USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > Los Angeles from the mountains to the sea : with selected biography of actors and witnesses to the period of growth and achievement, Volume I > Part 27
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In 1885 the Rev. Eli Fay located in Los Angeles and con- ducted services for a time in the Masonic Hall, 135 South Spring Street. The church was reorganized and the services were held in Child's Opera House on Main Street. A lot was secured on Seventh Street near Broadway, and largely through the liberality of Doctor Fay, a church building, 45x100 feet in area, was erected at a cost of $25,000. The church was dedicated June 16, 1889. It was destroyed by fire in 1892. The congregation then purchased from the Baptists the church building on the northeast corner of Hill and Third streets, originally built by the Congregationalists. This site was sold for business purposes in 1899. The last sermon was preached in it by the Rev. C. K. Jones March 18, 1900. The congrega-
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tion built a new church on Flower Street between Ninth and Tenth streets.
SYNAGOGUES .- Congregation of B'nai B'rith. The first Jewish services in Los Angeles were held in 1854. No place of worship was erected for several years later. In 1862 Rabbi A. W. Edleman organized the congregation of B'nai B'rith and conducted the services until 1886.
The first synagogue was built in 1873 on what is now the site of the Copp Building, just north of the city hall grounds on the east side of Broadway. The lot and buildings were sold in 1894 and a new synagogue erected on the corner of Ninth and Hope streets.
OTHER DENOMINATIONS .- The Reorganized Church of Lat- ter Day Saints (Mormon) was first organized in the autumn of 1882. Services are now held at No. 516 Temple Street.
The New Church (Swedenborgian) was organized in 1894, and held services for some time in Temperance Temple. It has since erected a church building at 515 East Ninth Street at a cost of $3,000.
Seventh Day Adventists organized in 1880 and built a church on Sixth Street. They have now a church on Carr Street which cost $6,000.
Friends Church was organized in 1897. The congregation has erected a church building on the corner of Third and Fremont Avenue at a cost of $4,000.
Twenty years ago Professor Barrows related to the local Historical Society some interesting reminiscences of the early ministers and churches in Los Angeles. In his address he said :
As Alta California was settled by a Spanish-speaking peo- ple who tolerated no other form of religion except the Roman Catholic, of course there were no churches except of that faith in Los Angeles from the time of the settlement of the ancient pueblo until the change of government in 1846.
From and after the founding of the Mission of San Ga- briel, in 1771, until and after the completion of the old Plaza Church in the latter part of 1882, that mission became and re- mained the center of industrial activity, as well as the head- quarters of clerical authority for this portion of the province.
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Fathers Salvadea, Sanchez, Boscana and Estenega managed with zeal and great ability the extensive concerns, both spiritual and temporal, of the mission, sending a priest oc- casionally to the pueblo, or coming themselves, to say mass, at the capilla or chapel which had been built north and west of the present church. After the latter was built, Father Bos- cana became the first regular rector or pastor, serving till 1831. He was succeeded by Fathers Martinas, Sanchez, Bachelot, Estenega, Jimenez, Ordaz, Rosales and others who served as local pastors for longer or shorter period of the only church in town, from 1831 to 1851.
The first priest whom I knew of, but did not know per- sonally, was Padre Anacleto Lestrade, a native of France, who was the incumbent from '51 to '56. Padre Blas Raho, who came here in 1856, I knew well, and esteemed highly. He was broad-minded and tolerant. He told me that he had lived sixteen years in the Mississippi Valley before he came to Los Angeles. He was a native of Italy.
It was during his pastorate that the old church building was greatly improved. It was frescoed inside and out by a Frenchman, H. Penelon, the pioneer photographer of Los Angeles. The lettering on the front of the building as seen today was done by Penelon, viz .: "Los Fieles de Esta Par- roquia A la Reina de Los Angeles, 1861;" and also on the marble tablets :
DIOS TE SALVE, MARIA LIENA DE GRACIA
EL SENOR ESTA EN SU SANTO TEMPLO: CALLE LA TIERRA ANTE SU ACATAMIENTO
SANTA MARIA MADRE DE DIOS, RUEGA POR NOSOTROS PECADOROS
Padre Raho was the first vicar general of the diocese, un- der Bishop Amat.
