USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume III > Part 62
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The Colden family have been in New York State from Colonial times. One of the most distinguished of the name was Cadwallader Colden, one of the royal lieutenant governors of New York, a post he held eight terms. His son became Mayor of New York City after the Revolution. He was one of the founders of the American Philosophical Society of which Ben- jamin Franklin was also a member.
Charles J. Colden was ten years of age when his parents moved from Illinois. He acquired his early training in the public schools of his native state, also attended public schools in Missouri, was a student in the Mary- ville Seminary of Missouri and the Shenandoah College of Shenandoah, Iowa, and graduated Bachelor of Science at Stanberry College, Stanberry, Missouri. For two years he was a teacher in Northern Missouri and for three years principal of schools at Manilla, Iowa. 'He became prominent both as a newspaper man and in politics in Northwestern Missouri. For four years he owned and published The Sentinel at Parnell, Missouri, and while there was a member of the Board of Education, city clerk and oil inspector, and conducted a reading circle and lecture course. He was also nominated on the democratic ticket and elected to the Missouri Legislature in 1900, being then thirty years of age, one of the youngest members of the house. In 1902 he was reelected. He was one of the insurgents in Missouri politics at that time, trying to get away from the domination of the Missouri democratic machine, and was one of the original supporters of Joseph W. Folk for governor. In 1901 Mr. Colden established the Nodaway Forum at Maryville, Missouri, and was its proprietor and editor six years. During that time he was president of the Board of Regents of the State Teachers College at Maryville. In 1908 he was democratic candidate for the Missouri State Senate, being defeated by only twelve votes.
Mr. Colden spent five months during the winter of 1907-08 abroad in travel, and visited during that time the cities of London, Paris, Rome,
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Vienna, Berlin, the Hague and Brussels. In December, 1908, he located at Kansas City, Missouri, and for four years was busily engaged in the pro- gram of building houses and selling them on the installment plan. In the meantime in 1912 with some friends he came out to California on a pleasure trip, and in the course of his investigations became especially impressed with Los Angeles Harbor. Soon afterward he located perma- nently at San Pedro, and during the past ten years has about divided his time between residence in Los Angeles and at San Pedro. For four terms he held the office of president of the City Planning Association of Los Angeles, and is still a member of that body. He was twice elected president of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce. In the City Planning Commission he represents the Harbor District.' Mr. Colden is also a member of the Play- ground Commission of Los Angeles, being appointed by Mayor Cryer. He is affiliated with San Pedro Lodge No. 966, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a member of the Los Angeles City Club.
His home is at 2200 Alma Street, San Pedro. He married in Los Angeles Miss Clara Norman, on February 12, 1914. She was born in Minnesota, and prior to her marriage was a teacher in the Los Angeles public schools and is now president of the Woman's Club of San Pedro. They have one son, Charles J., Jr., born at Los Angeles, April 23, 1916.
EDISON J. YOUNG was the prime mover in organizing the National Bank of Hermosa Beach, of which he is the president. This bank bases its operations on a capital stock of $50,000, has a surplus fund of $10,000, and has in course of erection at the time of this writing, in the autumn of 1922, a fine steel and marble building, to be equipped with the most improved of banking fixtures and facilities. The building is being so constructed that it will eventually be made a structure of six stories, its lateral dimensions being 58 by 95 feet. Associated with Mr. Young in the organizing of the institution were Hugh M. Moran and J. W. Leech, both of whom are vice presidents, while the latter holds also the office of cashier. In addition to these executive officers the directorate of the . bank includes John McCready, A. S. Haneman, Dr. C. Max Anderson, J. Y. Bedell, Robert W. Brydon, E. J. Thoroughgood, R. M. MacLennan, and Jay E. Randall. All stockholders are residents of Hermosa Beach and the bank has the administrative personnel and the substantial footing that insure it a place among the strong and valuable financial institutions of Los Angeles County.
