Los Angeles
County History
An Illustrated History of Southern California - The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago - 1890
SPANISH LAND GRANTS.
As early as 1784 Governor Pedro Fages granted to Manuel Nieto and Juan Maria Verdugo the temporary occupancy of the lands which they desired.
In August, 1802, the following ranchos in Los Angeles County were mentioned: Nieto, Dominguez, the two Verdugos and Felix. The Simi was held by Luis Peña and Diego Pica, and Las Virgenes by Miguel Ortega. The Conejo was granted in 1802 or 1803 to Jose Polanco and Ygnacio Rodriguez. Warner says in his "Sketch:" "Subsequent to the establishment of the missions, and before the close of that century, the Spanish Government, acting through the commanding officer of California, did at different periods of time grant four large tracts of land lying in this county to four individuals. The area of these tracts was from ten to twenty, or more, square leagues each. They were granted to the following persons who had come to California as soldiers and who had been discharged or retired from active service on account of their age or other causes. The Nietos tract, embracing all the land between the Santa Ana and San Gabriel rivers, and from the sea to and including some of the hill lands on its northeastern frontier, was granted by Governor Pedro Fages to Manuel Nieto in 1784. The San Rafael tract, lying on the left bank of the Los Angeles river, and extending to the Arroyo Seco, was granted by Governor Pedro Fages, October 20, 1784, and the grant was reaffirmed by Governor Borica January 12, 1798, to José Maria Verdugo. The San Pedro tract, lying along the ocean, and the estuary of San Pedro, was granted to Juan José Dominguez by Pablo Vicento Sola, December 31, 1822. There is much circumstantial testimony tending to show that both the Yorba and Dominguez grants were made during the past century. Antonio Maria Lugo, a prominent citizen of Los Angeles, giving testimony in the district court in that city in 1857, said that his age was seventy-six years; that he remembered the pueblo of Los Angeles as early as 1785; that he had known the Verdugo or San Rafael Rancho since 1790; that Verdugo had had his Rancho since 1784, and that it, the 'San Rafael,' was the third oldest rancho in the county—the Nietos and the Dominguez being the oldest. Governor Borica in 1798 issued to José Maria Verdugo a new or confirmatory grant of San Rafael, which had been granted to Verdugo by Governor Fages in 1784: so it is probable that the first title papers for San Pedro had disappeared or were not presented to the United States Land Commission for California. Don Manuel Dominguez, one of the present proprietors of the San Pedro ranch, states positively that the grant of that tract was made in 1784." In 1852 an act of Congress created a commission for the purpose of settling private land claims in California. The board organized in Los Angeles of that year, and was composed of Hiland Hall, afterward Governor of Vermont, Harry I. Thornton and Thompson Campbell. This board was in existence several years, and it heard and decided a great many contests.
PIONEERS.
Joseph Chapman, captured at Monterey in 1818, came to Los Angeles in 1821.
James McKinly, a native of Scotland, arrived at Los Angeles in 1824, being then twenty-one years of age; he kept a store for a time on Commercial street. He afterward went to Monterey.
John Temple, one of the most prominent of pioneers, reached Los Angeles County about 1827, and in partnership with George Rice opened the first general merchandise store in the town, on the site where the Downey block now stands. About 1830 he erected the nucleus of what is now the Downey block, which was at first of adobe, but later of brick. Dissolving partnership about 1831, he continued the business alone until 1846; later he leased a mint in the city of Mexico for ten years, and for this he refused an offer of $1,000,000. In 1859 he built the old court-house, between Main and Spring streets, for $30,000, under contract with the city. This was at first intended for a market house. John Temple married Rafaela Cota; on May 30, 1866, he died at San Francisco, aged seventy years.
George Rice, a native of New England, came to Los Angeles about 1827, from the Sandwich Islands; for a time the partner of John Temple, he was afterward in independent business on Main street. In 1830 he married one of the Lopez family, and he went East about 1835. He is reported to be dead.
J. D. Leandry, from Italy, settled in Los Angeles about 1827 and opened a store near the plaza, on "Nigger alley;" he afterward resided on the San Pedro rancho, and in 1842 he died on the rancho Los Coyotes.
Jesse Ferguson, an American, came to the town from New Mexico, about 1828, by way of the Gila river, in company with R. Laughlin and N. M. Pryor. He managed a store on Main street for William G. Dana, of Santa Barbara. He married in Los Angeles a Miss Randon, and about 1835 he went to Lower California, where he died a few years later.
Richard Laughlin, coming here as a trapper in 1828, went on to Lower California, then returned here, and worked at his trade as a carpenter, occasionally as a hunter. Then he started a vineyard on Alameda street, married a native Mexican, and had several children. He died about 1855.
Nathaniel M. Pryor, who came here with Ferguson and Laughlin, worked alternately as a silversmith and an otter-hunter, and for a time he was a warehouse keeper for Abel Stearns at San Pedro. He married one of the Sepulveda family in Los Angeles, purchased a large amount of property, and left a number of descendants when he died in May, 1850.
Isaac Williams, a native of Pennsylvania, came to California in 1832; he owned the Chino Rancho, on which he died September 13, 1856. His brother, Hiram, lived at San Timoteo, San Bernardino County.
Moses Carson, a brother of the celebrated scout, Kit Carson, came to Los Angeles in March, 1832, and for a time followed trapping for a living. He became connected with the warehouse at San Pedro, but finally removed to Russian River.
Lemuel Carpenter, of Missouri, came to this county in 1832 or 1833, by way of Sonora, in company with Chard, Paulding, Ward, and others. He established a soap factory on the right bank of the San Gabriel river, not far from the present road to Los Nietos. He subsequently purchased the Santa Gertrudes Rancho, on which he resided until his death by suicide, November 6, 1859.
William Chard, mentioned in the last paragraph, did here an extensive business as a butcher, and also as a sawyer of lumber. He removed in later years to Sacramento valley.
Jacob P. Leese, an American, came to Los Angeles from New Mexico in the winter of 1833, and remained about two years, entering into business with William Keith and Hugh Reid. Then he went to Monterey and established a house, afterward erecting the first building at Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, in which he opened a store. He was the second white settler at that place, and for many years he was prominent as the leading business man at that point. In April, 1837, he married a sister of General M. G. Vallejo, and in 1841 he removed to Sonoma.
James Johnson, an Englishman, came by water from Sonora to Los Angeles in 1833, with a cargo of Mexican and Chinese goods. Shortly afterward he purchased the San Pedro Rancho, where he was for a number of years an extensive cattle dealer. Then he removed to Los Angeles and engaged in the warehouse and forwarding business between that town and San Pedro. He died prior to 1862.
Hugh Reid (or Hugo Perfecto Reid), a native of Scotland, came to Los Angeles in 1835, and he was a merchant here in company with William Keith and Jacob P. Leese. He had formerly lived in Sonora, whence he had come to Los Angeles to wed his betrothed, a beautiful Mexican girl. Finding that she had just jilted him to marry a Spanish officer, his disposition was so soured that he retired in his chagrin to San Gabriel, where he married an Indian woman. He was a man of studious tastes, and he entered deeply into the study of the aborigines. His notes on these subjects are the most valuable guide possessed by the ethnological student of to-day, insomuch as regards these races. At one time Hugo Reid owned the Santa Anita Rancho, and other large property, most of which came to him with his Indian wife. He was a very conspicuous figure in the early history of Los Angeles; he was a member of the first State Constitutional Convention of 1849. He died at Los Angeles, December 12, 1852.
