USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume III > Part 60
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In addition to the work of his profession Mr. Underwood takes an
SIR
Mrs. G. Moselle Naurter
6. 8. Lawton
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active part in local affairs, was appointed Justice of the Peace of Long Beach Township in 1909 and has been reelected to the same office for three successive terms, thus having served in that capacity for almost fourteen years, and was a member four years and for two years president of the Long Beach Board of Education, served as a director of the Chamber of Commerce four years and president of the Boy Scout Council for one year. He has filled all the chairs in Long Beach Lodge No. 888, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, is president of the Exchange Club, and a member of the Long Beach and California Bar Association.
November 21, 1906, at Denver, Mr. Underwood married Miss Cecelia T. Duffy, who was born in Guelph, Ontario, and was educated there and at Denver. They have one child, born at Pasadena, named Stephen F.
EDWIN J. VAWTER. In the death of the late Edwin J. Vawter there passed from Los Angeles County a man of foresight and vision, who had the courage of his convictions and who was a prominent factor in the founding and development of Montebello. A natural mechanic, at the time of his arrival he located in a barley field, and to the scoffers who asked derisively where his patronage was to come from, he answered sturdily : "Here grows a city." He lived to see his prophecy come true and to become one of the leading citizens of the town which he had helped to found.
Mr. Vawter was born in the Willamet Valley of Oregon, December 14, 1858, a son of William and Rachael Ann (Robinett) Vawter. Mr. Vawter was a descendent of one of the French Huguenot families which came to the United States in the sixteenth century. Mr. Robinett, father of Mrs. Vawter, crossed the plains in a covered wagon in 1851 to Portland, Oregon, and William Vawter was a member of this company. He, with others, bought a vessel and fitted it out for a six months' trip, going from Portland to Queen Charlottes Island and anchoring in Gold Harbor, where they prospected, but without success. William Vawter was postmaster of Walla Walla, Washington, from 1877 to 1881. From there he went with his family to San Jacinto, California, during the early settlement of that colony. William Vawter built there the first brick structure, which was destroyed during an earthquake, and for twenty-two years was justice of the peace of San Jacinto, where his death occurred.
Edwin J. Vawter attended grammar school to the age of fourteen years, at which time he began to serve an apprenticeship to the trade of black- smithing. He then entered Walla Walla (Washington) College, from which he was graduated, but returned to his trade, in which he excelled. He was not only a noted mechanic of his time, but was of an inven- tive turn, and was also versatile in his accomplishments, being able to make anything from iron or steel from a tempered razor blade to a horseshoe, could correct any foot troubles for horsemen, was an artist in carriage building, successful in business and a noted maker of plow shares, which were made by hand, a most excellent article that brought trade from far places.
Mr. Vawter came from California with the family and established a blacksmith business at San Jacinto, which he operated until 1896, when he removed to Highland Park, Los Angeles County, and then sold out and opened at Glendale. In 1897 he was united in marriage with Miss Eva Ayars, who was born in Texas, a daughter of J. Q. and Mary (Mc- Clain) Ayars, the former a native of Illinois and the latter of Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Ayars came to Los Angeles in 1887. At that time the Los Angeles Times was a four-page newspaper, and Mr. Ayars secured a position soliciting subscriptions. Traveling throughout the county, he became very successful in this line, and turned in the largest list ever secured.
Following his marriage Mr. Vawter moved to Glendale, where for the small sum of $500 he bought a house, blacksmith shop and tools and three
Vol. III-19
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lots. He carried on his business there until 1904, which year and that following he spent in Alaska, and January 1, 1906, came to what was then Newmark Station but is now Montebello. Here he purchased a half-acre of land on Sixth Street and Whittier Boulevard and built the first business building at Montebello, a one-story structure, in which his shop was located. As the community became more settled a gathering-place was desired by the people, and Mr. Vawter added another story to his building, this being the community's first social center and dance hall. In the meantime his business had grown by leaps and bounds, and he soon had more than he could attend to, his splendid workmanship gaining him a reputation that extended over a wide territory. Later Mr. Vawter purchased one acre on the southwest corner of Sixth and Whittier Boulevard, paying $1,200, and this became the site of his modern home, built in 1910. Mr. Vawter was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He belonged to the Methodist Church, in the faith of which he died July 14, 1918.
