USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > Men of achievement in the great Southwest Illustrated. A story of pioneer struggles during early days in Los Angeles and Southern California. With biographies, heretofore unpublished facts, anecdotes and incidents in the lives of the builders > Part 9
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This enterprise grew to large proportions, and in connection with the store Mr. Pease had a system of wagons carrying supplies over routes in various parts of the State, through which his outside business was largely built up. After several years a line of furniture was added to the establishment, and this proved so successful that eventually it was made the main branch of the Pease concern. For almost a quarter of a cen- tury Niles Pease conducted a continuous business in his native
town. He then sold his interests there and decided to cast his lot with the people of the Pacific Slope.
Mr. Pease came to Los Angeles in 1884, and was made a member of the Los Angeles Furniture Company, which opened a store on South Spring street. This was the beginning of a long and honorable business career in this city. The follow- ing year the other partners in the company sold their interests to Mr. Pease, and he greatly increased the extent of his establishment. With his long experience and keen business foresight, Mr. Pease commanded a growing trade, and finally was compelled to have a building erected especially for his own use.
This building, which was erected by L. Harris, at No. 439 South Spring street, is a handsome five-story structure, arranged especially for the Niles Pease Company, which uses all floors for the display of its large stock. In September, 1897, the Niles Pease Furniture Company was incorporated. The organization included Mr. Pease and his children. The firm holds a high position in the business circles of Los Angeles, and has built up a business which extends into all parts of Southern California and well out into Arizona.
Mr. Pease is a Thirty-second Degree Mason, and has long been prominent in that order. In politics he affiliates with the Republican party. In 1876 he was elected from his home district in Connecticut as representative to the State Legisla- ture. He has always maintained a lively interest in public affairs, and has been a generous helper for many worthy local charities. His church connection is with the Unitarian society, and he has served as a trustee of this church for several years.
Mr. Pease has been interested in several local enterprises outside of his extensive furniture business. He is a director of the Columbian Savings Bank; a prominent member of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and president for the past two years of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Associa-
RÉSIDENCE OF NILES PEASE.
tion. Ever since deciding to ally himself with the commercial interests of this city, Niles Pease has taken a deep interest in the city's advancement, and has added the force of a solid, substantial man of affairs to the municipality's growth.
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
E. P. CLARK.
TN CONTEMPLATING the wonderful growth of Los Angeles, and the causes contributing thereto, it were superficial to attribute the development of the city entirely to the climatic conditions with which a beneficent nature has endowed it, though that feature must perforce be conceded as a necessary element. But that there is some element nec- essary to co-operate with Nature in the production of a South- western metropolis is amply evidenced by the fact that Nature had endowed it with a beauty and grandeur which baffled portrayal, long before it was taken advantage of by man. Industry and enterprise, administered by the hand of man, have brought about miraculous changes in this section of the State, and in exploiting the advantages of Los Angeles the public recognize no less an obligation in paying fitting tribute to the men who have supplemented Nature in the distribution of her bounties, than in proclaim- ing the marvelous record it has established of being one the most progressive cities of the world today. Among those who may be properly classed under this category, few have contrib- uted in a more generous de- gree than the man whose name introduces this biog- raphy.
Eli P. Clark was born near Iowa City, Iowa, No- vember 25, 1847. At that time Iowa was "way out West "- four-fifths of the State was vast, uninhabited prairies, rich and beautiful in all their wildness. We of today little realize what were the experiences of those who lived on the western frontier, when it is remembered that it was not till 1858 that the first rail- road to cross the Mississippi River was the Rock Island and Pacific, at Davenport, Iowa.
C
ELI P. CLARK.
In 1855 his parents moved farther west to Grinnell, a new town, where it was planned to have the best educational advantages in the State, and where soon Iowa College was established. As a boy he grew up here among influences that were well calculated to inspire ambitions. After attend- ing the public schools he entered the college. During his college days he taught his first school in the winter of his eighteenth year, and attributes the greatest lesson of his life to that experience.
Two years later the family moved to Southwest Missouri to escape the rigors of the severe Iowa winters. Here he engaged with his father in farming, in the winter teaching school.
