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 46
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FREDERICK VERNON GORDON. One of the large oil land owners of California, being interested in much of the choicest property in the. oil fields of the state, Frederick Vernon Gordon, of Los Angeles, has led a career characterized by the attainment and maintenance of high positior through individual effort. He began to be self-supporting when still a lad, and with no advantages save those of natural ability and a determina tion to succeed, worked his way step by step upward, grasping some op- portunities and making others to suit his own needs, his entire business life having constituted a record of singular, eminent and well-merited achievement.
Mr. Gordon was born at Montgomery City, Missouri, May 23, 1875, a son of B. F. and Margaret A. Gordon, and was eight years of age when taken by his parents to Los Angeles, his educational training being con1- pleted in this city's public schools. He was a little more than sixteen years of age when. in July, 1891, he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad, as assistant operator and ticket agent at River Station, Los Angeles, and in 1892 was advanced to the post of clerk of the freight depot at that station. The outbreak of the Spanish-American war in- terrupted his career for a time, for in June, 1898, he enlisted with the First Company, Volunteer Signal Corps, at Los Angeles, and July 1, 1898, was advanced to the rank of corporal, this being followed by promotion to sergeant in December of the same year. He was detailed on several military expeditions into the interior of the Philippins Islands against the natives and took part in a number of engagements, among them being : Manila, August 13, 1898; Laloma Church, February 5-6, 1899 ; Caloocan, February 10; Tuluhan, March 25; Palo, March 26, and Meyecanaghan on the same date ; Marloa, March 27 ; Bocave and Guiguinto, March 29; Mo- iolos, March 31 ; Calumpit, April 25; Santa Tomas, May 4, and San Fer- nando, May 5, 1899. Mr. Gordon was on duty under General MacArthur during his Philippine campaign. After the close of the war with the na- tives he was mustered out in July, 1899. He took an active part in mili- tary affairs for a brief time following and then returned to the pursuits of civil life.
Upon his return to California Mr. Gordon spent a short period at Los Angeles, but in November, 1899, removed to Bakersfield, where he became night operator for the Santa Fe Railroad, being subsequently ad- vanced to cashier and then to assistant agent. He continued in the serv- ice of that road until 1902, in which year he returned to Los Angeles and embarked in his operations in the oil business. His first work in that line was in charge of a large organization operating in the west side oil fields of Bakersfield until 1907, when he resigned to enter the oil business on itis own account. Mr. Gordon's connections with operating companies are numerous and important, and he is secretary and a director of many oil companies. He is one of the best informed men regarding oil invest- ments in Los Angeles, and his business associates rate him high in ability. while his personal integrity has never been questioned. He is well known in club circles of Los Angeles, belonging to the California Club, and to
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the Los Angeles Athletic, Midwick Country, Los Angeles Country, California Country and the Gamut Clubs and the Y. M. C. A.
On February 20, 1902, Mr. Gordon was united in marriage at Bak- ersfield, California, with Miss Mary Smith Langdon, of that city, and to this union there were born two children: Ruth Langdon, who resides with her parents and is attending school ; and Margaret E., deceased.
JOHN GORMLEY ROSSITER is one of the oldest members of the bar of Southern California, having begun practice at Pasadena thirty years ago. For the past five years he has had his law offices at Los Angeles, in the Wilcox Building.
He was born at Fort Howard, Wisconsin, November 10, 1855, son of Allan Frederick and Margaret (Gormley) Rossiter. His parents were married at Fort Howard, Wisconsin, there being two brothers of the Rossiter family who married two sisters of the Gormley family. Allan Frederick Rossiter was a native of Prince Edward Island, and was a carpenter and builder and railroad bridge constructor in Wis- consin. He was superintendent of buildings and bridges on the Green Bay, Winona & St. Paul Railroad, and was killed in an accident in Wisconsin while working on a bridge about twenty years ago. His first wife died at Fort Howard at the birth of her second son, and when John G. was two years old. The second son died at the same time as his mother. The father afterward married Ann Dawson, and she was the mother of three sons and two daughters, all married and all living in Los Angeles except one daughter.
John G. Rossiter attended public schools in Wisconsin. After his mother's death he lived with an uncle for several years, and then re- turned to the home of his father and his stepmother. He has the most kindly and grateful memories of his father's second wife, who in every respect was a true mother to him. After finishing his education he engaged in commercial work in Wisconsin, and at the age of thirty-two came West and settled in Pasadena.
