History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 7

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

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CLYDE W. CHAMPION. True appreciation comes to those who have earnestly striven to win approval honorably from the men who understand and can properly express their confidence. The life of Clyde W. Champion of Alhambra mirrors on its surface much that is conducive to a high stand- ard of business operations and little that can be criticised. In every line in which he has been engaged he has demonstrated and is still proving his efficiency and high capability. Mr. Champion was born at Green Bay, Wisconsin, March 9, 1885, a son of Seth W. and Lucinda A.) (White) Champion, an extended sketch of whom appears in the preceding sketch. The father was at one time one of the leading railroad officials of the North- west, and subsequently became identified with the early history of Alhambra, to which city he came, accompanied by his family, in 1897.

Clyde W. Champion received a liberal education, completing it at Throop Academy, Pasadena, California. Following the termination of his school- days he entered the Home Telephone Company, of which his father was one of the chief promoters and stockholders, and had charge of the collec- tion department for three years, or until this company was absorbed by a competing corporation. He then opened and for four years· operated at Alhambra a high-class photograph studio, but then sold it, and since then has been connected with the photo supply business, first with Lewis & Company, and later with C. W. Courtney, both among the largest houses of their kind at Los Angeles.

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Following the example of his deeply-revered father, Mr. Champion has taken a very active part in civic matters, doing much to introduce better methods and higher standards in politics. As a foremost man in working for civic betterment Mr. Champion has few superiors in his home city. He is also a very progressive man and urges by precept and example the adoption of new and better appliances. His was the third automobile owned at Alhambra. After his father's death he took up the uncompleted work of the subdivision of Arroyo, where he still maintains his home, making it one of the most desirable residential districts in this locality.

Mr. Champion married Bernice Cook, born in Iowa, a daughter of W. N. and Linda (Spoar) Cook, natives of Clinton and Council Bluffs, Iowa, respectively, who came to California in 1903. In addition to man- aging his own affairs and caring for large landed and other interests Mr. Champion has given much time, thought and very generous financial assist- ance to different institutions. He is a gentleman of culture, enthusiastic with reference to Los Angeles County and its possibilities, and is recognized as one of the best exponents of his home city and county.

THE MONROVIA PUBLIC LIBRARY. The fine little City of Monrovia takes justifiable pride in the attractions and service of its well ordered public library, which is the center of the cultural activities of the com- munity.

Early in the year 1891 the leading women of Monrovia affected the organization of the Saturday Afternoon Club, which later was reorganized as the Woman's Club of Monrovia. At one of the early meetings of the original club Mrs. John Bartle brought to the attention of those assembled the great need for an adequate public library in the community. Her suggestions met with prompt and enthusiastic response, with the result that the members of the club forthwith took definite action for the establishing of a library, the nucleus of whose collection was books contributed by club members and other citizens. Thus it came about that in 1891 Monrovia's first, and very modest, public library was opened in a rear room of the old City Hall Building on Myrtle Avenue. The service of the library was made free from the beginning, and the members of the club served in turn as librarians until 1897. Mrs. Addie Schrode (now the wife of M. T. Hutchinson) was chosen the first permanent librarian. The present fine library building represents the concrete results of application made to that great and liberal philanthropist, the late Andrew Carnegie. For the sum of $2,000 the City of Monrovia purchased four lots, now included in City Park, and for the erection of a suitable library building Mr. Carnegie contributed $10,000, with the stipulation, in consonance with his customary wise policy in such cases, that the city itself provide not less than $1,000 annually for the support of the library. With the completion of the modern and attractive library building the service of the institution was brought to a high standard, and growth and expansion have followed in due course in the intervening years. The library now has in its collection of books 10,000 volumes. July 1, 1922, showed for the institution a list of 4,323 card-holders, and the service of the library is now given under the effective supervision of a most versatile and efficient librarian, Miss Anne L. Crews. It has consistently been said that the setting of the Monrovia Public Library is one of the most picturesque to be claimed by any similar institu- tion in Southern California.

