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 55
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
Mrs. McGarry survived her husband about twelve years and died April 28, 1915, at the age of seventy-two years. She was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and had been a resident of Los Angeles, some thirty odd years. She was a woman of warm heart and of loveable character and had been associated with her husband in church and philanthropic work. Her death was an occasion of sorrow for all who had known her.
Mr. and Mrs. McGarry had four sons and two daughters, and at the time of her death, Mrs. McGarry was survived by fifteen grand- children.
The two daughters were born in Los Angeles and are Miss Mary T. and Miss Anna M. McGarry. The sons are Michael J., Daniel F., Dr. John A., and Patrick J., reference to whom is made on other pages.
DANIEL FRANCIS McGARRY, is one of the four McGarry brothers, all of whom have notable places in the life and affairs of this city. They are sons of the late Daniel M. and Margaret McCaughan Mc- Garry, both mentioned on other pages of this publication.
Daniel Francis McGarry was born in Chicago, July 19, 1873, and when about eight years old, came with his parents to Los Angeles. His boyhood days were spent on the home ranch, at what now is Eighth and Alameda streets. He was educated at St. Vincent's Col- lege, and graduated in 1892. He also attended Clongowes Wood Col- lege, near Dublin, Ireland, and the University of California.
When nineteen years of age, he gained his first business experi- ence, in Chicago, where he lived for two years. For the next five years, he was engaged in the fuel and feed business, in Los Angeles.
In 1898, he married Miss Genevieve Reardon, who died August
Ink Stoau-Orcutt
385
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
25, 1899, soon after the birth of their son, Francis G. For a number of years thereafter Mr. McGarry held responsible positions, in the employ of banking and mining corporations of Arizona and Mexico. Upon the death of his father in 1903, he was called to Los Angeles, and has since made this city his home.
He is a realtor, and personally specializes on appraisals. He and his brother, P. J. McGarry, operate a general realty business, as the McGarry Realty Company, with offices in the Higgins building. He is also financially interested in mining enterprises, both in this State and in Arizona, and in farming in the San Joaquin Valley, as well as in Southern California realty.
Mr. McGarry has served three terms as a Director of the Cham- ber of Mines and Oil; three terms as a member of the Governing Com- mittee of the Los Angeles Realty Board, of which he was president in 1918; and three terms as a Director of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
He responded freely to any demands made upon him and his services during the war, and was one of the seven members of the Pro- posed Non-War-Construction Committee of the Los Angeles County Division of the State Council of Defense, as well as being one of the United States Government realty appraisers. Mr. McGarry in religion is a Catholic, but with a broad tolerance of and a generous respect for the religious views of others. In national politics he is a demo- crat. He is a member of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, Knights of Columbus and Ancient Order of Hibernians.
In 1906 he married Miss Ana Doyle, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick W. Doyle, old residents of Pomona, California. Mrs. Mc- Garry was born in Cleveland, Ohio; educated in Pomona, and is a member of the Catholic Woman's Club of Los Angeles. The editor will assume responsibility for the assertion that Mr. and Mrs. McGarry have one of the charming families of California. Incidentally, it may be said that Mr. McGarry acknowledges as his one hobby and recrea- tion, the pleasures of the domestic circle. He and his wife have seven sons and one daughter, the oldest twelve years of age, and all are natives of Los Angeles. Their names in order of birth are : Daniel Doyle, Martin M. and Helen, twins : Gerald T., Bernard, Kevin, William and Patrick.
1
MRS. LEAFIE SLOAN ORCUTT. It is due a noble, self-sacrificing and generous Los Angeles woman that some brief record should be made of the various activities by which her kindly purpose and thought have been expressed in this city during the past few years.
Mrs. Orcutt was born at Buffalo, New York, a daughter of Wilson and Eliza (Simms) Sloan. Her father was a Buffalo banker, active in business and finance for half a century, and also did much to promote the public good and the development of his home city. He was one of the first to launch the Pioneer City Light and Power, and all press notices of him praise his work highly in behalf of the public good, civic welfare and his individual honesty and integrity.