Arthur J. Vawter, the elder of the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Vawter, was born at Glendale in 1898. As a young man he had joined the Coast Artillery, and at the opening of the war between this country and Germany was called into active service. He was honorably discharged be- cause of disability. In 1921 he went to Burmish, India, as driller for the Dutch Shell Oil Company. In 1922 he went to the Island of Java, where he is now engaged in the oil fields. In 1918 he married Miss Evelyn Havdenshield, of Ohio, and they have one child, Selma Ann. Ada Rachel Vawter, the younger of the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Vawter, was born at Glendale in 1900, graduated from Long Beach High School and spent one year at the State University, Berkeley, California. She left the University to marry Frank Boyd, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1921, and they are the parents of one son, Paul Preston, born August 10, 1922. Mr. Boyd is superintendent of the Montebello field of the Union Oil Company.
JOHN H. COOLMAN, a successful contractor and builder engaged in business in the city of Covina, was born at Medina, Ohio, October 22, 1850, and is a son of William and Leah (Hyde) Coolman, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. John H. Coolman was a lad of twelve years at the time of his father's death, and his elder brothers were then serving as gallant soldiers of the Union in the Civil war. Under these conditions the care and management of the home farm developed upon the subject of this review, though he was a mere boy. Of the four sons the eldest, Alfred, served actively during three years of the Civil war, as a member of the Nineteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. After receiving his discharge he assisted in organizing another regiment and resumed his service at the front. As the result of a severe wound he received in battle he died within a short time after his return home. Adam, the next younger brother, became a member of the Eighty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war, he having been with Sherman in the historic Atlanta campaign and the celebrated march to the sea. He was wounded in action but attained to advanced age.
John H. Coolman was thrown on his own resources before he was thirteen years old, his mother having contracted a second marriage. He served an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade, but after eighteen months he found that he was treated unfairly in the matter of compensation and left the employ of his instructor. He had made such excellent advancement in his work that he was able to command full pay as a journeyman at his trade. He was soon called home, by reason of the illness of his stepfather, and his mother then insisted that he attend school again, which he did for an interval, when sixteen years of age. His broader education thereafter was gained in the school of practical experience. At the age of nineteen years Mr. Coolman took his first trade contract for the erection of a house at Arcola, Indiana, and he has continued in the contracting business during the long intervening years. He first came to California in 1877, and here
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he eventually gained contracts that enabled him to clear about $3,000. He returned to Indiana on account of the death of his wife's mother, and there he continued his residence until 1889, when he came again to California and here became one of the pioneer settlers in the little village of Covina. Here he bought ten acres of land which he set to orange trees and which has become one of the finest orange grove properties in this district. For five years he was engaged in the nursery business, and in connection with the splendid growth and development of Covina and its surrounding country he played a large part, by his successful operations in the buying and selling of land. He was prominently identified with the contest that gained to the Southern Pacific Railroad its right of way through this part of Los Angeles County, Mr. Huntington having given him free hand in this con- nection, in 1895. He was called into conference with the officials of the Southern Pacific in its contention with the Santa Fe Railroad system, and it was largely due to his finesse and successful handling of affairs that the important work was carried forward to success and the Southern Pacific gained its right of way. In the same connection Mr. Coolman did splendid service in safeguarding and advancing the interests of his home district. In his declining years he is making a cleanup and recently sold a large ranch® west of Covina, which is one of his extensive holdings and is now engaged in disposing of important property in the City of Los Angeles and large holdings in Los Angeles County.