William Keith, an American, was a physician who came from Sonora about 1835 and entered into partnership with Reid & Leese in the mercantile business. He afterward returned to Sonora, then came here again about 1849, and then went to the gold-mining regions.
L. Victor Prudhomme, a Frenchman, arrived in Los Angeles in 1835. He was a cabinetmaker and cooper. He married a native lady named Tapia, who was at one time part owner of the Cucamonga Rancho. He died in May, 1871.
Henry Mellus, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, came to this coast in the brig Pilgrim, made famous by Richard Henry Dara in his " Two Years Before the Mast." Mellus settled here, married a Mexican lady, and was found to he a prominent citizen, on the return of his old comrade, Mr. Dana, twenty-four years later, taking the writer on memorable drives to view the well-remembered scenes of " hide-droghing times." Mr. Mellus was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1860, and he died while still the incumbent of that office, in December of that year.
Isaac Graham, a native of Tennessee, went in early life to New Mexico. He reached Los Angeles in company with Henry Naile about 1835, and remained until the following year, when he removed to the " Natividad," Monterey County, and there (according to Mr. Wilson) established a small distillery in a tule hut, which soon became a nuisance, owing to the disreputable character of those who frequented it.
Charles Hall, a native of Massachusetts, came to Los Angeles prior to 1836. He became a merchant, but failed, and was subsequently in the employ of John Temple.
John Marsh, a physician, came to Los Angeles about 1836, and for some years after his arrival he practiced medicine here, but later he located on a rancho near Mount Diablo, where lie was subsequently murdered.
John Reed, a native of either Missouri or North Carolina, came to Los Angeles from 1837 to 1841. While yet in New Mexico he married a daughter of John Rowland, and on his arrival in this county he engaged in ranching at La Puente. He enlisted in the American army in 1846, and took part in all the battles fought on the march between San Diego and Los Angeles. He died at La Puente, July 11, 1874, aged fifty-six years.
William Wittle may have arrived in Los Angeles as early as 1810, as, in 1835 he signed a petition to the Ayuntamiento for a town lot, stating that he had been in the country twenty-five years; but Mr. J. J. Warner says he never knew him.
Francis Mellus, of Salem, Massachusetts, followed his brother Henry to Los Angeles, coming in the employ of Boston merchants, landing at Santa Barbara, January 5, 1839. He was for some years (1850–'56) in partnership with David W. Alexander in the mercantile line. He married Miss Adelaida Johnson, who survived him when he died in Los Angeles, September 19, 1863, leaving seven children.
John Rowland came in the fall of 1841 as the leader of a party from New Mexico. He had been a partner of William Workman at Santa Fé, and he was subsequently with him as joint owner of the Puente Rancho, where he died October 14, 1873, aged eighty-two years.
Benjamin Davis Wilson, one of the most prominent citizens of this county from 1841 to 1878, was born in Nashville, Tennessee. After many years of trading and trapping in Arkansas, Missouri, and New Mexico, he came to California in the fall of 1841, in company with William Workman, John Rowland, William Gordon, William Wright and others, bringing a stock of goods, and a band of sheep that they had driven with them for a food supply. In 1845 Mr. Wilson raised a company to assist in the defense of Los Angeles against Micheltorena, and was one of the two embassadors who, under a flag of truce, succeeded in winning Micheltorena's American allies over to Governor Pico, with the result of Micheltorena abandoning hostilities and embarking at San Pedro soon after. Mr. Wilson adhered stanchly to his American affiliations during the war with Mexico, and, after the American occupation, he aided, perhaps more than any other man in Southern California, in restoring peace and good feeling between the two races. During this time he had been heavily engaged in merchandising, and also in cattle-raising, and he became very wealthy. At different periods he was elected to various offices,—county clerk, mayor, Indian agent, also State Senator for two terms. He died March 11, 1878, on his Lake Vineyard Rancho, in San Gabriel valley.
Abel Stearns, a native of Salem, Massachusetts, after spending considerable time in Mexico, settled in Los Angeles, where he was during his lifetime one of the most prominent citizens and notable characters. Abel Stearns was really the first white man who ever mined for gold in California, he having sent to the United States mint gold from his diggings near the Mission San Fernando, ten years before Marshall's discovery in 1848.
He became very wealthy, was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1849, and of the State Legislatures of 1851 and 1861. He married Doña Arcadia, one of the daughters of Don Juan Bandini, and this lady is still living in Los Angeles, having married Colonel R. S. Baker, some years after the death of "Don Abel."
Michael White, born in England in 1801, emigrated to Lower California in 1817, and commanded a vessel for some years. He became wealthy, and settled in Los Angeles, where he lost his wealth. He is long since deceased.
Juan Domingo (in Dutch Johann Gröningen, in English John Sunday), a Hollander by birth, was a carpenter on the brig Danube, which was wrecked in San Pedro harbor in 1829. He became a resident of Los Angeles, married Miss Fells, planted a vineyard on Alameda street, and lived there until he died, December 18, 1858, leaving a large family and many friends.
Samuel Prentiss, a native of Rhode Island, was a sailor on the Danube, after whose wreck he lived in this county, spending his time in hunting and fishing. He died about 1865, on the island of Santa Catalina, where he was buried.
Ewing Young, a native of Tennessee, was a trapper in New Mexico. In 1828–'29 he visited California, and trapped around the Tulare lake and the San Joaquin river and its tributaries. Returning to New Mexico about 1830, he fitted out the Wolfskill party, with which he came to Los Angeles. In 1836 he settled in Oregon, where he dealt in livestock, and became very wealthy. He died about forty years since.
John Rhea, a native of North Carolina, emigrated in 1828–'29 to New Mexico, whence he came to Los Angeles with the Wolfskill party. He kept a saloon, grocery, and billiard-room here. He eventually returned East.
John Ward, who was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1765, took part in the battle of New Orleans. He went to Santa Fé in the first wagon train to that point, was in Los Angeles in 1832–'33, and then returned to Missouri. In 1843 he came back to Los Angeles in the first eastern carriage ever seen in this part of the country; in 1846 he went to Chihuahua, whence he returned in 1849 to Los Angeles, where he died in 1859.
Joseph Paulding, a native of Maryland, entered California from New Mexico by way of Gila river in the winter of 1832–'33. He was a carpenter, and he made, of mahogany wood, the first two billard-tables ever made in California. He died in Los Angeles, June 2, 1860.
William Workman, born in England in 1800, arrived in Los Angeles with John Rowland's party in 1831. He became a partner in the banking business with F. P. F. Temple, from 1868 to 1875–'76, and when that enterprise failed in 1876 the matter so preyed upon his mind that he committed suicide on May 17, of that year.
F. P. F. Temple, a native of Massachusetts, arrived in Los Angeles by the water route in 1841, and engaged in business with his brother, John Temple, then a leading merchant of the city. He subsequently established a stock rancho near Fort Tejon, disposing of it to become a banker at Los Angeles, in partnership with I. W. Hellman and William Workman. He died at his rancho on April 30, 1880. He was a man of keen integrity, high principles, and very charitable.
