OP People
Alvin Nye Archer (1844 – 1923)Ocean Park Resident.Born in 1844 in ME. Joined the Union Army in 1863, wounded 1864 in VA. In 1891 he was in poor health, and came west to OR, and in 1892 to Ocean Park. For the YMCA, he erected the first building in Ocean Park in 1894. For four…
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Ocean Park
Alvin Nye Archer (1844 – 1923)

Ocean Park Resident.

Born in 1844 in ME. Joined the Union Army in 1863, wounded 1864 in VA. In 1891 he was in poor health, and came west to OR, and in 1892 to Ocean Park. For the YMCA, he erected the first building in Ocean Park in 1894. For four years he was the local agent of the Santa Fe Railroad Company. Later he held the office of deputy constable and was also the first uniformed policeman of Ocean Park. He was the founder of Ocean Park’s first volunteer fire brigade. He was elected and served as a member of the board of Freeholders.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/72029913/alvin-nye-archer

Archer married Louetta Litch (1873 – 1956) (he was her guardian) in 1892. The Archers had four children-Bula June, the first child born of American parents in Ocean Park; Reed M.; Glen E.; and Altha, F.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/196814517/louetta-edith-archerWalter Lee Armacost (1878 – 1947)

Nursery man / wholesale florist.

Born in Hampstead, MD and in 1899 went to worked in greenhouses in upstate New York state for two years. After a short stay in Cleveland, OH, he came to Los Angeles, CA. There he was soon put in charge of E. J. Vawter’s fields of carnations. In 1906 Armacost leased from Vawter part of his gardens at Sixth and Rose Avenue. In 1907 married Anna May Shirey (1888 – 1925) in Ocean Park. He lived on the Rose Avenue property with his wife Anna and his father George (1841 – 1918). He was the proprietor of the Armacost Nurseries of Ocean Park, In 1911 he formed a partnership with Fred E. Royston (1852 – 1936) a retired wholesale grocer and bank VP and invested in 37 acres of property where he built an array of glass houses at Sawtelle, what is now NE corner of Bundy Drive and Olympic Blvd. Armacost & Royston Nursery started growing orchids in 1918. Armacost was the last Mayor of the city of Sawtelle in 1922-1923 and for whom Armacost Avenue is named. In 1934, he married Marion Cumi Waltz (1893 – 1983).Robert Symington Baker (1826 – 1894)

Real estate owner and founder of the town of Santa Monica.

Baker, who was originally from Rhode Island, came to California in 1849 and engaged in mining supplies business (Cooke and Baker) in San Francisco. Later he became associated with General Beak in the cattle and sheep business in the northern part of the state and in the Tejon country. In 1874, Colonel Robert S. Baker, purchased Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica (approximately 48,000 acres between the ocean and Sepulveda Blvd) from the Sepulvedas. Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica was a Spanish land grant made by Juan Alvarado, Governor of the Californias, to Francisco Sepulveda in 1839. With his purchase of the rancho for cattle and sheep business, he located in Los Angeles and in 1874 married Arcadia Bandini de Stearns, daughter of Juan Bandini and widow of Abel Stearns, one of the earliest American settlers of Southern California, The Bakers owned the 30,000-acre only two years and in 1874 sold a 3/4 interest in the land to the Comstock millionaire John Percival Jones. Baker and Jones founded the town of Santa Monica in 1875.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11190010/robert-symington-baker

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Symington_BakerBenjamin A. Barnard (1904 – 1960)

Mayor and Santa Monica College Instructor.

Benjamin Barnard attended UCLA where he graduated in 1926, earning a teaching credential from UC Berkeley in 1928, and a master’s degree in Political Science from USC in 1933. From 1929 until his death, Barnard taught in Santa Monica’s public schools. After teaching at Lincoln Junior High School and Santa Monica High School, Barnard joined the faculty of Santa Monica College in 1933. He continued teaching there after WWII. Barnard helped draft Santa Monica’s new charter that was adopted in 1946 and was elected to the new council in 1947, serving 10 years, the last two of which as mayor (1955-1957). Barnard was again elected to the council in 1959, immediately being selected mayor by his council colleagues. However, in 1960, Barnard died unexpectedly while in office. The Speedway, located along the ocean in Ocean Park, was renamed Barnard Way in his honor.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200475379/benjamin-a-barnard Joseph Bontty (1845 – 1934)

Early Ocean Park Resident.

