honor shall ever attach to the name and memory of Judge Gibson, who became one of the foremost members of the California bar, who served as judge of the Superior Court of San Bernardino County and as a member of the Superior Court Commission, now represented in the Appellate Court, and who was established in the practice of his profession in the City of Los Angeles for twenty-five years prior to his death, which here occurred on the 3rd of August, 1922. A man of noble character, of high professional attainments and achievement, and known for his civic loyalty and genuine public spirit, Judge Gibson played a large part in the California annals of his day and generation, and a tribute to his memory properly finds place in this publication.

Judge Gibson was born in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, August 21, 1852, and was a son of Thomas and Mary (Berry) Gibson, and he was not yet ten years of age when his father, a member of a Massachusetts regiment, met death while serving as a loyal soldier of the Union in the Civil war. Thomas Gibson was killed in the battle of Bisland, Louisiana, April 13, 1863, and after having been doubly orphaned by the death of his mother Judge Gibson was taken into the home of a sister of his mother. The marriage of the parents was solemnized in historic old North Church, Boston, and in the same ancient edifice the baptism of the subject of this memoir occurred. The parents were born and reared in Ireland, and after coming to the United States they continuously main- tained their home in Massachusetts.

To the public schools of the old Bay State Judge Gibson was indebted for his early education, and he thereafter did preparatory work in me- chanical engineering, with the intention of entering Cornell University. However, he did not further pursue the study of mechanical engineering but, on the contrary, began in his native state preparation for the legal

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

profession. In 1874, at the age of twenty-two years, he came from Cam- bridgeport, Massachusetts, to California and located at Colton, San Ber- nardino County. There he continued his law studies under the able pre- ceptorship of Judge William Gregory, and soon after his admission to the bar he was elected district attorney of San Bernardino County. In 1885 he was called to the bench of the Superior Court of that county, and of this judicial office he continued the incumbent until 1889. During the succeeding two years he was a member of the Superior Court Commis- sion, and from 1891 to 1897 he was engaged in the practice of his pro- fession at San Diego, where he formed a partnership with Hon. John D. Works, later United States Senator from California. After the dissolution of this alliance he formed a law partnership with the late Harry L. Titus, at that time counsel for the Speckels interests. In 1897 Judge Gibson transferred his residence and professional headquarters to Los Angeles, and here he continued in active professional work until shortly prior to his death, he having been the senior member of the representative law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Judge Gibson was engaged in the practice of law in California more than thirty years, became known as an authority on irrigation, corporation, mining and maritime law, and his large and important practice extended into the various courts of the state, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. In connection with his law practice he had been retained as counsel for the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Pacific Electric Railroad, the First National Bank of Los Angeles and many other large corpora- tions. In a legal capacity he was a figure of prominence in connection with the tideland cases, the litigation involved in the receivership of the Bear Valley Land & Water Company, and the suits which arose incidental to the regulation of rates to Santa Catalina Island. He was actively associated with the construction of the first irrigation dam in the west- the Bear Valley dam. In the second decade of his residence in this state he served as a major and as assistant adjutant-general of the California National Guard, besides having been engineer officer of the First Brigade. Holding the inviolable esteem of his professional confreres, Judge Gib- son served at one period as president of the Los Angeles Bar Association, besides having been chosen a vice president of the American Bar Associa- tion. He was actively identified with the National Geographical Society and the American Archaeological Institute. In the Masonic fraternity he received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and was also a member of the Mystic Shrine, his fraternal relations having further included his membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In Los Angeles he was a member of the California Union League, the Jonathan and the Gamut Clubs, besides holding membership in the Univer- sity Club of Redlands. He was an able and loyal advocate and supporter of the principles of the republican party. A man of high ideals, Judge Gibson accounted well for himself in every relation of life, and in his character, his ability and his achievement he signally honored and was honored by the state of his adoption.

The maiden name of the first wife of Judge Gibson was Sarah Water- man, and she died when a young woman, at Colton. Later was solemnized the marriage of Judge Gibson and Miss Gertrude Van Norman, of Los Angeles, who survives him, as do also their four children; James A., Jr., who is a member of the law firm of which his father was the head; Mrs. A. C. Kingsbury, who likewise resides in Los Angeles; and Martha and Horace, who remain with their widowed mother in the attractive family home at 919 South Union Avenue.