Mr. Coolman is affiliated with the Masonic Fraternity, being a member of Lodge No. 334 Free and Accepted Masons of Covina, Azusa Chapter Royal Arch Masons No. 80, Pomona Council No. 21, Royal and Select Masters, Covina Commandery No. 49 of Knights Templar, and Al Malaikah Shrine in Los Angeles. He is also a member of Lodge No. 789 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of Pomona and the Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 102, at Covina, and La Paloma Chapter No. 202, Order of the Eastern Star. He is also a member of Jinnistan Grotto No. 76 M. O. V. P. E. R. of Los Angeles.
On October 28, 1904, Mr. Coolman was united in marriage to Mrs. Anna C. Taylor, who was born at Fort Wayne, Indiana. They have no children.
In 1895 Mr. Coolman was associated with Messrs. Huntington, Muir and Hood in the organization and incorporation of the Covina Land and Water Company, and on a tract of twenty-eight acres he developed the domestic water system of this company. Two years later this corporation bought the property and interests of the old Covina Water Company, and in 1908 Mr. Coolman was prominently concerned in the incorporation of the Covina City Water Company, he having supervision of the construction of the greater part of the water system of this company, the plant of which was sold to the city in August, 1916. Mr. Coolman served also as superintendent of the local gas system, he having been one of the few progressive citizens who took the initiative in 1904, and constructed the first gas plant in Covina, he having owned 34,000 of the 50,000 shares of stock in this company at the time when the plant and business were sold,. and he having also been one of ten who installed the home telephone system of Covina. All in all, Mr. Coolman is to be designated as one of the real founders and builders of Covina, and he is one of the influential and honored pioneer citizens of this now thriving and progressive community. He is vice-president of the Covina National Bank. He was a member of the Covina High School Board during the construction of the Covina High School, being president of the board and giving much of his time and attention as an expert in the construction of this splendid High School Building.
MISS NAOMI CELESTA TOMPKINS. Possessing the distinction of being probably the only woman vice president of a national bank in a city of the size of Long Beach, Miss Naomi Celesta Tompkins, vice president of the City National Bank, is also numbered among the city's most progressive and constructive citizens. Prior to engaging in her present line of endeavor.
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she had been a school teacher, but the prosaic, pedagogical life of the edu- cator did not appeal to one whose ambitions were set upon a high plane, and eventually she embarked upon a career in which she has met with distinctive success.
Miss Tompkins was born September 30, 1880, at Grundy Center, Iowa, and is a daughter of Jabez and Harriet B. (Worden) Tompkins, of Scotch descent, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Illinois, in which state they were married in the fall of 1879. Miss Tompkins' great- grandfather French, on her father's side, reached the remarkable age of one hundred and five years, and a number of members of this family par- ticipated in the French and Indian war. The Tompkins family and the Nichols family, the latter on Miss Tompkins' mother's side, came from Andes County, New York. Mrs. Harriet B. Tompkins had two sisters and nine brothers, and of the latter three fought as soldiers of the Union dur- ing the Civil war. One of her brothers, John Worden, was confined for a time in the notorious Andersonville prison stockade, and her uncle, Capt. Lewis Nichols, was killed at his home during the war period. From Pennsylvania, Jabez Tompkins made his way with his brother to Michigan, where he resided several years, and then went to Illinois, where he was married. Subsequently he went to Iowa, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1908, in that year coming to California and settling at Long Beach, where he and Mrs. Tompkins now live in comfortable retirement. They have been the parents of five daughters and a son : Naomi C., of this review ; Thomas, who died at the age of ten years ; Mrs. T. M. Humphrey, of Long Beach ; Anne, who is unmarried and resides at Long Beach ; Esther, who died at the age of four years ; and Mrs. W. W. Delkner, of Van Nuys, California, who has three daughters, Naomi June and Ramona Jean, twins, and Wilberta Annette. Harriet Anne, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. M. Humphrey, died in infancy. All of the Tompkins children were born at Grundy Center, Iowa.