Here for two years he read law with A. R. Metcalfe, and was ad- mitted to the Superior Court of California in 1889, and to the Supreme Court in 1892. For seven years he served as city recorder of Pasadena, and by reason of that official position his friends and others have always called him Judge Rossiter. He began practice in Pasadena in 1889, and in all the years has never had a partner. He moved his offices to Los Angeles in 1915, but resides at Pasadena, at 106 Bellefontaine street. He is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and is a strenuous republican, though he was a follower of Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson in the progressive campaign. He is affiliated with Corona Lodge No. 134, F. and A. M., of Pasadena, Pasadena Com- mandery, Knights Templar, and Al Malaikah Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Los Angeles. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias at Pasadena, and is identified with the First Methodist Episcopal Church of that city.
March 31, 1897, at Pasadena, Judge Rossiter married Mrs. Mary F. (Parker) Foster. She was born at Billerica, Massachusetts, a daugh- ter of Dr. Daniel Parker, of that historic old Massachusetts town, which has a history of more than two and a half centuries. Mrs. Rossiter was educated in her native town and has been a resident of California since 1896. She is a member of the Shakespeare Club of Pasadena, and was formerly prominent in musical circles and a talented vocalist.
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JUDGE HERBERT D. GALE, whose law offices are on the eighth floor of the Trust & Savings Building at Los Angeles, was admitted to the bar in Iowa more than a quarter of a century ago. He had about the usual routine of experience as a capable city lawyer until the beginning of the Spanish-American war. For several years he was connected with the American Army as a soldier and in the quartermaster's department, seeing active service in Cuba, later in China, and finally as an official of the American government in the Philippine Islands, and for several years was judge of the Court of First Instance in the Philippines. After an absence from the United States of nearly fifteen years, Judge Gale came to the Pacific Coast and eventually located at Los Angeles.
Judge Gale was born in Shoreham, Vermont, August 18, 1871, son of Daniel A. and Rosetta (Austin) Gale, both of whom are now de- ceased. His father died at Ticonderoga, New York, and his mother in Sudbury, Vermont. The American family of Gale goes back to 1690, when three brothers came from England and settled in Connecticut. Judge Gale's paternal grandmother was a daughter of John Sargent, a Revolutionary soldier, and she lived to be ninety years of age. The Austin family, Judge Gale's maternal ancestry, has lived in Massachu- setts and Vermont for a number of generations. His maternal grand- father, Jonathan Austin, was a prominent citizen of Townsend, Ver- mont. Daniel A. Gale was a lawyer by profession, practiced at Brattle- boro, Vermont, and Lockport, New York, and left his profession to become a stock raiser. He owned a large farm at Shoreham, Vermont, and made a specialty of Merino sheep, being a buyer, shipper, importer and exporter, and continuing the business for over twenty years. He died in 1893, when about sixty-eight years of age, and his wife passed away in 1879, at the age of forty, when her son, Herbert, was about eight years old. She was the mother of ten children, three sons and seven daughters, all of whom reached mature years, and four daugh- ters and three sons still living. Judge Gale and his sister, Mrs. Oscar A. Rogers, are the members of the family in California. The oldest daughter died at the age of twenty-four. The oldest living daughter is Mary R. Davis, now head of the Lucia Gale Barber School in Wash- ington, D. C. This school was founded by her sister, Lucia Gale Barber, who died in Iowa in 1911. The next in age is Mrs. Rogers of California. Mrs. D. M. Davidson resides at Rutherford, New Jersey. Mrs. Bernard O. Hale died at Ansonia, Connecticut, in 1909. Mrs. Flora G. Harris is a resident of Springfield, Massachusetts. Dr. George E. Gale is chief surgeon for the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, with home at Newark, and during the war was major in the Medical Reserve Corps, in charge of the Base Hospital at Jacksonville, Florida. Judge Herbert D. is next in age. William A. is a prominent architect and builder, was commissioned by the government to restore old Fort Ticon- deroga, and in 1916 his services were requisitioned by the French gov- ernment to assist in restoration of destroyed buildings, and he was still on duty in France in the fall of 1919.