WILLIAM D. COOPER. A former Indiana farmer transplanted to the slopes and valleys of Los Angeles County, William D. Cooper during his residence here has discovered profit and pleasure in the cultivation of his citrus groves, and has exercised a constructive and helpful influence in all the affairs of the community of Whittier.

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Mr. Cooper was born in Henry County, Indiana, May 25, 1879. His parents, Orlando and Adeline (Lewis) Cooper, were also born in Indiana, and are now deceased, his father of Scotch-English and his mother of Scotch-Irish ancestry. William D. Cooper grew up on an Indiana farm, was well educated in the grammar and high schools, and on reaching man- hood started farming. He operated a farm in his home county, noted for its agricultural prosperity, until 1909. In that year he came to California and bought a five acre citrus grove, chiefly lemons, at 805 North Bickering Street. Mr. Cooper is one of Whittier's most enthusiastic and loyal citizens. He is a director in the Whittier Citrus Association and was one of the organizers and is a director of the Community Bank of Whittier.

He still retains his membership in a Masonic lodge in Indiana, and is member of Whittier Lodge of the Elks. Mr. Cooper married Miss Ruth E. Reece, a native of Indiana and a daughter of T. M. Reece. Her father spent his last years in Whittier. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have one son, Ward Reece Cooper, born in Indiana September 29, 1908, a student in the Whittier High School.

CLARENCE L. EDMONSTON, who is a mechanical engineer by profession, is, however, to be designated as one of the specially progressive and suc- cessful exponents of orange culture in Los Angeles County, and his well improved orange grove and homestead place are to be found on Passons Boulevard, in the beautiful Rivera District, on rural mail route No. 1 from Rivera. Mr. Edmonston was one of the organizers and became a director of the El Ranchito Citrus Association, and was prominently identified with the community enterprise, the Standifer Ditch Company, which was incorporated in 1902 and of which he has since his residence here served as a director and also as its secretary. This is one of the oldest and most important irrigation companies in the Ranchito District.

Clarence L. Edmonston was born at Hoboken, New Jersey, August 20, 1879, and in the State of New York were born his parents, Peter Helms Edmonston and Helena Rea (Miller) Edmonston, the former of whom died in 1898 and the latter now resides at Montclair, New Jersey, she being of English and Irish lineage and a representative of a family that gave patriot soldiers to the War of the Revolution. Peter H. Edmonston was a boy when he took a position as tobacco-stripper in the establishment of the Mrs. G. B. Miller Company, and his ability and effective service led to his rapid advancement. He was for forty-four years successfully established in business as a tobacco broker in New York City, but he retired from active business a number of years prior to his death. He acquired valuable property in New Jersey, and there maintained his home for many years at Montclair, one of the beautiful suburban districts of New York City, where he was a leader in community affairs. He was a scion of a family that was founded in America in the Colonial period and that was repre- sented by gallant soldiers in the Continental line in the War of the Revo- lution, the lineage tracing back to Scotch and English origin.

After his graduation from the high school at Montclair, New Jersey, in 1898, Clarence L. Edmonston entered Cornell University at Ithaca, New York, and in that great institution he completed a thorough course in mechanical engineering and was graduated as a member of the class of 1902. Thereafter he fortified himself further by a six months' post- graduate course, after which he went to the City of Mexico, in the capacity of engineer for an electrical-installation company. He remained in Mexico until 1907, on May 7th of which year he arrived in Whittier, California. He soon afterward went to Shasta County, where he became interested in and actively identified with a gold-dredging enterprise, with operations in the Sacramento River. After making a thorough survey of conditions and opportunities he finally decided to make permanent location in the Whittier District, and in November, 1908, in association with his father-in-law, he purchased from T. E. Newlin forty acres of land on Passons Boulevard, one-half of the tract being at the time devoted to the propagation of walnuts.

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

The walnut trees have since been gradually replaced by orange trees, only three acres being now given to walnuts. Five acres are devoted to navel oranges, and all of the remainder of the tract represents a fine grove of Valencia oranges, the place being maintained at a high standard and giving the best of yields.