Miss Leafie Sloan attended Buffalo Seminary and finished her education in Mrs. Sylvanis Reed's School, then the most desirable finish- ing school in New York City. During her school days she distinguished herself as an exceptional French scholar. Her beautiful voice, a mezzo soprano, was given all the training that talent and money could give. She sang a great deal at private affairs in her own set and mother's
386
LOS ANGELES
circle in New York, Washington and Buffalo. As a girl her talents with the pen were also appreciated, and when in her teens she formed the Scribblers' Club at Buffalo and was made a charter member.
Miss Sloan became the wife of the late Judge William Hunter Orcutt of Boston. Judge Orcutt was a pioneer in introducing manual training into the public schools of Boston. Miss Longfellow was a member of the same board and one of his strongest supporters. One of the closest friends of the late Judge Orcutt was President Emeritus Elliot of Harvard University. Mrs. Orcutt has a wonderful iron lamp made by the boys of Boston in their first year of manual training and presented to Judge Orcutt.
Mrs. Orcutt has never dropped the study of music and her voice has received praise from press, public and her instructors. She studied in New York with Belari and Errani, and in Paris with Madame LaGrange. Her brother was author of the band favorite, "Tally-ho," which is played everywhere.
At Buffalo Mrs. Orcutt was a charter member of the Twentieth Century Club and one of the pioneers of the Western Federation of Women's Clubs, a member of the Ladies' Afternoon Musical, the News- boys' Home, interested in the Homeopathic Hospital and at one time a member of the Board of the Prison Gate Mission of Buffalo. She is a member of the Graduates' Association of the Seminary, and the Twen- tieth Century Club at Buffalo originated through this association. The club by taxing large membership fees built what is still the finest club- house in Buffalo. .
In recent years no civic, social or philanthropic program in Los Angeles has been complete without the support and influence of Mrs. Orcutt. She was made a member of the Park Commission by appoint- ment by the mayor, the Council of the City of Los Angeles confirming her appointment at a meeting held on January 10, 1917. She has been. president of the Board of Park Commissioners for three years. She succeeded in getting ordinances passed to raise the men's wages and to give them half holidays throughout the year, and in her new budget for park financing is recommending another raise. The park employes sent her an expression of their gratitude, each one of them signing his name. Mrs. Orcutt has instituted a course of first aid to the park men and pro- vided them with emergency kits. Those who use the park system of . Los Angeles might find at almost every turn an expression of her wis- dom and interest. Her plans have been carried out to erect new foun- tains, new statues, band stands, especially a splendid one for Pershing Square, and an artistic band stand boat house at Westlake. She has also caused to be built Italian pergolas, a new boat house, and succeeded in raising money to make Lincoln, Westlake and Hollenbeck Parks light as day. She succeeded in finishing the wonderful clubhouse at Griffith Park and put the golf links on a self-supporting basis. Through Mrs. Orcutt Eastlake Park was renamed Lincoln Park and dedicated on Lincoln's birthday in 1917. She also named and dedicated the "Victory Memorial Grove" in Elysian Park, installed a fine water system and planted the first memorial tree. It is a park where the mothers and wives of the men who died in the service can plant a memorial tree and bronze tablet.
The handsome flag that floats over the Lincoln High School was a donation by Mrs. Orcutt. She was made a member of the Lincoln High School Alumnae, her membership being inscribed on parchment, and was also given a class pin by the graduating class and a beautiful
387
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
copy of Lincoln's Gettysburg speech on parchment. She is mother of the Regiment of the Boys' Battalion of. the Lincoln High School and was instrumental in getting the boys the opportunity of two weeks at Arcadia Government Training Base, with expenses paid by the state, The class book dedicated to her by the members is inscribed: "Mrs. Leafie Sloan Orcutt, from her loyal friend students."
Mrs. Orcutt was instrumental in securing $15,000 for the swimming pools in Exposition Park. She is a member of the Cruelty to Animals Association and a member of the Board of the Lafayette Society to dedicate old Sunset Park as Lafayette Park on September 6, 1919. She is a member of the Ebell Club, Friday Morning Club and the Woman's City Club. Mrs. Orcutt is an honorary vice-president of the Big Sisters League, which built a home on Trinity street, where girls learn to operate power machines preparatory to regular positions in the "Sassy Jane Apron Factory." Plans are now under way to install kitchens where the girls can learn to cook. The Big Sisters League carried out the plans for a carnival at Los Angeles on September 6, 1919, the proceeds from the carnival being used to constitute a fund to make the league self-supporting. This is a woman's training home, and all the sleeping rooms have been furnished by individuals and the club. Mrs. Orcutt built and furnished the dining room.
