USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume III > Part 50
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Reverend Rogers and his twenty families, most of them members of his congregation, started for the Massachusetts Bay colony. They landed on the Massachusetts coast near what is today Andover, then called Cochiechewich plantation. The land was uninhabited and Reverend Rogers and his colony got his grant along the shore, consisting of land and salt marshes.
They founded the Town of Rowley, Massachusetts, September 1, 1639. Haywards Gazetteer calls the Rowley settlers "industrious and pious set- tlers from Yorkshire." They erected the first fulling mill (cloth mill) in New England and manufactured the first cloth.
Owing to the fact that the Indians burnt most of the records in 1696 early history is not as complete as it should be; however, the Rowley colony was making progress steadily. In order to be a freeman, or voter, a man had to join the church and own a parcel of land free from incum- brance.
Records show that John Burbank in September, 1639, had a lot of 11/2 acres on Bradford Street as his freehold. The twenty families were soon
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ready and on May 13, 1640, were made freeholders and John Burbank lived in Rowley until his death in 1681. His second wife was Jemima Burbank. They secured a grant of land along the coast between Ipswich and Newberry, Massachusetts, and founded the Town of Rowley, Septem- ber 1, 1639.
The Burbank family has contributed a number of men well known publicly for distinguished service. Among them was Capt. Abijah Bur- bank, a captain in the Revolutionary war, who began the manufacture of paper at Sutton, Massachusets, in 1776, an industry continued by his sons until 1835. John Burbank was "master at arms" under Capt. John Paul Jones on the Bon Homme Richard in the famous encounter with the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough. While the Serapis was sinking John Burbank released the prisoners, and for that was censored by Captain Jones. Maj .- Gen. Caleb Burbank of Millbury, Massachusetts, was elevated from the rank of private to that of major general in the Massachusetts State Militia. To mention some of the names in more modern times would include James C. Burbank of St. Paul, Minnesota, who established a river express line from St. Paul to Galena, in 1851. He built the first steamer that successfully navigated the Red River of the North, and was president of the Chamber of Commerce of St. Paul in 1869-71, president of the street railway, and a representative in the State Legislature. Charles Burbank during the '70s was a well known platform lecturer and orator. E. A. Burbank ranks with Frederick Remington as an Indian painter, and has sketched all the well known hostile chiefs of the Custer massacre and many other prominent Indians, making more than twenty-five hundred studies. It is sufficient to mention only the name of Luther Burbank of Santa Rosa, California, another descendant of the original Massachusetts settler.
The successive generations down to Doctor Burbank are noted as follows : I. John Burbank, whose two wives were named Ann and Jemima. II. Caleb Burbank, who married Martha Smith, May 6, 1669. III. Eleazar Burbank, whose wife was Lydia. IV. Caleb Burbank, who married Margaret Wheeler. V. Capt. Abijah Burbank, who married Mary Spring. VI. Abijah Burbank, who married Betsey Foster. VII. John Burbank, who married Eliza Ladd. VIII. John Burbank, who married Mary M. Canary. IX. Dr. Glenn C. Burbank.
Doctor Burbank was born at Bloomfield, Indiana, September 13, 1874. His mother, Mary M. Canary, died at Evansville, Indiana, in 1887. John O. Burbank came to Santa Ana, California, in 1887, was a banker there, and died at Long Beach, December 16, 1915, and at one time was president of the Sunset Club of Santa Ana. His second wife, Elizabeth Cookerly Burbank, died at Santa Ana in 1908.
Glenn C. Burbank attended the common schools of Bloomfield and Bloomington, Indiana, graduated from the Bloomington High School in 1894, and received the B. A. degree from Indiana University in 1899. He came out to Santa Ana, California, in 1899, but subsequently returned East and entered the Northwestern University Dental School at Chicago, where he graduated D. D. S. in 1903. Doctor Burbank as a young man worked in the clothing business, and made part of his expenses while in dental school by employment in some of the large stores of Chicago.
One of the most cherished possessions of Glenn C. Burbank is a high chair made by the first Abijah Burbank for his first child in 1761. This chair was used successively by all of the children of Abijah Burbank.