Edison J. Young was born at Healdsburg, Sonoma County, California, on the 12th of June, 1876, and is a son of Nestor A. Young, M. D., and Martha (Dawson) Young, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Iowa. Doctor Young served as a soldier in the Civil war, in which he was a member of the Twenty-first Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and in 1868 he came to California and established his residence in Sonoma County, where he long continued in the practice of his profession and where he was one of the original members of the Vigilantes of that county in the early days. He and his wife now maintain their home in the City of Los Angeles and he has retired from the active work of his profession. Doctor Young has long been one of the well-known and honored citizens of Southern California, has dignified his profession by his character and ability, and has been influential in community affairs. He represented San Diego County in the State Legislature, about the year 1890, and had the distinction of being chosen speaker of the House of Representa- tives. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has received the thirty- second degree of the Scottish Rite, and he holds membership also in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Of the children the eldest is William G., who resides in Los Angeles ; Nestor, Jr., is a resident of Sierra Madre County; Edison J., of this review, was the next in order of birth ; Charles D. resides in Los Angeles ; Lulu is the wife of J. R. Shafer,
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of that city; Grace is the wife of Edwin Kinney, of Ocean Park; and Dr. R. L. is a successful physician and surgeon in Los Angeles.
Edison J. Young gained his early education in the public schools of San Diego County, besides studying under the direction of private instruc- tors and also studying engineering, under the direction of Dr. David Burns and Dr. Harry Hunter. He has gained high reputation as a geologist and engineer, did notable engineering work for the Mexican government under the Diaz administration, and in his profession, to which he still gives the major part of his time and attention, he has a representative clientage, including a number of the largest mining and oil companies operating in California. He is a member of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and is a republican in politics. He and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. On both the paternal and maternal sides he is a descendant of Revolutionary ancestors.
He is the president of the Golden State Silk Mills, a corporation organ- ized for $1,000,000 and is the first silk mill to be erected on the Pacific Coast. This is an enterprise that will give employment to a large number of people and is destined to be a considerable factor in the manufacturing industries of the coast. The officers and directors are all prominent finan- ciers and business men, all of whom have made signal success in their various lines of endeavor. They are as follows: E. J. Young, president ; George W. McCuen, vice president, a prominent banker of Salt Lake City, Utah, and a director in several Los Angeles banks ; D. J. Koonce, secretary and treasurer, formerly treasurer of the Goodyear Rubber Company. These with A. S. Vandergrift and J. S. Mack of the Mack Truck Com- pany, form the board of directors.
July 16, 1900, recorded the marriage of Mr. Young to Miss Eva E. Fairburn, daughter of Simon and Betty (McNeal) Fairburn, of Los Angeles. Mrs. Young was born at Parkersburg, West Virginia, and attended school at Dayton, Ohio; Hagerstown, Maryland, and Washing- ton, D. C. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and is identified also with various cultural and social organizations. Mr. and Mrs. Young have three children : Edison G., Lawrence De Vallon, and Eleanor Fern.
Simon Fairburn, father of Mrs. Young, was formerly chief engineer for the Standard Oil Company, in which he continues a large stockholder, though he resigned his official position with the company about twenty years ago. He was the organizer of the Waters-Pierce Oil Company.
LEO MARTIN MEEKER. The president of the Long Beach 'National Bank, with nearly $7,000,000 in resources, is one of the younger men among the executives of National Banks in the country, but has had a long and successful banking experience both in Southern California and in other parts of the West. He was called from the presidency of several smaller banks to the post he now fills in one of the largest and strongest banks in Southern California.
Mr. Meeker was born at Greenwood, Nebraska, July 13, 1888, son of George Washington and Anna (Mahoney) Meeker. His parents were pioneers of Nebraska, and his father was a banker in that state and for many years one of the most admired and trusted men in the vicinity of Lincoln. George W. Meeker and wife have been coming for a number of winters to Long Beach and are now living retired at Alhambra.
L. M. Meeker graduated from high school at Exeter, Nebraska, in 1906, and subsequently attended the University of Nebraska and University of Colorado. His career since leaving school has covered a period of about fifteen years, and into that time he has compressed an enormous amount of activity and work. For two years, 1906-08 he taught school. For several years he was senior member of the contracting and engineering firm of Meeker and Dobson at Lincoln, Nebraska.