Born Czech Republic and came to US in 1855. Bontty as in Iowa 1860- 1870, and in Portland, OR in 1875. Married Anna Reese in 1869 and have two sons (Edward and Joseph) and one daughter (Sebaldena). Joseph (and his brother John N. Bontty)and their family came to Santa Monica in 1883. Joseph opened the first grocery store on Main St in Ocean Park. His house was on Strand between 2nd and 3rd Streets. He also became involved in real estate. He was involved in the defeated 1903 election to separate Ocean Park from Santa Monica. He closed his grocery and moved to San Diego in 1905, where he engaged in the grocery business. By 1920, he was back in Los Angeles, where he died in 1934. Richard Clifford Diebenkorn (1922 – 1993)

Painter best known for the ”Ocean Park” paintings.

In 1966 Diebenkorn moved his home and studio to Santa Monica. He began teaching at UCLA that same year and remained there until 1973. The “Ocean Park” series, began in 1967 and developed for over twenty-five years, became his most famous work and resulted in more than 140 paintings. Based on the aerial landscape and perhaps the view from the window of his studio on Main and Ashland. Built and moved into 2444 Main St in 1975. In 1988 he moved from Santa Monica to Healdsburg, where he continued to create primarily small works, mostly drawings, until his death in 1993.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_DiebenkornThomas Horace Dudley (1867 – 1934)

Businessman and politician.

Born in Leicestershire, England. He came to Bakersfield, CA, in 1889, and engaged in the real estate and insurance business. In 1896 he moved to Santa Monica and engaged in the real estate and insurance business (with John B. Proctor). In 1899, he married Matilda Brooks Ryan, widow of Francis Ryan, and became Kinney’s partner. The real estate firm of Kinney & Ryan, owners and promoters of the Ocean Park Beach Tract, was succeeded by the firm of Kinney & Dudley. Dudley and Kinney did not get along. Dudley sold his half interest in the Ocean Park Improvement Company to Alexander Fraser, Herbert Gage and George Merritt Jones. In 1900, Dudley was elected a member of the Santa Monica City Board of Trustees, serving as chairman of the Board until 1907. Upon the reorganization of the city government under a Freeholders Charter in 1907, Dudley was elected mayor. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/171531957/thomas-horace-dudleyEdwin McFarland Fisk (1877 – 1965)

Aviation pioneer.

Born in Pennsylvania, his formal education extends only to the eighth grade. In 1898 Fisk serves as a private in the PA infantry in the Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898). In 1901, he marries Cora Maud Bowman (1881 – 1952) in PA, and they have three children – Eulalia McFarland Fisk Spurrier (1903 – 1987), Gweneth Blanche Fisk Chapman (1907 – 1996), and Edwin Ardell Fisk (1913 – 1939). Fisk is a foreman in a Westinghouse tool-making plant. He is still in PA in 1907, but by 1910, he is working as a machinist in Pasadena. In 1911, Fisk buys a property at 715 Navy St, and by 1918 he is living in Venice. On his WWI draft registration of 1918, Fisk lists his occupation as an airplane engineer & aviator, and his employer as J.W. Catron. In 1928 Fisk moves with International Aircraft to Cincinnati, OH. He is still in Cincinnati in 1930, but soon moves to northern CA where he farms, and later manages an inn in Mendocino. In 1940 he is a self-employed aeronautical engineer in Alameda. In 1950, he and Cora are in Dallas, where he (73) is an assistant engineer at an airplane parts manufacturer. Fisk dies in Santa Clara in 1965. No funeral notice, no obituary.Alexander Rosborough Fraser (1856-1926)

Real estate investor and developer.

Born in Canada, moved to Michigan with his family. In 1885 he moved to Los Angeles, and entered the real estate business. He was appointed Secretary of the Street Commissioner’s department, which had charge of the opening and widening of many streets in Los Angeles. He continued this work, in addition to his own business, until 1900, when he went to Ocean Park. For fifteen years the Santa Fe Railroad had been trying to make a resort out of the tracts in Ocean Park, but had failed. Fraser and George Hart, then took up the 13 acre Santa Fe holdings, and named the tract Central Beach and laid out streets, installed a sewer system and sub divided the land. In 1902 Fraser (with G Merritt Jones & H. R. Gage) purchased the interest of T. H. Dudley, who owned half of the Kinney lands on the Ocean Front. In 1904 Fraser purchased the Recreation Gun Club tract, which had an ocean frontage of 4000 feet. In 1903 Fraser built the Ocean Park Casino, and in 1905 erected the Ocean Park Bath House. In 1906 he built the Ocean Park Auditorium, the Masonic Temple and the Decatur Hotel. In 1911 “Fraser’s Million Dollar Pier,” was completed, extending 1000 feet over the ocean and housing a multitude of amusements, including a beautiful dancing pavilion. Destroyed by fire in 1912. Fraser built numerous improvements in Ocean Park. In 1907 responsible for the construction of the thirty feet in width, a mile and a quarter in length concrete promenade which joins Ocean Park with Venice.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173976023/alexander-rosborough-fraserHerbert Richmond Gage (1848 – 1930)

