USA > California > Los Angeles County > Ingersoll's century history, Santa Monica Bay cities prefaced with a brief history of the state of California, a condensed history of Los Angeles County, 1542-1908 > Part 50
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WILLIAM R. CHAPMAN, retired citizen of Sawtelle, one of the early settlers of the town, is a native of Erie County, New York, and was born in the city of Buffalo in 1841. His father, James Chapman, was a merchant in Buffalo and in 1850 came west via the Great Lakes on the steamboat Mayflower to Racine, Wisconsin, where he pur- chased land and engaged in farming. He died there in 1856 leaving a widow and four children. Young William R., while yet a mere lad, secured employment on the steamers plying on Lake Michigan and be- came a cook. Later he apprenticed himself to learn ship carpentry in Chicago. The Civil War broke out and because of his irresistible love of adventure he left his work and in May, 1860, enlisted in the U. S. Reg- ular Army and was mustered into Company G., First U. S. Dragoons, which was the U. S. First Cavalry, at Carlisle, Pa. He served in the WILLIAM R. CHAPMAN. Dragoons for three years. On July 1st, 1863, he was transferred to Bat- tery A., 3rd U. S. Artillery, in which he served one year. On the 25th of July, 1864, he was honorably discharged and the same day re-enlisted for three years in response to the call of President Lincoln for 300,000 more men. He served the full term of his enlistment and was discharged from the service in July, 1867, having served his country continuously for over seven years,
About this time Mr. Chapman married Miss Mariah Wheaton, at Chelsea, Mass., and located in Washington County, Illinois. In 1878 he came west to
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Colorado and mined gold at Central City, Gunnison and Black Hawk. In 1895 he started for California, driving a team from Denver to Phoenix, Arizona and from that point came by rail to Santa Monica and entered the Soldiers' Home. He later made a trip on a U. S. Government transport, conveying five hundred horses to Manila, P. I., and was in the service under General · Funston about fifteen months when he returned to Sawtelle, purchased a residence and retired from active life. Mr. Chapman has been twice married. In 1905 he married Mrs. Amanda Shepherd, of Sawtelle. The family home is at 503 Colorado Street, Sawtelle.
A. K. HANCOCK, of Santa Monica, California, is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, he having been born in that city on the 26th day of February, 1853, where he continued to reside until he removed with his family to Santa Monica.
His father, Captain A. S. Hancock, was one of the pioneer wholesale merchants of Memphis, having come to Memphis in its early history and he also owned and operated a line of steamboats between Memphis and New Orleans. His family history includes many names of distinguished men, both soldiers and statesmen.
Albert K. Hancock received his education in the common schools of his native city, finishing at Saulsbury College, Saulsbury, Tennessee-at that time one of the leading educational institutions of Tennessee-after which he engaged exten- sively in cotton planting, cultivating large tracts of land in the Mississippi Valley.
In 1875 he married Miss Corinne Duke, only daughter of Judge George W. Duke, a distinguished lawyer and Judge of the Probate Court in Crittenden County, Arkansas and who was also a large cotton planter. Mrs. Hancock received her education at Ward's Seminary, at Nashville, Tennessee, the leading Seminary for young ladies in the state.
In 1882 Mr. Hancock commenced the practice of law in his native city and state and soon took position among the most successful members of his profession, he having in a short time gained an enviable reputation as a prosecutor in damage actions and in the defense of criminal cases.
Mr. Hancock was elected to the Senate from his home district in 1903 and, while so representing that district, he rendered signal service to his constituency in many vital issues touching the life, growth and prosperity of Memphis and his native state generally.
During the early part of 1906, Mr. Hancock settled up his business affairs at his old home (Memphis) and removed with his family to Santa Monica, where he has purchased an elegant home fronting the ocean, he having invested also in Hollywood and elsewhere, with a view of making California his permanent home, and has established his office in Los Angeles where he is enjoying a very lucrative and satisfactory law practice.
Mr. and Mrs. Hancock have four children, Sara, the wife of Colonel James A. Loudon, a retired capitalist of Santa Monica; Lulu, wife of John D. Jordan, a tobacco merchant of New Orleans, La., and a young son and daughter, Hadys
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and Corinne, aged respectively 12 and 10 years, all of whom reside in Santa Monica except Mr. and Mrs. Jordan, who are expected to join their mother and father within the near future and become permanent residents of beautiful Santa Monica by the Sea.