Mr. Meeker's active connections with banking may be briefly sum- marized as follows: President, State Bank of Hubbard, Oregon, 1913-16:
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vice president, First National Bank of Canby, Oregon, 1914-16; vice presi- dent, Canby State Bank, Canby, Oregon, 1914-16; president, Oregon State Bank, Jefferson, Oregon, in 1914-15; cashier, First National Bank of Fort Morgan, Colorado, from 1916-18. Since 1918 he has been a Cali- fornia banker, and was president in that year of the First National Bank of Garden Grove; president of the First National Bank of El Monte, 1918-22; president of the First National Bank of Puente, 1919-20; president of Puente National Bank, 1919-1920 ; and in 1921 took up his duties as presi- dent of the Long Beach National Bank. Also president of First National Bank of Riverside since 1922, about a $3,000,000 bank.
Mr. Meeker is a republican, is a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon and Long Beach Lodge No. 888, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a member of the San Gabriel Valley Country Club of San Gabriel, the Vir- ginia Country Club of Long Beach, the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Union League Club of Los Angeles and the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce.
July 27, 1914, he married Miss Melba Calve Joslyn, who was born and educated at Deer Lodge, Montana, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Joslyn, prominent pioneers of Montana. Her father is deceased and her mother now lives at Portland, Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Meeker have one son, George Robert, born November 2, 1918.
MARK GORDON JONES. For many years the late Mark Gordon Jones was one of the prominent business men and useful citizens of Los Angeles, a leading figure in financial circles, and honorable and trustworthy in every relation of life. A Californian by birth, education and sentiment, his interests were entirely western, and through his devotion to the welfare of Los Angeles he was instrumental in furthering many of her substantial enterprises.
Mark Gordon Jones was born at San Francisco, California, in 1859, a son of John and Doria (Deighton) Jones, natives of London, England, who had come to California in 1852. The family moved to Los Angeles when Mark was about six years old, and this city continued to be his home. His father engaged in the wholesale grocery business, receiving his sup- plies by ships owned by himself, and distributed them by mule team, over Southern California and Arizona. He was a man of business stability as well as enterprise, and it is related that when he installed the first safe or strong box brought into this section he soon found himself the care- taker of his neighbors' valuables, men traveling for miles to leave their money in his safe, satisfied to have him carry the keys.
Young Mark spent a happy childhood and had educational advantages commensurate with his father's financial standing, attending first McClure's school, later graduated from the high school at Los Angeles, and in 1879 from St. Augustine's College at Benicia, California. His natural leaning was toward a business career, and within ten years he had become so prominent a business factor that he was elected treasurer of Los Angeles County, in which office he served until 1897, a period of eight years.
Following his retirement from the office of county treasurer Mr. Jones went into the banking business, and for many years was president of the Merchants National Bank and Trust Company, which was finally sold to the Hellman interests. He was prominent also in the affairs of other banks, and at the time of his death was a director in the Citizens Savings and Trust Company of Los Angeles. He was at the head of many large business enterprises here for many years, and prior to retiring from active business he was vice president of the Pacific Wharf and Storage Company. He was president also of the Inglewood Park Cemetery Association, which he organized, and of the United Cemetery Association. He was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and a member also of the Sons of the Golden West.
In Masonry Mr. Jones had long been prominent. He was a member of Southern California Lodge No. 278, F. and A. M .; Signet Chapter
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No. 57, R. A. M .; Los Angeles Council No. 11, R. & S. M .; Los Angeles Commandery No. 9, Knights Templar; Ramona Parlor, N. S. G. W .; and Al Malaikah Temple, Mystic Shrine.
In early manhood Mr. Jones married Miss Blanche E. MacDonald, and three sons were born to them: Deighton Gordon, who is a detective sergeant at Los Angeles; Mark M., who is connected with the Harold Lloyd studios; and Francis, who for some time had charge of a fur- trading post in Siberia.
Mrs. Jones is a native of Toronto, Canada, and is a daughter of the late senator, the Hon. Donald MacDonald of Toronto.
Although not in robust health for some time, Mr. Jones after retiring from active business still kept in touch with all matters of public importance in the city where his influence had been marked so long, and his death, com- ing after but a short illness, was a shock to his family, friends and fellow citizens. He passed away on November 25, 1922, and his burial was in Inglewood Park Cemetery, under the auspices of the Southern California Masonic Lodge.