Henry Dalton, English, resided in Los Angeles prior to 1845, and was a merchant there at the time of the American occupation. He was the owner of the Azuza Rancho. He has been dead some years.
David W. Alexander, an Irishman by birth, came to Los Angeles from Mexico about 1841 or '42. He ranched at the Rincon Rancho, San Bernardino County, for a time, and then kept a store in Los Angeles. He was elected sheriff of the county on September 5, 1855, serving that term, and he again filled that office in 1876 and 1877. He is dead since some years.
Alexander Bell, born in Pennsylvania, came to Los Angeles in 1842, being forty-one years old. Two years later he married Doña Nieves Guirado. They had no children, but are said to have sustained the relation of padrinos (god-parents) to more children than any other couple in California. Until 1854, Mr. Bell was engaged in mercantile pursuits; he built the block of buildings known as Bell's block, fronting on Los Angeles and Aliso streets, which is still standing. During the war with Mexico, he served as captain of a company. He died in Los Angeles July 24, 1871.
José Mascarel, born in France, arrived in 1844 in Los Angeles, where he has ever since resided. He has served a number of terms in the common council, and in 1865 he was elected mayor of the city. He has erected several fine blocks of buildings in the city.
Of the original command of General Kearny, Lieutenant Warner was killed by Indians in 1849, at Goose Lake, in the northern part of the State. Captain W. H. Emory is Major-General of the United States army. Lieutenant Stoneman has served one term as Governor of California, and, after having been for some time on on the retired list with the rank of Brevet Major-General, he has lately, at his own desire, resumed office in the army. He lives in Los Angeles.
Lieutenant J. B. Davidson is Brevet Brigadier-General. Major Thomas Swords, Quartermaster, is retired. Captain A. J. Smith became a General, but resigned after the civil war.
Captain Turner resigned after the Mexican war. Dr. John S. Griffin resigned in 1854 and now lives in Los Angeles.
Captain Turner resigned after the Mexican war, and became a partner in the banking house of Lucas, Turner & Co., in San Francisco, the same house with which General Sherman was connected. James R. Barton, Alexander Bell, Daniel Sexton and John Reed were of the volunteers with Kearny. Sexton resides in the city of San Bernardino. John Reed, First Sergeant of Captain Hensley's company under Frémont, died July 13, 1875, aged fifty-seven years, at his farm at Puente, this county. His wife, the only daughter of John Rowland, survives him. John Carl Eschrich, a native of Germany, and a member of Stevenson's regiment, familiarly known to the Californians as "Don Carlos," died June 10, 1874, aged fifty-two years. Don Miguel de Pedrorena died March 30, 1850, in San Diego County. Don Santiago E. Arguello died in 1859, at his Rancho La Punta, in San Diego County. Andra Weinshank, born in Bavaria, a soldier who served out of California, was at Vera Cruz and at all the battles on Scott's line. He died in this city February 16, 1874, aged fifty-four years. Elijah T. Moulton, of the Frémont battalion, resides in Los Angeles. Of the privates of Company C, First Dragoons, resident in the city are: George Washington Whitehorn, born at Pennington, New York, 1821; William Burden Dunne, Cork, 1818; in the county, Michael Halpil, born at Limerick, 1823.
The " Veterans of the Mexican War" were organized into a society at Los Angeles, September 27, 1873, with the officers as follows:-
President, General George H. Stoneman, born in New York; Vice-Presidents, Peter Thompson (since dead), New York, and W. Todd, Illinois; Secretary, J. D. Dunlap, New Hampshire; Treasurer, G. W. Whitehorn, New York; Marshal, Captain William Turner, Isle of Wight; Executive Committee, Fenton M. Slaughter, Virginia; Dr. William B. Dunne, Ireland; George W. Cole, Illinois; G. W. Whitehorn, New York; Robert T. Johnson, Tennessee. There were eighty-three members, counting from almost every State in the Union, and from many foreign countries. A large number of these are since dead.
Of the other actors not yet accounted for in the scenes on the stage of early days in California, some are lost to sight entirely; A. A. Boyle died February 9, 1871, aged fifty-four years; John Rowland, August 13, 1873, aged eighty-two years; Don José Sepulveda, died in Mexico, April 17, 1875, aged seventy-one years; Don Andres Pico died February 14, 1876, aged sixty-six years; his brother, Pio Pico, still fives on a rancho near Los Angeles, age ninety years (to be completed May 5, 1890); Don Manuel Requena, born in Yucatan, died in Los Angeles June 27, 1876, aged seventy-four; Isaac Williams, born in Pennsylvania, died September 13, 1856, at his Chino Rancho, aged fifty-seven years, having lived in California since 1832; Louis Vigns died January 17, 1862, aged ninety-one years; Don Ygnacio Avila died September 25, 1858, at the same age; Don Julio Verdugo died recently, aged about ninety years; Don Agustin Machado died May 17, 1865, at seventy-seven years old; Don Ygnacio Palomares died November 25, 1864, aged fifty-three years. He was one of a company that in 1839 received a grant of the La Ballona Rancho, the others being Felipe Talamantes, Tomas Talamantes and Ygnacio Machado. John Goller died July 7, 1874.
The first three families who permaneutly settled in the city in 1850 were those of J. G. Nichols, J. S. Mallard and Lewis Granger.
Stephen C. Foster was born in Maine in 1820. He arrived in Los Angeles with the Mormon battalion of Missouri Volunteers, March 16, 1847. On January 1, 1848, Colonel R. B. Mason appointed him Alcalde of the city, and in this capacity and that of interpreter he served until May 17, 1849. Mr. Foster has been at different times Mayor, Prefect, and State Senator. He being an accomplished Spanish scholar, his services were valuable in many ways in the community when a large proportion of the people spoke only that language, and when the archives and laws were wholly recorded in Spanish. Mr. Foster still lives, and his intimate acquaintance with public affairs and his wonderfully retentive memory make him a perfect cyclopedia of information regarding persons and events in the past in this section. Mr. Foster married one of the daughters of Antonio Maria Lugo.
William Wolfskill was born near Richmond, Kentucky, in 1798, of German lineage. In 1831, after many adventures during the years that he had lived in the Southwest, he arrived in Los Angeles at the head of an expedition from New Mexico. Many of his companions settled in different parts of California, married Mexican or Spanish wives, and had families. They nearly all became large landowners. Mr. Wolfskill, after some experience with a steamer which he built for the purpose of otter-hunting, directed his attention to the cultivation of citrus and other fruits. This industry with stock-raising, he followed with great success until his death, at the age of fifty-eight, in 1862. He left three living children. He was a man of great enterprise and force of character.
Phineas Banning was born in Oak Hill, Delaware, September 19, 1831, descended from early colonial settlers who figured prominently in the Revolution. He came to Los Angeles in 1852, and almost at once, in company with George Alexander, engaged in the business of lightering, staging and freighting at San Pedro and between that and other points. He founded and named Wilmington, was the chief projector and builder of the Los Angeles & Wilmington Railway, and its sole manager until its sale to the Southern Pacific Company. To his efforts were largely due the appropriations by Congress for the improvement of San Pedro harbor, the construction of its breakwater, and the dredging of its bar. In early days, when the Vigilantes and Rangers were about the only protection to life and property, General Banning was a firm friend to these bodies, and aided them in their work of ridding the country of thieves and outlaws. His military title came from his command of the First Brigade of the California State Militia, of which he was Brigadier-General. He was enterprising, enlightened, liberal, generous and public-spirited. He died in San Francisco, March 8, 1885, survived by his second wife, his two daughters and three sons.