MRS. GEORGE SIBLEY is one of the essential factors in the business, social and civic life of Venice, a woman of exceptional abilities and charming per- sonality. She is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, where she was born August 28th, 1858, a daughter of Alfred and Laura (Foot) Bright, both natives of the same state. Her father died when a comparatively young man. Mrs. Sibley spent her girlhood in Cleveland and, at eighteen years of age, married Mr. Henry W. Taft, an own cousin of Hon. William H. Taft, ex-Secretary of War and. at the present time ( September, 1908), republican candidate for the Presidency. Mr. Taft died in 1882 and the widow, with an only daughter, Irene, lived in retirement in Cleveland for a period of about ten years. In 1891 she came to California and located at Los Angeles. December 25th of the same year she married Mr. George Sibley, then a wholesale merchant of Los Angeles. In May, 1900, Mrs. Sibley came to the coast in quest of better health. After a season of relaxation and rest, she caught the spirit of enterprise and business promise that marked the founding and spontaneous growth of the embryo city of Ocean Park as a seaside resort, and in her characteristically quiet way com- menced the sale of real estate. Her practical restoration to health and her great faith in the future of the new town made her one of the most effective advo- cates of and successful promoters on the beach and she soon laid the foundation for the extensive business interests she today controls. In 1901 she opened' offices on Pier avenue and there continued in business until 1905. Meantime she incorporated the Guarantee Realty Company and has continuously held the office of president thereof. They purchased property in the then new city of Venice of America, at the northeast corner of Windward avenue and Trolley- way and there erected the Guarantee building, one of the most substantial busi- ness blocks in the now famous city. In 1906 the business was removed thereto.
Mrs. Sibley is always found ready to forward any movement for the bet- terment of Venice. She is an active worker in the Venice Chamber of Com- merce, she is president of the Pick and Shovel Club, an aggressive civic organ- ization that has done much for the civic and social growth of the city. She was one of the organizers of the Ocean Park Country Club and first president of the Ladies' Auxiliary.
By her former marriage Mrs. Sibley has one daughter, Mrs. Irene Taft Loring, wife of Howard S. Loring of Venice, and by her present marriage, she has one daughter, Louella Marie Sibley. The family home in Walgrove is one of the most spacious and substantial of that pretty Venice suburb. Mrs. Sibley, by reason of her inherent honesty and business acumen, has accumulated a comfortable fortune and is accorded a high place in the commercial world.
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ADOLF VACHE is a California pioneer of 1855. He is a native of France, born near La Rochelle in 1835. His father and grandfather were bakers by trade and pursued the business as a life occupation. His father was also a vineyardist and wine maker, and Adolf acquired a thorough knowledge of both trades. He became an expert bread maker. He was nineteen years of age when he came to San Francisco. He there followed his trade as baker, went to San Juan, in then Monterey, now San Benito County, and for eighteen years conducted a bakery and meat market. The building of the Southern Pacific Ry. through San Benito County opened up the new city of Hollister and business at San Juan declined, when Mr. Vache went to San Bernardino and joined his brother E. Vache, in grape culture, at Brookside, near the present city of Redlands. Later Mr. Vache raised grapes on an extensive scale on leased land of the Barton Ranch, at old San Bernardino. In 1887 he came to Santa Monica and purchased two lots at the corner of Oregon Avenue and Fourth Street, where he built a dwelling and bakery and conducted business for many years. His bread became famous for its excellent quality and his patronage extended to Los Angeles and surround- ing towns. Some people who spent the summer season at Santa Monica or- dered their bread from him after their return home.
Mr. Vache married in 1875, Miss Francisca Pellissier, in Watsonville, Cali- fornia. She died in this city in 1891 leaving a family of seven children, namely: Emily, Mrs. Jesse Yokum, of Arizona ; Adolf, of San Jose ; Joseph, of Santa Monica ; Zoe, who is Mrs. Joseph Hall, of Los Angeles; Marcelina, Mrs. M. Biene, of Brook- side, California ; Miss Madaline, single, and Ernest, in Arizona.
Mr. Vache is one of Santa Monica's most reliable and respected pioneers. He has retired from business.
JAMES H. GRIGSBY was born in McDonough County, Ill., January 7th, 1851, where he lived until he moved to California. His father, William Grigsby, settled in McDonough County, Ill., in 1829 and accumulated over four thousand acres of land in the county which is worth today $200 per acre. Father and son were engaged in the general merchandise and milling business for a number of years, when they started the Grigsby Bank, May 1st, 1882 and continued in the business until 1900, when William Grigsby turned his interest over to James H. Grigsby and he conducted the business until July 22nd, 1907, when he sold the Bank to the Huston Banking Company. William Grigsby died July 25th, 1907. James H. Grigsby and family moved to California, November 19th, 1907, and settled in Santa Monica where he is again engaged in the banking business as president of the Merchants National Bank.
