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 II > Part 41
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He was born on Bainbridge Island in Kitsap county, Washington, August 10, 1884, son of William and Inga Christina Johnson Bull. When he was twelve years old his parents moved to San Francisco, where he continued his public school education, and also attended high school until 1902. He then entered the law office of Dorn and Dorn, studying law with them for two years and afterward in the office of Booth & Barnett until he was admitted to the bar August 15, 1905. Since that date Mr. Bull has been a resident of Los Angeles and has always practiced with offices in the Central Building. He makes a specialty of corporation law and has a very representative and important clientage. He is a member of the Los Angeles Bar Association.
Mr. Bull, who is unmarried, is affiliated with Pentalpha Lodge, A. F. and A. M., East Gate Chapter, R. A. M., Los Angeles Commandery, Knights Templar, and Al Malaikah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Elks and of the Union League Club and City Club.
WILLIAM M. STROTHER, who is the man responsible for giving Hollywood a service of perfect appointment and skill as undertaker and embalmer, came to Los Angeles about fifteen years ago, but is the son of a pioneer Californian.
His father was the late Benjamin H. Strother, who died recently in Los Angeles. Benjamin H. Strother was born at Bardstown, Ken- tucky, and was eighty-seven years of age at the time of his death. He lived in Kentucky until he was twenty-one years old, was a civil engi- neer and for several years in the employ of the Louisville and Nash- ville Railway, and at one time had charge of the United States Patent Office at Washington. That was during the administration of President Buchanan. He came to California in 1852, crossing the plains in charge
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of a train of a 104 wagons. He piloted this train through to British Columbia, and from there came to Sacramento and was engaged in placer mining. Later he had charge of a bonded warehouse at New Orleans. Soon after the Civil war he moved to a farm in Missouri, near Kansas City, and in 1888 engaged in the feed and fuel business in that city. About 1893 he retired and moved to Colorado, and ten years later came to Los Angeles. He married at Washington in 1855 Frances McCalley. He was survived by three sons, W. M. and J. D. Strother, both of Hollywood, and C. H. Strother of New York.
William M. Strother was born in Jackson County, Missouri, May 8, 1875, and attended the public schools of Kansas City until he was fourteen years old. For a year and a half he was employed as a gen- eral utility clerk by the Scott & Morrison Mercantile Agency, then worked for the Carlett Undertaking Company until twenty years of age, and that gave him his first experience in his first business. He was then appointed assistant superintendent of streets of Kansas City under Captain May, and filled that position until 1896. During the silver mining boom at Aspen, Colorado, he went to that locality, and in 1897 located at Elizabeth, New Mexico, where he contracted to build a tunnel and organized and opened the Challenge Mining and Milling Company. Mr. Strother sold his interest in New Mexico in 1902, and then for a couple of years was a traveling representative for Armour & Company through New Mexico, Colorado and part of Texas.
Coming to Los Angeles in 1904 Mr. Strother has since been engaged in his profession as an embalmer. For five years he was with Bressee Brothers, undertakers, resigning that position on account of illness. For two years he was manager of the Hollywood cemetery, and then bought out the firm of Woodman and Brunner, undertakers at Wilcox Street and Hollywood Boulevard. Since then he has conducted business under his own name and in January, 1918, erected a beautiful two-story building at 6240 Hollywood Boulevard, especially equipped and fur- nished for his business. In putting up this building he drew heavily upon his own experience and all the most advanced ideas of the under- taking profession. The building is equipped with chapel, display room, parlors and offices and is a structure much out of the ordinary and has none of the superficial appearance usually associated with undertaking parlors. The building is 50x120 feet, is finished in ivory color, and in its equipment and in the personnel of his service Mr. Strother has laid good claim to ranking among the first in his profession in southern California.
Mr. Strother is affiliated with Hollywood Lodge No. 355, A. F. and A. M., Hollywood Chapter No. 120, R. A. M., Los Angeles Command- ery No. 9, K. T., Elks Lodge No. 99, is a republican and a member of the Christian Science church. November 29, 1899, at Raton, New Mexico, he married Emma Margaret Nichols. Their one daughter, Adelyn, attends the Hollywood High School.