Along with an extensive practice Doctor Burbank has been interested in the organizations of his profession, and among other honors has been vice-president of the Los Angeles County Dental Association and of the Southern California Dental Association. He was Dental examiner for service men at Long Beach during 1917, has been president of the Long Beach Board of Education, and is interested in a number of commercial enterprises, being a stockholder in the First National Bank of Santa Ana, the Security Trust & Savings Bank of Los Angeles, the Western Savings
Jeo. J. Starr, D. O.
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Bank of Long Beach, and a director in the Long Beach Transfer and Ware- house Company. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, is a republican, is affiliated with the Phi Delta Theta and Xi Psi Phi fraternities, and is a life member of Long Beach Lodge No. 888, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
November 9, 1902, at Arroyo Grande, California, Doctor Burbank mar- ried Miss Mary B. Findley, daughter of the late W. H. and Laura (Records) Findley, who came from Illinois. Mrs. Burbank is secretary of the Day Nursery of Long Beach, and that is the chief object of her philanthropic efforts. They have two children, both born at Long Beach, William Winston and Glenn Caleb Burbank.
GEORGE J. STARR, D. O., is proving his ability quite as effectively in his practice as an exemplar of the benignant system of osteopathy as he did in the nation's aviation service in the great World war, in which he made a splendid record.
Dr. Starr was born at Wyaconda, Missouri, December 10, 1893, and is now engaged in the successful practice of his profession in the City of Pasadena, with offices at 506 Central Building. He is a son of Edwin Albert and Mollie Elizabeth (Baltzel) Starr, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Missouri, where their marriage was sol- emnized. The father became a successful contractor and builder in Mis- souri, and in the earlier period of his residence at Pasadena, California, he here followed the same line of enterprise. Here he has lived retired for the past twelve years. He was at one time a candidate for nomination for governor of Missouri, but his avowed convictions prevented him from co-operating with men whose political activities met his disapproval, the result being that he failed of nomination in the democratic primaries. He has been active in the affairs of the democratic party, but as a great admirer of the late Colonel Theodore Roosevelt he deflected from party lines to vote for that great American for president of the United States. He was a bridge engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad, and was present at the driving of the gold spike which marked the completion of the lines of this road as the first transcontinental route to the Pacific Coast. When but fifteen years of age he enlisted as a drummer boy for service in the Union Army in the Civil war, he having given his age as eighteen years and having been accepted, but his father stated his real age to the military authorities and compelled him to return home. He is affiliated with the Masonic fra- ternity and he and his wife are honored residents of Pasadena, where they established their home in 1910. The family resided two years in Colorado, thence removed to Los Angeles in 1906, and in the latter city Mr. Starr continued his residence until he came to Pasadena, as noted above. In the family of four sons and two daughters, Dr. Starr, of this review, was the fifth in order of birth.
Dr. Starr attended school in Missouri and Colorado, and after the re- moval to California he continued his studies in the public schools of Los Angeles. In 1915 he graduated from the Pasadena High School, and he then entered the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons at Los Angeles, in which he continued his studies until the nation became involved in the World war. He forthwith enlisted in the aviation service, in which he continued fourteen months, at the Naval Air Station at North Island, San Diego, where he also did effective service in caring for patients at the time of the great epidemic of influenza. He had passed preliminary ex- amination for a commission in the air service and for assignment to active war work when the signing of the armistice brought the great conflict to a close. He had thirteen hours of actual flying experience while stationed at North Island.
After receiving his honorable discharge Dr. Starr resumed his studies at the College of Osteopathy in Los Angeles, and in this institution he was graduated in June, 1921, with the degree of Doctor of Osteopathy. In the following month he passed the examination before the State Medical
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Board, and thus is entitled to practice as a physician and surgeon as well as an osteopathic physician. He established an office in Pasadena, and has developed a prosperous and representative practice, in which he special- izes in obstetrics. He is an enthusiastic and active working member of the American Legion, is affiliated with the Alumni Association of the Beta Chapter of the Phi Sigma Gamma National Fraternity, and is a popular member of the California State Osteopathic Association. In 1921 and 1922 Dr. Starr was retained as official physician for the football teams of the California Institute of Technology and in 1921 of the Pasadena High School. He is also a devotee of lawn tennis.