He was also engaged in the horse importing business for a number of years with J. C. Huston and also in the Canadian land business with his son, E. Grigsby. for three years.
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WILLIAM WALLACE WOODRUFF, retired, of Santa Monica, is a native of Fluteville, in the town of Litchfield, Conn., and was born May 20th, 1844. His father, Isaac B. Woodruff, descended from the earliest colonists of that name in Connecticut, and became a successful manufacturer of fifes at Fifeville. Later he, with W. L. Gilbert, founded the W. L. Gilbert Clock Company at Winstead, Litchfield county, Conn., which is one of the most extensive institu- tions of its kind on the western continent. He was, for fifty years, until the time of his death, a moving spirit in the development of the business. Mr. Woodruff grew up at Winstead and, at eighteen years of age, entered the Fed- eral army, was soon detailed as a musician and served as a fifer in Company G, Nineteenth Connecticut Infantry. He served from 1862 to September 15th, 1865, during which time he played a solid silver instrument, the production of his father's factory at Fifeville. Upon the close of the war he returned home, entered the employ of the Gilbert Clock Company and became thoroughly familiar with all the intricacies of clock making, developing an instinctive mechanical genius that became invaluable to him in his business. By reason of impaired health, he came to California in 1903 and is one of Santa Monica's esteemed citizens. He is a member of the G. A. R. and one of the founders of the Stephen Jackson Post of Santa Monica. Mr. Woodruff is prolific in vivid reminiscences of the Civil War and plays with as much life and relish the pop- ular airs and war songs as when a lad leading the boys in blue to battle, nearly half a century ago.
Mr. Woodruff married at Litchfield, Conn., in 1887, Miss Eleanor Loraine Smith who, during their five years' residence in Santa Monica, has gained many steadfast friends.
J. S. HUNT, M. D., Santa Monica, is a native of Newark, Licking County, Ohio, born June 7th, 1865. He is the son of John Bingham Hunt, M. D., and Angeline (Patterson) Hunt. Dr. John B. Hunt was a successful physician and, for many years, practiced medicine at Newark and Columbus, Ohio, and later at Indianapolis, Ind. Dr. J. S. Hunt spent his boyhood and youth in the two latter named cities, receiving his schooling at the Ohio Weslyan Uni- versity and later pursued a course of study at Pulte Medical College, Cincinnati, from which institution he graduated in 1891. He commenced practicing his profession at Athens, Ohio, and there remained until he came to California, locating in Santa Monica in the year 1900. In this city he has built up an ex- tensive practice. Dr. Hunt married, June 11th, 1890, Miss Adelaide Junipher, a daughter of Mr. A. A. Junipher, a successful farmer of Greendale, Hocking County, Ohio. Dr. and Mrs. Hunt have one daughter, Henrietta. They are members of the Presbyterian church. Dr. Hunt has extensive realty interests n Santa Monica and Venice and is one of the promotors of and a stockholder in the Santa Monica Bay Hospital and is treasurer of that institution.
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STEPHEN CARPENTER, for nearly half a century a citizen of California, and more than a quarter century resident of Santa Monica, is a native of Vermont. He was born in the town of High- gate, Franklin county, March 29th, 1834. His father, Loren C. Carpen- ter, was a native of the town of Barre, Washington county, and was by oc- cupation a millwright, owning a foun- dry and machine shop at Highgate. He was a man of affairs and was a soldier of the War of 1812. He mar- ried Caroline Fisk, a daughter of Stephen Fisk, who served in the Rev- olutionary War, entering the army, a youth of seventeen, as a drummer and serving until the war closed. He then repaired to the timbered forests of Vermont, where he cleared up a farm and lived during the remainder of his life. Mr. Carpenter, when a small boy of four years, suffered the loss of his mother by death, which event broke up the home. He was taken in charge by an aunt at Bethel, with whom he lived for about five STEPHEN CARPENTER. years. He lived with other relatives until he was seventeen, when he learned the millwright's trade of his father. Later, for seven years, he followed his trade in Fillmore county, Minnesota. In 1863 he came to California via the Isthmus of Panama. He proceeded to the then new development of the mines of the Comstock lode and worked at his trade and timbering shafts as a superintendent for several years. He came to Santa Monica in 1875 and returned north. In 1882 he practically retired from active business pursuits. For nineteen years his home stood on the property now occupied by the Santa Monica City Hall. He served nine years as a mem- ber of the Santa Monica City School Board and was for several years its chair- man. Mr. Carpenter married in 1862 in Minnesota, Miss Madaline Webb, a daughter of H. H. Webb (deceased) and sister of H. H. Webb, a well-known business man and pioneer of Santa Monica. Mrs. Carpenter died in Santa Mon- ica October 3rd. 1904, leaving one daughter, Laura E., wife of Albert D. Hawes of Santa Monica. Theirs was the first wedding ceremony performed in Santa Monica. By a former marriage Mrs. Hawes has one son, Stephen T. Garey, of Santa Monica, who, September 8th, 1906, married Miss Alvira Harrison of Santa Monica.
