USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume III > Part 78
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The Evans home in Hollywood is unique. Though situated in the heart of the city, it is so secluded that those unfamiliar with its location would pass it by entirely. A blind street leads to the gate, and a fence is built around the entire acreage. A large orange grove extends through two streets. The family house is a place of three stories, quaint and of great beauty. On the third floor a room that was occupied by Nelson Evans is now used for a sanctuary for his collection, and through a spiritual medium he has revisited this scene and conversed with members of his family and friends.
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W. LE ROY THOMAS, Long Beach attorney, is a native of Colorado, but finished his education in Los Angeles, and has been active in his pro- fession in this county for the past eight years.
Mr. Thomas was born at Central City, Colorado, July 14, 1889, son of Judge W. J. and Mary S. (Sternberg) Thomas. His father was born at St. Ives, England, and came to the United States at the age of twelve years with his parents who settled in Gilpin County, Colorado. He was a man of liberal education, attended the University of Colorado and sub- sequently went abroad and attended Bonn University in Germany. At Boulder, Colorado, he married Miss Mary S. Sternberg, who also was educated in the University of Colorado and was the first woman to be admitted to practice law in that state. She practiced about six years in Gilpin County, continuing the profession for a time after her marriage until home duties and the rearing of her family caused her to retire. She has lived in Los Angeles since 1909. W. J. Thomas ,was county judge of Gilpin County, Colorado, six years, then went to the Legislature and after his term' remained in Denver and was police magistrate of that city six years. He practiced law in partnership with Charles H. Pierce for seven years under the name of Thomas & Pierce, one of the well known firms of attorneys at Denver, until 1913. Following that he became inter- ested in mining operations at Goldfield, Nevada, and in Arizona, and at the time of his death on August 8, 1915, he was president, general manager and owner of the lease of the Swansea Mines Company at Swansea, Arizona, where he died. He was buried at Denver. He took a prominent part in democratic politics, and was a warm friend and admirer of William J. Bryan. During Bryan's last campaign for the presidency Judge Thomas made a speech tour of two months in New York State, delivering one hundred and three speeches. Among his intimate friends and associates he was known as "Cupid Thomas."
W. Le Roy Thomas is the younger of two sons. His brother, J. Edward, is a building contractor of Los Angeles. Mr. Thomas graduated from the Polytechnic High School at Los Angeles in 1909, then attended the University of Southern California, and was admitted to the bar January 20, 1915. For six months he practiced in Los Angeles with the late Earl Rogers, was then in the law office of Bertin A. Weyl, now superior judge of Los Angeles County, and subsequently was with W. J. Ford, another leading Los Angeles attorney.
Mr. Thomas came to Long Beach in the Spring of 1920, and was asso- ciated with the firm Swaffield & Swaffield, attorneys, until July 1, 1922, since which date he has been in general practice on his own account, with offices in the National Bank Building.
Mr. Thomas is a democrat, is affiliated with Palos Verde Lodge No. 389, Free and Accepted Masons at Long Beach, belongs to the Long Beach Bar Association and Chamber of Commerce.
At Santa Ana, Orange County, May 6, 1915, he married Miss Margaret L. Young, a native of Illinois, who was twelve years of age when she came to California with her parents, J. J. H. and Lulu (Condell) Young, who located at Santa Barbara. Her mother was a native of Decatur, Illinois. Her father for a number of years was real estate editor of the Los Angeles Tribune and Los Angeles Express, and for a time was on the editorial staff of the Los Angeles Times. He is now retired, and he and his wife reside with Mr. and Mrs. Thomas. Mrs. Thomas finished her education in the Polytechnic High School of Los Angeles. They have one son, . W. Le Roy, Jr., who was born at Seaside Hospital in Long Beach.
LOUIS NAPOLEON WHEALTON, attorney of Long Beach and former mayor of that city, came to California in 1906. He is a native of Virginia, and he practiced law for several years in New York City before coming West.