W. SCOTT BICKSLER has been identified with the bar of Iowa, Colo- rado and California, and has achieved real eminence in his profession, his name being associated with some of the cases that have furnished precedents recognized by all American lawyers.
Mr. Bicksler was born at Salem, Iowa, March 4, 1861, son of John and Sarah Ann (Buffington) Bicksler. His father was always a busi- ness man and banker, and the son doubtless acquired his inclination for the law from his mother's people. Joseph Buffington was at one
M. S. Bicksler
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time a judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and declined an appointment as United States judge to the territory of Utah. His nephew, Joseph Buffington, is at present judge of the United States Court of Appeals of the Third District, consisting of Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. John Bicksler was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, and after some years of travel and temporary sojourn located permanently at Salem, Iowa. He was a blacksmith by trade and later built up a pros- perous business as a manufacturer of wagons and carriages. In 1888 he sold out this industry and established Bicksler's Bank, and was its presi- dent and active head until 1907, when he retired. Ile died in March, 1916.
W. Scott Bicksler attended public school in Salem, also Whittier College, a Quaker institution, and in 1881 entered the law department of the State University of Iowa at Iowa City, where he graduated LL. B. in 1883. He then returned to Salem and for two years was cashier of his father's bank. The father had established this bank for the express purpose of keeping his son at home. While cashier of the bank he also developed some law business, serving as attorney for the St. Louis. Keo- kuk and Northwestern Railroad. From Salem he removed to Boone, Iowa, and practiced law there for six years.
For many years Mr. Bicksler was one of the prominent attorneys at Denver, Colorado. For twenty years he served as general counsel for the Daily Mining Record, and had charge of all its libel cases. He also tried the Hayes vs. City of Denver case, known as the Auditorium Bond Case, a case in which the validity of $400,000 of bonds was involved and the decisions in which constitute the primary authority in the United States upon issues of municipal bonds. It had been carried to the Supreme Court of Colorado and decided in favor of Mr. Bicksler and his clients. Mr. Bicksler was also appointed by the Federal Department of Justice as a special United States attorney. In 1904 he was honored by President Roosevelt by appointment as delegate to the Congress of Lawyers and Jurists at St. Louis, Missouri.
Mr. Bicksler came to Los Angeles in 1912 and is now senior mem- ber of Bicksler, Smith & Parke, one of the foremost law firms of south- ern California. He is a member of the Los Angeles Bar Association, the American Bar Association, is a member and formerly on the executive committee of the Commercial Law League of America. He belongs to the California Club, Automobile Club of Southern California, the Society of Colonial Wars and Sons of the American Revolution. Mr. Bicksler is a republican. At Mount Pleasant, Iowa, June 9, 1885, he married Nettie H. Hampton.
CHARLES S. BURNELL, who has been a member of the Los Angeles bar since 1906, is present city attorney, having gone into that post of responsibility with the largest majority ever given a candidate for that office. He was elected in the municipal elections of July 7, 1919.
Mr. Burnell was born at Elko, Nevada, September 21, 1874, but has spent practically all his life in the Golden State. His parents were Frederick Marcus Smith and Anna Loraine (Hoogs) Burnell. He began attending school at the Locust Grove School in Sonoma county. California, and after the age of nine was a student in Trinity School in San Francisco. He graduated from that school in 1890, attended the Lowell High School of San Francisco until October, 1891, and then became a member of what was known as the "pioneer class" of Stan- ford University. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from
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Stanford in 1895, and spent one year in post graduate work. Returning to San Francisco, he chose as his training ground the leading firm of lawyers in the city at the time, Bishop & Wheeler. While with them he was admitted to the bar in January, 1897, and in 1899 opened an office of his own. Mr. Burnell practiced at San Francisco until August, 1906. On removing to Los Angeles he was associated with Seward A. Simons for a year, was then in individual practice in the Coulter Building, and in 1911 formed a partnership with Kemper B. Campbell and Frank P. Doherty, prominent young attorneys. The partnership was dissolved after six months, but the three remained together in the same office until July, 1913, when Mr. Burnell was appointed assistant city attorney in charge of civil litigation for Los Angeles. He resigned in August, 1918, and became special counsel for the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. This position occupied most of his time and abilities until he was chosen city attorney.