Naomi C. Tompkins attended the public schools of Grundy Center, following which she became a teacher in the primary school at Wellsburg, Iowa, following this by a period in the intermediate and high schools of Holland, that state. Two years of experience as an educator convinced her that she could not be satisfied in following this vocation, and she accord- ingly prepared herself for a business career, for which she had always been ambitious. Her belief that sex is not the determining factor in achieve- ment in the commercial and financial fields has been justified by her success- ful and rapid advancement in the banking business and the unique position which she holds in her selected calling. Miss Tompkins, in preparing for her entrance into business life, attended the Cedar Rapids Business College, where she completed both the business and short hand courses, and then remained in the college office from July to October as registrar and cashier. Receiving a call from the Grundy County National Bank and the Grundy County Savings Bank, she returned to Grundy Center and became book- keeper and stenographer for these two institutions, both in the same office and both still in existence. Later, she was made teller, and after two and one-half years had been advanced to assistant cashier, a post which she retained for three years. Granted a leave of absence, she came to Long Beach, the new home of her parents, May 13, 1909, and here accepted a position as assistant cashier of the City National Bank, at that time a young and ambitious institution, with the fortunes of which her own fortunes have. since been linked. On August 8, 1915, the board of directors of this institution elected Miss Tompkins cashier, at which time she also became a member of the board of directors. She is now vice president and a mem- ber of the Executive Board, and is probably the highest paid business woman in the State of California. Miss Tompkins' official associates are : B. F. Tucker, president; C. E. Akers, vice president, secretary of the Municipal Securities Company ; H. C. Morse, city treasurer ; Neil McLen- nan, merchant ; R. M. Moore, rancher; and R. C. Lewis, cashier, the above forming the board of directors. C. E. Akers is manager of the bond depart- ment ; Clark Bush is escrow officer of the escrow department; and O. H.
Stevie P. Warner
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Ady, J. F. Dickerson and A. G. Hollensteiner are assistant cashiers. The statement of the condition of the bank at the close of business June 30, 1922, was as follows: Resources : Loans and discounts, $1,789,323.26; bonds and securities, $621,697.73; Federal Reserve Bank stock, $6,000; banking house, $150,000 ; furniture and fixtures, $18,869.54 ; cash and sight exchange, $848,739.71 ; total, $3,434,630.24. Liabilities : Capital stock, $100,000 ; surplus and undivided profits, $235,188.85 ; circulation, $100,000 ; reserve for taxes, $5,875 ; deposits, $2,993,566.39 ; total, $3,434,630.24.
Miss Tompkins is a member of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, and in 1921 was a member of the board of directors thereof, but found her other duties too pressing and resigned. She has been very active in the Business and Professional Woman's Club, of which she is president; is a member and on the board of directors of the Young Women's Christian Association ; and a member of the P. E. O., the Ebell Club and the City Club. She belongs to the First Methodist Episcopal Church and was formerly a member of the choir. In politics she is a republican. In 1899, while residing at Grundy Center, she served as deputy recorder.
ELWIN P. WARNER, senior member of the firm of Warner, Whitsel & Company, which conducts one of the leading mercantile establishments in the City of Covina, has proved specially alert and resourceful in connection with the development and upbuilding of this substantial grocery, meat- market and bakery business.
Mr. Warner was born in Marion County, Iowa, in September, 1869, and is a son of Austin and Lavina (Scoles) Warner, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Zanesville, Ohio. The parents were pioneers in the State of Iowa, where they maintained their home until 1892, when they came to Covina, and the death of the father occurred here in 1910. Of the three sons the subject of this review is the eldest, the other two being Carl M. and Percy N.
The excellent public schools of the Hawkeye State afforded Elwin P. Warner his early education, which included the curriculum of the high school. At the age of twenty years he joined a surveying corps that was making a preliminary survey for the Northern Pacific Railroad along the north bank of Columbia River. He completed his service in this con- nection in the spring of 1891, and he then set forth on the return journey to Iowa. En route he stopped to visit his brother Carl, who by reason of impaired health had come to Covina, California. After this visit Mr. Warner continued his journey to Iowa, where he remained about six months. He then came again to Covina, where he formed a partnership with his brother Carl and established the first distinct grocery store in the village. The capital which the brothers had available in starting the new enterprise was but $400, and of this one-half had been borrowed. They opened their modest little grocery on the 7th of December, 1891, this district having then been sparsely settled and rather uninviting in general. After a year had passed Carl M. Warner entered the University of Cali- fornia, at Berkeley, in which institution he was later graduated with honors, besides having been one of the students to win distinction for that uni- versity in two of the annual debates with students from the Leland Stan- ford, Jr., University. He was later ordained a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in the City of Sacramento he is now pastor of the largest church of this denomination in Northern California.