He was born at Chincoteague, Virginia, October 23, 1872, son of Toshua W. and Nancy C. (Lewis) Whealton. As a boy he attended the
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
grammar and high schools of Chincoteague, graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1892 from Western Maryland College at Westminster, received the Master of Arts degree from the same college in 1896, was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy degree by Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore in 1896. He also graduated from the law school of the Univer- sity of Maryland in 1896, and the following year was admitted to the Maryland bar at Baltimore, and to the bars of the states of Virginia and Pennsylvania the same year. Mr. Whealton practiced law associated with the firm of Seymour, Seymour & Harmon, attorneys at 40 Wall Street, New York City, from 1897 to 1903. During the next five years he was attorney for mining corporations in Old Mexico, but had come to California in 1906, and in 1910 was admitted to the California bar at Los Angeles. He has been in active practice at Long Beach since 1910, with the exception of the years 1914-15 while he was serving as mayor. He was elected mayor in 1914. Mr. Whealton's offices are in the Marine Bank Building.
He was reared in a democratic household, but is a republican by choice and conviction. He is a Royal Arch, Knight Templar Mason and Shriner and an Elk, a member of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Local Bar Association and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He belongs to the First Congregational Church of Long Beach.
At Baltimore, March 21, 1896, Mr. Whealton married M. Annieta . Gardiner, of an old Maryland family. They have one son, Rowland G., who holds the degrees A. B. and E. M. from Stanford University.
ELLIOT A. REED, M. D., who practiced medicine for over twenty years in the middle West and in Oregon, came to Long Beach to find a home for his leisure years, but soon became interested as an investor and owner, and is well known as the proprietor of the Kennebec Hotel, one of the fine family hotels of that city.
Doctor Reed was born at Clearfield, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, May 1, 1864, son of John C. and Dianna (Frantz) Reed. His father was a carpenter and contractor in Pennsylvania, living at Clearfield. Both parents were born in New York State, and both died when eighty-four years of age. They were the parents of eight sons and five daughters, three sons and two daughters living today, Doctor Reed being the youngest and the only one permanently identified with California.
Doctor Reed spent the first twenty years of his life around home and after that made his own way in the world, paying for his medical education and achieving success that has been highly creditable to his energy and am- bition. He was educated in public schools, including the Clearfield High School, and for eight terms taught in Pennsylvania and from his work as teacher saved the money to put him in medical college. He was graduated from the University of Maryland with the Doctor of Medicine degree in 1887. Doctor Reed spent fifteen years engaged in general practice in Illi- nois and Southern Wisconsin. After giving up his practice there he spent one year in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Chicago for post- graduate study, and then moved to Portland, Oregon, where he was a spe- cialist enjoying a very large practice for seven years. Altogether he put in twenty-two years in work as a physician and surgeon.
In the meantime he and Mrs. Reed came to Southern California, as tourists, and deciding to live here permanently Doctor Reed sold his drug store and home in Portland, and has been a citizen of Long Beach since 1916. He built his home at Los Cerritos, a Long Beach suburb, and at first regarded himself as completely retired from business or profession. He had made up his mind to retire from medical practice on reaching the age of fifty, though he went over that limit three years. He bought the Alberta Apartments on Locust Street, and after operating them for eighteen months sold and on May 1, 1919, took over the Kennebec Hotel at Ocean and Pacific Avenue, a family hotel with 160 rooms and the most centrally located hotel of the kind in Long Beach. Doctor Reed also has a ranch in Los Angeles County near Anaheim, with sixteen acres of oranges and
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eight acres of grapes. He has been very successful in all his business en- terprises since coming to Southern California.
Doctor Reed was reared a democrat, his father having been an ardent partisan, but in late years has voted largely as a republican. He is a mem- ber of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce and was formerly affiliated with the Masonic lodge, several social clubs and the medical societies.
At Clearfield, Pennsylvania, January 25, 1887, Doctor Reed married Miss Mary Lawhead of that locality. She died in Illinois in 1901 and is survived by two daughters, the first born in Michigan and the second in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Joseph Twining lives at Seattle, Washington, where her husband is superintendent of all the exchanges in the Northwest of the Telephone Company. Mrs. A. E. Westlake, the other daughter; resides at Long Beach, Mr. Westlake being manager of the Kennebec Hotel.
On Thanksgiving day, November 25, 1905, at Janesville, Wisconsin, Doctor Reed married Florence Cary, daughter of Dr. Ed L. and Ella (Wood) Cary of Whitewater, Wisconsin. Mrs. Reed was born in White- water, graduated from the Normal School there and was teacher for one year.