In the spring of 1875 he left his home in company with a party to cross the plains for Arizona. This was before rail-
roads and when travel was fraught with danger from lawless bands of white men as well as treacherous Indians. After many thrilling experiences, during a three months' journey by way of the old Santa Fe and Fort Wingate trail, the party reached Prescott August II.
Almost his first acquaintance was his present partner and brother-in-law, Moses H. Sherman, who was principal of the Prescott High School, the first public school organized in the Territory. Mr. Clark first engaged in merchandising. and was acting postmaster for nearly a year. In the winter of '77 and '78 he formed the partnership of Clark & Adams, dealers in and manufacturers of lumber, at one time operat- ing three sawmills in that part of the Territory and doing an extensive business throughout the Territory.
Mr. Clark has been all his life a staunch Republican. In 1877 he was chosen Ter- ritorial Auditor, succeeding himself four terms and fill- ing the office for ten years. It was during these years that he formed the acquaint- ance of Gen. Fremont while he was Governor of Ari- zona, and counts the ac- quaintance and official rela- tions with Gen. Fremont among the most pleasant of his experience.
By Territorial enactment he became ex-officio State Assessor and made special study of the subject of as- sessment and taxation. Many of his recommenda- tions for their improvement are now the law of the land.
In 1880 he formed his most important partnership when on April 8 of that year his marriage with Miss Lucy H. Sherman was celebrated; and with their family of three daughters and one son they have a large circle of friends and acquaintances in this city.
Mr. Clark early became interested in the matter of rail- road facilities for Arizona, and was active in procuring favorable legislation to encourage the building of a road from Prescott to Maricopa, and afterward was instrumental in having a bill passed in the Legislature of 1885 granting a subsidy of $4000 per mile for a road to be built from Pres- cott to connect with the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. He helped to organize the first company and became its first secretary and treasurer, and turned the organization over to Thos. S. Bullock, who financed and built the Prescott and Arizona Central Railroad, which afterwards gave way to the Santa Fé, Prescott and Phoenix Railroad, one of the best railroad properties in the West.
In 1890 Gen. M. H. Sherman, his brother-in-law, while in Los Angeles repeatedly wrote urgent letters, requesting
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
him to join him in Los Angeles and engage in the street railroad business. After much persuasion he consented, and in January, 1891, arrived in Los Angeles, to begin the inaug- uration of the present street railway system. To them belongs the credit of having given to Los Angeles, and California as well, the first successful electric railway; even at that com- paratively early date, when Los Angeles was a town of not more than 40,000 people, these men in the face of much hostile criticism, as well as active opposition, pushed ahead, manifesting a faith in the future greatness of Los Angeles, extending their city lines in all directions to their present limits.
In 1895 they disposed of their interests in the local street railway lines known as the Huntington lines, and devoted their energies to interurban lines, building and equipping the Pasadena road. The year following Mr. Clark took the first steps for an electric line to Santa Monica by securing the property of the old steam railroad known as the Los Angeles and Pacific Railroad; and even in opposition to the judgment and wishes of his partner and brother-in-law, succeeded in convincing him that it was the thing to do, out of which per- sistence, foresight and energy has grown the famous " Balloon Route," the Los Angeles-Pacific Railroad lines, covering the entire section of the county west and southwest of Los Angeles, from Hollywood to Santa Monica Canon, furnishing transportation to Santa Monica, Ocean Park, Playa del Rey, Hermosa and Redondo, and comprising
upward of one hundred and fifty miles of as fine an electric railroad, fraught with greater possibilities, than can be found anywhere in the United States.
It is freely admitted that it is largely due to his untiring, persistent and never-give-up characteristics that the property is what it is today.
The direct benefits that have accrued to this city and all points reached by their lines are so many and so well known that further commendation would be superfluous. Towns have sprung up where before their lines were built were bar- ley fields and shifting sand dunes.
In presenting the biography of E. P. Clark as one among the men who may be said to have made Los Angeles, the writer acts advisedly, for this city furnishes no more striking example of enterprise and energy in advancing the interests of the city than he; but it is not alone as a railroad man that Mr. Clark merits recognition in these pages, for he has been a contributor to the welfare of this community and a factor in the growth and prosperity of Southern California throughout his residence here. He has contributed to the city's advantages as a tourist resort by sparing no expense in the cquipment of his electric lines, and his ready response to the constantly recurring demands upon public spirit has marked him as a man who has at heart the weal of his adopted home. He is a man of integrity in all his business relations, and the confidence he inspires is the reflection of worthy character.