In 1897 Mr. Warner formed a partnership with John M. Whitsel, of whom individual mention is made on other pages of this work, and the flourishing and amplified business has since been conducted under the firm name of Warner, Whitsel & Company. At the inception of this partner- ship the store of the firm had a stock to the value of about $1,000, and each of the partners was given a drawing account of $20.00 a month. The principals in the firm applied themselves diligently, carefully studied policies for according the best of service. to patrons, and on the basis of such service and fair and honorable dealings has been developed the splendid enterprise that marks this as one of the representative business
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concerns of the City of Covina. The modern and handsomely appointed establishment carries full lines of staple and fancy groceries, has a well equipped bakery and meat market and caters to a large and appreciative patronage in Covina and the territory contiguous thereto.
Mr. Warner ·is a republican in political allegiance, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Society of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In June, 1893, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Warner and Miss Mary Baldridge, who was born in the State of New York, a daughter of Robert Baldridge, who finally came with his family to California and established his residence at Covina. Donald L., elder of the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Warner, was born in March, 1901, and is (1922) a student in the law department of the University of Southern California, September 26, 1922, recorded his marriage with Miss Katherine Guthrie. Dorothy Alice, younger of the two children, was born in October, 1909, and remains at the parental home.
Percy N. Warner, younger of the two brothers of the subject of this sketch, was born in Iowa and was thirteen years of age when he accom- panied his parents on their removal to California. In the University of California he graduated as an electrical engineer. He gained distinct success in the work of his profession, in connection with which he had charge of the installing of the Eastlake electrical substation in Los Angeles, the Pacific electrical stations at Watts and Dominguez and other important work. He is now a successful contractor in cement construction work at Reedley, Fresno County.
JOHN M. WHITSEL is junior member of the firm of Warner, Whitsel & Company, which conducts a large and prosperous grocery, bakery and meat market business in the city of Covina, further mention of the enterprise is given in the personal sketch preceding this of Elwin P. War- ner, the founder of the enterprise.
Mr. Whitsel was born in the state of Indiana, December 8, 1866, and is a son of William and Lucinda (Payne) Whitsel, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. The death of the mother occurred in 1901;, when she was fifty-eight years of age, and the father still resides in Indiana, about 120 miles to the south of the City of Chicago, he being eighty-five years of age at the time of this writing, in the winter of 1922-23. The subject of this sketch is the only son in a family of four children.
After having profited by the advantages of the public schools of his native state John M. Whitsel was for one year a student in Purdue Uni- versity, that state, and then completed a course in a business college at Valparaiso, Indiana. Thereafter he was associated with his father in the operations of the old home farm, and he continued his residence in the Hoosier State until 1897, when he came to California. He remained at Whittier, this state, from February until the autumn of that year, and then established his permanent residence at Covina, where he has been closely identified with the upbuilding of the business of the firm of which he is a member and where he is known and valued as a representative business man and loyal.and progressive citizen. He is a republican in politics and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The year 1896 recorded the marriage of Mr. Whitsel to Miss Elizabeth Osborn, who was born in Indiana, a daughter of Jacob and Hannah C. Osborn, who established their home at Whittier, California, in 1897, upon coming from Indiana where the father had been prominent in political affairs and had served as a member of the state senate. Mr. Osborn died in 1906, at Whittier, where he had served as a member of the Board of Education, 'and his widow passed the closing years of her life at Covina, where she died in July, 1922. Mr. and Mrs. Whitsel became the parents of two children, both natives of Covina: Ruth M., who was born in 1899, attended the California State Normal School in the City of
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