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J. LINDT, for many years a resident of Santa Monica, was born in the southern part of Germany, on the Rhine, February 8th, 1840. His father, Peter Lindt, was an art wood worker and glazier. He worked out designs and made cathedral windows, doors, etc. Young Lindt served an apprenticeship, passed three examinations in different departments of the work, adding the art of painting and decorating. He travelled for about two years in the Valley of the Rhine in pursuit of his trade. In 1859 he came to America, landing in New York and there followed his trade for about thirty years. In 1890 he came to California and in 1902 he located in Santa Monica. He has executed some of the best work in his line on the coast and has done the interior decorating of many of the best residences in this section of the state.
Mr. Lindt married Miss Mary Granger, of Baden, Germany, in 1884, and they have four children-Frances, Annie, Emma and Christina. They are mem- bers of the Catholic church. M1. Lindt is a thrifty and energetic man of means and owns a comfortable home near Twentieth Street and Oregon Avenue, Santa Monica.
JOSE VALENZUELA, of 1824 Fifth street, Santa Monica, is a member of one of the oldest Spanish California families, a native of Los Angeles, and was born March 18th, 1851. His father, Ramon Valenzuela, was one of the best-known native-born citizens of Los Angeles, and was a son of Jasper and ( Maria Y. Ygnacio Lopez) Valenzuela, also native Californians. Ramon Valenzuela was reared on a cattle ranch in San Diego and November 28th, 1840, married Señorita Ascension Serrano of San Gabriel Mission. Her parents, Thomas and Nicholaza ( Navarra) Serrano, were both born in, and during their lifetime never left the confines of, Los Angeles county. After his marriage Señor Valenzuela followed, for years, the occupation of fruit raiser on a small ranch at San Pedro and Sixth streets, Los Angeles. This place he sold in 1846, purchasing a tract of land at what is now the corner of Seventh and Gladys streets. This land becoming too valuable for farming purposes, he subdivided and upon a portion thereof built houses to rent. He sold the property in 1889. He died in Los Angeles in 1889 at the advanced age of eighty-four years, leaving ten chil- dren-Eduardo, who married Francisco Aguirre, now both deceased-Manuela, deceased, who married José Antonio Machado-Jubencio, Felipe, Mrs. Elario Rayes, Salbadora, widow of Dolores Ruiz-Jasper-José-Crotilda, Mrs. Elario Ybarre-Ramond, died 1906-Ascension and Armulfo. There are forty-two grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren.
José Valenzuela grew up in the city of Los Angeles, living the free open life of the cattle ranges, also being at times employed at various other occupa- tions. April 17th, 1871, he married Sarah, daughter of Nathan Pettey, who was a well-known pioneer of California. He crosed the plains, mountains and rivers for California in 1849, coming from South Carolina and locating in Mar-
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iposa county, where he became well known and prominent in political affairs. He served as sheriff at Mariposa county nine years and was a conspicuous figure in the pursuit of the famous bandit, Joaquin Murietta, and during his public services was known as a terror to evil-doers. He married Elizabeth Holland, also of southern birth and parentage. Her grandfather and great-grandfather were Revolutionary soldiers and lost their lives in the cause of American inde- pendence. Mrs. Valenzuela and one son, Albert Pettey of Fresno, are the only surviving children.
Mr. and Mrs. Valenzuela located on their present property November 14th, 1905, where they own a comfortable home, No. 1824 Fifth street, and adjacent income property. They have one son, Roy Valenzuela. Mr. Valenzuela is a man of independent thought and action. He is, in politics, a democrat, and has uniformly voted his party ticket.