Herbert D. Gale attended schools in Vermont, Massachusetts and Iowa. For one year he attended law lectures in the Iowa State Uni- versity. He also had some intention of becoming a physician, spending one year in Rush Medical College at Chicago. Afterward he studied law in Chicago and at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and was admitted to the bar in 1892 by the Supreme Court of Iowa at Des Moines. For six years he practiced law at Cedar Rapids.
Early in the Spanish-American war Judge Gale enlisted in Com-
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pany C of the Forty-ninth Iowa. He was regimental quartermaster sergeant, and spent several months in Southern camps and also in Cuba. After his discharge he was superintendent of transportation for a short time in the Seventh Army Corps under General Fitzhugh Lee. He re- mained in Havana until May, 1900, and had charge of the passenger transportation for the army. His services were then required for duty in North China with the China Relief Expedition in the Boxer Re- bellion, and he was on duty there from July 15th until December 15th, 1900. Judge Gale then became disbursing clerk for the Quartemmaster's Department in the Philippines. After about a year he was commis- sioned major and chief quartermaster of the Philippine Constabulary forces, resigning in the latter part of 1902. He then became deputy prosecuting attorney of Manila, an office he held until 1905, resigning to become a member of the law firm of Gibbs, Gale & Carr of Manila. In 1908 he was appointed judge of the Court of First Instance and was a hard-working member of the Philippine Judiciary for five years. He resigned in 1913 and returned to the United States, first locating at Klamath Falls, Oregon. He had lived so long in a tropical climate that he found the conditions at Klamath Falls too severe, and after two years came to Southern California and has been a resident of Los Angeles since November, 1915. From 1916 for two and a half years he was a member of the law firm Gale, Stone & Cobb, and since then has been alone in a general practice. He is director of an oil company in Wyoming.
Mr. Gale has always been a republican, but has never experienced a stronger sense of affiliation with that party and its principles than at the present time. He was chairman of the Republican Central Com- mittee in the Philippines about five years. He served as an alternate delegate to the National Republican Convention in Chicago in 1912. Judge Gale is a member of the Corregidor Masonic Lodge of Manila, being one of the organizers of that lodge and its first master. He be- came a Mason in Cuba in 1899. He is a member of the several Scottish Rite bodies in Manila and is affiliated with Al Malaikah Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Los Angeles. He is also a member of the Eastern Star, Knights of Pythias, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Union League Club and Lions Club. He is present commander of James B. Gresham Post (named after the first American to be killed in France) No. 8, Veterans of Foreign Wars of United States. He is a member of the American Bar Association and St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral.
October 14, 1901, Judge Gale married Miss Minnie Hopkins. They were married at Manila, where Mrs. Gale was an even earlier resident than her husband, and before her marriage had been supervisor of educa- tion at Manila, being the first appointed to that office. Her appointment was due to President Wheeler of the University of California. Mrs. Gale is a graduate of Mills College at Oakland and of the State Normal at San Jose. She is a native of Oregon, daughter of Martin and Sarah E. (Miller) Hopkins. She is a member of the Mills Alumnae Associa- tion. Mrs. Gale went to Manila in the early part of 1900, and remained there until 1912, when she returned to the United States with her hus- band at the time of the National Republican Convention. Judge and Mrs. Gale have two children: Herbert Austin, born in Oakland, Cali- fornia, and Beatrice Lucia, born at Manila, Philippine Islands.
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HON. JAMES ARCHIBALD ANDERSON. In the person of the late Hon. James Archibald Anderson the Los Angeles bar possessed not only a most scholarly, accomplished and dignified lawyer but a gentleman of rare charm of fellowship, tastes and character. He was one of the men of cultivated intellect and personal attainments such as have been associated with the old South, and while his Americanism was as broad as the Union of States he had interrupted his early career as a lawyer to fight nearly four years on the side of the Confederacy.