CLYDE CALDER McWHINNEY, member of McWhinney & Clock, attor- neys, in the Marine Bank Building at Long Beach, has been admitted to the bar of three states, and prior to locating at Long Beach was one of the active members of the legal profession in the State of Utah.
Mr. McWhinney was born near Seward in Seward County, Nebraska, December 6, 1884, son of Edwin S. and Nettie Mae (Calder) McWhinney. His father was born at Goodhope, Illinois, and after removing to Nebraska he followed farming near Seward, and later was a merchant at Alliance and at Lincoln in the same state. About three years ago the family removed to Berkeley, California, where Edwin S. McWhinney died in 1902, and where his widow still lives. She was born in Iowa. His only other child is Mrs. Grace Crutcher of Berkeley.
C. C. McWhinney attended the grammar and high schools of Alliance, Nebraska, graduated from the classical and law courses at the University of Nebraska with the degrees Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws, in 1908, was admitted to the bar of his native state, and in the same year located at Salt Lake City, where he was admitted to the Utah bar. He practiced at Salt Lake City and in Eastern Utah at Greenriver and Price, being associated at Price with G. A. Iverson, later attorney-general of Utah. At Salt Lake he was with the firm Dey & Hoppaugh, one of the old and prominent firms of attorneys, specializing in mining and irrigation law. Mr. McWhinney came to Long Beach in 1914, was admitted to the Cali- fornia bar, and engaged in practice alone until 1916 when he and Ralph H. Clock, associated under the firm name of Clock & McWhinney. Later John Clock joined the firm Clock, McWhinney & Clock. The senior mem- ber of the firm, Ralph H. Clock, was appointed a Superior Court judge by Governor Richardson in 1923, and the firm then became known as McWhin- ney & Clock. They have an extensive general, law practice and are also attorneys for many corporations and banks of Long Beach and vicinity. Mr. McWhinney has been admitted to practice in the Federal Courts. While in Utah he was city attorney of Greenriver in 1909, of Price from 1910 to 1914, was county attorney of Carbon County in 1912-13, and secre- tary of the Board of Education of the Carbon County High School in 1911-13. During the World war he entered the Officers' Training School at Little Rock, Arkansas, and would likely have been commissioned had the war continued a month longer. Mr. McWhinney is a republican, is a member of the Long Beach, the Los Angeles County, California State and American Bar Associations. He is affiliated with Long Beach Lodge No. 327, Free and Accepted Masons, and the other Masonic bodies at Long Beach, Al Malaikah Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Los Angeles, is a life member of the Elks, being affiliated with Long Beach Lodge No. 888, is a member of the Virginia Country Club, Big Bear Country Club and
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Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the First Congregational Church.
November 17, 1909, at Loveland, Colorado, Mr. McWhinney married Miss Jessie Hahn, who was born and educated there. Her father John Hahn, moved to Colorado from Illinois with an ox team, and located at Loveland before the days of the railroad. He was one of the leading men at Loveland, and was vice president of the Loveland National Bank when he died in 1919. Mrs. Hahn now lives at Long Beach. Mrs. McWhinney is former president of the Signal Hill Club, and now a member of the Long Beach Ebell Club. She is also a member of the P. E. O. Sisterhood. Mr. and Mrs. McWhinney whose home is at 2405 East First Street, have two children, Patricia Hahn and John Hahn McWhinney.
GEORGE P. BECK, JR., is secretary-treasurer and general manager of the Soft Water Laundry Company of Long Beach, the plant and service of which are of the highest modern standard. He is one of the progressive business men and substantial citizens of Long Beach, in which city he estab- lished his residence in the year 1908.
Mr. Beck was born at Waterloo, Iowa, November 26, 1866, and is a son of George Philip Beck and Albertina (Shuler) Beck, the former of whom attained to the patriarchal age of ninety years and the latter of whom died at the age of eighty-six years. George P. Beck, Sr., was born in the French Province of Alsace-Lorraine, and his wife was a native of another province in France. The parents of the subject of this review were numbered among the pioneers of the Hawkeye State and passed the closing years of their lives at Waterloo, Iowa, secure in the high esteem of the community in which they had maintained their home for many years and in which Mr. Beck had been prominently identified with milling and mercantile enterprises of important order. Of the family of nine children-four sons and five daughters-three of the sons and three of the daughters are living (1923). All of these children remain in Iowa except George P., Jr., and John P., the latter being a resident of Petaluma, California.
