USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume III > Part 6
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In February, 1922, was organized under the same official and financial auspices the Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank, which is co-ordinated as a virtual adjunct of the Farmers & Merchants National Bank, the respective officers of the two banks being identical, save that A. E. Cameron is cashier of the savings bank. The new bank is incorporated with a stock of $50,000 and for its accommodation there is being erected at the time of this writing, in the autumn of 1922, a modern banking office on Emerald Avenue. Of Elmer E. Webster, president of each of these institutions, individual mention is made in the preceding sketch.
EDWARD F. SPENCE. Recognized as one of the leading authorities on citrus fruits in the state, and accounted Monrovia's foremost independent fruit shipper, Edward F. Spence has led an active career and has won his own way to his present standing. When he arrived in this country he was without capital, and the success that he has gained is but another illus- tration of the value of the simple but important virtues of honorable action and persevering industry, when backed by inherent ability.
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Mr. Spence was born June 19, 1869, in County Fermanagh, Ireland, the next youngest in a family of nine children born to James and Jane (Mac- Cullough) Spence. The latter was a cousin of John Edward MacCullough, who occupied a notable position in America's dramatic art in the days of Booth and Barrington, and who was adjudged one of the country's greatest tragedians. James Spence was a prominent North of Ireland farmer, and Edward F. Spence was given the advantages of a practical education. At the age of twenty-three years, desiring to see something of the world and of bettering his condition and surroundings, he came to the United States, and in June, 1894, arrived at Monrovia. His stopping at this place was largely a matter of chance, as he had a ticket through to Los Angeles, and it was only as he neared the terminal that he thought of the name of Monrovia, which had been mentioned to him by a relative who made his home here. Leaving the train, he became the only passenger on a primitive horse-car and asked the driver where the town was. When informed that he was in the midst of the town at that moment he gazed with dismay at the few houses and far from prosperous looking country, and decided at first to return to the railway station and continue his journey. Irish-like, however, he gave the matter second thought, and the result of his investigations was that he decided to remain. It is not a wonder that the United States, and particularly Monrovia, failed to impress the newly- arrived Irish youth favorably. It was the year of Coxey's "Army," " work was scarce and what there was to be secured paid but small wages, and Monrovia was little more than a dust hole. However, with but little money, he was forced to accept conditions as he found them, and soon obtained employment in the orange groves. This action decided the trend of his entire career, as he has since continued to be connected with the citrus fruit industry, in which he has risen steadily to be a noted shipper and grower.
Mr. Spence early realized that Monrovia, because of its location, was bound to grow and that its realty values would increase. Therefore, as soon as he could accumulate sufficient capital he invested in twelve building lots, paying thirty-five dollars each for them. When the Pacific Electric Rail- road came in he disposed of these lots for $400 each. He later bought ten acres of the Bradbury estate for $300 per acre, and this tract, formerly in potatoes, he set out to oranges about the year 1900. He next purchased twenty acres on White Oak and Mayflower, and this tract, the finest location in the city, he also set to oranges. He still owns these properties, and on the latter is now erecting a number of buildings, including the most modern of homes for his own residence. Mr. Spence, always alert in business affairs, entered the orange and lemon marketing business soon after his arrival. For a long period he was buyer for the first fruit company organized, and for several years was agent for the Fay Fruit Company, and considered one of the most effective agents of the locality. During the past twelve years he has operated as an independent buyer and shipper of oranges and lemons, and in this connection operates his own packing house and ships upwards of 200 cars annually: In this work it is to be noted that he is confronted by the competition of the great fruit combines and has waged a most daring and successful contest. His operations here have proven of great value to fruit growers of the vicinity and have proven profitable to himself. His brand, the "Golden Harp," is favorably known and sought in all markets. His knowledge of citrus fruit and its culture is extensive, and he is frequently looked to for advice and counsel by other growers of the locality. Mr. Spence is a past master of Monrovia Lodge, F. and A. M. He is an enthusiast about his community, is prominent in civic affairs, and for the past eight years has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Chamber of Commerce.
