USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego county, California; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 12
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and is interested in everything pertaining to the material, intellectual and moral progress of San Diego. Moreover, in his business career he has demonstrated the value and worth of unflagging perseverance, unfaltering determination and unsullied business integrity and he enjoys in full measure the trust and confi- dence of those with whom he has been associated in business or social relations.
STANFORD W. BARRETT.
Many a man has visited San Diego to find that in its genial climate his impaired health could be restored and that there were yet before him many years of useful activity. Such was the record of Stanford W. Barrett, who passed away in March, 1908, twenty-six years after he had first come to Cali- fornia because of ill health. His home, a beautiful residence overlooking the bay, stood at 1544 Seventh street, the winter months being passed in San Diego and the summer seasons in Binghamton, New York. A native of Penn- sylvania, he was a young man when he removed from that state to Bing- hamton, where he organized the firm of Barrett Brothers, piano manufacturers, his associate and partner in the business being his brother, Volney B. Bar- rett. For a half century Stanford W. Barrett was at the head of this well known house, the business of which is now being carried on by his only son, Harry S. Barrett. The enterprise was undertaken on a small scale but its scope was gradually increased and its plant enlarged to meet the demands of a growing patronage. It was not long before the business had become a pay- ing investment and its continuous success is indicated in the fact that the business has now been maintained for more than a half century. The house has always adhered to the highest standards of excellence in workmanship, of style, durability, finish and tone, and today its trade covers a very wide terri- tory. This extensive undertaking was largely built up through the efforts, business ability, executive force and administrative direction of Stanford W. Barrett, who never faltered in the face of difficulties but regarded the obstacles in his path rather as an incentive for renewed effort.
At length, on account of ill health, Mr. Barrett came to San Diego county, California, in 1882 and purchased thirty acres of land in the El Cajon val- ley, on which he set out a vineyard, also building a fine home at 1544 Seventh street in San Diego. This place commands a splendid view of the bay and the art of the landscape gardener was called into play in the adornment of the grounds, while the house was most tastefully and attractively furnished. With the return of summer Mr. Barrett would again go to his old home in Bing- hamton and throughout his life he remained a prominent citizen there, being a leader in many of the movements for the betterment and benefit of the city. He was equally loyal in his support of San Diego and furthered her progress in every possible way.
Mr. Barrett was twice married, his son Harry being the only surviving child of the first marriage, the only daughter, Emma, having died shortly after the family came to San Diego. In 1887 he wedded Miss Frances Walsh, a native of Port Jervis, Orange county, New York, and a descendant of one
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of the old colonial families, represented in the Empire state for more than two hundred years. Mrs. Barrett now makes her home in San Diego and is well known in the social circles of the city. She is a member of the Wednesday Club and also of the Amphion Club, a musical organization. Mr. Barrett belonged to the Binghamton lodge of Masons and attained the Knight Tem- plar degree. He was a most public-spirited citizen, interested in all those things which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride, and his life was one of far-reaching influence in its activity, its purposes and its ideals.
COLONEL DAVID CHARLES COLLIER.
In business, in politics, in private citizenship there is no more effective and widely esteemed quality than public spirit. It is the force which builds up cities and makes them grow, which spreads commerce and promotes industry, which works for the establishment of trade relations and the development of important business enterprises and which seeks the spread of the higher com- mercial ideals and standards which are the foundation of the truest municipal growth. A man who possesses the rare gift of true public spirit in an unusual degree is Colonel David Charles Collier, president of the Panama-California Exposition which is to be held in San Diego in 1915 and director general since the movement was formulated. There is hardly a phase of city life in which Colonel Collier is not active and prominent. He is a brilliant lawyer, an expert financier and able business man, a promoter and developer and one of the best known men in San Diego in social, fraternal and political circles. He was born in Central City, Colorado, August 14, 1871, and is a son of David C. and Mattie (Johnson) Collier, the former a well known attorney at law in Central City. On the paternal side Colonel Collier's ancestors were Scotch, Irish and English and the early progenitors on the maternal line were English. The father of our subject was a pioneer in Colorado and arrived in Denver in December, 1858, opening the first lawyer's office in that city. After he moved to Central City he gradually extended his interests to include many phases of municipal develop- ment and was editor and proprietor of The Morning Register from 1861 to 1873. Colonel Collier of this review has the honor of being a member of the Society of Colorado Pioneers by virtue of the fact that his father arrived in that state before the year 1861.