Mr. Edmonston has entered fully and loyally into the communal life of his home district, and is known and valued as a liberal and progressive citizen. He has been a trustee of the Whittier Union High School for the past eleven years and is, in 1922, chairman of the board, besides which he has been a trustee of the Ranchito School District. He is interested in commercial enterprises at Whittier, and is ever ready to lend his aid and financial support to measures tending to advance the best interests of the community along both civic and material lines. He is a member of the Military Reserve Company at Whittier, is a charter member of the Whittier Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Foresters, and in the time-honored Masonic fra- ternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. His basic Masonic affiliation is with a Blue Lodge at Ithaca, New York, and his Scottish Rite affiliations are still maintained at Binghamton, that state. At Whittier he holds membership in the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons and the Commandery of Knights Templars, of which latter organization he served as eminent commander in 1917. He had the distinction of being one of the twenty-one organizers of the Temple of the Mystic Shrine in the City of Mexico, its first class having numbered 102. He was elected the first recorder of this Temple, and was present when Porfirio Diaz was initiated as a Noble in that organization. Mr. Edmonston still retains his Shrine affiliation in the City of Mexico. He is a charter member and one of the organizers of the Whittier Rotary Club, of Rotary International. While a student at Cornell University he rowed two years with the crew of the four-oared shell and then made the 'Varsity crew, with which he rowed during his senior year.

At Whittier, on the 6th of May, 1908, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Edmonston and Miss Lulu Maulsby, who was born in the State of Iowa, a daughter of O. W. Maulsby, who is one of the representative citrus- fruit growers of the Whittier District and who has served as mayor of the City of Whittier. Mr. and Mrs. Edmonston have three children : Clifford Rea, Norman Orlando and Barbara Lucille.

EDWARD SPENCE ARMSTRONG. Prominent among those who located at Monrovia during the infancy of the community and who contributed materially to its growth and advancement was the late Edward Spence Armstrong. Interested in a number of enterprises, he made a success in several lines, and his public spirit led him into ventures of a civic char- acter, to the prosperity of which he gave the value of his experience and ability. His death in 1921 removed one who had been a marked factor in the city's development.

Mr. Armstrong was born June 22, 1853, in County Fermanagh, Ireland, a son of William Armstrong, who never left the Emerald Isle. The second in a family of three sons and one daughter, he acquired a com- mon school education, and when about seventeen years of age immigrated to the United States in company with his brother and first located at San Jose, California, where he secured employment on the ranch of his uncle, Mr. Spence. Later he went to Arizona, and for two and one-half years was employed in a mine. In 1887 he located at the new and ambitious community of Monrovia, primarily to look after the interests of his uncle, E. F. Spence, a Los Angeles banker. Later he embarked in the livery business in partnership with F. M. Monroe, their association continuing for many years. He and Mr. Monroe, under contract, built the narrow- gauge Rapid Transit Railway roadbed, taking stock in the concern. This venture, however, proved a losing one, and Mr. Armstrong lost every cent that he invested therein, either selling the stock at a great loss or losing it

FEMibsler

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

entirely when the road failed. Later he continued to be engaged in the livery business for many years, and when he disposed of his holdings therein took charge of the Spence estate. During the last three years of his life he was employed by the City of Monrovia, and was thus engaged when he died, November 30, 1921. Mr. Armstrong had come to the United States a poor boy and had always relied upon his own abilities and resources to make his way. He was strictly honorable and straightforward in all business transactions, and his private life was marked by probity. As a fraternalist he was a past master of Monrovia Lodge, F. and A. M., of which he was a charter member; and a member of the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. His religious faith was that of the Methodist' Episcopal Church. A republican in politics, he did not seek office.

Mr. Armstrong married Miss Sarah Spence, who was born in the same locality as her husband, in County Fermanagh, Ireland, September 21, 1863, and who had known him in childhood, she coming to the United States when about eighteen years of age and joining him in Arizona, where he was employed at that time as a miner. She is one of a family of five daughters and five sons born to James and Jane (MacCullough) Spence, the latter being a cousin of the eminent tragedian, John Edward MacCullough. Two daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong : Alice, born in 1883, in Arizona, who was educated in the schools of Monrovia, and married E. W. Knapp, an employe of the Los Angeles Rail- way Company. Their two children are Edith and Walter. Eloise, born September 22, 1889, at Monrovia, was educated in the public schools, and married Hugh Marshall, a native son of Los Angeles, who is now engaged in business at Monrovia. They have two children, William Francis and Edward Armstrong.