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RESIDENCE OF HIRAM HIGGINS ON WILSHIRE BOULEVARD.
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
CHARLES HENRY FROST.
L OS ANGELES, while surrounded by the advantages with which a bountiful nature has endowed this section, owes much of its growth and prosperity to the indomi- table pluck and tenacity of the far-seeing and persevering men of business and finance who have cast their lot with the city and invested their means in the development of the industries at our door. The city claims many such, and prominent among them is the subject of this sketch, one of the city's most progressive and capable business men.
A native of New York State, Mr. Frost first saw the light of day in historic Ithaca, the present seat of that celebrated institution of learning, Cornell University. At the age of fourteen his parents removed to the newer courtry of Illinois, where young Frost was educated and grew to manhood. Upon reaching man's estate he engaged in business in Chicago, at that time, 1861, a city of less than 250,000 pop- ulation. To him belongs the distinction of having erected and operated the only pressed-brick plant ever conducted in that city. After spending twenty years in business in Chicago and having met with gratifying suc- cess, he became attracted to the splendid opportunities for in- vestment in this city, and ac- cordingly the year 1886 found him a resident of Los Angeles.
Mr. Frost placed the utmost confidence in the future- of the city, and at once associated him- self with the best interests of his adopted home. Shortly after his arrival he organized the Los An geles Pressed Brick Company. and has since been its president and manager. With rare judg- ment he secured most desirable locations, and a year ago moved to the corner of Date and Al- hambra streets, and erected a modern plant. The product was no sooner placed on the market than it created a demand, and it scon became evident that the plant would have to be material- ly enlarged to fill advance orders. This has been done as the business demanded it, until today the plant is one of the largest and most complete in the United States. The capacity of the plant is about 6,000,000 brick a year. The plant covers seventeen acres of ground and possesses exceptionally good shipping facilities, with spurs from both the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific Railroads entering its yards. The buildings are modern and the equipment of the latest type. All brick is fired by heat generated from oil, and from sixty to seventy-five men are furnished constant employment, over $1,000 a week being distributed in wages by the company. It is interesting to know that the company owns 1600 acres of land in an adjoining county, where it has uncovered and is mining a superior grade of non-plastic flint clay. There is a vein over 3000 feet in length and 40 feet in width upon the prop-
erty, and assays of the clay show it to possess those elements which are so essential for the manufacture of a superior grade of fire-brick. This flint clay "mine" is one of less than a dozen known to exist in this country. The product of the plant finds a ready sale as far south as Tucson, Arizona, and east as far as Ogden, on the Union Pacific Railroad. The pressed brick made by this company is not surpassed in the United States, and is in great demand among the leading architects, contractors and builders of this city. Its popularity is based upon the twofold con- sideration of quality and economy, for the company meets all competitors in both these respects. Among the prominent buildings of Los Angeles into the construction of which this firm's product has entered, are the new ten-story Hunt- ington Building, which is the largest building erected west of St. Louis, and the twelve-story Trust Building, corner of Fourth and Spring streets; in fact, this firm supplies the pressed brick for practically every large building in this city. Mr. Frost capitalized the com- pany for $250,000, and has asso- ciated with him in its manage- ment such well-known financiers as W. C. Patterson, President of the Los Angeles National Bank; I. N. Van Nuys, the multi-millionaire, owner of the famous hostelry of that name; Dr. Henry West Hughes, a wealthy physician of this city,. together with Jas. Irwin, owner of the San Joaquin 105,000-acre ranch, the largest ranch in South- ern California today. All are men of substantial character and re- sources, and, with the other stockholders, present one of the strongest associations of busi- ness talent in the city.
CHARLES HENRY FROST.
Mr. Frost's business career, since making Los Angeles the base of operations, has been one of marked success. He has manifested a discriminating judgment in the selection of real estate and associates, and his holdings in this city and Pasadena number some of the most desirable residence and business properties in those cities. He has invested his funds without stint in realty and other forms of property, and in 1898 began the erection of the Frost Building, the most imposing business block erected on Broadway up to that time, and excelled by few in the city at this date. The building is modern throughout, a half-tone reproduction of it appearing elsewhere in this publication.