Real Estate Investor

Born in New Hampshire, Gage is involved in silver mining in Tombstone, AZ (probably with E.B. Gage, superintendent of the Grand Central mine). In 1888, H.R. Gage marries Mary Alice Stickney Gage (1845 – 1903) – the widow of Clarence Newton Gage (1845 – 1876) who is the brother of E.B. Gage. Herbert and Mary Alice’s son Walter Taylor Gage (1892 – 1965) is born in Tombstone. In 1894, all the Gages move to the Congress gold mine near Prescott, AZ. H.R. Gage comes to Santa Monica in 1899, and in 1902 associates with A. R. Fraser and G. Merritt Jones. The three purchase Matilda Dudley’s one-half interest in the Kinney Dudley partnership. Gage builds a $4,000 house at Dudley and Ocean Front. After Mary Alice Gage dies in 1903, Gage soon marries Irma Gage (1866 – 1922). In 1906 Gage and Fraser form the Comprehensive Company to invest in land and water in Topanga. In 1909 Gage builds a house (Sycamore Lodge) in Topanga (Calabasas). In 1913 Gage buys a house at St Andrew’s Place and Pico in Los Angeles for $26,000. In 1928 Gage (age 79) marries Margaret Lucille Mears (1870 – 1933+). He is living at 1143 Lincoln Blvd when he dies.Bishop Simpson Garrison (1860 – 1949)

Slate-writer and materializer. Professional medium-exposer. Subdivider of Fountain Glen Tract.

Born in Iowa. Coming to San Francisco from Oregon, he joins a Spiritualist ring. In 1898, Julia Schlesinger, common law wife of self-professed medium and clairvoyant Louis Schlesinger (1832-1906), convinces Garrison to come out, explain their methods and give up the whole horrible business. In 1900, Bishop Garrison and Julia Schlesinger marry and are in Los Angeles giving lectures outing fake mediums. In 1904, B. S. Garrison is growing berries for E.J. Vawter and in 1905, Garrison is listed as a subdivider of the Fountain Glen Tract. In 1909, there is court ordered sale of some Fountain Glen property to pay B. S. Garrison debts. In 1910, Bishop Garrison fails to appear for lecture in Santa Ana and runs off with Eva Rugg. In 1916 B. S. Garrison is a prominent Democrat – organizer of the Rescue Club in Phoenix AZ.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/124674832/bishop-simpson-garrison

Julia Ann Stevens Fish Schlesinger Garrison (1847 – 1929)

Subdivider of Fountain Glen Tract.

Born in MI, Julia married Eugene P. Fish (1835 – 1902) in 1864. Milo Herbert Fish is born in Iowa in 1867 and Richard Stevens Fish is born in Nebraska in 1874. In 1880, Julia Fish has joined the vegetarian, spiritualist, free-love community “Societas Fraterna” (derogatively called “Placentia Grass Eaters”) in Placentia, CA. The leader of the community is Louis Schlesinger (1832-1906), a self-professed medium and clairvoyant. In 1881, Louis Schlesinger abandons the sect, taking with him everything of value and Julia Fish to San Francisco. In 1882, Julia Schlesinger starts the Oakland Lyceum and publishes The Carrier Dove – publishing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent Spiritualists. In 1898, Julia Schlesinger confesses to participating in a Spiritualist fraud ring, Julia Schlesinger has separated from Louis Schlesinger, and has become involved (and cohabits) with Bishop Simpson Garrison (1860 – 1949), a younger slate-writing and materializing medium. Bishop Garrison and Julia Schlesinger give lectures explaining tricks of pretended mediums, and publish a short-lived magazine called the Liberator. In 1905, “Julia A. Garrison” appears in real estate transactions involving the Fountain Glen Tract. In 1910, Bishop Garrison disappears and Julia Garrison is living in Garden Grove as a widow with Louis A. Schlesinger, one of her sons from her common-law marriage to Schlesinger.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58969115/julia-ann-garrison

Irving John Gill (1870 – 1936)

A pioneer of the modern movement in American architecture.