LAUREL EUGENE STEINBERGER, a prominent, popular and successful pioneer horticulturist of the Sierra Madre District of Los Angeles County, was born in Jones County, Iowa, in the year 1858. His parents were formerly residents of Ohio, and they later became pioneers in California. He is a son of James Milton and Martha Ann (Decious) Steinberger, who were born and reared in Ohio and who became early settlers in Jones County, Iowa, where their son, Laurel E., of this review, and also one daughter were born. James M. Steinberger, a miller by trade, was engaged

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

in farm enterprise in Iowa until 1863, when, well equipped with a staunch wagon and heavy eastern horses, he and his family joined an overland emigrant train setting forth for California. The journey was marked by many adventures and also by the almost constant menace of attack on the part of hostile Indians. The trip was made along the old Midland trail, by way of Salt Lake City, and the destination of the Steinberger family was Lassen County, California. In that locality James M. Steinberger was engaged in farming for three years, and he then traded his farm for a grist mill with old-time buhr equipment and operated by water power- with a fifty-foot head-on water wheel. He successfully operated this pioneer mill for many years, and eventually traded the property for a ranch near Reno, Nevada, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. He died in 1901 and Mrs. Steinberger passed away in 1913.

Laurel Eugene Steinberger was a lad of five years at the time of the eventful journey across the plains to California, and in Lassen County, this state, he was reared to manhood, his early education having been acquired principally in the public schools at Milford, that county. Under the direction of his father he learned the miller's trade, and he continued to be associated with the operation of his father's mill until 1883, when, in the City of San Francisco, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Maggie G. Ross, who was born in Downeyville, Sierra County, California, June 29, 1860, and who was adopted by and reared in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Ross, of whom more specific record is given in the following sketch, a memorial tribute to the loved foster-mother, Mrs. Elizabeth B. Ross.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Steinberger removed forthwith to Washington Territory, and remained during the winter of 1883-4 in the City of Walla Walla. In January, 1885, they came to the Sierra Madre District of Los Angeles County, where Mr. Steinberger took active charge of the ten acre tract that had been a gift to Mrs. Steinberger by Mrs. Robert E. Ross. Mr. Steinberger developed a fine citrus orchard, and he and his wife still own and reside upon a portion of this tract, now wholly within the corporate limits of the City of Sierra Madre. On the property Mr. Steinberger made excellent improvements, including the erection of buildings, and he has contributed much to the civic and industrial advance- ment of this beautiful section of Los Angeles County as a loyal and pro- gressive citizen and a careful and enterprising business man. In con- clusion is given brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Steinberger, and they have special reason for pride in the patriotic service given by their sons in connection with the great World war. Elizabeth, eldest of the children, was born at Reno, Nevada, in 1884, is a graduate of the California State Normal School in the City of Los Angeles, and is now a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Sierra Madre. J. Milton Steinberger, eldest of the sons, was born at Sierra Madre, in December, 1886, all of the younger children likewise being natives of this place. He owns and conducts a large automobile garage at Sierra Madre, he being a graduate of the Throop Polytechnic School of Pasadena. He married Miss Virginia Timberlake, of Virginia. Harvey H. Steinberger, who was born in 1887, is a successful cement contractor at Sierra Madre. Edith, born in 1889, graduated from the California State Normal School of Los Angeles, where she taught school for five years. Both she and her husband, Dr. Albert Weston, are successfully engaged in the practice of osteopathy at Los Angeles. Laurel E. Steinberger, Jr., who was born in 1891, married Mrs. May White, of Los Angeles. Robert E. Steinberger, born in April, 1894, married Miss Ruth Doss, who is now deceased. Guy D., born in 1898, is an electrician by vocation. He married Miss Bae Farmen, of Sierra Madre, and here they still maintain their home. Harvey, Laurel and Robert Steinberger honored the family name and the State of California by their gallant service in the World war. Harvey became a member of the One Hundred and Seventeenth Engineer Corps, Forty- second (Rainbow) Division, and with his command lived up to the full

