USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume III > Part 86
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Miss Peycke has presented programs before most of the high schools in the City of Los Angeles, and also before the Chamber of Commerce, Women's Clubs and Choral Societies. She has published a number of women's choruses and ballads. During the last season she filled some eighty to one hundred concert engagements, and is her own manager, attending personally to all details ..
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LOUIS G. SCOVERN, mortician, and president and director of the Cutler Directory Service Company, is one of the sound and dependable business men of Glendale, whose activities are intelligently directed, and whose place of business is at 1000 South Brand Boulevard. He was born in Jefferson County, Missouri, June 17, 1880, and educated at Saint James Military Academy, Macon, Missouri. Leaving this institution in 1896, he came to the Golden State and was agent and operator for the Southern Pacific Railroad at different points, but left it to engage in mining at Goldfield, «Colorado. Returning to California in 1914 he established himself as a mortician at Glendale, under the name of L. G. Scovern Company, and has developed one of the most reliable undertaking estab- lishments in Los Angeles County. At his present location he has 8,000 square feet of floor space, divided into a chapel, layout rooms, morgue and casket rooms and office, and his equipment is complete in every detail. He is prepared to render both a day and night service, and the funerals which he directs are conducted with a dignified capability which is appropriate and gratifying. All of his equipment is motorized.
In addition to his large business as a mortician Mr. Scovern is, as above stated, president and director of the Cutler Selected Directory Service Company of Southern California, with headquarters at 703 West Sixth Street, Los Angeles. The Cutler Automatic Selected Directories are free information devices that actually answer thousands of questions accurately and quickly by the simple pressure of a foot lever. The device was invented by William C. Cutler of Glendale, California, and he has since perfected his invention until at present the cities of Los Angeles, Hollywood, Glendale, Alhambra, Inglewood and Burbank have installed these machines, and it is but a matter of time until every town and city of Southern California has them.
The Cutler Selected Directory is an automatic device that is a silent reference of selected business; a modern information bureau; a service that meets a long-felt demand; a selected directory of the business and professional men, hotels, apartments, office buildings, theatres, resorts, banks, hospitals, sanatoriums, associations, clubs, lodges and similar people and places. It lists street, name and location ; street car routes and informa- tion; railroad time tables, steam and electric; travel distances between all large cities in the United States; steamship lines and sailings ; motor stage time tables ; motor truck and transportation directory ; map of Los Angeles and map of local towns ; hotels and apartments; automobile road maps of California ; public and office buildings ; hospitals, schools and colleges ; points of interest ; resorts and missions; churches; city 'and town guide and civic information; emergency calls for fire, police and ambulance; theatres, with price, time and location; and drama, screen and attractions.
Mr. Scovern belongs to the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Exchange Club. Fraternally he maintains membership with the Masonic bodies, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a past grand, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In the Sunset Canyon Country Club he finds delightful and congenial association. The Epis- copal Church is his religious home, and he served the church at Glendale as junior warden for some time.
On August 5, 1911, Mr. Scovern married Miss Edna Marie Ander- son of Sioux City, Iowa, and they have two children: Pauline Marie and Louis G., Jr. Mrs. Scovern was educated in the public and high schools of Sioux City, Iowa, her birthplace, and from there came to San Fernando, California. She is a most accomplished lady and finds congenial employ- ment for her capabilities through her membership with the Tuesday After- noon Club, the Business Woman's Club and the Daughters of Rebekah. «
Mr. Scovern is a man who does not rest content with what he has accomplished, but is ever reaching out toward a greater degree of perfec-
Valentine Woodbury.
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tion. Although his present place of business is an excellent one, and well-suited for his purpose, he has purchased land, 105 x 150 feet, at the northeast corner of Garfield and Brand Boulevard, where he purposes to erect a two-story building for business purposes, which he will develop into the finest establishment of its kind in Southern California.