Later, Padre Raho, who served his parish faithfully for a number of years, and who was respected and revered by his parishioners, fell sick and went to the Sisters Hospital, which was located in the large two-story brick building which stood to the east of the upper depot, and between the latter and the river, which the sisters bought of Mr. H. C. Cardwell, who built it.
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Fathers Duran and Mora succeeded Father Raho. There were other priests whom I did not know so well, who made their home at different times at the parsonage adjoining the old church. But none of these, so far as my acquaintance per- mitted me to know, with the possible exception of Father Mora, were as liberal as Father Raho. The bishop of these times was Tadeo Amat, who, though his jurisdiction extended to Monterey, made his headquarters first at Santa Barbara, and then at this old church of "Nuestra Senora, la Reyna de Los Angeles." Bishop Amat was succeeded by Bishop Mora, a gentle and scholarly prelate. It was during the latter's ad- ministration that the Cathedral was built, on Main Street. Bishop Mora was succeeded by Bishop Montgomery.
Of the early Protestant ministers who came to Los An- geles, I knew personally nearly all of them, as they were comparatively few in numbers, whilst of the many, many who now reside here, I hardly know one, intimately.
One of the first to come here, I think, was Parson Adam Bland, who had the reputation of being a smart preacher and a shrewd horse trader. But I heard that after laboring here a year or two in the early '50s, he abandoned the field as hope- less, though in after years he came to the county again, when he found the gospel vineyard vastly more encouraging.
When I came here in '54, there was only one church build- ing in town-that fronting the Plaza-and no regular Protest- ant church edifice at all.
Rev. James Woods, Presbyterian, was holding Protestant services then in the adobe that stood on the present site of the "People's Store;" and he came to me and asked me to assist in the music each Sunday, which I did. Just how long he preached here, I cannot now recall. But I remember that when the bodies of the four members of Sheriff Barton's party, who were killed in 1857 by the Juau Flores bandits, were brought here for burial, there was no Protestant min- ister here then to conduct the services. But, as it happened, two of the murdered men were Masons, and that fraternal, semi-religious order, in sheer pity, turned aside, after decor- ously and reverently burying their own two brethren, and read
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a portion of the Masonic burial service over the bodies of the other two men, who were not Masons.
Rev. W. E. Boardman, a Presbyterian clergyman, came here in 1859. He was an able and eloquent preacher and writer and the author of a popular book, entitled "The Higher Christian Life." The want of a commodious place of meet- ing stimulated a movement to raise funds for the erection of a church, and, as good B. D. Wilson had donated a lot-a por- tion of the hill on which the County Courthouse now stands- to the "First Protestant Society," people of various denon- inations who, without regard to sect, attended Mr. Board- man's ministrations, formed an organization, under the name of "The First Protestant Society of Los Angeles," and erected the walls and roof of a church on the lot donated by Mr. Wilson, but this work came to a standstill after Mr. Boardman left, and not until 1864, upon the arrival of Rev- erend Birdsall, was any further progress made.
Rev. J. H. Stump was a Methodist minister here in the '60s. Rev. A. M. Hough was another early preacher of the same denomination at the same time. On the establishment of the "Southern California Conference," Mr. Hough became the presiding elder. It is said that Rev. J. W. Brier preached the first Protestant sermon ever preached in Los Angeles, in 1850; but I do not think he stayed here long, as there were neither Methodist worshipers nor a house of worship in Los Angeles at that early date.
Rev. Elias Birdsall, who came to Los Angeles in 1864, soon after his arrival organized an Episcopalian Church. I knew Mr. Birdsall very well, and respected him as one of the best men whom I ever knew. He was in all respects an admirable citizen. He believed-and most laymen will surely agree with him-that every person who is to become a public speaker should make a special preparatory study of elocution.
At the funeral services of President Lincoln held in this city, Mr. Birdsall delivered an admirable oration before a large concourse of our citizens. Mr. Birdsall died Novem- ber 3, 1890.