EARNEY BANKS VAUGHAN. Discovery and invention have marked the world's progress in every field, great civilizing agencies that have made modern man what he is. Although he can ride with the wind on land, on sea and in the air, can study the far-off planets in the sky as if standing on their surface, and can speak across seas and mountains as if space were not, he needs something more for life, health and happiness, and that is wholesome, enjoyable food. More than that, he is apt to want not only the upbuilding substantials of bread and meat, but will go far to satisfy a natural craving for such lighter food as delicacies and sweets, and an estimate of how much of this food he consumes yearly, in the United States alone, is a stupendous revelation. In recent years an entirely new preparation has been placed upon the market that bids fair to satisfy every epicure, bearing the name of the Vaughan Frozen Confection, which is the discovery of Earney Banks Vaughan, a prominent business man of Long Beach.
Mr. Vaughan was born at Dyersburg, Tennessee, August 20, 1873, one of a family of fourteen children born to Hazewood and Sarah Frances (Boone) Vaughan, both of whom have passed away. Mrs. Vaughan is a niece of Daniel Boone, Kentucky's great pioneer settler. The father of Mr. Vaughan traced his ancestral line to the Goldens of Tennessee. In 1848 he joined the great exodus to California and prospected for a time around Sacramento before returning to Tennessee. He was a blacksmith by trade and in later years often told his children of times when he had as many as forty negroes working in his shops engaged in shoeing oxen. During the Civil war he was a soldier in the Confederate army, serving under General Forrest. Of his large family of children but three survive. Earney Banks, the only one living in California, and a daughter, who lives on a ranch in Arizona, and a brother Jeff T. Vaughan of Dyersburg, Tennessee, he being the eldest of three children.
Earney Banks Vaughan completed his educational course in the Tennes- see State University, and in 1892, as a deputy officer, served in the indus- trial trouble in the Coal Creek mining district in East Tennessee. In 1893 he came as far West as Arizona, and as a representative of the F. L. Warner Grocery Company traveled all over that territory for the next four years. When the Spanish-American war came on he enlisted for active service and was connected with the Fourth Army Corps under the command of Gen. Joe Wheeler, and received his honorable discharge at Cayey, Puerto Rico. He returned then to Arizona and prior to its admis- sion as a state, served on the staff of Governor Murphy with the rank of sergeant-major, from which he nor other members of the staff never received a discharge as Governor Murphy passed away during his term of office.
After his return to Arizona, Mr. Vaughan resumed work as a traveling
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salesman and continued in that line until 1921, when he located permanently at Long Beach. During his many years of travel and association with men of his own profession and others, from all over the world, many apparently trivial things came to his attention along with those of seeming large importance, and one that he observed very frequently was the general demand for sweets and special delicacies and their enjoyment by all classes. Mr. Vaughan is a business man and a practical one and after considerable thought and experiment, he evolved what is now known as the Vaughan Frozen Confection, one of the most delicious preparations of its kind that has ever been offered to the public. In a general way it may be described as a delicate toasted cake filled with ice cream, the outside container being entirely air-tight. Special machinery is necessary in the manufacture and these are being placed in all the large cities. The process was patented at Long Beach, California, in February, 1923, and incorporated with the following officers : E. B. Vaughan, president ; W. A. Lang, vice president ; Ralph H. Cameron, Jr., vice president ; Jay Deahl, secretary ; P. F. Spicer, general manager and treasurer; the directors are: E. B. Vaughan, W. A. Lang, Ralph H. Cameron, Jr., G. H. Stetson and B. P. Lester. The Vaughan Frozen Confection Company is ably financed and the business is in a very prosperous condition.
Mr. Vaughan was married at Phoenix, Arizona, on October 10, 1900, to Miss Mary E. Furl, who was born at Lockhaven, Pennsylvania, and accompanied her parents to Arizona when ten years old. Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan have two children: Helen Elizabeth, who was born at Phoenix, Arizona, and is the wife of Neal A. Falk, who was born at Boston, Massa- chusetts, and is now connected with the Southern Counties Gas Company of Long Beach ; and Frank Boone, who was born at Long Beach, California, is their only son and has the old Daniel Boone appearance. Mr. Vaughan and his family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. They enjoy one of the attractive homes of this beautiful city, while the offices of the Vaughan Frozen Confection Company are located in the Ross Building on East First Street, Long Beach. Mr. Vaughan's political leanings are democratic as were those of his father and grandfather. He is a charter member of Lodge No. 2, Knights of Pythias at Los Angeles, and Mrs. Vaughan belongs to the auxiliary order, the Pythian Sisters.