HAROLD I. DEVOL was for many years in business in the East, spending part of his life on a Virginia plantation, and in 1919 came to California and engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Eagle Rock. He is now a member of the firm Haas & DeVol, realtors, this firm engaging in business June 1, 1923. They are located at 204 East Colorado Avenue. They do a general real estate business, but specialize in Colorado Avenue property.
Mr. DeVol was born at Marietta, Ohio, October 17, 1870, son of John P. and Belle ( Porterfield) DeVol. His father was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, and his mother at Oil Creek, Pennsylvania. John P. DeVol was a farmer, and from Ohio finally moved to Virginia and became a plantation owner. He and his wife both died in that state.
Harold I. De Vol acquired his early education in the public schools of Petersburg, Virginia, and in McCabe's Preparatory School in that city. For twelve years he was in the hotel business, principally at Washing- ton, but also in the cities of New York and Boston. After leaving that business he was on the old home plantation at Petersburg, Virginia, for several years, and in December, 1919 located at Eagle Rock, California.
Mr. DeVol is a member of the local Realty Board, the California Real Estate Association, the National Real Estate Association, belongs to the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce, the Automobile Club of Southern California and the Presbyterian Church.
In December, 1911, he married Miss May Stanford, of New York City. She was born at Utica, New York, but acquired her education in New York City. She is a member of the Woman's Twentieth Century Club of Eagle Rock.
VALENTINE WOODBURY, born in Antrim, New Hampshire, February 14, 1885, and his elder brother Mark Woodbury born in Hillsboro, New Hampshire, December 23, 1883, are the sons and only children of Frank B. and Addie E. (Woods) Woodbury, and come of old New England stock, where the family has been known well and favorably for generations. He is a descendant of John Woodbury, who came from Somersetshire, England, in 1624, and settled in Beverly, Massachusetts. The Woodburys came to England from Denmark prior to the 13th century. Woodbury castle in the parish of Woodbury, county of Devon, was built long before the Nor- man conquest. One of his direct ancestors, Peter Woodbury, served in the Revolutionary war and was a member of the committee which formed the first constitution of the state of New Hampshire. His great grandfather's brother, Levi Woodbury, served as governor of New Hampshire, chief justice of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire and later as secretary of the United States Navy during President Jackson's first term, as secretary of the treasury during Jackson's second term and throughout Van Buren's administration, and then as associate justice of the United States Supreme Court until his death, at which time he was the leading candidate for nomi- nation for President of the United States on the Democratic ticket. Mr. Woodbury's father died when he was six years of age, but his mother sur- vives, as does also his only brother, Mark Woodbury, his elder, who has spent a goodly portion of his life at sea, as a sea captain, but who is now a resident of Alhambra, where he is identified with the Alhambra Laundry Company of which he has been a director and large stockholder since its incorporation. The mother of Mr. Woodbury managed to give him a good education in his youth, and after one year at the Townsend High School of Townsend, Massachusetts, and three years at the Nashua High School,
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at Nashua, New Hampshire, he spent two years as a cadet on board the United States Steamship Enterprise, commanded by W. F. Low, United States Navy. This training was much of the same order as that given at Annapolis Naval Academy and its instructors were appointed by the United States Navy Department from the personnel of the commissioned officers of the United States Navy. During this period Mr. Woodbury crossed the Atlantic ocean four times on the old square-rigged three-masted barque. On completing his course he served as quartermaster one year, being employed by the Merchants and Miners Transportation Company of Baltimore, Maryland. Poor health, however, drove him ashore, and for thirteen months, from November, 1904, to December, 1905, he was at Fort Stanton, New Mexico. In December, 1905, he came to Los Angeles, where he spent one year in connection with the Troy Laundry, and early in 1907, with others organized the Electric Laundry in that city. He sold his interest there, and in 1908 came to Alhambra, then a suburb of some 3,500 souls.