In the acquirement of an education Colonel Collier attended the grammar and high schools of his native city and began his business career at the age of fourteen. On March 13, 1885, he was engaged as messenger boy and janitor for the First National Bank of San Diego and it is characteristic of his business ability and shrewdness that he resigned two years later as bookkeeper and remit- tance clerk. . Being ambitions and energetic he determined to study law and after holding various positions of a clerical nature was admitted to the bar August 21, 1891. He continued in this profession for thirteen years and gained widespread recognition as a strong and able practitioner, well versed in the underlying principles of law and keen, logical and forceful in his application of them. During this time his ability carried him forward into extensive and impor-
DeCollier
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tant relations with various representative business interests in San Diego and these rapidly grew so engrossing that in 1904 he retired from the bar. Since that time he has engaged extensively in real-estate development and in the contracting business and has carried on a profitable enterprise along that line under the name of D. C. Collier & Company. Some idea of the extent and importance of his interests may be gained from the fact that he is president of the Western Investment Company of San Diego, of D. C. Collier & Company, the Point Loma Railroad Company, the Santa Maria Land & Water Company and the San Diego Theatre Company. He is a director and former president of the Chamber of Commerce of San Diego county. At present his time is entirely taken up by the duties of his office as president of the Panama-California Exposition, which is to be held at San Diego during the entire year of 1915. He was director gen- eral of the exposition from its organization and was elected president in Novem- ber, 1911. No man can have so many important business identifications who is not unusually able in a business way. Extensive industrial and commercial connec- tions come only to the man of keen perception, sound judgment and executive force, who can coordinate, systematize, improve and build up and who pos- sesses the versatility which promotes expansion, combined with the thorough- ness and carefulness which precludes error.
Colonel Collier married in San Diego, January 1, 1896, Miss Ella M. Copley and they have two sons, David C. and Ira Clifton. Colonel Collier gives his allegiance to the republican party and is prominently identified with the politi- cal life of the state. He was for some time lieutenant colonel and aide-de-camp on the staff of Hon. J. N. Gillette, governor of the state, and was a member of the state and county republican committees for many years and a delegate to the county and state conventions. Probably no man in California has more extensive club and fraternal affiliations than he. A list of these includes his membership in the Masonic order, in which he belongs to the Knights Tem- plar, the Shriners and the Eastern Star. He is a life member of the Elks, belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Foresters of America, the Woodmen of the World, the Theatrical Mechani- cal Association. He is a life member of the Concordia Turnverein, the Arch- acological Institute of America and the National Geographic Society. Besides these he belongs to the Order of Panama, the American Forestry Association and is an honorary member of the Brotherhood of North American Indians, the South Commercial Secretaries Association and a member of the California Historical Society and the Forestry Society of California. Among his clubs may be mentioned the New York Athletic Club, the Rocky Mountain Club, the American Automobile Association, of New York; the Pacific Union Club, the Bohemia Club, the Union League Club, and the Army and Navy Club, of San Francisco, California; the Jonathan Club, of Los Angeles, California ; the Colorado Traffic Club and Press Club, the Sons of Colorado and the Society of Colorado Pioneers, of Denver, Colorado; the Toltec Club, of El Paso, Texas; the Santa Fe Club, of Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Sutter Club, of Sacramento, California; the Coronado Country Club, of Coronado, Cali- fornia ; the Cuyamaca Club, the Cabrillo Club, the Germania Club, the Union League Club, the Country Club, the San Diego Yacht Club, the San Diego Rowing Club, of which he is a life member, and the Aero Club, of which he is president, of San Diego.