From his native Syracuse to a Chicago apprenticeship in the office of Louis Sullivan, Gill spent most of his career in southern California where in the early 1900s he developed an original and radical simplification of Mission style architecture. His work radically redefined the architectural landscape of Southern California—especially San Diego, where his practice was based—and set the stage for a later, more widely celebrated generation of modernists who would continue his experiments with new forms and construction techniques. Gill’s work within an international context: as his identification with the modern movement developed, his work evolved from the influence of the East Coast Shingle Style and Wright’s Midwest Prairie Style to become closer in spirit to the work of the Austrian Adolf Loos. His Los Angeles buildings include the Lewis Courts, Sierra Madre; the Dodge House, Hollywood; and Horatio West Court, Santa Monica. A bachelor until the age of 58, Gill married Marion A Waugh in 1928, but the marriage was unsuccessful. Gill died at age 66 in 1936, alone in Carlsbad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Gill

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/219480791/irving-john-gillNathaniel Carl “Nat” Goodwin (1857 – 1919)

American vaudevillian comic and owner of Café Nat Goodwin on the Bristol Pier

Born in Boston, he discovered at a young age his ability to mimic and determined to go on the stage. He studied for the stage, and made his first appearance in 1873. But was not until 1889, that Goodwin’s talent as a comedian of the “legitimate” type began to be recognized. From that time he appeared in a number of plays designed to display his drily humorous method. In 1908 he retired from the stage to take charge of mining interests in Nevada. The money he earned on the stage and drew out of his mines he invested in a hotel at San Francisco, New York City real estate, a California ranch, and a home in Santa Monica. Goodwin was married five times. He married his fifth wife, the actress Margaret Moreland in 1912 (they were divorced in 1918). In 1913 he opened Café Nat Goodwin on the Bristol Pier. Goodwin to give up the café and go back to work – which lead to his death. He sold the Café in 1916 to the ubiquitous Baron Long. Goodwin played in a few silent films, appearing as Fagin in Oliver Twist (1912) and in four films in 1915-16. He was touring “Why Marry?” when he mistakenly washed his eye with chloroform and his right eye had to be removed. He died from shock two weeks after at age 62 in New York City – he was survived by both of his parents. With the actor at the time of his death was Georgina Gardner who was to have become his 6th wife. At the time of his death, he was deeply in debt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_GoodwinGeorge Alandson Hart (1870 – 1929)

Real estate investor. Developed the Central Beach Tract.

Born in Ohio. With A.R. Fraser, in 1901 purchased the entire (13 acres) Ocean Park holdings of the Santa Fe. Renamed the Central Beach tract and immediately began grading and putting streets through it. Hart and Fraser substituted the sale instead of lease system prevailing there. India St (now Hill St) was the first street opened through and paved between the beach and the railroad tracks (Neilson). Building restrictions were put on the property, which included 185 lots 25 by 100 feet in size, extending from Hart Avenue on the north to Grand Ave on the south and between the beach and the railway tracks. Owned the hotel Rosslyn and the Lexington. With his brother Dwight, built New Rosslyn in 1913. He was President of Terra Bella Development Co, and Richgrove Land Co comprising 20,000 acres near Bakersfield. Married to Ida M. Belden in 1894.https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/195495661/george-alandson-hartPatrick Hawe (1847 – 1923)

Founding pastor of St. Monica’s Catholic Church from 1886 until his death in 1923.

Born and educated in Ireland, Hawe came to California in 1872 and served at parishes in San Bernardino, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo. He then spent nine years at the Church of the Holy Cross in Santa Cruz, before returning to Southern California at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Anaheim. In 1886, he started St. Monica’s parish, building the first church and school. He founded St. Clement’s parish in Ocean Park in 1904, and in 1908 he founded St. Anne’s parish, also in Santa Monica, both originally mission churches of St. Monica’s parish. He also oversaw construction of the first church for St. Augustine’s parish in Culver City, and he was for many years the chaplain at the National Old Soldier’s Home in West Los Angeles.John George Holborow (1860 – 1926)