On October 3, 1904, Mr. Spence was united in marriage with Miss Alpha Crandall, who was born in Iowa, where her parents are prominent, and came to California in 1902. She is a member of the Eastern Star and is prominent in Methodist Episcopal Church circles. Four children have come to Mr. and Mrs. Spence : Edward F., Jr., born in 1905, a graduate of
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Monrovia High School; James, born in 1908, a student at that school; Crandall, born in 1910; and Alpha Jane, born in 1912.
ATLAS L. WILSON. Many years have passed since the death of Atlas L. Wilson, but during a period of years he was one of the helpful and constructive men of Los Angeles County, and particularly of the com- munity of Duarte. His career was one in which he experienced many dangers and braved many hardships, including several crossings of the plains during the days of hostile Indians, and through courage, industry and real ability he gained a competence and won the admiration and esteem of his fellow men.
Mr. Wilson was born in November, 1827, at Little Washington, Penn- sylvania, where he received only a meagre common school education. When but thirteen years of age he became an errand boy and clerk in a general merchandise store at Little Washington, and after several years went to Allegheny City and then on to Philadelphia, in which city he embarked in merchandising on his own account. Lured by the call of the West, during the early '50s he went to Davenport, Iowa, then on the western frontier, where he established a store. This he conducted with success for some. years, but in 1857 contracted gold fever and joined a party crossing the plains, driving an ox-team. The journey was fraught with numerous dangers and hardships, but Mr. Wilson arrived eventually at his destination, San Francisco. Conditions there were not as he had expected them, and he later went to Boise City, Idaho, where he prospected successfully and became a successful miner. In 1864 he with two other hardy and cour- ageous men, with a mule team and $10,000 apiece, braved the hostile Indians and started East, driving overland. It was a hard and dangerous trail, as the Indians were always plentiful and warlike, and it was necessary for one of the three to constantly stand guard. Eventually the party arrived at Omaha, Nebraska, where Mr. Wilson embarked in cattle buying and in specializing in live stock, in partnership with Samuel Adair. Subse- quently Mr. Wilson married Catherine Adair, who was born at Wolf Lake, Indiana, Christmas day, 1846, a daughter of Samuel and Jane Melvin (McDonald) Adair, and the eldest child of the six sons and two daughters of this Scotch-Irish couple. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were the parents of two children : Samuel Adair Wilson, born at Blair, Nebraska, in 1870, un- married and a contractor of Monrovia ; and Fannie, born at Blair, Nebraska, in 1873, who died at Duarte, California, fifteen months later.
Late in 1874 Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and their children started for the West, journeying by rail from Nebraska to San Francisco, and then taking a boat to Wilmington, California, there being no railroads in Southern California at the time. At Wilmington they left the boat on a lighter, both freight and passengers being lightered in those days, having come south on the old steamship "Salvador." The journey was made from Wilmington to El Monte by rail, the Southern Pacific Railroad being then engaged in building the main line, and by team they drove about the country, finally selecting forty acres of wild land at Duarte, hauling the material therefor from Los Angeles. They arrived at Los Angeles New Year's day, 1875, and nine days later were esconced in their new home at Duarte. Mr. Wilson planted half of his land to oranges and the other half to vines and embarked in what he trusted would be a successful venture, although the outlook was not so promising, with water presenting a big problem and the markets being poor, while Mexican and Chinese labor had to be depended upon. Later Mr. Wilson sold an undivided half of his forty acres to Dr. Frank Buttolph, with whom he formed a partnership, and here they continued in business until Mr. Wilson's death, August 9, 1882. Following his death Mrs. Wilson divided the land and later sold her twenty acres, first destroying the vines, as she was strongly temperance and could not countenance the growing of wine grapes. After selling out she purchased a property at Monrovia, the corner of White Oak and Myrtle avenues, and this was her home for many years, or until its great increase
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in value as a business location caused her to sell and move her large house across White Oak Avenue, where she now resides.