July 4, 1921, recorded the marriage of Dr. Starr and Miss Helen Elizabeth Sadler, who was born in Los Angeles and who is a member of the Native Daughters of the Golden West. She attended the public schools of Los Angeles, and also the Otis Art Institute and the Stickney Memorial School in that city. Mrs. Starr is a young woman of marked talent, and her gracious personality has gained to her distinctive popu- larity in the social circles of Pasadena.
GEORGE HERBERT GALBRAITH, M. D., of Long Beach, where his offices are established in suite 410-11-12 First National Bank Building and his residence at 1809 East Seventh Street, has achieved in his profession a successful work and service that mark him as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of Los Angeles County.
Doctor Galbraith was born at Johnsonville, Illinois, January 21, 1875, and is a son of Newton W. and Mary (Endicott) Galbraith, the father having developed one of the large and fine farm estates of that section of Illinois and the property being still in his possession, though since 1921 he has resided and lived retired in the home of his son, Doctor Galbraith, of this sketch, his loved and devoted wife having died at the old home in Illinois, in 1906. Newton W. Galbraith still continues president of the Johnsonville Bank, in the old home county in Illinois.
The public schools of his native state afforded Doctor Galbraith his earlier education, which was supplemented by his attending Harvard College. In preparation for the profession of his choice he thereafter entered the medical department of St. Louis University, in the metropolis of Missouri, and in this institution he was graduated in 1904, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Prior to entering the medical school he had made a record of six years of effective service as a teacher in the public schools of Wayne County, Illinois, and for two years of this period he was principal of the schools at Johnsonville. In 1905 Doctor Galbraith engaged in the general practice of his profession at Herrin, an important industrial town in the coal-mining district of Illinois, and there he continued his resi- dence until 1911, when he came with his family to Long Beach, California, where he has built up a substantial and representative general practice and where he is also local surgeon for the Pacific Electric Railroad, and a member of the staff of the Seaside Hospital. He served from 1915 to 1921 as a valued and progressive member of the Long Beach Board of Education, and was president of the same in 1920.
Doctor Galbraith gives to the republican party unqualified allegiance, his basic Masonic affiliation is with Long Beach Lodge, No. 327, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, he being affiliated also with the local chapter of Royal Arch Masons, the Long Beach Commandery of Knights Templars, the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and the temple of the Mystic Shrine in the City of Los Angeles. He is a member also of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, as well as of its adjunct organization, the Daughters of Rebekah. He is an active member of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce and also of the Kiwanis Club in his home city. He holds membership in the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Long Beach, of which his wife likewise was an earnest member, and in a professional way he is identified with the Los Angeles County Medical Society, the California State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, besides hav-
Rulesbornett
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ing formerly held membership in the Illinois State Medical Society. The Doctor is the eldest in a family of four sons and two daughters, one of the daughters being deceased and all of the other members of the family, includ- ing the venerable father, being now residents of California.
At Johnsonville, Illinois, on the 1st of January, 1903, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Galbraith to Miss Bertha Weems, daughter of the late Colonel T. L. B. Weems, of that place, who served as a gallant officer of the Forty-eighth Illinois regiment in the Civil war. The death of Mrs. Gal- braith occurred August 7, 1921, her gracious personality having gained to her a wide circle of friends in Long Beach, where she was actively associated with church work and representative social affairs, she having been a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Daughters of Rebekah and the Ebell Club. Mrs. Galbraith is survived by three children: Harold Weems Galbraith, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and Anita and Maxine Galbraith, who were born at Long Beach.
REV. WILLIAM H. CORNETT. To the many advantages enjoyed at Santa Monica the uplifting influence of the churches must not be ignored. This city is the home of many denominations, and the Presbyterian body is well represented. Among the able, hard-working ministers who have carried on their spiritual work here for a number of years, perhaps none are better known or more generally held in high esteem than Rev. William H. Cornett, the faithful pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. Dr. Cornett has been a resident of California for seventeen years, and fifteen of them have been passed in this city.