Ocean Park hotel operator

Born in the UK, he arrives in the US around 1885. In 1888, marries Alice Helen Parks (1861 – 19??) in Los Angeles. Around 1890 he is a pharmacist in Los Angeles. Between 1892-1894, Holborow is a pharmacist in Oakland. In 1896 he is in Santa Monica – occupation Custom House Inspector. In 1900 J.G. Hollow is the operator of a bowling alley near the beach in Ocean Park. In 1901 he is the licensee of The Holborow In 1904 he is the “fall guy” in a of major political scandal involving an all night poker game with City officials and marked cards. He is arrested and goes on trial in Los Angeles – the charges are dropped in 1905. In 1904 he also moves from the Holborow to the New Holborow – a new hotel several lots to the west on Pier Ave. In addition to the trial, the temperance people try to have his liquor license revoked. By the end of 1904 he leaves Ocean Park and moves back to Los Angeles. In 1913 he is operating a hotel in Porter Ranch. Holborow dies in San Francisco in 1926. His eldest son Frank Parks Holborow (1889 – 1965) is a well known swimmer, swimming coach and boxing referee.Arthur J. Hutchinson (1846 – 1926)

British Army officer acquired part of the Rancho La Ballona from the Machado family.

He was born in Bermuda, graduated from Royal Military College and served in India retiring with the rank of captain. He came to VA where he married Sarah (Sadie) Lindsay Patton. Came to CA and engaged in farming. Hutchinson acquired the beach front property in the late 1870’s when he foreclosed on a series of loans made to the Machado family on parts of their La Ballona Rancho. In 1889, he moved to Tulare County to grow citrus and in 1891 started the town of Lindsay, named for his wife. In 1906, Hutchinson retired to Palo Alto.George Merritt Jones (1861 – 1932)

Real estate investor.

Born in Kentucky, Jones attends schools in Illinois and in 1882 enters the grain and livestock business. In 1885 he operates a general merchandise store in Montana. In 1895 Jones moves to Los Angeles and engages in street improvement work in the City of Los Angeles and real estate. In 1902, he becomes associated with A. R. Fraser and H. R. Gage and they purchase T. H. Dudley’s half interest in the Kinney & Dudley partnership. In 1903 Kinney and Fraser, Gage, and Merritt Jones organize (but do not incorporate) the Ocean Park Improvement Company. The firm builds the Casino at Pier Ave. and Ocean Front, the Ocean Park Bath House, Auditorium, and Masonic Temple. Also 80 acres even further to the south were bought from Recreation Gun Club, subdivided, and sold. In 1904 Jones is elected to the first Board of Trustees of the City of Ocean Park 1904. He marries Olive Byrne (1872–1956) in 1905. In 1907 Jones purchases land in Imperial Valley.

Jones loses heavily (Marine Apartments, Casino, and Bowling Alley) in the 1912 Ocean Park fire. In 1912 he sells his Imperial Valley ranch and builds a large reinforced concrete, fire-proof, hotel on Marine. In 1914, Jones buys a house in Berkeley Square in Los Angeles for $37,500 – which he sells to Hal Roache and his wife, actress Marguerite Nichols for $45,000 in 1920. Jones moves to 2230 La Mesa Drive in Santa Monica.“Baron” Michel Leone (1909 – 1988)

Professional wrestler and Ocean Park resident.

Michele Leone was born in Italy, and began wrestling at a very young age. In 1938, Leone came to New York City and resumed his wrestling career. He moved to Santa Monica in 1949. Michele Leone, better known as The Baron, was considered a master showman, sporting long hair and a colorful cape into the ring for his matches. Thanks to the invention of television, The Baron become one of pro-wrestling’s most famous personalities,. In 1955 Leone retired from wrestling and settled in an Ocean Park apartment building he owned aptly called “The Baron’s Castle.” He was hit by a car while crossing the street in a crosswalk near his home, and died 2 weeks later in 1988.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9049499/baron-michele-leoneCharles Edward Lovelace (1870 – 1926)

Editor Ocean Park Journal and Ocean Park Postmaster 1906 – 1908.

Born in Texas, he comes to Huntington, Indiana in 1900, as editor of The News-Democrat, and later is one of the proprietors and managing editor of the Huntington Morning Journal (which later moves to Ocean Park). In 1901, he marries Elizabeth Hunt Slack (1876 – 1957), moves to Ocean Park, and is a part-owner and publisher of the Ocean Park Journal. He quickly makes himself quite popular – and is appointed postmaster of the Ocean Park post office in 1906. In 1907, an unannounced Post Office Department inspector finds that Lovelace’s accounts are a few thousand dollars short. Lovelace has been losing in high-stakes Ocean Park and Venice poker games. He is arrested, convicted, and sentenced to three years in the state penitentiary. In 1910, Lovelace, out of prison and working for the past three months as the coast editor at the Los Angeles Times, is severely injured in the dynamiting of the Los Angeles Times Building. The Associated Press reports that Lovelace jumped from the third story of the building to the sidewalk and was picked up for dead. But he survives – in addition to being badly burned, he suffered a fracture of his hip and internal injuries – and is not expected to ever work again. In 1926, working as a newspaperman in San Francisco, Lovelace, when crossing the street, is run down and killed by an automobile.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/205618139/charles-edward-lovelaceJohn Lucas (1794 – 1873)