A handsome olive grove of 115 acres, situated near El Toro, in Orange county, is the property of Mr. Frost, and he has been prominent in the organization of a company through which the growers of large orchards hope to market their crops, both in the form of olive oil, and canned or pickled olives, for which there is such a ready market, botlı locally and in the East.
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
WILLIAM HAYES PERRY.
H ERE follows a sketch of a pioneer of pioneers. Not many of the American settlers of Los Angeles date their arrival earlier than does W. H. Perry. There are less than a dozen men alive today who were here when he first entered the city. Indeed, it is doubtful if there are half a dozen such.
William Hayes Perry was born in Newark, O., October 7, 1832. Here he obtained such schooling as was possible at that early date, and then learned the cabinet-maker's trade. He had not yet come of age when he heard the wonderful stories being told of finding gold in the creeks of California. He had to bide his time a bit, but as soon as he had reached his majority and found it right to choose his way in the world, his ambition led him to take the overland jour- ney and set his face to- ward the new Eldorado. This was in 1853. party of fifty men and five women was made up at Council Bluffs, Iowa, to cross the plains to the Pacific Coast. Among those with W. H. Perry was the late Col. Hollis- ter, of Santa Barbara. The path lay by Salt Lake; thence by the southern trail to San Bernardino and Los An- geles. The party had a pretty large band of sheep, cattle and horses, which offered a constant temptation to the In- dians of the plains, who made several attacks on the party. The journey took many months, and not until February, 1854, was Los Angeles reached. Mr. Perry is today one of the most substantial business men of Southern California, but he does not hesitate to say that he reached Los Angeles not only without a dollar, but without a decent suit of clothes. One of his stories of early days is the way he ob- tained clothes suitable to present himself in. He walked frankly into a clothing store, where he did not know a soul, stated his case, and asked for a suit of common working clothes on credit. The storekeeper must have been very favorably impressed by the young man, for he not only fitted him out as requested, but actually pressed on him a second suit of better clothes for Sundays and for social occasions. Thus provided for, he sought employment, and soon found it at his trade. He worked at cabinet-making for a year, and then securing as partner an acquaintance, opened the first furniture store and factory in the town, under the name of
Brady & Perry. In 1858 Brady died, and the late Wallace Woodworth entered the firm, which for twenty-five years was Perry, Woodworth & Co. The original business of the firm was making and selling furniture. It was progressive, and more than kept pace with the growth of the community. This firm imported, set up and set in motion the first steam engine ever seen in Los Angeles. About 1865, the firm, with others, organized a company to manufacture gas for the little city, and this was a paying venture for years. In 1873 the furni- ture factory was expanded into a lumber yard and mill. The location was on Commercial street, running back to Requena, where the modern plant stands today. On the death of Wal- lace Woodworth, the enterprise was incorporated under the style of the W. H. Perry Lumher and Mill Com- pany, and so it stands to- day. As the city grew, the plant was enlarged until about six years ago, when a disastrous fire literally destroyed it. Perry never knew defeat. The fire resulted in the installing of a new plant modern in all respects, with every labor-saving device known in the mill business of today. The lumber business of the corporation at the pres- ent time is probably close to 100,000,000 feet a year.
WILLIAM HAYES PERRY.
The ramifications of the business are im- mense. It is not merely a lumber yard and mill- ing concern. The W. H. Perry Mill & Lumber Co. owns its own timber lands in various places on the Coast. It has its own logging camps, saw- mills, vessels, wharves, spur tracks to the rail- roads, and handles the lumber from the tree to the structure into which the finished product goes.
Mr. Perry also organized the Los Angeles and Humboldt Lumber Company, with the object of sending lumber to all points in Arizona. He also organized the Pioneer Lumber and Mill Company of Colton, near Los Angeles, to supply the country adjacent to that point. Another corporation originated and controlled by him is the Los Angeles Storage, Cement and Lumber Company, which supplies to the builders of Los Angeles lime, plaster, fire-brick, cement, hair and other materials used on buildings.