ELMER ELLSWORTH WEBSTER is one of the progressive and represent- ative citizens of Redondo Beach, as is evident when it is stated that here he is president of the Farmers & Merchants National Bank and the Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank, besides being president of the Chamber of Commerce in his home city. Of the banks of which he is the executive head specific record is given in the following sketch of this publication.

Mr. Webster was born at Delaware, Ohio, February 17, 1866, and was there reared to manhood, his educational advantages having been those of the public schools. His business career has been one of constructive order and consecutive progress. After having been for a number of years es- tablished successfully in a manufacturing enterprise at Clarinda, Iowa, Mr. Webster came to California in the year 1902. He became actively asso- ciated with the San Gabriel Valley Bank at Pasadena, and thirteen months later he there effected the organization of the Bankers Savings Bank, of which he continued cashier four years. Thereafter he engaged in the handling of bonds and other high-grade securities, with headquarters in the City of Pasadena. In this line of enterprise he subsequently opened an office at Pasadena, and there he continued his residence until 1918, when he came to Redondo Beach and assumed charge of the First National Bank and the Redondo Savings Bank. He thus continued his effective executive service seven months, within which he became president of the Redondo Savings Bank. On the 20th of January, 1919, he became president of the Farmers & Merchants National Bank of this city, of which office he has since continued the incumbent, besides which he is president of the allied institution, the Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank, which was organized in February, 1922.

Mr. Webster has been one of the most loyal and active members of the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce, and as president of the same in 1922-23 he has done much to further its progressive civic and business policies. In the Masonic fraternity Mr. Webster is affiliated with both the York and Scottish Rite bodies, as well as with the Mystic Shrine. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and he and his wife are

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

active members of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in their home city, where Mrs. Webster likewise is a popular figure in social and club circles.

On the 11th of May, 1910, Mr. Webster wedded Mrs. Caroline T. Cameron, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she having been born and reared at Grand Rapids, Wisconsin. Adrian E. Camerson, son of Mrs. Webster by her first marriage, was born at Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, and his edu- cational advantages have included those of Leland Stanford University, California. After the nation became involved in the World war Adrian E. Cameron volunteered and enlisted in the Hospital Corps of Pasadena, and was subsequently transferred to the Two Hundred and Sixty-fourth Aero Squadron, on detached service, in which he gained the rank of corporal and with which he saw nineteen months of active service overseas. His enlist- ment occurred in May, 1917, and his service continued until the close of the war. He is a member of both the York and Scottish Rite organizations of the Masonic fraternity, as well as of the Mystic Shrine, and is a popular and appreciative member of the American Legion. Mr. Cameron is now vice president of the Farmers & Merchants National Bank of Redondo Beach and cashier of the Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank.

THE FARMERS & MERCHANTS NATIONAL BANK OF REDONDO BEACH is one of the well ordered institutions contributing to the financial stability and prestige of Los Angeles County. This bank was organized in August, 1902, and opened for business on the 1st of the following December, in quarters at the northeast corner of Pacific and Emerald streets. The in- stitution was incorporated with a capital stock of $32,000, and with the fol- lowing executive officers : H. W. Hillman, president ; F. H. Seymour, vice president ; and S. M. Webster, cashier. In 1903 J. A. Graves became presi- dent, F. H. Seymour continuing as vice president, and P. S. Venable being chosen second vice president, while A. H. Klein became cashier. Organ- ized as a state bank, the institution received on the 1st of August, 1905, its charter as a national bank, its capital having at this time been raised to $50,000 and the officers continuing the same. In 1910 Colonel F. H. Seymour, vice president from the beginning, died, and he was succeeded by J. H. Cavanagh, who still serves as vice president, as does also Mr. Venable, who is now the senior vice president. In 1912 E. C. Heath be- came cashier of the bank, in 1918 O. A. Pearce succeeded to its presidency, and in 1919 E. E. Webster became president, the personnel of the executive corps otherwise remaining unchanged in 1922. The bank now has a surplus fund of $50,000, and its business is of broad scope and importance. In 1914 was erected the present modern bank building, at the southeast corner of Pacific and Emerald streets, and the appointments and general equipment are of the most approved type, safety deposit vaults being pro- vided, as well as burglar alarms and all other facilities for the insuring of protection and the effective handling of the business of the institution.

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 5

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