Matthew Keller was born in Ireland in 1811, and after living some time in Mexico he came to California in 1849 or 1850. He spent some time in the mines, but devoted himself mainly to wine-making, and was for many years a producer of grape wine and brandy on a large scale. He was a good French and Spanish scholar, and he gave to the public through the press the information which he drew from foreign sources by these means. He was a man of tireless energy up to the end of his life. On April 11, 1881, he died from heart disease, leaving one son and three daughters.
JAMES WESLEY POTTS.
James Wesley Potts is a native of Tennessee. He arrived in Los Angeles in September, 1852, having driven an ox team over the plains from Georgetown. Texas, he walking the whole way. The town was then but an adobe village of some 4,000 inhabitants, mostly Mexicans and Spaniards. Mr. Potts was first employed in hauling dirt on the streets with a band-cart, the only vehicle then used for that purpose. Then he became a fruit-seller, first from a basket, then from a stall, and in this business he flourished. After spending a short time at the mines, he began to raise vegetables at Los Angeles, and his sweet potatoes were the first raised here. From mercantile pursuits he realized some $6,000, which he lost as a result of his outspoken expression of Union sentiments during the civil war. Recovering, however, his investments in real estate were worth in 1878 $150,000. Meeting with reverses that year, he lost all this, and fell heavily into debt, moreover. All of his debts he has since repaid, dollar for dollar, although many of them were outlawed. Mr. Potts has been largely instrumental in forwarding various water improvements and sewer arrangements, and it may be said that scarcely a question of local public moment has come up that lie has not figured more or less prominently in its solution. He is a man of great force of character, and never succumbs to discouragement. He has always been a strong believer in and advocate of the future of Southern California, and of Los Angeles as a city; and in 1876, when this valley was generally regarded as lit for a stock range only, he published his opinion, and reasons therefore, that it was capable of supporting 1,000,000 people. Besides his shrewd business advice, Mr. Potts has been useful to the community in other ways: he has always been a prime mover in religious and moral movements. He was one of the first organizers of the church and Sunday-school in Los Angeles. He has always contributed largely by his influence, by his backing, and by his own pecuniary contributions, to the establishment and maintenance of such institutions. His gifts of charity have been numerous, and the worthy poor were never turned empty-handed from his door. Only the old citizens of Los Angeles can realize how useful this one man has been to the church, to the schools, to good municipal government, and to local material improvement and prosperity during his long residence in Los Angeles County.
ANTONIO FRANCO CORONEL.
Don Antonio's father, Don Ygnacio F. Coronel, was many years ago a resident of the city of Mexico and an officer under General, afterward Emperor, Yturbide. In 1834 he came with his family to California. His children were: Josefa, who married Matias Sabichi; Antonio F., the subject of this sketch ; Macaela; Soledad, who married Jose M. Yndart; Rosa; Manuel F., still living; Maria Antonio, who married Alex. Godey, and Ygnacio, Jr. All are deceased except the two brothers, Antonio and Manuel. Mr. Coronel, the father, was an educated man and gave his children a good education. He established the first school in Los Angeles under the Lancastrian system. He died in 1862. Antonio was born October 21, 1817, in the city of Mexico, and came with his father to California in 1834. In 1838 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of Tribunals of the city of Los Angeles. In 1843 he was made Judge of First Instance (Peace). In 1844 General Micheltorena appointed him Captain arid Inspector of the Southern Missions. In 1845 he was made commissioner to treat for peace between Micheltorena and his opposers, Juan Baptista Alvarado and José Castro, commanders of the revolutionary forces. In 1846, in consequence of the American invasion, he was called into actual service as Captain. After the battle of October 8, 1846, at the San Pedro or Dominguez Rancho, he was given charge of the American flag captured there, for him to carry as a trophy to Mexico, but on account of meeting Kearny, the American General, at the Colorado river, he was forced to abandon all hope of personally taking the flag, and he sent it secretly with Felipe Castillo. Subsequently he was named Aid-de-Camp of the Commanding General, and took part in the battles of the of the 8th and 9th at Bartolo pass and the Mesa. In 1847 and 1848 he was a member of the body of magistrates having in charge the regulation of irrigation. He was county assessor in 1850 and 1851, and in 1853 was elected mayor of the city. He was a member of the city council with the exception of two years, from 1854 till 1866, when he was elected State Treasurer for four years. Mr. Coronel has also been a supervisor, a member of the State Horticultural Society, and president of the Spanish-American Benevolent Society. Both he and Mrs. Coronel are active members of the Historical Society of Southern California, and both take a keen interest in local historical matters. They have probably one of the most complete private collections of Spanish, Mexican, and Indian curios in California. When the notorious claim of Limantour came before the United States courts, in 1857, Mr. Coronel was sent in private to the city of Mexico to examine the archives there, and gather testimony, etc., which his knowledge of the Spanish language and acquaintance with public men in that capital enabled him to do very efficiently. He found abundant evidence to prove that Limantour's alleged title was forged and that his claims were utterly fraudulent. His labors were facilitated by President Comonfort and other high officials. He obtained much valuable evidence proving that it was forged and fraudulent. This evidence was laid before the United States Court, and the claim was rejected finally, and thus the titles to thousands of homes in San Francisco were cleared of the cloud that, like a pall, hung over them. Only those who were cognizant at the time of the excitement that was stirred up throughout California by this case can appreciate how intense the excitement was. Limantour maintained his colossal pretensions with the utmost vigor and by the most unscrupulous means. He brought witnesses from Mexico to swear to the genuineness of his grant, though it was afterward clearly proved to have been forged. Mr. Coronet's services in helping to lay bare this great fraud were of the utmost importance. Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson has borne warm testimony in the Century magazine and elsewhere of both Mr. and Mrs. Coronel, in behalf of the defenseless Mission Indians of Southern California. Mr. Coronel furnished Mrs. Jackson the materials of her story of " Ramona," and visited with her the various places where she located her story, and aided her in acquiring knowledge of the customs and traditions of the people, whereby she could give it in the proper coloring. When Mrs. Jackson first thought of writing " Ramona," she wished to take Mr. Coronel's place as a typical Mexican home; but as Mrs. Del Valle's house was more suited to that purpose, it was decided—with the consent of Mrs. Del Valle—that Cannitos become the home of Ramona, only the plot is laid many, many years before the Del Valle family lived there. While the work was going through the press, she had the proofs sent to him for correction of episodes in which he took part. He also gave her the materials of another and more dramatic story, based on real life here in Southern California, the beautiful heroine of which " Nacha," was well known by some of the best of the old Spanish families. If Mrs. Jackson had lived, she was to have worked them up as a companion story of " Ramona." He also gave her the data of her account of Father Junipero, the founder of the California Missions. And he took the lead in getting up the celebration or solemnization of the centennial of the death of that eminent prelate. In 1873 Mr. Coronel married Doña Mariana Williamson. In 1887 Mr. and Mrs. Coronel visited the city of Mexico, and expected to have taken an extended Eastern trip; but as Don Antonio was taken seriously ill in Mexico, the latter portion of their tour was reluctantly given up. Since their return to Los Angeles he has entirely recovered his health. They have lately built themselves a modern, commodious and beautiful home. For many years Mr. Coronel, as a politician, was influential in the party to which he belonged; but latterly he has withdrawn from active participation in political affairs. He is liberal in his ideas. He judges people by their personal qualities rather than by their nationality or by their political or religious creed.