Other rectors of the original Saint Athanasius Church of Los Angeles, afterwards St. Pauls, were Dr. J. J. Talbot,
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H. H. Messenger, C. F. Loop, W. H. Hill, J. B. Gray, G. W. Burton and Mr. Birdsall. Doctor Talbot came here in 1868 and was a very gifted and impassioned orator, and had withal a slight tinge of the sentimental or poetical in his character, and his sermons were much admired, especially by the ladies. Doctor Talbot, sad to say, however, was only another in- stance of a man with brilliant talents who threw himself away and went to the bad. He lived, in the main, an exemplary life here, at least up to within a short time before he left. To those who knew him intimately he used sometimes to speak with tenderest regard of his dear children and his wife, "Betty," in their pleasant home near Louisville. And to them his last words, uttered at the very threshold of death, are full of startling pathos and inexpressible sadness ; indeed, I know of no sadder passage in all literature:
"I had children-beautiful, to me at least, as a dream of morning, and they had so entwined themselves around their father's heart that no matter where he might wander, ever it came back to them on the wings of a father's undying love. The destroyer took their hands in his and led them away. I had a wife whose charms of mind and person were such that to 'see her was to remember, and to know her, was to love.' I had a mother, and while her boy raged in his wild delirium two thousand miles away, the pitying angels pushed the golden gates ajar, and the mother of the drunkard entered into rest. And thus I stand a clergyman without a church, a barrister without a brief, a husband without a wife, a son without a parent, a man with scarcely a friend, a soul without hope-all swallowed up in the maelstrom of drink."
The early ministers of the Congregational Church in Los Angeles were Revs. Alexander Parker (1866-67) ; I. W. Ather- ton (1867-71) ; J. T. Wills (1871-73) ; D. T. Packard (1873- 79) ; C. J. Hutchins (1879-82) ; and A. J. Wells (1882-87).
I should mention that Drs. J. W. Ellis, A. F. White and W. J. Chichester were comparatively early pastors of the Presbyterian Church; and also that Dr. M. M. Bovard was president of the University of Southern California.
Dr. Eli Fay was the first Unitarian minister to hold public religious services here. Doctor Fay was, intellectually, a very
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able man, though somewhat aggressive and self-assertive. His sermons, barring a rather rasping flavor of egotism, were models of powerful reasoning. Before coming to Los An- geles, Doctor Fay had been pastor of Unitarian congregations at Leominster, Massachusetts, and at Sheffield, England. In addition to his sacerdotal qualifications, Doctor Fay was a very good judge of the value of real estate. Soon after he came here he bought what he called "choice pieces of prop- erty," on which it was understood he afterwards made big money. Like many other shrewd saints who came here from many countries, his faith in Los Angeles real estate seemed to be second only to his faith in the realty of the land of Canaan, or, in other words, in "choice lots" in the "New Jerusalem."
I might recount many anecdotes concerning those minis- ters and priests of Los Angeles of a former generation, of whom I have spoken; for in those olden times, in this then small town, everybody knew almost everybody else. In a frontier town-which this then was-there are always pic- turesque characters, among clericals as well as among laymen.
The foregoing reminiscences of Professor Barrows, to- gether with the recollections of some other old timers, consti- tute about all we have of the history of the churches from the time that the spiritual field came to be shared with the Catholics by Protestants and Jews and other sects and denon- inations of almost innumerable creeds and philosophies.
At first glance it might seem strange that the churches have been apparently careless in keeping records, but we are to remember-and, in a way, to be thankful-that the churches have lacked the cunning that characterized purely business institutions. One would almost say that business is one thing and religion is another. And, on this ground, we can excuse the churches for failing to do that which in business would be regarded as reprehensible carelessness. Business thinks in days, but religion thinks in centuries.
To make a record of the standing and status of the churches in Los Angeles today would be, it seems to us, an unnecessary task. Not only has every Christian and other denomination come into wonderful prosperity and success here, but it is also
Vol. 1-21
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a well-known fact that it would be quite impossible to name any religion or creed or philosophy or school of thought un- der the sun that is without representation in Los Angeles. More than that, we find ourselves able to say that very many religions, or schools of thought that come under that general head, are found in Los Angeles and nowhere else. Maybe it is the climate, and maybe it is something else, but whatever it is, the fact remains that Los Angeles is the most celebrated of all incubator of new creeds, codes of ethics, philosophies and near philosophies and schools of thought, occult, new and old, and no day passing without the birth of something of this nature never before heard of.