Mr. Woodbury had arrived in Los Angeles with less than $200.00 in his pocket and his resources were not much larger when he came to Alhambra. However he had been used to hustling for himself and he now exerted him- self to the extent of borrowing $500.00 which he used in making the first payment on the defunct laundry which had been formerly operated by W. L. Crowe, located in West Alhambra. This laundry property also included a five-room house, and the residence and business establishment was secured at a rental of $50.00 per month. They started with two wagons for col- lection and delivery service, but the business soon increased appreciably and they were forced to increase their equipment. By 1910 they found their quarters too small and at that time purchased the present site, at the corner of Stoneman Avenue and Mission Road, which was equipped as a modern laundry, and which was ready for occupancy in March, 1911. This indus- try, one of the city's largest, is now equipped modernly in every particular. It is a model institution, with the latest machinery known to the business, and is effective and expeditious in service and operated in a manner that allows moderate charges to exist. They are now operating ten cars and the plant has grown from a most humble and inauspicious start to a property appraised at a value of more than $100,000.00. Mr. Woodbury is a member of Alhambra Lodge Free and Accepted Masons, and Alhambra Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Alhambra Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and several civic associations. He has always been a supporter of public-spirited movements. In addition to the management of his busi- ness Mr. Woodbury has completed a four-year night course in law at the University of Southern California, from which he received the degree Bachelor of Law in June, 1923.
In October, 1914, Mr. Woodbury. was united in marriage with Miss Elma White, who was born at Meadville, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of Allegheny College, of that place. Mrs. Woodbury is a woman of high intellect, refinement and culture, an accomplished pianist and violinist and a member of a prominent family. In Alhambra's social circles she is a leader and belongs to the Wednesday Afternoon Club, of which formerly she was president. She and Mr. Woodbury are the parents of one son, William W., born October 1, 1916, and a daughter, Helen, born February 7, 1923.
WILLIAM R. JOHNSTON is president of the W. R. Johnston Company, real estate and insurance at Eagle Rock, and is also president of the Eagle Rock Realty Board.
He is one of the twenty-six charter members of Eagle Rock Realty Board, which was organized March 1, 1922. All the members are also members of the California State Real Estate Association and the National Association of Real Estate Boards. This is a very large and influential body and has done some valuable work, its most important achievement
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being the annexation of Eagle Rock to the City of Los Angeles. The first officers of the board were: J. B. Brown, president; H. E. Barnum, vice president ; and C. W. Jones, secretary and treasurer. For the year 1923 the officers are: W. R. Johnston, president; R. L. Woodhouse, vice president ; and J. B. Brown, secretary and treasurer.
The W. R. Johnston Company was established at Eagle Rock in 1922. The offices are at 210 Central Avenue. Mr. Johnston has two of his children associated with him in the company, D. T. Johnston being vice president and Mary E. Johnston secretary and treasurer. They do a general real estate and insurance business, handling loans, exchanges and rentals.
William R. Johnston has had an experience in much of the pioneer life of the middle and far West. He was born near Muncie, Indiana, February 26, 1851. He was educated in the public schools of Indiana, and in 1872, with his father, went to Salina, Kansas, and helped homestead a claim. In 1873 he became an employe of the United States Government at Fort Wallace, Kansas. At that time nearly all Western Kansas was on the frontier and exposed to Indian raids. Subsequently Mr. Johnston became sales manager of the Vineland Nursery & Fruit Company of Lawrence, Kansas, and was active in that business until 1897.
For over twenty years Mr. Johnston was a missionary and Young Men's Christian Association secretary among the Navajo Indians, and when he resigned that position in 1921 he moved to Eagle Rock. He is president of the Eagle Rock Realty Board, is a member of the California State and National Real Estate associations and belongs to the Presbyterian Church.
On October 29, 1891, he married Miss Margaret Wray, of Belleville, Kansas. She was born and educated in Iowa. They have four children, all at home, Phillip, Daniel T., Mary E. and Margaret.