Mr. Burnell is a member of the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association of Stanford University, is a Scottish Rite Mason, also a member of the Grotto, and belongs to the University and City Clubs. He is a republican in politics. March 23, 1907, at Los Angeles, he married Blanche Emery. They have one daughter, Dorothy, born in 1908, a student in the public schools.
LEO V. YOUNGWORTH. It has many times been demonstrated that California may justly take pride in her sons, for in every walk of life they have demonstrated mental alertness, physical prowess, and on land and sea, in peace and in war, have been credits to the state of their birth. In the professions they have become notable and especially in the law have they attracted attention and often reached eminence. Among the practicing lawyers of Los Angeles Leo V. Youngworth occupies a place he has won for himself through determined effort and thorough preparation.
Leo V. Youngworth was born in San Francisco, December 7, 1872. His parents were Charles and Annie (Marnell) Youngworth. His father was born at Stuttgart, Germany, where he attended school until seventeen years old, when he left his native land in order to escape military service. He reached the United States and landed at Philadel- phia, from which city he came to San Francisco, in 1849, crossing the plains with one of the early outfits. He engaged in mining on the North Fork of the American River, where he accumulated a fortune, then went to San Jose, California, and embarked in the hotel business with a partner, but the venture was not a success. Mr. Youngworth then went to the White Pine section, where he secured another fortune, with which he went to San Francisco, where he lost out again in the grain business. Once more he returned to the mines, this time at Cloverdale, where he accumulated enough to enable him to embark in the restaurant business at San Francisco. In 1878 he sold his interests there and moved to Virginia City, Nevada, there engaging in mining until 1880, when he came to Los Angeles and conducted a restaurant until the time of his death. His widow survived until December, 1917. Of their children, Gustavus, Charles, Ida and Leo V., the last named is the only survivor.
Leo V. Youngworth was about twelve years old when his father died, and that occasioned his leaving school and beginning work with the Fulton Engine Works, and was later with the Crane Company. He began at the bottom of the ladder, as a helper, but he climbed
Germain Pellissier .
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and by the time he was eighteen years old was useful to the firm as a salesman. For a short time he engaged in farming at La Ballona, and then went to San Francisco with the Southern Pacific Railway on their cutoff line, and worked with the gang on the survey until he was twenty years old. Coming then to Los Angeles, he worked as chainman and transit man in the city engineer's office and was made deputy city engineer, and was only twenty-three years old when he became chief deputy in the county surveyor's office, where he remained two years. Then, as deputy city engineer under Engineer H. S. Stafford, he assisted in locating the outfall sewer and was concerned with the construction of the same.
During all this time he had cherished his ambition to become a lawyer and had devoted every spare moment to the study of law. In 1903 Mr. Youngworth was nominated in the Republican County Convention for the office of county surveyor and was elected and served three and a half years, resigning at that time in order to take up the duties of United States marshal for this district, which office had been conferred by President Roosevelt, and later he was reappointed by President Taft. In the meanwhile, during vacations, he had studied in the Uni- versity of Southern California and attended the College of Law of the University of Michigan. In July, 1912, he was admitted to practice by the District Court of Appeals. In 1913 he resigned his office as United States marshal, and began the practice of his profession, in which he has been exceedingly successful.
Mr. Youngworth was married at Los Angeles, February 23, 1911, to Miss Margaret E. Smith, and they have three children : Helen, Jane and Margaret. In Masonic circles he has been very prominent. He is past master of Hollenbeck Lodge, F. & A. M., serving two terms, and was active in the erection of its temple; is past High Priest of Signet Chapter ; past Grand High Priest, R. A. M., of California ; Past ยท Commander of Los Angeles Commandery ; Past Potentate of Al Malaikah Temple, .A. A. O. N. M. S. for two terms. In June, 1919, he was elected Imperial Outer Guard of Imperial Council, at the convention held at Indianapolis. He is Past Exalted Ruler in the Elks Lodge No. 99, and Past President of Ramona Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West. He belongs also to the Jonathan Club.