He was born at Warrenton, North Carolina, July 11, 1826. His father was of Scotch and his mother of Irish parentage, and he inherited from both many excellent qualities that in the course of his life and experience were developed to rich and perfect fruitage. When he was about two years old his parents removed to LaGrange, Tennessee, where he spent his youth. He acquired a vigorous constitution by much exer- cise and indulgence in open air sports and excelled in the athletic com- petitions while in college. He attended the old Episcopal school known as Jubilee College, and studied law with his uncle, Walker Anderson, one of the leading attorneys of the time at Jacksonville, Florida. At the age of twenty-one he began practice at LaGrange and soon afterward removed to Memphis, Tennessee. In 1861 he left his budding practice and his wife to serve as a private soldier in the Confederate ranks. After the expiration of his first term he re-enlisted in February, 1862, and two months later was detailed to organize a cavalry company at his old home at LaGrange. When the company was recruited he was elected its cap- tain, and with that rank he served throughout the rest of the war suc- cessively under Generals William H. Jackson, Van Dorn, Forrest and Stephen D. Lee. He was a brave and conscientious soldier and a per- fect model of an officer. He well earned the sobriquet of "Fighting Jim Anderson." Captain Anderson fought hard as long as there was hight- ing to do, but when peace was declared he accepted the situation without sullenness and ever afterward joined his heart and soul to the cause of the reunited and permanent union of states.
He soon resumed practice at Memphis and while there served one term as circuit judge. In 1880, on leaving Memphis, he lived a short time in Texas, then at Tucson, Arizona, and in 1885 removed to Los Angeles. Here he formed a partnership with Judge Fitzgerald and his son, J. A. Anderson, Jr., under the name Anderson, Fitzgerald & Ander- son. In 1891 Judge Fitzgerald went on the Supreme Court Commission, and after that Judge Anderson continued practice with his son and afterward had other sons in partnership. His career came to a most peaceful close on March 12, 1902.
As a man and citizen he was well known and loved, was a kind husband and father, and as a lawyer he brought to the study of his profession a clear and comprehensive intellect, an intuitive sense of jus- tice and knowledge of right and wrong which enabled him to master the principles of jurisprudence ^and apply them with almost unerring certainty. In religion he was liberal and tolerant, but had made his own early choice of the Episcopal denomination and was always an earnest member of that church. Soon after coming to Los Angeles he helped organize the Christ Church parish, became its senior warden, a post which he held until his death, and upon the organization of the Diocese of Los Angeles was active in the framing of its constitution and canons and a member at all times of the standing committee of the diocese and attended each annual convention. He was a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and in politics a very ardent democrat.
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Judge Anderson's first wife was Louise Catherine Trent. She died in Tennessee in 1868. She was a member of one of the oldest families of the United States. She was descended from Judge William H. Trent, who died in 1723, and who while not a regularly trained law- yer, served as a member of the Supreme Court of the colony of Pennsyl- vania and later as chief justice of the Supreme Court of the colony of New Jersey. He owned the land on which the city capital of New Jersey was built and which was named in his honor Trenton. A still earlier an- cestor of Mrs. Anderson was William Codington, who was the first gov- ernor of Rhode Island. Judge and Mrs. Anderson had nine children, five of whom died during the Civil war. Those still living are Mrs. T. O. Anderson, of San Diego, California; J. T. Anderson of Calexico in the Imperial Valley, and James A. and William H., who since the death of their father constitute the law firm of Anderson & Anderson. Judge An- derson married for his second wife Miss Maria Anderson, a daughter of General Nathaniel Anderson of western Tennessee. She died in 1879, in Tennessee, the mother of six children, three of whom are still living: Mrs. C. O. Middleton, of Dallas, Texas; C. V. Anderson, a lawyer at Bakersfield, California, and Miss Maria Anderson, of San Diego. In 1880 Judge Anderson married for his third wife Miss Bettie Daingerfield, of Washington, D. C., where they were married. Mrs. Anderson is still living in Los Angeles.
WILLIAM HENRY ANDERSON. During nearly thirty years of resi- dence in California William Henry Anderson has made a secure reputa- tion as a lawyer of ability and ripe scholarship. His intimate friends also know him as a man of versatile talents, kindly affections, unusual literary tastes and an ideal companion.