HENRY WILEY McFARLANE has been a resident of Los Angeles County for about ten years. For over a third of a century he was a resident of Chicago and suburbs and a prominent railroad man. While in Chicago he gained a vast amount of experience in community affairs and local politics, and has been the means of instituting some cooperative movements in his rural district in California of incalculable good.
He was born on a farm near Morris, Grundy County, Illinois, August 26, 1856. As a child he lived in the town of Morris, attended the public schools there until he was thirteen, and then for four years worked and attended school during alternate periods. For another four years he taught district schools in winter and worked at other occupations in the summer. Mr. McFarlane spent one year as a student of law in Chicago, and in 1878 he joined the accounting department of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company. He was in the service of that railway corporation thirty-six years, except for two years with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Road. When he finally resigned he was assistant auditor of passenger accounts.
Mr. McFarlane had been interested in Southern California for several years, and in 1910 he bought some land in Los Angeles County and in the spring of 1914 came to California on a leave of absence. This leave he made permanent, and at once entered upon the active management of his forty-three acre walnut, fruit and poultry ranch near Downey, eleven miles southeast of Los Angeles. He intends to make that his permanent home, provided the rapidly approaching oil derricks do not drive him away.
While employed in Chicago Mr. McFarlane made his home in the western suburb of Austin, which finally was incorporated within the city and became a part of the Thirty-fifth Ward. While there he organized in 1894 the Austin Economic Circle, subsequently the Austin Senate, a young men's club, and finally the Austin Public Policy Club. The first two were social and government study clubs, and the latter was a combination of a
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civic and local improvement club, organized to develop a correct opinion on questions of public policy, through public meetings and also by non- partisan action to secure desirable improvements and reforms in the com- munity. The meetings were held in the high school building, and the club started with 300 members, representing every diversity of political, religious and social affiliations. It was one of the pioneer community and civic improvement organizations in the Middle West. It was not satisfied with discussion and the development of opinion, but used its power successfully to effect action in getting improvements of all kinds. The daily papers of Chicago gave much publicity to the club, frequently a column or more on the front page. While non-partisan, it became a power in politics, since politicians were anxious to conciliate the club.
Gathering information and inspiration from the meetings of the Economic Circle and the Senate referred to, a group of young men decided to try their hand at practical politics, under Mr. McFarlane's direction. The representative of the democratic party in the State Legislature from the Seventh Senatorial District, embracing all of Cook County outside of the corporate limits of Chicago, was a very able corporation lawyer. His home was in Austin, where he was highly esteemed as a citizen, an elder and the teacher of the men's Bible class in one of the leading churches. He had been in the Legislature longer than any other member, was the speaker of the House, always the shrewd and successful manipulator of corporation interests and the adroit obstructionist of all progressive legislation, lest it might jeopardize special privileges already secured and make it more diffi- cult to extend them. This was in 1896. It was decided to prevent his nomination and retire him to private life. Accordingly, plans were per- fected and put into execution in all the local organizations of the democratic party in the district, to make sure that a decisive majority of delegates to the next senatorial convention would be opposed to his nomination. The efforts were successful and a young lawyer, who had been one of the pro- gressive group and was considered honorable and trustworthy, was nomi- nated and elected. He served two years and proved a more willing 'and servile tool of the trusts and corporations than his predecessor had 'ever been. When his term was up he, too, was retired and another young lawyer, of the progressive group with professed progressive tendencies and of presumed honor and integrity was nominated and elected. He served one term and became at once the pliant tool of the arch corruptionist of the State ; hobnobbing with him constantly, eating luncheons, dinners, etc., at his expense and putting himself under unlimited obligations in every way. Of course he proved infinitely worse than both of his predecessors, voting for vicious measures of the rankest kind, without palliation or excuse and was consequently relegated to a deserved obscurity at the end of his term.