Indeed, Los Angeles has acquired a fame not altogether enviable, as a breeding place and a rendezvous of freak re- ligions. But this is because its winters are mild, thus luring the pale people of thought to its sunny gates, within which man can give himself over to meditation without being com- pelled to interrupt himself in that interesting occupation to put on his overcoat or keep the fire going.
With all that, it must also be said that sane religion has nowhere in the world a safer, more prosperous and welcome haven than it has here. Among other things, Los Angeles is most certainly a city of churches.
CHAPTER XVI
THE LAW AND THE COURTS
Los Angeles having been originally a Spanish pueblo or town, founded by order of the King, it was, of course, gov- erned in a general way by the laws of Spain in common with all Spanish colonies in the New World. It was a simple, direct code based on the Roman law under which Spain had lived for centuries. The compilation was called the "Laws of the Kingdoms of the Indias."
Concerning this compilation we can do no greater service to our readers than to quote Dr. Charles F. Lummis, un- doubtedly a high authority on things Spanish-American. Doc- tor Lummis says :
"Probably the most extraordinary amendment and am- plification of a civil code in history was that by which the Roman Law (under which Spain had lived for centuries) was revised to cover the new problems of the New World. The problems of colonial government on a large scale were for the first time brought up to statesmen-for even the colonial administration of Rome was child's play compared to that undertaken by Spain more suddenly.
"The amendments were in the spirit of the code. But that code has never had any such extraordinary revisions.
"This revision began with Ferdinand and Isabella imme- diately upon the return of Columbus from his first voyage, in which the New World was discovered. The most active cen- tury of adaptation was that to which we may relate the real geographical understanding of the three Americas-namely, from about 1550 to 1650. But before and after this century, the special legislation, elastic to the needs of new human and geographical and political conditions, were of a magnitude to challenge attention.
"A recognized authority has said that of all the 'Indian
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Policies' in history, none compares for humanity with the Spanish-American policy. It may be added that no other ex- pansion of the Roman law along logical lines is at all compara- ble with this. For the first, if not for the only time, it was recognized by statesmen that the first wealth of the new wil- derness was not in its lumber, nor its land, nor its mines, but its men. After more than three and a half centuries of this legislation-this projection of the Roman law-the result is
THE LAWS' DIGNITY OF TODAY Present Court House and Hall of Records
that in Spanish America the conquered aborigine is as nu- merous as he was in 1492 and much better off. And the mod- ern school of scientific American history has proven this fact, surprising to earlier scholars and to popular opinion.
"The Laws of the Indies are accessible in dignified volumes in every important public library in America. The extent to which the American adaptations of Roman law, through Span- ish statesmanship come, are indicated by these marginal read- ings :
" 'Indians shall not be separated from their parents.'
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""'Indians shall not be removed from their native places -- not even to a reservation.'
"'Indians shall be civilized without being oppressed.'
" 'Since they are necessitons people, care must be taken that the Indians should be educated in the price of foods and other things. They must be taxed with justice and modera- tion, and things must be sold to them much cheaper than to other people.'
"Under the provisions of Spanish law, it was absolutely impossible to eviet an Indian from the land he was born on or lived on. It was impossible to herd him on reservations like a Cuban reconcentrado. It was impossible to violate as to the aborigine any of the human rights which the proudest and most punctilions Caucasian would value for himself. The stories of oppression have no documentary foundation in the records or in the old books. The only hardship imposed was the same which the laws of every state in the American Union impose on our children-compulsory education, non-vaga- bondage."
In further elaboration of this very remarkable code of laws, I have the honor to quote an eminent Los Angeles legal au- thority, Willoughby Rodman, Esquire, from a book written by him entitled "History of the Bench and Bar of Southern California," and published in 1909 by the late William J. Porter.
No code could be more comprehensive than the Recopila- cion, says Mr. Rodman. Provision is made for every depart- ment of government, down to the smallest politieal subdivi- sion. Every relation between state and subject or among subjects, is covered by the most explicit and minute regula- tions. The smallest details are provided for. A most elab- orate system of official inspection and accounting is estab- lished. Responsibility of officials is not only fixed in unmis- takable terms, but is required to be strictly enforced.