FRANCIS E. RICE, A. M., PH. D., assumed in the year 1915 his present position, that of superintendent of the public schools of Hermosa Beach, and his progressive executive policies, marked by mature judgment, have done much to bring the schools of this thriving little city up to a high standard. He is one of the successful and honored representatives of the teaching profession in Los Angeles County and is entitled to special recognition in this publication. .
In briefly reviewing the service of the public schools of the Hermosa Beach community it is to be recorded that the first building, known as the Ocean View School, is situated on Summit Avenue and was erected in 1904. The Hermosa Beach School at Pier Avenue and East Railroad Drive was later built to meet increasing demands involved by the expansion of the city, and in 1920-21 was erected the fine Assembly Hall, which constitutes a most important part of the public school equipment of Hermosa Beach. The Assembly Hall was erected at a cost of $95,000, and in its equipment an additional sum of $5,000 was employed. In this fine building is an auditorium with a seating capacity of 750; a well arranged library, rest rooms for teachers, and also the general office of the superintendent, besides which seven class rooms are here provided. The Hermosa Beach School has nine rooms, the corps of teachers comprises twenty, and the enrollment of pupils in the various departments is now in excess of 700. The Ocean View School provides four rooms and principal's office. The valuation of the grounds occupied by the public school buildings of Hermosa Beach is placed, in 1922, at $30,000; the value of the school buildings is $160,000; school
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furniture, $14,500; school library, $1,000; school apparatus, $2,000-all representing a total valuation of $207,500. The beautiful auditorium of the Assembly Hall has a stage equipped with modern facilities, including five distinct sets of scenery, all painted by skilled scenic artists.
Professor Rice came to his present important professional charge at Hermosa Beach in 1915. Here he has done constructive work of great value and has vitalized and systematized the work of the public schools of which he is the able and popular superintendent. He takes deep interest in all that concerns the communal welfare, is a valued member of the local Chamber of Commerce, and he and his wife are zealous members of the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Rice was the organizer of the Woman's Club of Hermosa Beach and is its president at the time of this writing, in the autumn of 1922, besides which she has been active in the work of the Feder- ation of Women's Clubs and is affiliated also with the Order of the Eastern Star
The School Superintendents Association of Los Angeles County claims Professor Rice as one of its valued members, and he was one of its early presidents, his service as president having continued two years. He is actively identified also with the Los Angeles County Teachers Association, the California Teachers' Association, and the National Educational Asso- ciation.
FRANK G. FIERCE figures prominently as one of the vital and repre sentative business men of the city of Long Beach, where he is president of the Harbor Paint Company, distributors of the Tibbetts-Oldfield products, Dupont varnishes and stains, and other high-grade paints, oils, varnishes, brushes, wallpaper, etc. The modern and well equipped establishment of this company is at 341 American Avenue, and the business is one of sub- stantial and representative order.
Mr. Fierce was born at Van Wert, Iowa, January 8, 1884, and is a son of Jonathan C. and Estella (Leeper) Fierce, the latter of whom died when her son Frank G., of this review, was eleven months old. Mr. Fierce was an infant when taken into the home of his maternal grandparents, at Norwalk, California, and he has been a resident of this state since that time, 1885, he having been twenty-two years of age before he saw his father, who had remained in Iowa, where he is still engaged in farm enter- prise. The only other child is Ray A., a resident of San Francisco, and the two brothers did not meet until the subject of this sketch was twenty-one years old, he being the younger of the two.