William H. Cornett was born at Lansdowne, Ontario, Canada, February 17, 1862. His parents were William and Sarah (Reid) Cornett, both natives of Ireland, the father born in County Tyrone and the mother in County Armaugh, and both were thirteen years old when they were brought to Canada. William Cornett in his earlier years engaged in farming in Leeds County, and became politically prominent there, serving some terms as county treasurer. Later he removed to Yakima, Washington, where he invested in a fruit ranch, and both he and wife died there. They led worthy, useful lives and passed away with the respect of all who knew them.
In early boyhood William H. Cornett attended the public schools in his native village, then entered the preparatory department of Queen's Uni- versity at Kingston, and in 1888 was graduated from Queen's University with the degree of B. A. He then went abroad to pursue his theological studies, and in the class of 1891 was graduated in the Free Church, Edin- borough, Scotland. Upon his return he spent five years in pastoral work in the State of Washington, then went to New York City and spent a year there in study preparatory to entering the First Presbyterian Church at Albion, New York, where he remained four years.
To still further prepare himself for the great work he had undertaken Dr. Cornett passed the next two years in travel and study in Europe, and upon his return to the United States accepted the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church of East Cleveland, Ohio, where he continued until. 1905, when he came to Los Angeles, California, and from there in 1907 to. the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church at Santa Monica. Not only. has he been an able expounder of Presbyterian doctrine as one of .. the thoroughly learned men of his church body, but he also possesses rare ad- ministrative ability, as is exemplified in the remarkable progress made under his administration in the affairs of the First Church, resulting in increase. of strength from every standpoint-membership, spirituality and financial standing.
Dr. Cornett married, July 3, 1894, Miss Roberta Forrest, of Spokane, Washington, who died November 4, 1914, their two sons, Forrest and Gordon, surviving and both residents of Santa Monica, the latter a student in Occidental College. Dr. Cornett's second marriage took place on January 1, 1918, to Mrs. Jessica R. Clark, who was born at Fort Scott,
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Kansas, September 20, 1871, and was educated at Santa Monica. She has one son, Donald Edward Clark, of New York City, and his small son bears the same name, Donald Edward Clark, Jr. Mrs. Cornett is well known in social life here, and for seventeen years has been treasurer of the Santa Monica Bay Woman's Club.
Dr. Cornett is one of the broad-minded men of his profession and has been a tireless worker in the interests of his church and the cause of Chris- tianity, and as a citizen has always been staunch in his stand in supporting movements he believes to be right. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and has membership also in the following civic and social organizations : The University Club, Los Angeles ; the Greater Santa Monica, Brentwood Golf, and Rotary Clubs, and also the Twilight Club of Pasadena and the Celtic Club of Los Angeles. He is also an honorary member of the Pasa- dena Horticultural Society.
WILLIAM WESTERGARD. Although still in the very prime of vigorous manhood, William Westergard, senior member of the dependable firm of Westergard-Elkins Company, realtors, 223 East First Street, Long Beach, has had a venturesome life, and has crowded his years with more service than falls to the lot of many over double his age. He was born at Omaha, Nebraska, February 1, 1888, a son of Willard and Anna (Norgard) Westergard, natives of Denmark, who located at Omaha, Nebraska, over forty years ago, there met each other and were married. His death occurred in 1900, but she survives. For about thirty years Willard Wester- gard was connected with the Omaha postoffice, and he is still remembered as one of the successful business men of his day. Eight children, six sons and two daughters, were born to him and his wife, of whom five sons and one daughter survive, and of them all William Westergard was the second in order of birth, and the only member of his family in California.
After completing his schooling in the public schools of Omaha, William Westergard entered the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad, and continued with it for eighteen months, when he went on the road as a traveling representative for an implement concern. Subsequently he was elected and served as probate clerk of Douglas County, Nebraska, for six years.