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

tension of the great conflict, he having taken part in the great engagements of the Marne and other important sectors in France. At Chateau Thierry his life was saved by a record book which he carried in his breast pocket and that deflected the missile that otherwise must have terminated his life. He was made a sergeant of the first class, and after the battle of Chateau Thierry he was adjudged competent for training service, was sent back to the United States and assigned to duty as drill master at Camp Humphrey, Virginia. Laurel E. Steinberger, Jr., enlisted in the United States Navy soon after the nation became involved in the war, and in the aircraft depart- ment of the navy he gained rank as machinist's mate and was in active service in the aviation camp near Bordeaux, France, he having remained overseas until the war closed. Robert E. Steinberger became a member of the Three Hundred and Nineteenth Engineer Corps, Eighth Division, and was given preliminary training at Camp Fremont. He entered service March 7, 1918, and on the 10th of the following September sailed for the stage of active conflict overseas. He was located with his command at Camp Pontaczen, Brest, France, the greatest of the allied embarkation camps, and was there in service as master engineer. This great camp was constructed by the engineering corps of which he was a member, and the corps built also the receiving hospital at Beaunc, France, as well as Base Hospital No. 47, the largest in France. Robert E. Steinberger received his honorable discharge September 20, 1920. It is but consistent to record in this connection that the Three Hundred and Nineteenth Engineer Corps, of which Mr. Steinberger was a member, won highest honors in a com- petitive drill held at Camp Fremont, Palo Alto, California, on Easter day, of the year 1918, prior to its overseas service. The cup trophy thus won by the command was presented by the great contralto vocalist, Madame Schumann-Heinck.

MRS. ELIZABETH B. Ross. Not alone for her gentle and gracious per- sonality and her innumerable acts of loving-kindness in her association with human kind in her home community, but also by reason of the fine civic loyalty and liberality she expressed in her bequest to the local public library shall the name and memory of Mrs. Ross be revered in the beautiful little city of Sierra Madre, where she long maintained her home and where her death occurred in the year 1910. From somewhat meager data available it has been found possible to enter in this publication a brief tribute to the noble woman.

Honor Elizabeth Bannon was born at New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, on the 25th of June, 1840, and that she early gained experience in connection with pioneer life in the West is shown by the fact that in the year 1861 her marriage to Robert Emory Ross was solemnized at Virginia City, Nevada, by Rev. William B. May. As an agriculturist and stock-grower Mr. Ross acquired and controlled a large acreage of land in Lassen County, Cali- fornia, where he and his wife maintained their residence for twenty years. He then purchased from N. C. Carter forty acres of land at Sierra Madre, and the death of Mr. Ross occurred a year later at Long Valley, Lassen County, while on a business trip. Mrs. Ross lived many years at Sierra Madre, and she was uniformly loved for her public generosity, her unfailing kindness to the many persons who were in ill health and who came here to recuperate. She was instant in kindly thoughts and kindly deeds, and in her gentle course through life she represented a virtual incarnation of the spirit of the Beatitudes.

Mrs. Ross, being animated by a desire to connect the name of her deceased husband with some suitable memorial of truly useful and benignant order, made in 1886 an offer of the land on which the public library of Sierra Madre now stands, together with a contribution of $2,000 to the library building fund. She attached no conditions to this generous gift, except that of providing for the placing of the marble memorial tablet at the entrance of the library building. This offer of Mrs. Ross met with a hearty response from the people then residents of Sierra Madre, and about

HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

$1,000 was promptly subscribed to the building fund, besides which various gifts of books contributed to the initial success of the work. The little nucleus of books with which the library started has proved a central point from which has been evolved the present fine collection of 10,000 volumes.

At the outset the new institution was incorporated under the laws of the state and under the title of the Sierra Madre Library Association. As time passed and the needs of the library became greater each successive year it seemed expedient and consistent for the city government to take over the control of the library, the general expenses of which have since been met by taxation. The library has been a great boon not only to the citizens of Sierra Madre but also to the many hundreds of visitors who have here passed the winter seasons during the last quarter of a century.