The settlement of new countries and the welfare of their native peoples are the principal objeets of these laws. Col- onization is made the subject of extensive and detailed pro- visions. Settlers are to be induced to come to new colonies by promises of liberal grants of public lands to be made upon
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small payments and easy terms. Not only do these laws seek to obtain settlers of European birth, but provision is made for making settlers and citizens out of indigenous people. The protection, kind treatment, education, religious conversion and civilization of Indians are insisted upon, and rules for the promotion of these objects are to be enforced with great strict- ness.
Not only is the Indian to be protected from foreign inva- sion, and from oppression by his new masters, but he is to be protected against himself, his civil and ecclesiastical guar- dians being charged with the duty of inculcating principles of industry, economy and sobriety, and enforcing their observa- tion.
A few examples will illustrate the laws last referred to.
Governors, judges and alcaldes were required to see that inns and taverns be provided in Indian pueblos, so that in- specting officials should not be quartered upon Indians against their will. It was also made the duty of such officials to in- struct the Indians in the methods by which they could secure justice ; to respect the habits and social systems of the Indians so far as these are not contrary to (Roman Catholic) re- ligion.
They were also charged to "see that the Indians are not idle nor vagabond, but that they work in their fields or at other labor on work days; that they improve the land for their own benefit, and that they attend church; that these officials should not take from citizens or Indians, nor any one whatever, per- sonal service without paying them."
As to governors, judges, advocates and alcaldes, the laws provided that they "must give bond before being qualified; must hear all persons equally and with benignity so that their grievances may be settled easily and without trouble; must hold court in public places and not in the closets of notaries ; must inspect all territory under their jurisdiction-but only one time (though frequent inspections were required to be made by other officials) ; shall not receive fees for their in- spections; shall not quarter themselves on citizens against their will."
"They shall see that the lands of their jurisdiction are
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improved and the public works kept in good repair-that meats, fish and other foods be sold at reasonable prices. That fences, walls, streets, bridges, sidewalks, fountains, slaughter- houses and all other public works and edifices be kept clean and in repair."
A law of 1583 provided that "Governors who are not col- lege graduates (licentiates) shall name lieutenants who are; these must give bond and must also pass an examination."
Governors, judges, advocates, mayors and their lieutenants were included in the prohibition against and penalties im- posed upon ministers trading or being in commerce in the Indies.
They were also required to present inventories of all their possessions at the time of taking office-presumably for the purpose of enabling higher officials to determine whether or not the close of their terms showed an undue increase of worldly goods.
A law of 1570 required the formation of a corps of "Med- ical directors-general." This corps was sent by the king to the colonies to study medicinal plants, herbs, etc., and publish directions concerning their use. It was their duty to test everything, to examine experts, whether Spanish or Indian, "sending to Spain samples and seeds of those plants found beneficial; writing fully and clearly the natural history of the country; taking residence in one of the cities in which there is a chancellery, and with a jurisdiction for five leagues around their residence; they shall examine and give license to persons desiring to practice medicine. They shall proceed against any person practicing medicine without proper license."
In 1535 it was decreed that "no person shall practice med- icine or surgery without a degree and a license; nor make use of any title for which they have no diploma as Doctor, Master or Bachelor." "Medical directors-general shall not give licenses to candidates who do not appear personally before them for examination-to no Doctor, Surgeon, Apothecary or Barber, nor to any other exercising the faculties of med- icine or surgery (1579)."
Another law provides that "viceroys, presidents and gov- ernors shall have inspections made of the drug stores of their
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districts, and if there are corrupt medicines, shall have them spilled and thrown away so that there can be no other use of them."
Thus in 1538 we have a law similar to the "Pure Food" laws of today.
Sheriffs were permitted to appoint and remove their lieu- tenants and jailors. The law required that "sheriffs and their lieutenants must make the rounds and inspect all public places by night under pain of suspension. They must not wink at forbidden games nor public sins; nor receive fees nor gifts from prisoners, shall not arrest without a writ; in an Indian pueblo the sheriff may be an Indian."
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