The public schools of Artesia, Los Angeles County, afforded Mr. Fierce his early education, which was supplemented by a course in the Woodbury Business College, in Los Angeles. In 1886, the year after he had been taken into the home of his grandparents, at Norwalk, his grandfather, George Leeper, there died, and the grandmother, whose maiden name was Ellen Naylor, died in 1893, they having owned a pioneer vineyard and winery at Norwalk, where they had established their home in the year 1880. Mr. Leeper and one of his brothers were gallant soldiers of the Union in the Civil war. Mr. Leeper purchased forty acres of land at Norwalk, for the sum of $1,200, and the property, now in the center of a productive oil field, is at present valued at $3,000 an acre, it being owned by a son of the original purchaser, George Leeper.
In 1901 Mr. Fierce took a position as bookkeeper in a paint store in Los Angeles, and he continued his connection with this concern until 1912, after which he was identified with building enterprise at Los Angeles until 1914, when he assumed charge of the office of the Long Beach Paint Com- pany. He continued with this company in its office until 1918, and there- after passed about a year as a traveling salesman for the Tibbetts-Oldfield Paint Company, of Los Angeles. In March, 1919, he organized and incor- porated the Harbor Paint Company, of Long Beach, and as president of this company he has developed a prosperous business, the while he has
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gained place as one of the progressive citizens and business men of this community. He is an active member of the Long Beach Chamber of Com- merce, is a life member of Long Beach Lodge No. 888, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and a member of the Kiwanis Club. The attrac- tive family home is at 218 Newport Avenue.
Mr. Fierce chose as his wife Miss Ethel R. Moore, who was born at Indianapolis, Indiana, and who came with her parents to Los Angeles, California, in 1903. She is a daughter of William A. and Artie L. (Cozad) Moore, the former of whom died in Los Angeles and, the latter of whom now resides at Long Beach. Mr. and Mrs. Fierce have three children, whose names and respective ages (1922) are here. recorded: Edward W., twelve years ; Arthur Roy, seven years; and Leota May, two years.
. . E. P. HAYWARD is senior member of Hayward and McCartney, realtors at Glendale. This firm was established December 1, 1921, his partner being Harry E. McCartney. They do a general real estate, insurance and loan business, are subdividers and also contractors and builders, In the two years since they started they have done a very fine business. Their office is at 142 South Brand Avenue. This firm handled the subdivision known as Glendale Mesa tract,. G'Sell tract and Kenneth Grand tract, in which they sold twenty-five lots in twenty-four hours. They also have closed the beautiful Bellevue tract of eighty-four lots and the Keller tract of twenty lots.
E. Payson Hayward is an ex-service man, and came to Southern Cali- fornia soon after leaving the army. He was born in Connecticut, May 18, 1891, and was educated in public schools there and graduated Bachelor of Science from Wesleyan University in 1913. Following his University career he went with the Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, and went to their cashier's training school. He was assigned to duty at Albany, New York; Indianapolis, Indiana, and at Cincinnati as cashier.
In May, 1917, he joined the First Officers Training Camp at Platts- burg, New York, was commissioned as second lieutenant of infantry in the regular army and went overseas with the Twenty-third Infantry, Second Division. He was in France one year, being at the front for six months. Before the armistice he was ordered home to act as an instructor of new troops and was commissioned captain and assistant of the training of the Thirteenth Division at Camp Lewis, Washington.
Captain Hayward was honorably discharged in August, 1919, and the following month came to Glendale, California. He was a salesman for the real estate firm of Edwards & Wildey Company, and in February, 1920, opened their Glendale office. Later, in December, 1921, he helped organize the present firm.
Mr. Hayward is a member of and secretary of the local real estate board and belongs to the State and National Real Estate Board. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the American Legion and the Sunset Canyon Country Club. June.26, 1920, he married Miss Martha Bibb of Tacoma, Washington. They have one son, William W. Mrs. Hayward was born and educated at Tacoma, and takes a prominent part in social affairs at Glendale, being a life mem- ber of the Tuesday Afternoon Club and is a member of the Woman's Auxiliary of the American Legion.
ORRIE E. GHRIST, M. D., is a Glendale surgeon specializing in eye, ear, nose and throat, and a young man with an exceptional range of experience both in this country and abroad.
He was born at Ames, Iowa, August 22, 1894. As a boy he attended public schools there, also at Grand Island, Nebraska, and is a graduate of Iowa State College of Ames, and took his Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Medicine degrees from Leland Stanford University in 1917. He also did work in Berlin University in Germany, and post graduate courses in
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