GERMAIN PELLISSIER. Among those who are justly entitled to be enrolled among the makers of the great commonwealth of California and of the city of Los Angeles was the late Germain Pellissier, whose more than forty years of residence here left its impress upon the city and its institutions. Although born in one of the historic landmarks of Hautes- Alpes, the son of well to do parents, he early saw the great possibilities which the state of California presented, and as a consequence in 1867, within a year of the death of his father, left his native place and immi- grated to the United States. He possessed some small inheritance, and was filled with high hopes and a laudable ambition to succeed, and a volition which shrank from no obstacles or difficulties that presented themselves to bar his progress. He came at that fortunate period when everything was in the formative state, when the city of Los Angeles was a pueblo, with only a few thousand inhabitants and an actual municipal area of twenty-eight square miles. If his ambition was great, his rise was rapid, and within a few years of his arrival he had become known as one of the leading business men of the community. He became imbued at a very early period with the idea that Los Angeles was destined to be a
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great city, and in spite of ridicule and discouraging prophecies on the part of others backed his faith by investment in large tracts of land. His faith and enthusiasm were fully vindicated, and the property which he was called reckless for buying, "because it was so far out in the country," is today Pellissier Square, in the heart of the fashionable Wil- shire district. Among the early settlers, Mr. Pellissier was a typical pioneer of his kind, and his career formed part of the history of Los Angeles ; for he saw it grow from a sleepy frontier town into one of the world's great metropolises.
Germain Pellissier was born September 24, 1849, in Hautes Alpes in the south of France, the youngest of the ten children of Jean Francois and Adelaide (Bellue) Pellissier. He attended the public schools of his native community, and as a youth was thoroughly trained as a farmer and sheep raiser, his father having followed these vocations with success for many years. The death of his father served to furnish him with the funds necessary for the attainment of his desire, the immigation to America, and when less than eighteen years of age, February 2, 1867, he arrived at San Francisco. In August of the same year he removed to southern California, locating at Los Angeles, a community which immediatetly presented to him attractions so alluring that he decided to make his permanent home there. Accordingly, he established his home at Seventh and Olive streets, then outside the city limits, but a district which subsequently became one of the important business centers of Los Angeles. He remained there for twenty-eight years, having built in 1888 the Pellissier Block, which at that time represented the most ad- vanced type of business building. This property still is retained in the family, but the home was transferred many years ago to 697 South Serrano Avenue, where his widow still resides.
Mr. Pellissier possessed one of the keenest business minds among the men of his day and locality, and his foresight was as great as his judgment was sound. His view extended beyond the narrow confines of . the city as it then presented itself to the visitors, and clearly outlined the possibilities of the future. He quickly grasped the opportunity of buying large tracts of land for a nominal price, although there were many who were not slow to intimate that his judgment was at fault. Later developments showed that his was the clearer vision. His land at the time of its purchase was converted into a great sheep ranch, and Mr. Pellissier soon became one of the great herdsmen of the southwest. In his operations he introduced many progressive movements, again evidencing his cool judgment and remarkable foresight. In 1885 he retired from the sheep-raising industry and in 1887 disposed of some of his land for subdivision purposes, putting Pellissier tract on market.
His personal interests were numerous and important, including con- nections with large business houses and financial institutions. While he was a stanch republican, he never sought office, but assisted others of his party to high position. For many years he served as president of the French Benevolent Society of Los Angeles. Fond of travel, with a cultured mind which enjoyed and appreciated the attractions of the old world, he made extended tours of Europe, accompanied by mem- bers of his family, and in his itinerary included France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy.
Mr. Pellissier was married June 6, 1876, at San Francisco, to Marie Julie Darfeuille, a native of Paris, who survives him with two daughters, Marie Louise, Mrs. de Roulet, and Adelaide, Mrs. Hoyt Mitchel. They were at his bedside when his death occurred at the Los
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Angeles home, January 15, 1908. To condense the work of an active life of nearly sixty years, embracing the functions of business man, pioneer, financier and citizen, to say nothing of the personal and social relations which occupy so much of the time of one's life, into the few pages of a sketch is to exhibit in its simple and rugged outlines the skeleton of a subject without the soft integument and smooth cover- ing that give it the form and color and beauty of comely life. These more evanescent but yet charming details must be left to the imagina- tion of the reader, only premising that the devoted philanthropic spirit, the genuine social qualities and the high ideals of Mr. Pellissier's spirit rendered his life, in its more private relations, a benediction to the . circle of friends among whom his influence was felt.