THE COLORED PEOPLE.
A not unpicturesque element in the history of this county has been supplied by the presence of the colored people. They have figured from the beginning. Two of the founders of the city—Mesa and Quintero—were negroes. Thomas Fisher, a negro, was captured from Bouchard's privateers, in 1818. There were, no doubt, others in pre-American days. Under the Mexican constitution slavery was positively forbidden, and California came into the Union with free soil. Between the time of American occupation and the admission of the State, slavery was practiced to a slight degree. Thus, early in 1850, Dr. T. Earl and Colonel Thom brought to Los Angeles from the Southern States a number of slaves, whom they purposed to work in the mines. On their arrival, two of these asserted their freedom, upon which one was beaten and the other shot at, but they both ran away. One J. H. Purdy was at the time acting as a police officer and marshal, and in discharge of his duty, he made complaint against the parties who assaulted the negroes. The result was that he was given forty-eight hours in which to leave the town, and he was obliged to go, the authorities being powerless to protect him. The remainder of the slaves were finally taken up to the mines, but the white miners stampeded them; they all ran away, and their owners were out even the cost of bringing them here. Says Warner's " Historical Sketch:" " In the spring of 1850, probably three or four colored persons were in the city. In 1875 they numbered about 175 souls, many of whom hold good property, acquired by their industry. They are farmers, mechanics, or some one or other useful occupation, and remarkable for good habits. They count some seventy-five voters. Robert Owen, familiarly called by Americans, 'Uncle Bob,' came from Texas in December, 1853, with 'Aunt Winnie,' his wife, two daughters, and son, Charley Owen. They survive him. He was a shrewd man of business, energetic and honorable in his dealings; made money by Government contracts and general trade. He died, well esteemed by white and colored, August 18, 1865, aged fifty-nine years. Of the Society of Mexican Veterans are five colored men: George Diggs, George Smith, Lewis G. Green, Paul Rushmore, and Peter Byus. The last named was born in Henrico County, Virginia, in 1810, and served with Colonel Jack Hayes, General Z. Taylor, and Captain John Long. He was at the battle of Monterey. Rushmore was born in 1829, in Georgia; he served on Taylor's line. He drove the team of Colonel John Ward and James Douglass through from Chihuahua to Los Angeles. Smith and Diggs, the first born in New York, the second in the District of Columbia, both served in the ship Columbus, Commodore Biddle and Captain Selfridge. Green was born in North Carolina, in 1827; was a seaman on the Portsmouth, Captain John B. Montgomery; and in the navy nine years and eight months, on the store-ship Erie, the Cyane, Constitution, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Green died about 1865, having been for several years janitor of the court-house.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
TOPOGRAPHY.
The topography of Los Angeles County might be likened to a terraced mountain, upon which are three grand benches or planes, slightly inclined, the foot of the lower being washed by the ocean. From the northern boundary rises the Sierra Nevada, which, less high here than farther north, yet attains an elevation of 7,000 feet. The first grand terrace is Antelope valley, which has a general elevation of 2,000 feet, and which is about fifty miles long east and west, by some thirty miles wide north and south. This valley was undoubtedly at one time an inland lake, whose waters held in solution the borax and soda that are deposited in considerable quantity on its soil. Portions of it have a dense growth of yucca and cactus. The western part is very fertile. The valley is shut in from the Mohave desert on the east by the Lovejoy Buttes, a low line of hills. On the south is the Sierra Madre, a high range of mountains which traverse the county east and west, some 6,000 feet high. This range is called by many local names, as San Fernando, San Gabriel, or San Bernardino. Their geological formation and general configuration show them to be of the same range, though less high, as the Sierra Nevada. " Old Baldy," one of their peaks, partly in Los Angeles County, is about 9,000 feet high, and has snow on its summit during the rainy season. South of the Sierra Madre is the second of the great terraces, with an elevation of 500 to 1,000 feet. The vicinity of the mountains and the elevation above the range of ocean fogs, give this a particularly fine climate. Three spurs of hills from the mountains enclose and divide it into three grand valleys. On the west are the Santa Susana hills; on the east the Puente hills; while the San Rafael spur cuts it in two, leaving the San Fernando valley on the west and the San Gabriel valley on the east. On the southern range of this grand middle terrace is a range of hills, quite low, east of Los Angeles city, but attaining a respectable eminence in the west, where they are known as the Santa Monica mountains, which constitute the southern border of the San Fernando valley. The lowest terrace, which runs down to the sea, is also divided into valleys. The northern one is known as the Santa Monica valley, and it is triangular, the base lying about ten miles along the ocean front, while the apex is about fifteen miles east, among the Los Angeles hills. Northward is the San Fernando valley, while on the south between it and the Los Angeles valley is at first a low divide which culminates in the Palos Verdes hills of the San Pedro peninsula. The Los Angeles valley is a plain about forty miles long and twenty miles wide, extending into Orange County. Santa Catalina Island, thirty-five to forty miles southwest of Los Angeles, is twenty-three miles long, and two to four wide, and it is almost in two sections, a depression only thirty feet high connecting them. The general altitude is 3,000 feet. Nice little harbors are found around the island, and upon it are wells of good water, mineral springs, beautiful valleys, etc. Wild goats are still found here, and fish abound along the shore, as well as many natural curiosities. The island is eighteen miles from shore, and is the property of an English syndicate, that as yet has devoted it only to the purpose of a popular summer resort.
Several different sections are denominated as valleys, having separate names. The Pomona valley is that portion of the San Bernardino valley lying within the eastern boundary of Los Angeles County. The Cahuenga valley is that part of the Santa Monica valley lying immediately sheltered by the hills of the Cahuenga pass. The Los Angeles river rises about twelve miles east of northwest of the city, and flows easterly thither, turning thence to the south. The remaining waters, after supplying the irrigating ditches, sink inside the city limits. In time of high water the stream flows farther, joining the old San Gabriel river seven miles from the ocean. Its ancient course to the sea was via the Cienega and La Ballona. The San Gabriel river has two principal sources in the Sierra Madre, the north fork and the south fork. The former rises in township 2 north, range 12 west, and flows easterly through three townships into range 9 west, where it forms a junction with the other branch, flowing south through three townships from its source in township 3 north, range 9 west; thence its main channel is south to the ocean. Draining a great mountain area, its stream is longer and larger, and also more constant, than the Los Angeles river. Numerous other streams exist in the county, which, though quite small and apparently insignificant, are nevertheless contributors to the worth of the land.
The coast line of Los Angeles County exhibits two large indentations, geographically described as bays, and designated on the map as those of Santa Monica and San Pedro. The latter has for years ranked as the leading port of California, outside of San Francisco, and with the completion of the harbor improvements, contemplated and now in progress, its possibilities will be greatly augmented. The inner bay of San Pedro, better known as Wilmington slough, with an area of between 1,100 and 1,200 acres, had a narrow entrance at La Goleta, between the mainland and Rattlesnake island. From this island to Dead Man's island, about one and one-fourth miles, the bay of San Pedro had but little depth, except in a narrow channel near to and north of Dead Man's island. Timms' point, one-half mile from Dead Man's island, was the nearest mainland.