A son of the late James Archibald and Louise Catherine (Trent) Anderson, whose lives are the subject of a separate article, William Henry Anderson was born at Memphis, Tennessee, December 31, 1866. He was a year old when his mother died. His early education was acquired under private tutors, and in 1884-86 he attended Southwestern University at Georgetown, Texas. On coming to Los Angeles in 1886 he studied law with the firm of Anderson, Fitzgerald & Anderson until 1889. He was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court in 1889, and during the following three years engaged in practice at Abilene, Texas. From 1892 to 1895 he was associated with Morris M. Estee of San Fran- cisco in the law firms of Estee, Fitzgerald & Miller and Estee & Miller. During 1895 Mr. Anderson was assistant attorney general of California. He has never been a seeker for the honors and responsibilities of public office. During 1899-1900 he was a member of the firm Fitzgerald & Anderson at San Francisco, and on returning to Los Angeles in 1900 became associated in practice with his father and brother. The firm was then known as Anderson & Anderson and the title has been retained since the death of the senior partner. While the firm handles a general practice, they represent many special interests, especially those affecting water rights and probate cases. They are counsel for the estate of Edwin T. Earl, Los Angeles Olive Growers' Association, Covine Irri- gation Company and the San Dimas Water Company.
Mr. Anderson in politics is a democrat, but in local affairs usually gives his support to the ticket which he regards as most progressive. He is a member of the Society of American Wars, the Phi Delta Theta col- lege fraternity, Jonathan and University clubs of Los Angeles, the Elks, the Brentwood Country Club, Los Angeles and California State Bar
20.11.
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Associations, Municipal League and is a member of St. Paul's Pro- Cathedral of the Episcopal Church. But after his profession Mr. An- derson finds greatest pleasure in his family, his friends, and the pur- suit of several quiet tastes, such as writing poetry and cooking good things to eat. That Mr. Anderson is far removed from the ability of the mere versifier is revealed by the following lines which he recently wrote, entitled "Beyond :"
"The evening sunshine, be it ne'er so bright, By its East-slanted shadows hints of night, The great sun sinking on its western way With all its glory speaks the dying day. Nature immutably from sun to sun Stamps all that passes as forever done, And every moment's time for you or me Is one step nearer to Eternity- Eternity ! to mortals less than naught- A food for speculation, not for thought !"
March 5, 1895, Mr. Anderson married Miss Jessie Isabelle Calhoun, of San Jose, California. They were married in San Francisco. Mrs. Anderson was born in the mountains of Kern County, California, and was liberally educated at San Jose and in London and Paris. A woman of talent herself, she is member of a talented family and is a sister of Princess Lazaravich Hrebelianovich, who formerly was Miss Eleanor Calhoun. She also was born in California, and achieved many honors as an actress in London and Paris. From her home in New York she returned to California for the express purpose of acting tile part of the leading lady in John S. McGroarty's historic pageant, the Mission Play, first enacted at San Gabriel.
Mrs. Anderson was recording secretary of the State Federation of Women's Clubs and was also chairman of the Dramatic Section of Southern California District Federation and chairman of the Dramatic Section of the Wahwan Club.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have three daughters, Mrs. Lee Schlisenger, of San Francisco; Eleanor C. and Virginia C. The first two were born in San Francisco while the youngest is a native of Los Angeles. The two older sisters are graduates of Santa Monica High School and Leland- Stanford University, while Miss Virginia is now attending the Marl- boro School for Girls in Los Angeles.
CLAUDE IRVING PARKER studied law and was admitted to the bar while he was deputy county auditor of Los Angeles county. Then fol- lowed a service of four years as United States collector of internal revenue. When he left that office and took up practice he turned his experience to good account and has been specializing in cases involving Federal tax laws. Today Mr. Parker is head of an organization which he has personally built up and represents the ablest experts found in the United States as specialists on the complicated subject of Federal taxa- tion. Mr. Parker has offices in San Francisco and Salt Lake, as well as in Los Angeles, and has a staff of twenty-seven assistants in this branch of the law. He has been at pains to secure and surround him- self with specialists in his line, and has perfected a service complete in every detail and adequate for every contingency.
Mr. Parker was born on a farm at Carmi, Illinois, January 24, 1871. He is a son of Theophilus and Lora (Bayley) Parker. His father
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entered the Union Army at the age of seventeen, rose to the rank of captain of the Thirteenth Illinois Infantry, and was of a military family, two of his brothers giving up their lives in the cause of the Union. Captain Parker after the war was a farmer and cattle raiser and dealer in Illinois, and died at Carmi in March, 1894. His wife after his death came to Los Angeles and died in June, 1919, at the age of seventy-three.
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