It is worthy of special record in this connection that the bequest thus made by Mrs. Ross is the only public benefaction of the kind ever yet received by Sierra Madre.

BLANCHE AVICE STILL HARRIMAN VERBECK. Richly gifted in music, and equally endowed as a writer, Mrs. Blanche H. Verbeck has been an inspiring influence in literary and musical circles at Los Angeles for some years, and in 1922 was elected president of the Southern California Woman's Press Club, a position of dignity and honor which she is well qualified to fill. She is well known on the operatic stage in her own and other countries, while her literary work, including journalism and dramatic writing, has entitled her to membership in the best and most exclusive literary bodies here and elsewhere.

Mrs. Verbeck was born near Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Her father was a physician and surgeon eminent in his profession in New York and Balti- more. Incorporated in her name is that of her grandmother, who was of Spanish lineage and bore the title of Countess de Castellaine. Partially inheriting her musical talent, her training in music began when she was four years old, and as she grew older and her vocal gifts developed it was recognized that she possessed a rare contralto voice that cultivation would develop into one of great beauty and value in opera. In the meanwhile she was carefully educated along every line, receiving a degree from the University of Washington, one from Radcliffe College and one from Columbia, together with two post-graduate degrees. Her musical educa- tion was pursued both in her own country and in Europe, and under such noted artists as Annie Louise Cary, Oscar Saenger, Arthur Foote, Jean de Rezke and Robert Boyce Carson.

Mrs. Verbeck was a diligent and enthusiastic student, and by the time she was seventeen years old, justified every early promise, and it was in that year that she made here first operatic appearance, singing in Italian, in Romeo and Juliet, in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Following this triumph she sang in concert and opera for some years, and at the time that the United States entered into the World war, was filling an engagement in the Royal Opera House at Berlin, Germany. As soon as possible she returned to America, and her contribution to the patriotic activities of the time was making use of her voice wherever there was need for such effort to cheer and give pleasure. It was in the officers' training camp that she formed an acquaintance with Mr. Howard Verbeck, whom she subsequently married.

Like other literary geniuses, Mrs. Verbeck can scarcely remember when she did not have an impulse to write and her talent shows great versatility. She has written many poems, innumerable short stories, musical composi- tions, several motion picture scenarios and three one-act plays, presented on the Keith Proctor Circuit, one running four years. She is a member of the League of American Pen Women, the Verse Writers and the Scrib- blers, both of New York, and the Newspaper Woman's Organization of New York.

JOHN H. BARTLE. While a prominent figure in banking circles and an associate of the foremost financiers of Southern California for years,

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

John H. Bartle's home and home interests have been in Monrovia. He was an early settler here, bringing with him the capital and experience he had acquired as a merchant in Michigan. He has been actively identified with the First National Bank of Monrovia from its beginning, has been its presi- dent nearly thirty years, and has participated in the organization and execu- tive management of a number of other banking institutions in this section of the state.

Mr. Bartle was born at Eagle Harbor in Michigan, July 22, 1855, son of John and Thirza (Reynolds) Bartle. His father was a mining superin- tendent in Michigan. There were two sons, John H. and Frederick Rey- nolds. John H. Bartle grew up in a mining community, attended public school until he was thirteen, and from that early age gained his education and fitted himself for life in the school of experience. With a willingness to accept any honorable work, he was headed straight for success from the very beginning of his career. At Port Arthur, Michigan, he achieved his first definite achievement in business, where he connected himself with a dry goods house as errand boy, and also performed all the miscellaneous duties, as sweeping the floor, and gradually taking up the duties of clerk. His wages were advanced from time to time, and at the age of nineteen, with his savings and credit, he was able to go into the dry goods business on his own account in the same town. His store grew and prospered, and he remained there until he was about thirty years of age.