AGRICULTURE.
In this county are many varieties of soil, some of which are not duplicated in any other portion of the United States. In the low lands the soil is, as a rule, a rich alluvium, supposed to be the deposits of streams during ages long past. The lightness or heaviness of this alluvial soil depends on the preponderance of sand or clay. In some places the "moist land " contains a good deal of alkali. Such land is generally considered unfit for cultivation. Practical tests have, however, demonstrated that much of what is called alkali land is really susceptible of cultivation, and will, if properly handled, produce prolific crops of vegetables, cereals and deciduous fruits. It can be reclaimed by drainage. Apples and pears that took the first premium at the New Orleans Exposition were raised on strong alkali soil near Long Beach, and the yield per acre of such fruits was very large. Many valleys farther above the sea level contain similar kinds of alluvium, and also in some localities a darker soil known as adobe, which is composed largely of decomposed vegetable matter. This is the heaviest soil of all, and in wet weather the mud it makes is so tenacious as to produce a powerful strain on the boots and morals of pedestrians naturally averse to indulgence in profanity. In the summer it becomes baked to an almost rocky hardness, and cracks open, some so wide as to be suggestive of earthquakes. Many dwellings and a few mission buildings still remain, made of sun-dried bricks from this soil, relics of an earlier and a cruder civilization. For these the soil was mixed with straw, molded in blocks, and dried in the sun. Buildings thus constructed will stand a century if unrazed. This soil is excellent for grains and cereals of various kinds, although not adapted for general fruit-raising. Some of the finest crops of wheat, barley and oats are grown on just such land. On the mesa or uplands is still another kind of soil. It consists largely of detritus or sediment washed down from the mountains, mixed with vegetable accumulations. This is good soil for fruit-growing, but not adapted for cereals. It may readily be supposed that with such a variety of soil and climate Los Angeles County's products are of many varieties. Almost everything which man could wish for in the way of food products is raised here more or less abundantly, according to the attention given to their cultivation. In moist land seventy-five and even 100 bushels of corn may be raised to the acre. The table-land, which has water twelve to thirty feet below the surface, is just the thing for citrus fruits. There are to-day in the county more than 800,000 bearing orange trees; 2,000,000 grapevines, and 20,000 English walnut trees. To plant orange and lemon trees, and cultivate them for about five years, costs about $200 an acre. Land costs, say, $150. After the fifth year, land can produce $350 per aura. Of alfalfa six or eight crops a year can be raised, averaging one and a half to two tons per acre at each cutting. The farmer can also raise two crops of potatoes a year, worth $200 an acre. Also peas and cabbages in the winter, and cucumbers on the same ground in summer. These are a but few of the many facts that could be given on this subject. The constant ripening of fruits and maturing of vegetables in this county, as shown by the wares in the city market, astonishes persons unfamiliar with the peculiar nature of the soil and climate. Fruits and vegetables are maturing every month in the year. Green peas are in the market nearly all the year, and so are new potatoes, cabbages, carrots, salsify, asparagus, cauliflower, turnips, onions, beets and radishes. Cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins and melons are in from June to December, so that every month of the year is productive of " the fatness of the land " for the benefit of the dwellers therein. Of citrus fruits Southern California is the natural home, both soil and climate being admirably adapted to the culture of oranges, lemons, limes, etc. Some of the finest and largest of these fruits are produced in Los Angeles County. The localities most favorable for them are the smaller valleys of the " foothills " region, sheltered from the trade winds, and exposed to intense heat, with a very dry atmosphere during a large portion of the year. The crop requires thorough irrigation and a great deal of care and labor, but with all this outlay it is very profitable. The orange industry of the country is immense, as is also that of grape-raising and raisin-making, and both are steadily increasing in magnitude. The grape crop is next in importance to the orange crop. There are in the county over 16,000 acres planted to grapes, the fruit comprising every variety produced in Southern California.
Of the 103 proprietors of town farms in Los Angeles in 1848, eight were foreigners: Abel Stearns, Louis Bouchet, Louis Vignes, Juan Domingo, Miguel M. Pryor, William Wolfskill, Louis Lemoreau, Joseph Snooks,—an Englishman, a German, three French, three "Yankees," —so has the city ever been cosmopolitan. Under the sound policy adopted at the beginning for the disposition of pueblo lands, the natural course of business, and family changes, the proprietorship of real property is much altered. Many citizens of Spanish origin retain good agricultural tracts. Within the patent of the city are 17,752 acres. The increase of culture of trees, fruit and ornamental, is remarkable. In 1847 there were set out probably 200 young walnut trees. The almond was unknown. San Fernando and San Gabriel had a few olives. Long before 1840 the Californians had had the fig, apricot, peach, pear and quince. Plums were introduced by O. W. Childs. In 1855 were first planted by William Wolfskill seeds of the sweet almond, which were brought from the Mediterranean by H. F. Teschemaker of San Francisco. In 1850 there was one pepper tree, lofty and wide-branching over the adobe house of an old lady living near the hills, a short distance north of the plaza; its seed had come from a tree in the court of the Mission of San Luis Rey. On the last day of January, 1851, John Temple planted a row of these trees, which have been cut down by the vandal utilitarian, in front of his Main street store. Now the city is everywhere adorned with this beautiful tree. All the oranges in 1850 were from the Mission orchard of San Gabriel and the gardens of Louis Vignes and William Wolfskill. On June 7, 1851, Mr. Vignes offered for sale his "desirable property, El Aliso," so called from the superb sycamore tree, ages old, that shaded his cellars. He said, "There are two orange gardens that yield from 5,000 to 6,000 oranges in the season." It is credibly stated that he was the first to plant the orange in this city, bringing young trees from San Gabriel, in 1834. He had 400 peach trees, beside apricots, pears, apples, figs, and walnuts; and he added in his description: "The vineyard, with 40,000 vines, 32,000 now bearing grapes, will yield 1,000 barrels of wine per annum, the quality of which is well known to be superior." This pioneer planter, a native of France, had come to Los Angeles by way of the Sandwich Islands in 1831. One man after another planted oranges, until, in January, 1876, there were 36,700 bearing orange trees, and 6,900 bearing lime and lemon trees. The shipment of this fruit grew rapidly into a regular business.