A number of other activities should be mentioned. She is honorary vice-president of the Lark Ellen Newsboys' Home, was on the Red Cross committees and was active in all the Liberty Loan drives, is honorary vice-president of the Italian Relief and one of the regular contributors to the Belgian Relief. She is vice-president of Lincoln Monument, Illi- nois Society Statue to be placed in Lincoln Park in February, 1920; is honorary vice-president of the Hollywood Memorial Park Committee, who plan the building of a chain of memorial parks in Hollywood; is vice-president of the California Agricultural Fair, an associate member of the Los Angeles Musical Settlement Association School, is a mem- ber of the Audubon Society, member of Women's Council of County Service, was a member of decorations and reception committee during Fleet week, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and she was largely instrumental in having musical entertainments in the city parks.
1
FRED C. WHEELER. While the honors of politics are transitory, especially in state and municipal politics, it seems likely that a later generation will have memory for Fred C. Wheeler on account of the fact that he was the first socialist ever elected to a city council in a large city of the United States.
Mr. Wheeler is a mechanic by trade, has been identified with the working masses all his life, and has rendered many signal services to the cause of the working man in politics.
He was born at Rushford, Minnesota, September 18, 1867, son of Henry Clay and Elizabeth (Preston) Wheeler. His father was a Min- nesota pioneer. Mr. Wheeler grew up in Minnesota, had a common school education, and lived in the environment of a farm to the age of thirteen. The following three years were spent in a book bindery and printing office at Minneapolis. For one year he rode range as a cow- boy at Miles City, Montana, and for four years served an apprentice- ship and worked at the trade of carpenter at Jacksonville, Florida.
It was in the role of carpenter that Mr. Wheeler first came to Southern California, living at San Diego until 1888. Following that for six months he was employed by his uncle Myron G. Wheeler, then
388
LOS ANGELES
county surveyor, and spent one year on the high seas as mate on a schooner. Thus his experience with work and with men has not been confined to one vocation. After leaving the sea he was a carpenter at San Francisco three years, spent nine months working in a saw mill in Alaska, and then settled permanently at Los Angeles. For twelve years he carried on his work as a carpenter in this city.
A number of years ago Mr. Wheeler turned his decided talents to a broader field for influencing his fellow men, and was a lecturer and organizer for trade unions and socialist movements. He was elected to the city council of Los Angeles on the socialist ticket in 1913. His election as a unique performance of the socialist party was noted and commented upon by the press of the entire nation. He was re-elected in 1915 and at that time had the highest vote given any man. In 1917 he was defeated, but in 1919 was again returned as a member of the city council. He was a candidate for mayor of Los Angeles in 1901 against M. P. Snyder, the present mayor, and in 1910 was candidate for lieutenant governor. In 1912 Mr. Wheeler received the highest vote for the office of member of the Board of Freeholders in Los Angeles county. In 1915 he was president of the State Conference on City Planning, and for twenty years has been a decided influence in the civic affairs and progress of Los Angeles and Los Angeles county.
He is a past president of the Carpenters' Union, is classified as a republican in party affiliations, is a past grand of Acme Lodge of Odd Fellows, a member of the Knights of Pythias and Maccabees. December 12, 1898, at Pomona, California, he married Miss Lucinda Cook. Her brother John W. Cook was chairman of the Board of Supervisors in 1896. They have one child, Frances, aged five years.
ROBERT JAMES ADCOCK has been a member of the Los Angeles bar since the middle eighties, and his abilities have gained him special distinction in the law. His success has been due not only to individual efforts and attainments, but to the enviable qualities of his inheritance.