ELLIOTT H. BARRETT. Admitted to the bar in January, 1908, Mr. Barrett has for over ten years been a hard working Los Angeles law- yer, and is recognized for his exceptional qualifications as a probate lawyer and attorney for estates.
He came to Los Angeles when he was about seventeen years old. Mr. Barrett was born at Franklin, Massachusetts, a place named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, March 27, 1886. His parents were Sher- man H. and Anna (Heywood) Barrett. His parents came to Los Angeles in 1903, and both are now deceased. His father was born at Acton, Massachusetts, was for many years in the grocery business, later a contractor, and after coming to Los Angeles gave all his atten- tion to the business of builder and contractor. He was lineally de- scended from Captain John Barrett, the first in command of the Con- tinental troops at the battle of Lexington. For many generations the Barretts were people of consequence in and around Concord. Mr. Bar- rett's mother was born in Passadumkeag, near Old Town, Maine, and was one of a family of eleven children, her people being representative of all the illustrious virtues of Maine families. Mr. Barrett's father and mother were both eligible to membership in the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution. They had three children, Elliott and two daughters, one of whom is now deceased. The other lives in Seattle, Washington.
Mr. Barrett first attended school in his native village of Franklin, and later in public schools of Los Angeles. In June, 1908, he received his degree in law from the University of Southern California, having been admitted to the bar five months earlier. For about a year after his graduation he was associated with the firm of McDowell & Crandell, and since then has conducted an independent practice of steadily increas- ing volume and importance. Among other interests which he represents as attorney are a number of manufacturing and other companies.
Mr. Barrett is one of the well informed professional men upon whom rests the responsibility for progressive ideas and system in civic and social affairs. He is an active republican and in 1914 was a can- didate on that ticket for justice of the Peace in Los Angeles township. He has the unqualified endorsement of many of the best professional and business interests of the city. Mr. Barret is a very able public speaker, and the full strength of his influence is given to every worthy movement in local affairs. He is actively identified with the Los Angeles County Union of the Christian Endeavor, and has been superintendent of its Citizenship and Temperance Department. At the State Conven- tion of June, 1918, he was one of the most active boosters in proposing for another term as governor the Hon. William D. Stephens. He is a
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member of the Plymouth Congregational Church, and has been chair- man of its Board of Trustees. He is also a member of the Union League, the City Club and the Y. M. C. A. Outside of his profession he spends some of his most delightful hours at the hand-ball courts of the Y. M. C. A., and is a participant in many of the athletic competi- tions. In 1907 he won second and third prizes and in 1916 first prizes in the Y. M. C. A. indoor athletic meets.
June 26, 1912, Mr. Barrett married Miss H. Leona Hutchinson, of Los Angeles. She was born at Union City, Michigan, but has spent most of her life in Los Angeles, where she attended public schools, also the Marlboro School. Her parents are Marvin J. and Nettie A. (Doty) Hutchinson, of Los Angeles. Her father is well known in real estate circles. Mr. and Mrs. Barrett have one son, Robert Hutchin- son Barrett. The family home is at 4905 First Avenue.
JAMES HOSICK. In James Hosick Los Angeles has one of its best qualified lawyers, who combines a thorough knowledge of the law with an experience of men such as probably no other attorney in the state possesses. Among other accomplishments Mr. Hosick might qualify as an expert criminoligist, but his enthusiasm and hard work for several years have been devoted almost entirely. to his growing prac- tice as a lawyer.
Mr. Hosick is a native of Scotland, born at Edinburgh, May 18, 1872, son of James and Agnes (Clark) Hosick. His father died in 1918, at the old home in Scotland, and the mother is still living in that city. James Hosick, Sr., was a carpenter and contractor, and was born in the same house as his son James. There were ten children altogether, six sons and four daughters. One son, Daniel, died in South Africa while in the service of the British government. All the other children are living, and four are in America. John Clark Hosick is also a resident of Los Angeles, Hugh Hosick lives in Alaska, and a married sister has her home in Toronto, Canada.
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