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A man of varied interests which he possesses the power to make separately effective, of marked force of character and of business ability, Colonel Collier has while yet a young man become one of the greatest individual forces in the growth of San Diego along public, business, political and social lines. He possesses the industry, shrewdness and well timed aggressiveness of the suc- cessful business men, combined with the loyal, enterprising and progressive standards which are the essential qualities of his public spirit.
EDWIN HARRIS WRIGHT.
Edwin Harris Wright, prominent in business, fraternal and political circles of San Diego, was born in Freedom township, La Salle county, Illinois, Decem- ber 8, 1867, a son of Henry F. and Minnie (Harwood) Wright. The father was a veteran of the Civil war, enlisting first for three months and later reen- listing for the entire period of the war. He was prominently known in the United States secret service and in his private business life was a successful contractor and builder.
Edwin H. Wright was educated in the public schools of York, Nebraska, but laid aside his books before he reached high school, securing employment in the Harrison nurseries in that city. He entered upon his duties when he was twelve years of age and has since been entirely dependent upon his own resources-a fine example of a modern self-made man. From the time he was thirteen until he had reached his fifteenth year he worked as a teamster and then spent one year at school. However, he was soon obliged to abandon his books and worked upon a cattle ranch in the Pawnee reservation for a short time. When he was seventeen years of age he established himself as a vegetable gardener and was active in this line of occupation until he attained his majority. At that time he came to San Diego and entered the employ of Sam Gordon Ingle in order to learn the hardware and stove business. In this connection he remained for eleven and one-half years, at the end of which time he entered the employ of W. E. Williams in the conduct of a similar enterprise. Their association continued for fifteen months and then Mr. Wright determined to establislı himself in business independently. He abandoned the general hard- ware line and deals exclusively in stoves, handling the most improved types. His business has proven most successful because he has known how to promote its expansion and direct its growth along modern lines. Twice during the last ten years he has been obliged to seek larger quarters to accommodate his growing trade and has attained a prosperity which places him among the representative merchants of San Diego.
On March 9. 1891, Mr. Wright married at Grantville, San Diego county, Miss Mary Magdalene McDuell, a daughter of James H. and Mary Elizabeth McDuell, and they have one son, Roy Harris. Mr. Wright belongs to the Woodmen of the World, his only fraternal affiliation. He gives his allegiance to the republican party and has been for many years an important figure in the official life of San Diego. On May 5, 1897, he was elected a member of the city council and served for two years, doing such excellent work that on
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the expiration of his term of office he was reelected. In 1901 he refused to be a candidate but in 1903 was elected for a third time and served until the inauguration of the commission form of government in the following year. During his period of service he stood constantly for right and progress, bring- ing to the discharge of his official duties the same energy, foresight and keen discrimination which have made his business career successful.
ELIJAH G. SYKES.
Elijah G. Sykes is special agent in San Diego for the Standard Oil Company and has also important real-estate holdings in the city. He has lived here for twenty-five years and has attained through his business ability and the many fine qualities of his mind and character a position of prominence in public regard. A native of Maine, Mr. Sykes was born in New Castle, February 9, 1854, and attended the public and high schools of that city until he was eighteen years old. When he laid aside his books he learned the tinner's trade and worked at it until 1877, when he established himself in business and was very successful for ten years. In 1887 he disposed of his business interests in New Castle and came to San Diego, where he engaged in the retail oil business. In 1899, however, he disposed of this enterprise and became special agent for the Standard Oil Company. His former experience as an independent dealer, added to his keen business discrimination and judgment, makes him .one of the most valued representatives of this great corporation and his work in their interests has been of the constructive and energetic kind which gains instant recognition. From time to time Mr. Sykes has invested in real estate in San Diego and has gradually become interested in the study of land values and the effect which they have upon the direction of business. Being an expert judge, he has made some profitable investments along this line and has been engaged in many suc- cessful transactions, so that this branch of his activities is rapidly becoming one of his most important business interests.