Mr. Bartle as a tourist paid his first visit to California in 1886. Return- ing to Michigan, he closed out his business, and in April, 1887, arrived and began his permanent residence in Monrovia. In April, 1888, he accepted the offer extended him by J. F. Sartori of bookkeeper in the recently organized First National Bank of Monrovia. Mr. Sartori was then cashier, and subsequently became prominent in Los Angeles banking circles, but is still a vice president of the Monrovia Bank. Mr. Bartle had some special qualifications for his position in the bank, since for two years in Michigan in addition to looking after his mercantile establishment he had been a credit man for a local bank. In less than six years Mr. Bartle had put himself at the head of the First National Bank of Monrovia, rising through the successive positions of assistant cashier, cashier and vice president. He was elected president in 1894 as a successor of I. W. Hell- man. Mr. Sartori, who had been cashier when Mr. Bartle first entered the bank, had in the meantime removed to Los Angeles and had founded what is now the Security Trust & Savings Bank. Mr. Bartle became one of the first directors in this Los Angeles institution. Mr. Bartle was also one of the prime factors in establishing the Monrovia Savings Bank, and has been president and director of that bank since its organization.

He assisted in the organization of the First National Bank of Covina, and organized the First National Bank of El Monte and became its presi- dent, the First National Bank of Arcadia, and the Santa Monica Savings Bank. Mr. Bartle has been associated with such prominent financiers as I. W. Hellman, Marco Hellman, J. A. Graves, J. F. Sartori, H. S. McKee. He was one of the principal organizers and has been president of the Monrovia Telephone and Telegraph Company. He is a director in the Southern County Gas Company, a great public utility which now has over sixteen million dollars in assets.

Concerning his work for the community Mr. Bartle has been city treasurer of Monrovia two terms, was chairman of the City Board of Trustees, corresponding to mayor, and for his second term was elected by acclamation. He has been a life-long republican, is affiliated with the lodges of Elks and Masons at Monrovia, and his parents were Presby- terians.

At Port Arthur, Michigan, August 25, 1885, Mr. Bartle married Miss Amelia Bowerman, of that city. Mrs. Bartle has been prompted by a high degree of public spirit to work in behalf of all social, educational and religious movements in her home community. She is a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church, helped organize the first library, under the

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

auspices of the Saturday Afternoon Club, is active in the Woman's Club of Monrovia, and was one of the organizers and is president of the Visiting Nurses Association. Mr. and Mrs. Bartle have two children. Kathleen, born in Monrovia, a graduate of the local high school and of the National Park Seminary of Washington, D. C., is the wife of Roger H. Brown. The son, Gerald Fremont Bartle, born at Monrovia in 1900, is a graduate of the high school, received the A. B. degree from Stanford University, and has chosen to follow his father's profession, and is now asisstant cashier of the Santa Monica Savings Bank.

In his individual successful experience Mr. Bartle has exemplified the value of industry and perfect commercial integrity, and in his relations with the community as a banker he has endeavored to make his bank serve the general welfare and prosperity without sacrificing any of the essentials of security and conservative financial policy.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF MONROVIA was chartered June 20, 1887, its original capital being fixed at $50,000. Its first president was John F. Brossert, and its first cashier, J. F. Sartori, and among the original stock- holders were L. L. Bradbury, who then lived near Monrovia, and Isias W. Hellman, who lived in Los Angeles.

Early in 1888 Mr. John H. Bartle purchased an interest of J. F. Sartori and became active in the management as cashier. Though Mr. Sartori has continued as vice president of the First National Bank through all these years, he removed at that time to Los Angeles to establish the Security Savings Bank, now the Security Trust & Savings Bank. From cashier Mr. Bartle was subsequently elected president in 1894, and for many years, with a strong Board of Directors, directed the bank in its growing prosperity.

The present cashier, W. A. Chess, was first employed as bookkeeper in January, 1890. He has served continuously as cashier with Mr. Bartle in the management of the institution, and it is proper to say that the bank has been approximately thirty-three years under the same management.

In 1907 the capital was increased from $50,000 to $100,000, and the creation of a surplus begun. The surplus has now reached $100,000. The bank was first housed in a substantial brick building, but with increasing business it was found inadequate and the new building was erected at the corner of Myrtle and Orange avenues in 1909, the building and equipment costing $65,000.

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 7

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

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