Since her husband's death Mrs. Wilson has managed her own business affairs well and has been active in church matters, having been one of those responsible for the building of Monrovia's first Baptist Church and an active supporter of all religious movements. She is a member of the Woman's Club of Monrovia, while Mr. Wilson's only social connection was with the Odd Fellows Lodge. At the time of their coming to Cali- fornia all was unsettled to Los Angeles, which city Mrs. Wilson viewed with homesick eyes. It was then a cloud of dust in the summer and a bog of mud in the winter, but boasted the best hotel in Southern California, the U. S. Hotel on North Main Street. Pasadena was known as Indiana Colony, and Alhambra and Monrovia had not yet come into existence. Since coming to the latter place Mrs. Wilson has contributed to its develop- ment and growth, and is surrounded by a wide circle of sincere friends.
Mrs. Wilson has four brothers living in California: Robert Bruce Adair, William Thomas Adair and George A. Adair, all in the contracting painting business in Monrovia, and Harry Adair, chemist for the Standard Oil Company at Point Richmond, who is the father of three daughters. George Adair is the father of two daughters and two sons. Mrs. Wilson had one sister, Mrs. Mary Gibson, of Pueblo, Colorado, who died about 1902. She left one son, Albion Gibson, now residing in San Diego. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted with the Canadian forces, and served until the armistice, being discharged as a sergeant.
S. R. G. TWYCROSS, one of the honored pioneer citizens of Sierra Madre, has deep appreciation of the glorious climate and manifold attractions of the state of his adoption, the while he does not fail in a spirit of loyalty also to the staunch old New England state of his nativity. He was born at Dresden, Maine, on the banks of the Kennebec River, June 26, 1855, and is a son of Thomas J. and Margaret O. (Goodwin) Twycross, both like- wise natives of the old Pine Tree State, where the respective families were early established. Thomas J. Twycross passed his entire life in Maine, and there his active life was given mainly to farm industry, he having been one of the substantial and honored citizens of his community. His wife was born October 16, 1824, a daughter of Major Benjamin Goodwin, who was a patriot soldier and officer in the War of the Revolution. Mrs. Twy- cross passed the closing years of her long and gentle life at the old home in Maine, where she died in 1921, at the venerable age of ninety-seven years. She was a guest in the home of her son, S. R. G., at Sierra Madre, California, at the time of the celebration of her ninety-second birthday anniversary. Both she and her husband were most zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the eight children the subject of this sketch is the only son, and of the seven daughters only two are living at the time of this writing, in the winter of 1922-3.
Reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and afforded the advantages of the common school of his native county, S. R. G. Twycross early gained familiarity with all details of farm enterprise, so that he was well fortified when the death of his father entailed his assuming the man- agement of the old home farm. He finally contracted lung fever, and at the advice of physicians he sought more equable climatic conditions than those of his native state. On the 9th of November, 1881, he came to Alhambra, California, and in that locality he soon found employment on the ranch of E. L. Maybury. Thereafter he passed one season in Riverside, and in 1883 he came to Sierra Madre and entered the employ of N. H. Hosmer, then one of the leading orange-growers of this district. Later he engaged in driving a stage or omnibus in the transportation of passengers and mail between Sierra Madre and Santa Anita. He continued his sched- ule service in this field of enterprise thirty-five years, and met every passenger train arriving at the local station of the Santa Fe Railroad. At
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the time when the electric railway was completed and caused his business in this line to become unprofitable he had three large 'busses in commission.
Upon retiring from the business noted above Mr. Twycross turned his attention to real estate operations, and in this connection he has played a substantial part in the development and progress of this favored section of Los Angeles County. In the earlier period of his activities he was the only real estate dealer in Sierra Madre, and he controlled a large and pros- perous business, besides which he was here agent for the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company for the long period of thirty years. He made judicious investments in land in this district, made improvements on these properties, extended the irrigation system, and early planted a citrus orchard. On Baldwin Avenue, Sierra Madre, his attractive home place comprises about four acres. Since coming to California Mr. Twycross has made fourteen trips back to the old home in Maine, and has reveled in renewing the friend- ships and associations of his boyhood and youth. He is a stalwart repub- lican, has been an earnest worker in behalf of temperance and the general elimination of the liquor traffic, and has taken active part in supporting measures and enterprises tending to advance the welfare of his home city and community. When he first came to Sierra Madre the future city had but four houses, only two of which he discovered, as the other two were hidden in the obscurity of the brush and timber. All land in this district was then virtually unimproved, covered with oak trees and sage brush, and he was offered a choice of the best land in the locality for the sum of forty dollars an acre. He is a member of the Sierra Madre Chamber of Com- merce, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World, is a member of the Fireman's Club at Sierra Madre, and he and his wife are active members of the local Congregational Church.