Mr. Sykes married, in New Castle, Miss Carrie B. Hall, and both are well known in the social circles of San Diego. They belong to the Baptist church and Mr. Sykes gives his allegiance to the republican party. His business record is creditable to his energy and ability, for by steady work and advancement he has gained a place among the substantial and representative men of the com- munity.
GEORGE H. CRIPPEN.
Among the real builders and promoters of San Diego county George H. Crippen occupies a position of prominence for he has here conducted one of the most important real-estate concerns in this part of the state since 1886. He has been one of the greatest individual forces in the development of land around Point Loma and all of his activities for more than twenty years have
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been devoted to exploiting and promoting the resources of the section. He was born in Oswego, New York, in 1846 and was reared and educated in that state. In 1863 he enlisted in the Twenty-first New York Independent Battery, Thirteenth Corps, Department of the Gulf, under General Banks, and was pres- ent at many of the important engagements of the Civil war, including the bat- tle of Mobile Bay. He was mustered out with honorable discharge at Syra- cuse, New York, in August, 1865, and after his discharge remained in that city for some time, clerking in a general store. He later went to Dowagiac, Michi- gan, and thence to Burlington, Kansas, where for five years he was engaged in the clothing business. At the expiration of that time he went to Winfield in the same state and there remained until 1886, when he came to San Diego and established the real-estate concern with which he has been identified ever since. Being a keen judge of present and future land values, his speculations were profitable from the beginning and his ventures successful. Moreover, he soon became known as a straightforward and energetic business man who never took advantage of the inexperience of a client and therefore his patronage increased year by year. He developed and exploited Point Loma land and more than any other individual promoted the growth and upbuilding of that section of the county. Consequently his labors have been constantly construc- tive and have had excellent results in the improvement and added value of south- ern California property.
In 1875 Mr. Crippen married Miss Melissa C. Daniel, a member of a very prominent southern family, and they became the parents of three children, John, Roy and Ruth. . Mr. Crippen has become prominent in local politics and served four years as a member of the city council. He keeps in touch with his comrades of the olden days by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic and he is a member of the Masonic order. He stands high in finan- cial circles of the community and his progressive spirit and the fine qualities in his character have won him the confidence and esteem of his associates and friends.
DE ROY SAUM.
De Roy Saum, of the firm of Johnson, Connell & Saum, undertakers in San Diego, was born in Clarinda, Iowa, September 18, 1882, a son of A. B. and Emma Saum. In the acquirement of an education he attended the public schools of his native city and was graduated from the high school in 1901. Immediately afterward he secured a position in an undertaking establishment and worked there until he came to San Diego in 1908. He immediately secured a position with the undertaking firm of Johnson & Connell and his ability soon gained him promotion to a partnership in the enterprise, which since January 1, 1912, has operated under the name of Johnson, Connell & Saum.
Mr. Saum's affairs are ably conducted and his progressive spirit and un- doubted ability make him a valuable factor in the business life of San Diego. He belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and also the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, and is a prominent
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Knight Templar. He is faithful in his attendance at the Methodist church and widely known as a man of exemplary character. Being enterprising and ener- getic, he has gained important business connections in San Diego while still a young man and the qualities upon which he has founded his success will undoubtedly be factors in his continued progress.
CHESTER GUNN.
No fortunate circumstances aided Chester Gunn at the outset of his career. Like many other young men, the necessity of providing for his own support led him to turn to the trades for a means of livelihood and gradually he worked his way upward step by step, wisely utilizing his time, talents and opportunities until a creditable measure of prosperity crowned his labors. He is now engaged in the real-estate business in San Diego, having given his attention to operations in city property since 1907. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 25, 1843, a son of Lewis C. and Elizabeth (LeBritton) Gunn, natives of the state of New York and of Newburyport, Massachusetts, respectively. The father came to California in 1849 and his family came around Cape Horn to the Golden state in 1851 and settled in Tuolumne county at the town of Sonora. There he engaged in the practice of medicine and also edited a news- paper until 1860, when he removed to San Francisco where he remained until 1870, when he came to San Diego, where he resided until called to his final rest.