Husband of Nancy Lucas

John Lucas was born near London, England. William Henry Lucas, the father of John & Joe, had a counting house (a bank) and was considered very wealthy. In 1820, John (26) and Joe (23) left England and came to the United States. They went into business together in a general merchandise store in Indiana. Here in 1825 they married sisters Nancy and Matilda Jones. John and Joe sold their business in 1842. Joe Lucas went to Iowa, and again went into a general merchandise business. John Lucas and his wife Nancy went to Santa Rosa, where they accumulated much real estate. John Lucas died in Santa Rosa on his ranch. He was buried in the cemetery he donated to Sonoma County, and in the plot (Lucas Plot) he reserved for his family.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28906449/john-lucasWalter T. McGinley (1869 – 1932)

Circus executive, circus manager, legal adjuster, entrepreneur, gambler, race horse owner, oil man.

McGinley was born in Pennsylvania. He was an executive and manager with Ringling Brothers Circus, Wallace Brothers Circus and Sells-Floto Circus. In 1908 when he took an American circus on tour throughout Europe. He became one of the best known legal adjusters in the circus world. McGinley was among the very earliest figures in America to recognize the possibilities in motion pictures, and established a chain of movie theatres. McGinley was a successful race horse and dog racing owner in the early 1900’s. He became friends with Lucky Baldwin. He moved to CA in 1915 and became the manager of the Baldwin Stocker properties. He bought some land from Lucky Baldwin and struck oil. He eventually was president and the sole owner of the McGinley Oil Company. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90379888/walter-t-mcginleyHenry Dorsey Patton (1858–1906)

Postmaster

Born Pennsylvania. A veteran of the Spanish American War (1898). Patton is an Illinois state legislator from Chicago and president of the Cook County Marching Club. In 1883, he marries Mahta Deering (1862 – 1944) in Chicago. Patton has a Post Office Department commission (from President McKinley) to inspect rural delivery routes. The commission is revoked due to his absence from duty. Patton comes to Los Angeles in 1903 – where the Post Office Department has him arrested. Patton claims he is on an indefinite leave of absence. The post office credentials are retrieved, and no criminal charges are laid. Patton is appointed Ocean Park postmaster in 1905 – but never takes up the position. In 1906, he is elected a Venice City Trustee – serving for 1 day. Patton is living in Nat Godwin’s home on Hart Ave, investing Goodwin’s money, and dies there in December 1906. Patton leaves only $1,000 of a $75,000 estate to his estranged wife (separated in 1902) and most of the remainder to his sons. Although he came from Chicago to Los Angeles only 3 years ago, there are 500 people at his funeral in Venice – but, as the newspapers note, not his widow or his sons. He is buried with military veterans (Illinois cavalry, Spanish-American War) in Clinton, Iowa.Anderson Rose (1836 – 1902)

Farmer for whom Rose Avenue is named.

First American settler on La Ballona and was for many years, an extensive rancher, carrying on a large dairy farm and raising blooded stock. Sanford sold his property, which included Mar Vista Hill, to Anderson Rose. Adjoining Rose’s property to the south was John Charnock’s property. Charnock Avenue bears his name. A map dated 1888 shows Rose and Charnock as owners of significant portions of Rancho La Ballona. On La Ballona, Anderson Rose and one or two others had begun to farm and the Machados raised some grain, but the greater portion of the tract was uncultivated. Other ranchers who located here (Palms) in the later 1870’s or early 1880’s were Isaac Beyer, and George Rose, son of Anderson Rose.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10785093/anderson-roseAbner Leonard Ross II (1832 – 1912)

Owner of Holborow / Casa Del Mar hotel

Born in Lebanon, OH. Marries Virginia “Jennie” Burdick Ross (?? – 1876) in 1858. Goes to Dayton in 1872, then manages the Palmer House in Chicago. Marries Emma C. McCreary Ross (1845 – 1925) in 1877. Ross acquires several hotels in TN and FL. Sells all of his holdings in 1899 and moves to Los Angeles where he acquires the Hotel Lindsay on Main St and renames it the Rosslyn. In 1901, he sells the Rosslyn (which will be bought by the Hart brothers in 1903) and moves to Ocean Park. Ross buys four lots on Pier Ave and builds the Holborow hotel. He moves to a large home in Los Angeles (at Alvarado & 10th).