In 1868 the waters of the Los Angeles River had been leased to a company, with the privilege of laying pipes in the streets of the city and supplying water to the citizens. For
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
some ten years this company did not make any great headway, but in 1879 Mr. Perry was made president of the company, and, putting his energy into this company with other enter- prises, applying business principles to the management and making all necessary improvements to the plant, the corpora- tion was put on an earning basis, which increased its effi- ciency up to a few years ago, when the water reverted to the city at the end of the term of the lease. Under the able gen- eralship of Mr. Perry, the stockholders retired from the water company very rich men.
W. H. Perry was at all times a firm believer in the great future that lay before Los Angeles. From time to time he made judicious investments in real estate in the city, and is today one of the heaviest taxpayers in Los Angeles. His real estate holdings represent a good many liberal slices of the choicest business property in the city. He went into the Farmers and Merchants Bank at an early date in its history, and has been through all its years of progress and success one of the substantial shareholders in the institution, a direc- tor of its affairs most of the time, and one to whose mature and sound business judgment his associates always lend an attentive ear. When his friend, I. W. Hellman, was induced to remove to San Francisco and take the presidency of the Nevada Bank in that city, Mr. Perry became a stockholder in that, and also in the Union Trust Company, another San Francisco institution under Mr. Hellman's guidance. In connection with the water company, Mr. Perry organized the Crystal Springs Company, to develop water near the river · above the city. A fine body of pure water was secured which added greatly to the domestic supply and gave the people a much purer article than was the surface flow. This went to the city with the transfer of the water plant.
For fifty years there have been few important enterprises and little development in Los Angeles with which Mr. Perry's name has not been connected. Perhaps no man in the city has been shareholder and director, vice-president and presi- dent in so many corporations. When the oil industry came into being he was among the first to lend his aid in its devel- opment. The Reed Oil Company, the Slocan Oil Company, the Kern Oil Company and the Western Union Oil Com- pany have all felt the influence of his backing.
In 1858 W. H. Perry married Miss Elizabeth M. Dalton, whose immediate family and their relatives were pioneer set- tlers in Los Angeles city and county. The Daltons left their mark on the history of the section in many ways. Nearly half a century has passed over the heads of the youthful bride and bridegroom of 1858. They have been most event- ful years to them and to Los Angeles. They still walk side by side along the quiet paths where the shadows of life's evening fall gently and neacefully around them. They have two children living. The eldest is Mrs. C. M. Wood, who from a child developed remarkable musical talents. Mr. Perry sent her to Italy, and at Milan, under the tuition of Sig. Giovanni, one of the most noted instructors of that city, her beautiful voice was perfectly developed. Miss Perry made her début in Milan, and during her engagement there made a most favorable impression on the musical world. The other child is Mrs. E. P. Johnson, Jr., of this city, and she, as well as Mrs. Wood, has a most interesting family growing up around her.
The home of Mrs. Perry and those of her two daughters are important factors in the social life of Los Angeles. High cultivation and the kindliest hospitality lift them to a high position among the refined homes of Los Angeles.
RESIDENCE OF HERMAN W. HELLMAN.
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
CHARLES SILENT.
T HERE is an element of character in some men which impels them to success, not through the blunders of fortune or the possession of means, but through the commanding qualities-judgment, perseverance, industry. Cali- fornia has been a rich field of opportunities for such men, and it is not surprising that we find them so conspicuous among the successful pioneers who have attained wealth and prominence in the development of the Southwest. Among those who may be enrolled under this head, Charles Silent has always stood high and prominent, and as such is no less worthy of presentation than as one among the State's most energetic and progressive men of affairs. A native of Baden, Charles Silent made his début upon life's stage in 1843, but at five years of age accom- panied his parents to this country, where the family settled at Columbus, Ohio. At the early age of twelve it was necessary for the lad to assist in providing for the family, and his oppor- tunities for schooling were limited after that time. The year 1856 marked one of the greatest influxes of immi- gration to this State that had ever been known, and among the throng that bat- tled for a foothold in the young commonwealth was the future United States Judge, then a slender lad of thirteen. The journey was made by way of Panama, and San Francisco was reached in the summer of '56. The metropolis of the Pacific Coast did not prove so attractive to the boy as the mining regions of Ama- dor county, and thither hè wended his way shortly after his arrival in the State.
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