Mr. Adcock was born in Warren County, Illinois, July 5, 1859, a son of J. W. and Mary E. (McMurtry) Adcock. His father was born in Kanawha County, now West Virginia, January 26, 1826. His grand- father Adcock filed upon an Illinois homestead in Warren county in 1827, and in 1830 the family moved to Knox County and in 1833 to Warren County. Grandfather Adcock was a soldier in the Blackhawk Indian war. Two Adcock brothers came to this country from England prior to the Revolution. J. W. Adcock spent his active life as an Illi- nois farmer and at one time owned four hundred eighty-eight acres of rich and productive soil of north central Illinois. He was also active in politics, filling many local and county offices. He also helped to build some of the dykes and levees for the reclamation of the lowlands along the Mississippi River. On August 30, 1849, J. W. Adcock mar- ried Mary E. McMutry, who was born in Indiana, September 26, 1827. They had three sons and four daughters, and two sons and two daugh- ters are still living, Robert J. being the only one in California.
Mr. Adcock's maternal grandfather was William McMurtry, long a distinguished figure in Illinois public life and of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He was born in Kentucky, February 20, 1801, lived in Crawford County, Indiana, for several years and in 1829 settled in Knox county, Illinois. He represented his county in the Legislature in 1836, in the Senate of 1842, and in 1848 was elected lieutenant governor of Illinois. He was one of the first state officers elected under the new constitution adopted
389
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
that year. He had also served as a volunteer in the Blackhawk Indian war. As lieutenant governor and as a state senator he had been influ- ential in promoting the building of the old Illinois and Michigan Canal from Chicago to the Illinois River. He was also one of the commis- sioners who built the Illinois penitentiary at Joliet. He was associated in the State Senate with Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, both of whom were in the Senate while he was lieutenant governor und president of the Senate. In 1862 though in advanced age he assisted in raising the One Hundred and Second Illinois Infantry and was elected colonel, but failing health compelled him to accept a discharge. He died April 10, 1875.
Robert James Adcock grew up on his father's farm, and took his higher education in Knox College at Galesburg. He holds the degrees A. B. and A. M. from the same institution. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1884, and in 1886 arrived in Los Angeles, being admitted to the California bar the same year and beginning a general practice. Mr. Adcock's services have been in great demand for legal counsel in settling land titles. In the past ten years he has handled a large vol- ume of criminal work. He has appeared in sixty-two capital cases and in not one of them was a verdict of murder in the first degree passed. At one time he was deputy district attorney and assistant prosecuting attorney. For the past twenty-five years he has been an active cam- paigner in county and state politics, and has accepted a place on the local democratic tickets at different times. He is a stanch Wilson demo- crat. Mr. Adcock is a member of the Broadway Christian Church . and is a prominent Sunday School worker and regarded as one of the best qualified Sunday School teachers in the county.
As a young man in Knox Colege Mr. Adcock boarded with a Mrs. Ewing, a cousin of General W. T. Sherman. While there he met General Sherman, and through his influence was appointed to a cadet- ship at West Point Military Academy, but was unable to pass the phy- sical examination for entrance.
BENJAMIN DAVIS WILSON was one of the first Americans in South- ern California. He was the most influential among them while Mexican governors exercised authority over this region. He was the local citizen deputized with civil and military power by the old Spanish regime and by Commodore Stockton at the time of the American conquest. An actor in that drama which brought Los Angeles under a new order, he was one of the most competent authorities on the events which he wit- nessed. Only a short time before his death, which occurred March 11, 1878, he dictated, at the request of the late Hubert Howe Bancroft, a lengthy sketch of his life and Southwestern experiences. The original manuscript is probably with the famous Bancroft collection. Copies are also preserved by Mr. Wilson's family, including his daughter, Mrs. George S. Patton, and from one copy the following sketch is prepared as an appropriate memorial to one of the earliest pioneers of Southern California.
He was born at Nashville, Tennessee, December 1, 1811. The pioneer instinct was in the Wilson blood. His father was born in 1772 at a fort in the territory of Tennessee. Benjamin was eight years old when his father died, leaving the family in straightened circumstances. Through the aid of his grandfather he obtained some education, but at the age of fifteen was trading among the Indians on the Yazoo River. Warned that he could not live in that climate, he started West, and in
390
LOS ANGELES
1833 went over the plains to Santa Fe, being one of the early travelers over that famous trade route known as the Santa Fe trail.