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7504936/abner-leonard-rossCarl Francis Schader (1870–1934)

Real estate broker and developer.

Born in Little Rock, AR came to Los Angeles in 1887. He served as the civil engineer for a number of early improvements in Santa Monica. After a brief turn at real estate in 1891, he left to pursue an interest in desert mining. In 1909, he returned to Santa Monica to develop real estate. He purchased beachfront property (bounded by the south side of Seaside Terrace to the north, Pico Boulevard to the south, Ocean Avenue to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west) on land that once contained the former grand Victorian style Arcadia Hotel. Here he intended to “remake Santa Monica” with two subdivisions: Vicente Terrace and Seaside Terrace near the Santa Monica pier. His wife Nellie M. Elliott Schader (1870–1936) developed the Kensington Tract that was between Vicente Terrace and Seaside Terrace. He retired in 1912, leaving the business in the hands of his son Carl J. Schader (1892 – 1916); however Carl Jr shot himself in 1916. Carl Sr returned the real estate business and became involved in the sub dividing Calipatria in Imperial County, CA and in AZ. Schader also incorporated the Merchants’ National Bank of Santa Monica, was president of the Ocean Park Bank, organized the Pioneer Mines Syndicate and the Desert Power and Light Company of Kingman, Arizona. He brokered the sale of Rancho Palos Verdes and subdivided towns in the Imperial Valley and Arizona. He died in a car accident returning to Los Angeles from Phoenix in 1934, at the age of 63.

“Carl F. Schader One of Southern California’s Big Men”, Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1914

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31844938/carl-francis-schaderDavid O’Donnell Shearon (1856 – 1935)

Owner Shearon hotel apartments on Main St

Shearon is born in Ireland and comes to the US in 1876. In 1889, Shearon joins the Los Angeles police department as a patrolman. In 1895, he is fired from the police force for insubordination – he expresses his opinion to fellow patrolmen that the police chief is not up to the job. In 1900, he is re-appointed as a patrolman in the police force, and in 1903 promoted to detective (plainclothes). In 1906, Shearon is fired for being absent on the job – working instead on his real estate portfolio (the newspapers call him “the richest man in the police department”). He moves into his David O’Donnell Shearon (1856 – 1935) in Ocean Park and actively manages it. In 1909, he runs for Santa Monica City Council but is not elected. In 1916, a painter falls off the roof of the Shearon apartments and lands on Shearon, breaking Shearon’s leg and sending him to St Catherine’s – the painter walks away with no injuries. With the Main St widening in 1926, the Shearon apartments are demolished and replaced with the Shearon hotel. Shearon and his wife, Teresa Katie Shearon (1875 – 1963) move into a 1924 apartment building he owns at 4160 Rosewood Ave in Hollywood, and dies there in 1935.George Daniel Snyder (1859 – 1953)

Building Contractor and Santa Monica Councilman.

Born in Michigan came to California in 1886, and he was a carpenter working for the building department of the Southern California Railway Company (Santa Fe). He settled in Santa Monica in 1895, and was a homebuilder and general contractor for many years. He built the Holborow Hotel, as well as schools and many houses. He served on the Santa Monica Board of Trustees and was elected to the Santa Monica City Council in 1906. He married Jennie C. Keeler (1858–1923) in Michigan in 1883 – she died in Santa Monica in 1923. He married Elizabeth P. Depue (1871– 19??) in 1923.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200535010/george-daniel-snyderRichard Robert Tanner (1858 – 1931)

Real estate investor and attorney.

Born in San Juan, CA and grew up in Ventura. He served as assistant postmaster of Ventura from 1877 to 1883. Tanner married in 1883 to Elizabeth J. Robinson, of Ventura, (later divorced with one daughter, Nora Ormsby). In 1884 was admitted to the bar and moved to Santa Monica. He was City Attorney of Santa Monica 1888 to 1901. Deputy District Attorney of Los Angeles County from 1892 to 1894. In 1893 Tanner married to Sebaldena M. Bontty (1875 – 1924). In 1894 Tanner entered partnership with Frederick H. Taft. Later the firm became Tanner, Taft & Odell. Tanner specialized in land law practice, with offices in the Dudley Building, corner of 3rd and Santa Monica, Santa Monica, and the Coulter Block, 213 S. Broadway, Los Angeles.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/176701773/richard-robert-tannerWilliamson Dunn Vawter (1815 – 1894)

Businessman and civic leader.