In 1851 there were 104 vineyards, exclusive of that of San Gabriel, all but twenty within the limits of the city. The San Gabriel vineyard, neglected since 1834, was now in decay. In Spanish and Mexican times, this had been called the "mother vineyard," from its supplying all the original cuttings; it is said to have had at once 50,000 vines. In 1851 grapes, in crates or boxes, brought twenty cents per pound at San Francisco, eighty cents at Stock ton. Through 1852 this price continued, and the shipment continued for some years, generally with profit. Very little wine was then shipped; in 1851 not over 1,000 gallons. Soon the northern counties began to put into market grapes almost as good as the southern, and gradually the manufacture of wine was established. Wolfskill had at an early date shipped a little wine; but his aim was to turn his grapes into brandy. Louis Wilhart, in 1849 and 1850, made white wine which was considered in flavor and quality next to that of Vignes, from whose cellars came a brand perhaps not excelled in the world. He had in 1857 some then over twenty years old; perhaps some of the same the army so relished in 1847. Among the first manufacturers for the general market was Vincent Hoover, with his father, Dr. Juan Leonce Hoover; first at the Clayton vineyard, which from its situation on the bench produced a superior grape; then from that vineyard known as of Don José Serrano; some of the vines in which are stated to be over 100 years old. This was from 1850 to about 1855. The cultivation of the grape about this time took a new impulse. At San Gabriel, William M. Stockton had an extensive nursery of grapevines and fruit trees. In 1855 Joseph Hoover entered very successfully into wine-making at the Foster vineyard. On April 14, 1855, Jean Louis Sansevaine purchased for $42,000 the vineyard property, cellars, etc., of his uncle, Louis Vignes (and it may be said that this was the first large land sale within the city). In 1855, Mr. Sansevaine, who had resided here since 1853, shipped his first wine to San Francisco. In 1856 he made the first shipment from this county to New York, thereby becoming the pioneer of this business. Says Matthew Kellar: According to the books of the great forwarding house of P. Banning at San Pedro, the amount shipped to San Francisco, in 1857, was 21,000 boxes of grapes, averaging forty-five pounds each, and 250,000 gallons of wine." In 1856 Los Angeles yielded only 7,200 cases of wine; in 1860 it had increased to 66,000 cases. In 1861 shipments of wine were made to New York and Boston by B. D. Wilson and J. L. Sansevaine; they are the fathers of the wine interest. The Sunny. Slope plantation, unexcelled for its vintage, its oranges, almonds and walnuts, was established by L. J. Rose in 1861. In December, 1859, the wine producers were: Matthew Kellar, Sansevaine Brothers, Frohling & Co., B. D. Wilson, Stevens & Fell, Dr. Parrott, Dr. Thomas J. White, Laborie, Messer, Barnhardt, Delong, Santa Ana precinct, Henry Dalton, P. Serres, Joseph Huber, Sr. ; Ricardo Vejar, Barrows, Ballerina Dr. Hoover, Louis Wilhart, Trabuc, Clement and Jose Serrano. The total manufacture of wine in 1859 was about 250,000 gallons. In 1875 the grapevines of the county were 4,500,000. The largest vineyard now in the State, next to Senator Stanford's in Tehama County (which is the largest in the world), is the Nadeau vineyard, which covers an area of over 2,000 acres. It is three or four years old, and it lies between Los Angeles and Anaheim. The first year's yield from this immense tract was sent to the still, and it turned out 45,000 gallons of brandy, which Mr. Nadeau warehoused, paying the government $40,500. The three next largest vineyards are at or near San Gabriel, owned respectively by "Lucky" Baldwin, who has upwards of 1,000 acres in Mission and other vines; Stern & Rose (Sunny Slope vineyard), over 1,000 acres of many varieties; J. De Barth Shorb (San Gabriel Wine Company), about 1,500 acres of Missions, Zinfandels, Mataros, Burgers and other varieties. These parties have as extensive and costly wineries as many of the leading producers of France, and they make and age almost all kinds of dry and sweet wines and brandies. These three wine-makers have European experts in all the different branches, including "cellar-keepers," and their wineries are like parlors, while the processes of picking, crushing, fermenting, blending and aging are as perfect as it seems possible to make them. They, as well as Kohler and Frohling have houses in New York, and they send there nothing but wines and brandies that can be absolutely depended upon as pure and excellent. Such is the development that has been attained in this, one of the model industries of the early Mission Fathers.
Until recent years, stock-raising was the chief industry in Los Angeles County, as well as other portions of Southern California, these having been long known as the "cow counties." The lands were believed to be unfit for anything but stock ranches, and consequently immense herds of cattle and sheep roamed in the valleys, and browsed among the foothills. Notwithstanding the great agricultural development, stock-raising continues to be carried on in the county extensively and successfully, especially the raising of fine stock, including thoroughbred horses, which compete with the best animals raised in Kentucky. Cultivated feed has now taken the place of wild hay. Alfalfa especially is a most valuable adjunct to the stock or dairy farm, as it facilitates the keeping of a large number of animals on a small space of ground. In 1870 a few cashmere goats were brought to Los Angeles County by F. Boushard. He had 500 or 600 head, of various grades. For several years thereafter he and J. F. Pleasants were the only parties engaged in raising these animals, but now a number of parties are keeping all grades of these goats, from the lowest up to thoroughbreds. Mr. Pleasants has 300 to 500 thoroughbreds whose wool is worth from twenty-five to forty cents per pound. A good thoroughbred goat is generally worth about $50. Those first brought into the county cost $150 each.
LUTHER HARVEY TITUS
was born at Hamburg, Erie County, New York, October 9, 1822. His father, who was a native of New York State, was of English ancestry on the paternal side, and Holland Dutch on the maternal side. His mother, whose maiden name was Carey, was of Puritan extraction: her father, whose ancestry was Scotch, was in the Revolutionary army, in which he suffered great hardships, having been crippled by having his feet frozen. Mr. Titus remembers him very well.
Mr. Titus lived in the vicinity of his birthplace till 1840, when he went to Rockford, Illinois, and from thence to the Galena lead mines, where he remained four years, when he bought a farm of 120 acres, paying for it from his monthly wages. In 1845 he returned to his native town. In 1849 he started for California, sailing from New York to Galveston. Proceeding from thence via Houston and Austin to El Paso and Doña Ana, he crossed the Rio Grande at the old copper mines, where he met David S. Terry, then a young man, who was also on his way to California. Titus and party of fifteen came on to the Gila river, where on account of a big cañon and the difficulty of crossing, etc., and the hostility of the Indians, all but three of the party went back. These three, consisting of Titus, Tupper and Salsbury, who were not easily diverted, then nor afterwards, from the accomplishment of their aims, resolved to push on through the Apache country to California, though it was a very hazardous undertaking. They found a way to cross the river, and by ceaseless watchfulness, by doubling back on their track when in the bush or cane along the river, to throw the Indians off their trail, and by making no fires when they camped at night, they at last eluded the savages and reached the country of the friendly Pimo Indians, who treated them well, and from whom they purchased supplies. Here they learned that a party of Americans was ahead of them, and they hurried on to overtake them. One evening, about sunset, they camped in the cane on the Gila. Mr. Titus had suffered greatly from the heat, and he was obliged to wear a mask, as his face was burnt and sore. Being short of provisions, and attempting to shoot a rabbit, his gun kicked so badly as to knock him over; but he did not mind that, as he got his rabbit. Before reaching the Colorado river they overtook the party of twenty-eight Americans, of whom Dr. James B. Winston, afterwards for many years a resident of Los Angeles, was the head.
With this party they crossed the Colorado at Fort Yuma, in a Government wagon box, which the Indians used as a substitute for a ferry-boat. For this service and for swimming their animals across, they paid the Indians with blankets.