By this time the ex-speaker -- who had been lampooned unmercifully in the newspapers and otherwise, for prostituting his talents and character in the service of the bribers and corruptors, who were continually plotting and lobbying to maintain and extend their monopolies and special privi- leges-appeared to be sincerely desirous of returning to the legislature to redeem himself. Realizing at last the power of the progressive group which had taken the unusual course of resorting to practical politics for redress of grievances-and that he must make terms with them if he was to be allowed to return to public life, he sought an interview with Mr. McFarlane, who told him that he could make himself satisfactory to his democratic constituents if he would pledge himself to secure the enactment of worth-while democratic measures.' He asked what they were and Mr. McFarlane replied he was prepared to name five; but that some others might be desired before the session closed. The measures he would have to agree to introduce and do his best to put through the House and Senate wère : 1. A bill to abolish political conventions for the nomination of candi- dates for office and to substitute therefor direct primaries, the candidates' names to be placed on primary ballots by petition of registered voters.
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2. A bill to abolish ward and district representation and to provide that each party or group of voters should have representation in the legislative body proportional to the number of votes cast." 3. A bill to abolish the State board of equalization and to provide in lieu thereof that each county should pay a per cent of the State tax based on the amount raised in each county for local purposes, irrespective of interest on bonds for local improve- ments ; and then to amend the revenue section of the Constitution so as to give to the people of each county the right-through an extension of the principle of local option or home rule-to raise local taxes and their per cent of the State revenue in any manner which a majority of the voters may deem just, equitable and most likely to advance their particular interests ; regard- less of the method adopted by the people in other counties, whose population, wealth and commercial activity are different. 4. A bill to provide for uniform public accounting and auditing to be prescribed by State authority and administered by the State Auditor ; requiring a strict accounting for all money received from licenses, taxes, fees, interest on public funds, etc., and all moneys disbursed in accordance with the prescribed rules ; city and county auditors, superintendents of State institutions, etc., to make sworn annual reports to the State Auditor, who will classify the accounts and publish them in an annual volume for general distribution as a public docu- ment. 5. A bill to provide an enabling act, whereby the people of the various cities may legally acquire, own and operate public utilities.
These proposals were pioneer efforts at legislation which is now common in every state. They involved a direct primary instead of the old time political conventions, a system of proportional representation, local option in taxation, uniform public accounting and auditing, municipal ownership of public utilties, permission to secure a vote on questions of public policy. Bills for all these measures were drawn and two of them passed both Houses and went to the Governor for signature. The Governor, not realiz- ing he was then taking the first step in the direction of direct legislation taken in any state up to that time (1900-01), signed the public policy bill, with its advisory initiative and referendum. However, he vetoed the uniform public accounting and auditing bill.
It was this unusual experience in public affairs that Mr. McFarlane brought with him when he settled on his ranch near Downey in 1914. He found that the people in the neighborhood were using the old fashioned wood and oil stoves for cooking, kerosene lamps and candles for light, windmills for pumping water for domestic purposes ; that water for irrigation was not equitably distributed ; that the principal traveled roads were not kept in good condition ; that the river in the neighborhood continually overflowed in the winter, endangering the lives and property of the people near the stream ; that the bridges were improperly constructed, collecting the floating debris, damming the water, diverting the channel, finally washing out, and were never restored-greatly to the loss and damage of the people of Downey and to the whole community.
He believed that human nature was the same in the country that it was in the city ; and although men were tired and dirty after a long day's work in the field and would have to take a bath, change their clothes, hitch up to the buggy (there were few automobiles in the neighborhood at that time ) and drive a mile or two to attend a meeting, he had the idea that their enlightened self interest could be aroused sufficiently to come to a meeting to consider what could be done to improve living conditions for themselves and families. Accordingly, he called a meeting at his house, and about thirty farmers turned out. He explained in what manner unsatisfactory conditions in Chicago had been successfully combated and radically improved, and sug- gested that the farmers try the same method, offering his house as the place of meeting twice a month, regularly, or whenever it was desirable to meet.
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