He also did some hunting in the Gila River country in Arizona, and some of his reminiscences concern his experiences among the Apache Indians. While at Santa Fe he had charge for two years of the busi- ness of Doctor Gregg, distinguished as author of "Commerce of the Prairies," the leading authority on the history of the Santa Fe trail. He remained in business in Santa Fe until 1841. In November of that year, in view of a threatened invasion from Texas, he concluded it was not safe to remain in New Mexico and started for California. His party contained several other men prominent in the early history of Southern California, including John Rowland, William Workman, William Gordon and William Knight. In 1843 he bought the Jurupa Ranch, now River- side, and occupied it without objection by the government, though he declined to become a Mexican citizen.
"After many unsuccessful efforts to leave California, and receiving much kindness from native Californians, I arrived at the conclusion that there was no place in the world where I could enjoy more true happiness and true friendship than among them. There were no courts, no juries, no lawyers, nor any need of them. The people were honest and hospitable, and their word was as good as their bond ; indeed, bonds and notes of hand were entirely unknown among the natives. So, as I said, I settled upon the ranch and led a ranchero's life for some years. In 1844 I married Ramona Yorba, daughter of Don Bernardo Yorba, one of the owners of the Santa Ana Ranch."
In 1845, at the request of the governor, Don Pio Pico, he took com- mand of an expedition against the Mojave and other Indians, and in the course of it had the unpleasant duty of killing the notorious marau- der, Joaquin. At that time he was also active as alcalde of his district.
In 1845 he was called out for duty in the campaign between Michel- torena and the California parties, all of which is a well-known part of Southern California history. During that campaign he was one of the Americans entrusted with responsibility of detaching from the follow- ing of Micheltorena a party of Americans who were with the enemy through misapprehension, and whose defection brought about the rapid disintegration and defeat of the invading rabble.
The next event to call him from his ranch was the War of 1846 between Mexico and the United States. While he declined the request of Governor Pico for military duty to resist the American invasion, he pledged his word to remain neutral and do no act hostile to the country. With the departure of the governor upon the arrival of the squadron of Commodore Stockton in San Pedro Bay, he visited. the commander, and reluctantly accepted a captain's commission in charge of the local forces of Americans. As the nominal commander of a small company of volun- teers he then returned to his ranch. After the departure of Commodore Stockton, a general revolt arose among the Californians and Mexicans, largely due, Mr. Wilson says, to the autocratic and tactless manner in which Lieutenant Gillespie, who had been left in command at Los An- geles, was administering his authority. Unable to effect a junction with the garrison at Los Angeles, Mr. Wilson and his small party had to sur- render. They suffered imprisonment in a small adobe room at what is now Boyle Heights, and several times were in danger of their lives because of unscrupulous leaders among the Mexicans and the revengeful spirit among the old Californians on account of treatment they had received from Gillespie. Mr. Wilson and associates, however, had some
.
391
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
good friends among their. temporary enemies, and eventually they were sent to the mission San Gabriel.
With the return of Commodore Stockton in January, 1847. and the subsequent occupation under Fremont and Kearney, Mr. Wilson and companions were released and permitted to rejoin their families. In his reminiscences he describes a number of circumstances in the relation between Stockton, Kearney and Fremont, and the early acts of the mili- tary government.
After the American conquest Mr. Wilson engaged in merchandis- ing at Los Angeles. The following brief references he makes to political affairs are of special interest: "Nothing worthy of mention happened until 1849, when a convention was called by General Riley to form a constitution for California. We held a public meeting and selected the best men we could find. We had no direction to give our representatives, except that we wished not to be a state as yet, but if we had to be a state we, although most of us were southern men, were very positive that we wanted no slavery. The following year, California, having been voted in the constitution a state, we held a convention of the southern coun- try in Santa Barbara, at which I was a member, for the purpose of send- ing a protest to Congress that in the case California was admitted as a state of the Union, the southern portion would be allowed to form a territorial government. Our efforts proved unavailing. After the state was organized, I was elected the first clerk of the county of Los Angeles, making the condition with my friends that I should not serve personally, but would appoint a deputy to run the office and have all the emolu- ments. When the town of Los Angeles was incorporated as a city the people elected me its first mayor. I only served a few months, and then resigned. My wife, Ramona Yorba Wilson, died March 21, 1849."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.