Chester Gunn was a lad of eight years at the time the family came to the Pacific coast and was a youth of seventeen when he went to San Francisco. There he learned the machinist's trade during the period of his four years' residence in that city and later he went to Nevada where he engaged in build- ing quartz mills and in mining. In 1869 he came to San Diego county, purchas- ing land in the El Cajon valley, and began farming. In 1870 he removed to Julian, this county, and in addition to raising stock he conducted a general store and acted as postmaster and as agent for the Wells Fargo Express Com- pany. He afterward built quartz mills at the mines there and engaged in mining, and as the years passed by he carefully availed himself of every oppor- tunity to broaden the scope of his activities and render his labors more effective forces in the attainment of success. In 1875 he acquired more land, becoming owner of eight hundred and forty acres, on which he raised horses and other stock and also cultivated apple and pear orchards. His different undertakings brought him success as the years went by and took him out of humble sur- roundings into important business connections. In 1907 he came to San Diego and during the period of his residence here has been engaged in the real-estate business. At the present time he is owner of a six hundred and thirty-five acre cattle ranch in the Escondido district.
Mr. Gunn has never been neglectful of public service and has cooperated in many movements which have been directly beneficial to the county and this part of the state. He was appointed supervisor of San Diego county by Gov- ernor Waterman, to fill out an unexpired term, and later was elected to that office for one term. He was also one of the commissioners who helped to
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form Riverside county and also Imperial county, and his labors have been of essential value in the development and improvement of the southern part of the state. He served for ten years on the Horticultural Commission and for ten years was deputy county assessor.
In 1873 Mr. Gunn was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Kelly, a native of Wisconsin, and to them have been born eight children: Florence E., who is the wife of Donald A. Moore; Chester D .; Edna E., the wife of T. D. Stanley ; Charles M., who married Mary Hickman; George L .; Mabel W .; Ethel A .; and Fred J.
In a review of his life history it is seen that the steps in the orderly pro- gression of Chester Gunn are easily discernible. He early recognized the fact that there is no royal road to wealth but that ambition and energy consti- tute the key that will unlock the portals of success. Each year saw him in advance of the position which he had attained the previous year and while he has labored to promote his own interests he has also found time to aid in the work of public improvement, his labors constituting a valuable factor in shap- ing the history and molding the destiny of San Diego county and other sections of southern California.
DAVID A. LOEBENSTEIN.
David A. Loebenstein, civil engineer and surveyor, whose work in San Diego is of an important character, was born in Hilo territory of the Hawaiian Islands, March 22, 1881. When a young man he came to California and in preparatory schools pursued the study of civil engineering and surveying. At length he returned to his native islands and entered the employ of the Hilo Railroad, while subsequently he worked under his father, A. B. Loebenstein, a noted civil engineer of Hawaii. Afterward David A. Loebenstein, was engaged in surveying and construction work for the government in the development of public works and next became connected with the United States navy and army as assistant on the Midway Islands under Lieutenant W. R. Cushman. On his return from Mid- way he joined the United States engineers and made a survey for the Hilo break- water which is now being completed. Returning to California he became assist- ant engineer for the Southern Pacific Railroad on the Tuscon division in Arizona. This completed, he decided to return to his old home in Hawaii but the influence of an old friend, J. B. Osborn, led him to change his plans and come to San Diego, where he arrived in 1907. Here he has since practiced his profession with suc- cess. He has been engaged in relocating the boundaries of land, in making sub- divisions and mineral surveys. He made the survey on Lakeside Farms, a district comprising one thousand acres, the survey of a two thousand acre tract at Lake- side for the San Diego Eucalyptus Company, Angelus Heights, of two hundred and fifteen acres, Lemon Grove Park, and many others, and is well qualified by professional skill and ability, both practical and scientific, for the important work entrusted to him.
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