W.D. Vawter was born in Indiana. Tiring of farm life, the young man went to live with his uncle, Col. John Vawter, who was the proprietor of a grocery store at “Vawter’s Corner,” in Vernon, VA where the nephew became clerk and later partner with his cousin in the business. For many years Vawter was postmaster in the town, a leader in temperance work there, and custodian of the local branch of the American Bible Society. Vawter married in 1834, Mary Charlotte Tilghman Crowder (18?? – 1851), with six children, namely, Mary Ellen, May, Jane-Cravens, Aramantha Charlotte, William Smith and Edwin James Vawter. In 1852, Vawter married Charlotte Augusta Knowlton (18?? – 1893), by whom he became the father of two children, Emma K. and Charles Knowlton. The family came west in 1875 and Vawter was associated with the early development Pasadena. From Pasadena Vawter moved to Santa Monica, and opened the first general store in that town, in a building on Fourth street, later establishing lumber yards and a planning mill. In 1884 Vawter with his sons purchased 100 acres of the Lucas ranch. In 1886 he secured a franchise and with his sons built the first street railway which was later extended to the Soldiers’ Home at Sawtelle, and Vawter lived to see his undertaking become a paying enterprise. With his sons he organized the First National Bank of Santa Monica, opening the same in the brick building on the southeast corner of 3rd Street and Santa Monica Blvd which they built in 1888. Vawter was active the development of the town of Santa Monica. He was also one of the founders of the Presbyterian church in Santa Monica.

Photo W.D. Vawter, pioneer of Santa Monica and PasadenaPhoto Mrs. Williamson Dunn Vawter

Mrs. W.D. Vawter, second wife of W.D. Vawter

Edwin James Vawter (1848 – 1914)

Son of W.D. Vawter

Came with his father to CA in 1875.He was president of the City Water Company organized in 1896 to supply Ocean Park with water. In 1899 he began the development of the growing of carnations and other flowers for the market. He was the founder of the Santa Monica Commercial Company, organized to carry on real estate, banking, railroading and other transactions. He organized the First National Bank of Ocean Park, in 1905, of which he was president until 1907.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88752031/edwin-james-vawter

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Henry Weiman (1870 – 1944)

Real Estate Investor. Weiman Apartments.

Born in Germany (his father is Henry Oesterweimann), the family comes to Nebraska. In 1891, he marries widow Katie Tolle Meyer (1864 – 1930), and their two daughters Margarete Weiman Fehrenkamp (1894 – 1974) and Gertrude Katherine Weiman Lund (1898 – 1990) are born in Nebraska. His father dies in 1906, and the Weimans come to CA and live at 2634 3rd St in Ocean Park. In 1909, Weiman builds a 3-story building at 846 Ocean Front (just north of Marine St). In 1911, Weiman buys an apartment building at 31 Rose Ave, and after renovating it, sells it in 1912. Weiman then builds the apartments at 2nd & Marine. Weiman sells the apartments to Charles F. Hinckle in 1913. The Weimans move to 423 S Electric Ave in Alhambra, where Weiman is listed in the 1930 census as a poultry farmer.Horatio David West (1847 – 1936)

Founder of the West Company, the still extant publisher of legal reference works.

Born in Massachusetts, his family moved to to St Paul, MN in 1870. Horatio, who was working in as a book keeper for a local hardware supply firm, married Elizabeth R. “Eliza” Barney West (1849 – 1917) in 1875. In 1876, he joined his brother John West’s legal publishing business as a partner. The business quickly grew. When John West left the company abruptly in 1900, control of the business passed to Horatio. But within a few months, poor health required Horatio to give up management of day-to-day operations of the company, and he retired to Altadena – although he remained president of the company until 1908. West and his family (wife Eliza, sons Horatio Earl West (1876 – 1915) and Fred Carter West (1882 – 1913) and daughter Elsa West Long (1883 – 1933) ) had winter vacationed in Pasadena for several years in the late 1890’s. In 1897, West commissioned Joseph Blick to design a house for his family at 412 East Calaveras St. in Altadena. By 1918, West’s wife and two sons had died, and his married daughter was living in the Calaveras St house. In 1919, when Horatio West commissioned Gill, he listed his address as 143 Wadsworth Ave. At the time of his death in 1936, at the age of 87, West was living at 990 Corsica Ave in Pacific Palisades.