D. G. HOLT, editor and owner of the Daily Outlook, Santa Monica, was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pa., October 6th, 1861. He lived in the East until about six years of age, when he went to make his home with an uncle in Wis- consin. Two years later his father, Sidney A. Holt, his mother and two younger brothers were lost at sea. Mr. Holt grew up in Wisconsin and was educated in the public schools of that state. In 1873 he joined the " rush " to North- western Minnesota and Dakota, and there followed newspaper work for several years, latterly at Pine City, where he was connected with the Pine County Pio- neer. In the fall of 1886 he left Pine City and started for California, making San Francisco his destination. He chose the Canadian Pacific railroad route and, after spending a few months in Winnipeg, proceeded westward. The win- ter was a severe one and he was snow-bound for a week at Medicine Hat, N. W. T. While thus delayed he was engaged to take charge of the local paper, the joint property of local merchants, which had suspended publication for about three months. Mr. Holt put the paper on a good business footing and con- ducted the same for a period of about two years. He then resumed his journey westward to San Francisco, arriving there in the spring of 1889. In the spring of 1890 he founded the River Newes at Rio Vista, Solano county, California, and conducted the same for five years. In the spring of 1896 he came to Santa Monica and assumed charge of the Santa Monica Outlook, then a weekly publi- cation. He transformed it into a daily in 1896, and has made it one of the most influential news journals of Southern California.
Mr. Holt married at Medicine Hat, Canada, Sept. 30, 1891, Miss Laura Preston of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and they have one son, Sidney, born at Rio Vista, Solano county, Cal., Sept. 18, 1892.
Mr. Holt has been prominent in the political life of California and is a loyal supporter of the republican party. For many years he held the position of min-
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nte clerk of the California State Senate and was one of the most efficient and popular attaches of that body. He has ever evinced a becoming interest in local public affairs and for six years was a member of the executive committee of the Republican County Central Committee. For many years he served the city of Santa Monica as a trustce of the public library. He was elected a member of the Board of School Trustees in 1897 and served until 1901. Upon the reincor- poration of the city under the Freeholders' Charter in 1907, he was elected a member of the Board of Education and is now president of the board.
THE CALIFORNIA MILITARY ACADEMY, truly a Santa Monica institution in the sense that it is located in Santa Monica, is incorporated by Santa Monica men and is backed by Santa Monica capital. It was opened in response to the urgent demands of a large number of parents who desired to place their boys in a genuine military academy, near Los Angeles, differing in several important respects from any school then existing in the vicinity of that city.
The Academy occupies the premises formerly famous as the Arcadia Hotel. The institution is organized as a military post under command of the Superin- tendent, the members of the Faculty being assigned to perform such military duties as circumstances may require. The Corps of Cadets is organized similarly to that of the United States Military Academy, except that it is organized as a cavalry command, and is governed in accordance with military customs.
This institution possesses unexcelled facilities for ocean bathing on its own beach, which is one of the best and safest on the bay. The salt water plunge, at Ocean Park, is within easy walking distance. Three regular courses of study, each leading to graduation with the Academy Diploma, are open to Cadets, as follows :
I. The Classical Course, fitting for college.
II. The Scientific Course, fitting for Scientific or Technical Institutions.
III. The English Course, for boys who are not to enter college. Effort is made, also, to secure instructors who have had military experience, especially as cadets in school or college.
The school year begins on the Wednesday nearest the 25th of September, and ends on the Wednesday nearest the 10th of June. The usual vacations at Christmas and Easter are observed, also such legal holidays as may be advisable, and it is not in session during the summer but its situation and command of facilities for out of door sports and recreation, render it a most enjoyable place in which to spend the summer if a boy must be away from home.
MAJOR E. H. BAKER, the Superintendent, a native of Maine, was educated in Chicago and New York. His military training was acquired in the National Guard and in military schools. He has had twenty-three years experience as
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Commandant and Superintendent of military boarding schools in New England, the Middle States, the Mississippi Valley and California. He came to Los Angeles in the spring of 1905 with the intention of opening a military academy similar to the best schools in the east. Having thoroughly canvassed the vicinity of that city, he selected Santa Monica as offering the most and greatest advantages for a boy's boarding school. He secured a lease of the well known Hotel Arcadia property for a term and opened the Academy in a military camp September, 1906. Acting as Superintendent he has conducted the affairs of the institution since that date. With the co-operation of Professor Bishop and Mr. Roy Jones, he organized the Academy Corporation, which has a fifty years charter and an authorized capital stock of two hundred thousand dollars. This insures the permanence and high quality of the institution.
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