Leaving Nebraska he went to El Paso, Texas, where for a time he was in the cattle brokerage business, and this took him into Mexico, and during his numerous trips he became personally acquainted with Villa, whom he regarded as an excellent friend of the United States Government until the recognition of Carranza. Upon one of his buying expeditions during 1914-15, Mr. Westergard was captured by one of the revolutionary parties, and, according to the usual method, was taken before a firing squad for execution, it being the custom to execute first and investigate afterwards. Fortunately among those in authority was a man whom he had previously befriended, and through his intervention Mr. Westergard's life was spared. His numerous travels over Texas and other Southern states and into Mexico, made him acquainted with conditions, and a valuable assistant to the officer in charge of motor transportation of the punitive expedition into Mexico, and he was with General Pershing to capture Villa. After the close of that campaign Mr. Westergard was chief clerk during the process of storing the motors at Fort Bliss. When that work was completed he was transferred to Camp Kearney as auditor with the construction quarter- master, and remained there until the armistice was signed.
Leaving Camp Kearney in the latter part of 1918 he came to Long Beach, California, and for two years was note teller in charge of the Liberty Bonds for the First National Bank of that city, and he was also engaged in auditing for his institution. Leaving the First National Bank Mr. Westergard became a salesman for E. F. Barton, in a general brokerage business, and January 1, 1923, entered upon his present business in partner- ship with J. L. Elkins, in the quarters still occupied by the firm. Wester- gard-Elkins Company handle real estate, make exchanges and loans and
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sell insurance, and specialize on surety bonds. They handle some of the most desirable residential and business property in the city and county, and are representatives of reliable, old-line insurance companies. Both mem- bers of the firm are experienced business men, energetic and reliable, and their success is a matter of certainty. Mr. Westergard is a rock-rib repub- lican. Fraternally he belongs to Omaha Lodge No. 39, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, of Omaha, Nebraska ; and El Paso Lodge No. 130, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of El Paso, Texas.
On June 12, 1912, Mr. Westergard was married at St. Joseph, Mis- souri, to Miss Jessie Frances Flanagan, and they have one son, William Texas, who was born at El Paso, Texas, July 3, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. West- ergard maintain their residence at 2705 East Tenth Street, Long Beach. Mrs. Westergard is very active in the work of the Loyal Legion and Red Cross, and was especially zealous during the war, and participated in all of the drives. During the last year of the war she was high captain of Red Cross activities. In 1922 she was president of the Parent-Teacher Asso- ciation of the Carroll Park School, now the Luther Burbank School of Long Beach.
Mrs. Jessie Frances (Flanagan) Westergard was born at what was then Covington, but is now Sioux City, Nebraska, and was educated in the schools of Omaha, Nebraska, and Little Sioux, Iowa, and was also in the convent at Council Bluffs, Iowa. She belongs to the Eastern Star, as does Mr. Westergard. The family history of Mrs. Westergard is a very inter- esting and notable one. She is the daughter of the late John H. Flanagan, formerly a very prominent man of Omaha, Nebraska, where for many years he had been general agent of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, and just prior to his death he had been made general manager of the Port Arthur route of the road with headquarters in Texas. Mrs. Flanagan survives her husband and makes her home at El Paso. Prior to her marriage she was Miss Ella Smith, and she belongs to one of the very old families of Virginia, and representatives of it served in the Revolutionary war, and were soldiers in both the Union and Confederate army.
Mrs. Westergard traces back on her mother's side through six genera- tions of American-born, to Charles Moore, who was born in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1763. He served during the American Revolution on the staff of Maj. Mount Florence and later that of Col. Nathan Brandon. Another ancestor, Benjamin Brazzelton, a Revolutionary soldier, was an early settler of Eastern Tennessee, and lost his life in the Black Hawk war. Moses German of South Carolina, another forebear, married Eliza Jane Brazzelton, a daughter of Benjamin Brazzelton and Alice (Moore) Braz- zelton. Mary F. German, daughter of Moses and Eliza Jane German married Chauncey Sweet Smith, from somewhere in the New England states. He was a member of Company K, Seventh Iowa Cavalry during the war of the '60s, and served under General Sulley as dispatch carrier in the Sioux lands, and was in the battle of Pipestone Hill and Blockhouse Num- ber 7. Ella Lew Smith, daughter of Chauncey S. and Mary F. Smith, was married, as above stated, to John H. Flanagan.
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