As a young man Mr. Twycross wedded Miss Emily Frances Greenleaf, who was born and reared at Mercer, Maine, and whose death occurred in 1915. The one child of this union is Convers L. Twycross, who was born at Mercer, Maine, March 13, 1885. After profiting by the advantages of the public schools of Sierra Madre Monvers L. Twycross graduated from Throop College at Pasadena. He is now special clerk in the regis- tered-letter division of the post office in the City of Los Angeles. In col- lege he took courses in civil engineering and assaying, and he has received high pay for assaying work done in Nevada, besides which he has served as city engineer of Los Angeles, in which connection he did effective service in drafting plans for the great outfall sewer system of the metropolis of Southern California. He married Miss Ruth Sparks, a native of the State of Iowa, and they have two sons, Randolph James and Richard Convers.
On the 26th of June, 1916, the subject of this sketch contracted a second marriage, when Charlotte L. Hammond, a native of Portland, Maine, became his wife. Mrs. Twycross is the popular chatelaine of the attractive home in which she and her husband delight to extend hospitality to their many friends.
SETH W. CHAMPION. The life of a good man teaches a lesson not easily forgotten, and the record he made while living continues to wield a powerful influence long after all that is mortal of him has been returned to the dust from whence it sprung. The good that men accomplish certainly does live after them, giving to their deeds a mortality that is infinite. The late Seth W. Champion, of Alhambra, was one of those men who spent himself in the service of others, and who, while doing so, achieved a notable reputation and amassed a comfortable competency.
Seth W. Champion was born at Princeton, Kentucky, December 25, 1844, a son of Henry W. and Sallie ( Wiggenton) Champion, and grandson of Thomas Champion, a native of North Carolina, who moved to near Salem, Livingston County, Kentucky. There he continued to reside until 1814. He served as sheriff of Livingston County, and was a trader with the Southern states. While on a trip South with a drove of horses he con-
Sur Champion
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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
tracted yellow fever, and died soon after his return home, leaving a widow and five children. His widow had been Frances Williams prior to her marriage, and she was born in 1789, in Culpeper County, Virginia. In 1809 she accompanied her brother to Livingston County, Kentucky. The Williams family was one of the old and honored ones of Culpeper County, to which belonged many distinguished sons of Virginia, among whom was Robert Williams of the United States Army, an ardent Unionist and valued officer during the war between the two sections of the country. Although a Virginian by birth, he could not join the Confederacy, and after the war was over served as an adjutant general, and did much to help in readjusting matters and restoring normal conditions. He married the widow of Stephen A. Douglas, United States Senator, and one-time candidate for the presi- dency of the United States. The grandfather of Robert Williams served in and was commissioned an officer of the War of 1812, in which he served with notable bravery and gallantry to the end. The paternal great-grand- mother of Seth W. Champion came of another distinguished family of Virginia, representatives of which were numerous in Culpeper County.
Henry W. Champion, father of Seth W. Champion, was born in Living- ston County, Kentucky, in 1812, and was but a boy when he lost his father. His wife was a granddaughter of John M. Bell, who belonged to a famous Southern family, many representatives of which held high public office. John M. Botts, one of the men who signed the bail demanded for Jefferson Davis at the close of the war, was a member of the Bell family. Prior to the war John M. Bell served for many years in Congress, was an old-line whig, and an enthusiastic follower of Henry Clay. A lawyer and gentle- man farmer, with a law office at Richmond, Virginia, and a country home at Culpeper Court House, when the war broke out, as he opposed secession, he retired to his country home, which was later practically confiscated by the Confederate government. His loyalty to the Union caused his arrest and imprisonment at the hands of the Confederates. After the conclusion of the war he exerted his influence to restore Virginia to statehood.