The public schools of his native city afforded George P. Beck, Jr., his youthful education, and upon leaving school he was for eight years con- nected with the business of his father's Waterloo manufactory devoted to the production of interior finishings. He then took a position in the depart- ment store there conducted by his father, an establishment given over primarily to the handling of furniture, rugs, carpets, draperies, etc. This establishment was conducted by the corporation of Beck, Norman & Com- pany and he became secretary and treasurer of the company. This sub- stantial and prosperous business was later sold, and under the control of the new owners it eventually reached the stage of bankruptcy. After leav- ing Waterloo Mr. Beck took charge of an interior-finish factory at Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he remained two years. For a period of about five months thereafter he was connected in a managerial way with a company engaged in the manufacturing of lumber, on the Mississippi River, and when he returned home for a visit his wife expressed the wish that he should not continue in this position, which involved his absence from home. Accordingly, he sought another field of endeavor, and in April, 1908, he came with his family to California, the following June having marked his establishing of a permanent home at Long Beach. Here he has been asso- ciated closely with the Bixby business interests, including the Soft Water Laundry Company, in which he is a heavy stockholder and of which he has been secretary-treasurer and general manager since 1910. At the time when Mr. Beck assumed the active management of this enterprise it was conducted in a wooden building, this structure having been destroyed by fire, in 1914, and the present large and substantial brick structure having been erected for the accommodation of the large and ever expanding busi- ness. The equipment of the plant is of the best metropolitan standard and the efficiency of the service constitutes the most effective advertising of the business. The company is the laundry concern at Long Beach that utilizes
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soft water in all of its work, including that of the wet-wash department. The company was organized and incorporated in 1906 and its establishment is situated at 702 West Anaheim Street. The other officers of the corpora- tion are as here designated : Llewellyn Bixby, president ; W. M. Cook, vice president ; Abbie Evans, director and assistant secretary ; and C. H. Thorn- burg, director. Mr. Beck is an active and valued member of the Long Beach Merchants & Manufacturers Association, and he gave one year of service as a member of the Long Beach Harbor Commission, a position which he then resigned. While still a resident of Waterloo, Iowa, he was there a director of the Security Savings Bank and the Iowa State Bank. He is a republican in political adherency, and is a member of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, the local Rotary Club, and Long Beach Lodge, No. 888, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On the 24th of December, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Beck to Miss Della A. Hubbard, who likewise was born and reared at Waterloo, Iowa, and who is a daughter of the late John H. Hubbard, an honored pioneer of that city, where he and his wife continued to reside until their death. Mr. and Mrs. Beck have one son, Gerald E., who is a stockholder in and actively connected with the Soft Water Laundry Com- pany, he being a member of the Optimists Club of Long Beach. Gerald E. Beck married Miss Muriel Hershey, and they have a daughter, Roberta.
FRED A. KELLOGG. In every community the handling of real estate is an important branch of the business activity of the community, but in a section like Los Angeles County where the values are constantly increasing, and the growth in population is phenomenal, this calling is raised to the dignity of a profession, and the realtor becomes one of the most prominent men of his locality, and one who renders a very important public service. This increase long ago outran the City of Los Angeles and spread into all of the smaller cities of the county, and one of them which is enjoying a prosperity never even dreamed of by its originators, is Van Nuys, and one of its leading realtors, and one who is enjoying a success that compares favorably to his competitors in the business through- out the county, is Fred A. Kellogg.
Fred A. Kellogg was born at Kankakee, Illinois, and was educated in the public schools of Los Angeles, having been brought to this city in 1873, when he was four years of age, by his parents. His father bought a ranch at Downey, and subsequently moved to Pomona, and made the name of Charles G. Kellogg a well-known one in public affairs, as he served the City of Pomona as treasurer very capably for several years, and when he died his loss was deplored by a wide circle of friends and associates.
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