In 1857 Henry W. Champion, with his family, moved from Kentucky to Coles County, Illinois, and became a farmer of the latter locality, where he continued to reside until 1862, when he made another change and moved to Macon County, that same state. Four years later he went to Menard County, Illinois, and there he died in 1881. In early life he was engaged in the newspaper business in Tennessee and Kentucky both as a printer and publisher.
Seth W. Champion received his education in the schools of Coles County and Mount Zion, Illinois, and continued to work on his father's farm until after he had reached his majority. When he was twenty-two years old he left home and, going to Virden, Illinois, became the clerk in charge of the office of the Chicago & Alton Railroad at that point. After a year there he was made station agent of the road at Greenville, Illinois, and two years later was promoted to station agent at Lacon, Illinois, which position he held for eight years. Leaving the Chicago & Alton, he went to Green Bay, Wisconsin, to be station agent there for the Green Bay & Minnesota Rail- road, now the Green Bay, Winona & Saint Paul Railroad. Sometime there- after he entered the general offices of this road as chief clerk. From then on his promotion was rapid, and he became successively general freight and passenger agent, superintendent, and in 1890 was made general manager of the road, with headquarters at Green Bay. One of the builders and prin- cipal promoters of the Green Bay & Western Railroad, he served it as general manager from its organization. As a railroad man Mr. Champion was one of the well-known figures of his day throughout the entire North- west, and recognized as one of superior ability and capabilities. Having entered railroad work as a station agent in a country town, his rise was remarkable, and yet not after all surprising. From the beginning of his career he made it a practice to familiarize himself with the details not only of his own position, but the one above him, and so when the moment was ripe he was ready for the promotion. He earned each advancement by hard
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work, honest endeavor, intelligent effort and efficient service. A close student of the railroad service, he gave it his entire time during the thirty years he devoted to it, and so had no opportunity to render a public service, aside from that connected with his membership of the City Council of Lacon, Illinois. During all of that period, however, he always took that intelligent interest in civic matters every good citizen should display. His family being of Southern origin, and of the old-line whig politics, he drifted into the republican party. His early influences in religious matters were those exerted by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. .
On July 1, 1897, Mr. Champion resigned his railroad offices, and, coming to Alhambra, California, bought ten acres of land on the souhwest corner of Alhambra Road and Vega Street, on which he erected a modern residence and improved an orange grove. Subsequently he bought three acres adjoin- ing, now owned by Walter Hass, and this he also put to fruit. Mr. Cham- pion invested quite extensively in property in Alhambra, buying various tracts, which after improving them, he sold, one purchase being eleven acres on West Main Street and the Arroyo, now known as Champion Place. From the time he came to Alhambra until his death he was a very active and influ- ential citzen, and did much to develop the early interests of Alhambra. He was one of the leaders in the organization of the Home Telephone Company, was instrumental in effecting the organization of the corporation of Alham- bra, and was a member of the first Board of Councilmen elected after the city was incorporated.
In 1868 Seth W. Champion married Miss Lucinda A. White, a daughter of George Roley White. She was born at Decatur, Illinois, where she con- tinued to reside until her marriage. Five children were born to this marriage. Bertie and Roy died in infancy. Lalla May, who was born May 14, 1870, died in 1914. Ora, who was born October 13, 1873, married George Wallace, a member of one of the pioneer families of Los Angeles County. Clyde W. was born March 9, 1885, a sketch of whom appears in the following sketch. Mr. Champion died May 14, 1910, and his widow followed him in 1913. Mr. Champion was a man of marked liberality and public spirit. His principles were those of the sturdiest kind of honesty, and not only was he successful in guiding the affairs of large railroads, but equally competent in managing his own business and attending to civic matters, to which he gave more and more attention as the years advanced. His word had a value above parchment or legal formalities, and his place is hard to fill and his loss is still felt.
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