Expecting trouble with the Yuma Indians, they had prepared their arms for whatever might turn up, Titus filling his flask full of powder. Being without matches, he kindled a fire one day by taking cotton from his coat and gathering dry grass, and putting powder in them, he snapped a cap, and then, kneeling down, blowed it into a flame, when his powder-flask exploded, raising him off the ground and nearly stopping his breath. However, the accident did not prove fatal, though it was some time before he entirely recovered from its effects. The party, including Mr. Titus, Dr. Winston and others, arrived in San Diego, August 13, 1849. Mr. Titus staid there about a month. While there a soldier picked the grains of powder out of his face with the point of a knife. Taking the steamer Oregon, he arrived in San Francisco September 13, and from there he went to Stockton and Moquelumne Hill, where he mined awhile, and then went to Calaveras, where he and his partner, Salsbury, made about three and one-half ounces of gold per day, till they worked out their claim, when they returned to San Francisco. From there Mr. Titus went to making shingles, which were then worth $32 a thousand, in the redwoods just north of the Golden Gate. While at work there he caught several salmon which he sold in San Francisco for $5 each. Deer were also very plenty, and in two consecutive days he shot ten, and sold them for $18 each.
In February, 1850, he went to Feather river, and he and others undertook to turn Deer creek; but he sold out for $600, and went out prospecting in the mountains on the old "Emigrant Trail." At one place they found wagons, dead mules, etc., and also the body of a man with one arm gone, probably eaten by wild animals. He then took up the Sacramento valley, and crossed the river below Shasta. After prospecting above Shasta, he returned down the valley to Marysville with what was then called the "Trinity fever," where he was some days out of his head; but he was carefully nursed by a friend, an Englishman, to whom he thinks he owes his life. From thence he went to San Francisco, and as soon as he was able took a sailing vessel for Panama, and home, where he arrived in the latter part of 1851.
In 1869 Mr. Titus came again to California, and to Los Angeles, where he concluded to settle, as he was at once greatly pleased with the country, and he has never since had occasion to change his favorable opinion. He went home, and the next year, with his daughter and her husband, Captain J. C. Newton, he came back to Los Angeles County, where they have made their home ever since. They went on to a place which he bought, near the Mission San Gabriel, and engaged in citrus fruit culture on an extensive scale, and with great success. Mr. Titus also devoted some attention to raising grapes and to breeding fine horses. He brought in 1870 from the East the stallion " Echo," sired by Rysdick's Hambletonian, one of the best horses ever brought to this coast. "Echo" is the sire of many fast and game trotters.
Mr. Titus is a man of great force of character, fertile in resources, and whatever he undertakes he is very apt to carry through. Finding that water was exceedingly valuable in Southern California, he devised a machine for molding cement canals for economizing its use, the canal being formed on the ground where used; thus, in an inexpensive manner, making a limited quantity of water irrigate three or four times as much land as when run in ditches in the soil. He invented and patented a ladder on wheels, for picking fruit; also a three-notch board for planting trees; both of these are now in general use in Los Angeles and adjoining counties. He has lately invented an ingenious hand-shears for cutting and picking fruit with the same hand. Mr. Titus was the first to use in Los Angeles County a portable apparatus for spraying fruit trees infested with pests.
Mr. Titus married Maria Benedict in 1845. Two daughters resulted from this marriage : Mary H., wife of Captain J. C. Newton, and Clara R. Titus; the latter is now a sister of the order of "the Immaculate Heart of Mary," known as "Sister Clara," and is a teacher in the Cathedral school of the city of Los Angeles.
The family remained on their San Gabriel orchard about seventeen years. Mr. Titus sold his orange crop from sixty-five acres in 1887, for $15,000, on the trees. During that year he sold his place, consisting of 230 acres, most of which was highly improved.
He has since planted a new place north of the old one. This is mostly planted to peaches for shipping East by cold storage. He has set out 2,500 trees of the Salway variety, and 1,000 Honey Clings. He also has besides some olive, pear and apple trees.
Mr. Titus, during his twenty years of residence in Los Angeles County, has done much to develop its resources and capacities in many directions. Indeed he is universally accounted to be one of Los Angeles' most useful citizens. Being a man of the strictest probity and honor, he is held in the highest estimation by all who know him.
CAPTAIN J. C. NEWTON
was born in Erie County, New York, October 26, 1839. He lived in the vicinity of his native place during his boyhood. He enlisted as a private in the One Hundred and Sixteenth Regiment New York Infantry, August 9, 1862. Whilst in the service he was appointed Second Lieutenant on the unanimous vote of his company; and afterward he was promoted to the Captaincy. He served in the Department of the Gulf under General Banks; was at the siege of Port Hudson and in the actions at Sabine Cross-Roads, Pleasant Hill, Munzura Plains, etc. Afterward he served under Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley.
In 1866, May 15, he married Miss Mary H., daughter of L. H. Titus. In 1870 they moved to Los Angeles County, where they have made their home ever since. They have two daughters, both born in California: Clara Drysdale and Mary Titus Newton. In 1883 Captain Newton made a somewhat extended visit East, and while there was elected Supervisor of Erie County, New York, and served a regular term, the board consisting of fifty members.
Captain Newton, who is now, with his family, a resident of the city of Los Angeles, is one of the directors of the Sixth District Agricultural Society, of which he was one term (1887) the president.
MINERAL.
No full, systematic geological survey of Southern California, or of Los Angeles County has yet been made; but it is known that many of the most useful minerals, stone and earths, are to be found in the county, often in paying quantities. Highly crystalline limestone is being quarried three and a half miles from Fernando station. Twelve miles west from Fernando good sandstone is quarried. Asphaltum is obtained in a number of localities northeast of the San Fernando tunnel. Silver and lead ore have been mined in the Silver Mountain mining district twenty-two miles north of Newhall, and silver in very rich ores in the San Gabriel cañon. Gold was found in this county in 1843,—which was five years before the famous Marshall discovery, that started so great a rush of immigration to this State. It has for some time been mined profitably at the Casteca placer diggings, forty miles northwest of Los Angeles. This precious metal has also been found in paying quantities in various other parts of the county.
Besides many substances which are of special interest to the chemist and the mineralogist, from the scientific standpoint, the following is a list of the useful substances, properly classed as mineral products, found in the county: gold, silver, copper, coal, asphaltum, graphite, iron. limestone, tin, building stone, clay, mineral paint, gypsum, borate of lime, silica, kaolin, petroleum, borax, epsom salts, nitrate of soda and salt. Near Lang's station, in the northern part of the county, there is a large deposit of chrome iron, free from sulphur, which is considered valuable for the manufacture of paint. Large deposits of malachite, or carbonate of copper, have been found in the San Fernando mountains and along the Arroyo Seco. Gypsum exists within twenty miles of Los Angeles. The varieties known as alabaster and selenite are found. This mineral is said to be very useful in reclaiming alkali land. The water which flows from the San Fernando tunnel contains, by analysis, 30.6 per cent of gypsum. A salt lake, fed by salt springs, is located near the sea, between San Pedro and Santa Monica, and can be utilized in the manufacture of salt of excellent quality. Clay for brick is plentiful. Large tracts of the lowlands abound in soda. There is a ledge of sulphide of antimony seven miles west of Los Angeles. There are deposits of mineral paint of several colors on the seashore near Santa Monica.
EARTHQUAKES.
No permanent or serious damage has been done by earthquakes in this county since December 8, 1812, when occurred the great catastrophe at San Juan Capistrano, when, by the falling in of the tower and tiled roof, over thirty people were killed. There were moderate shocks in July, 1855; on April 14, May 2, and September 20, during the year 1856; and one on the morning of January 9, 1857. This last was the most severe for a long time. The first shock was succeeded by others during the day, and for three successive days. The same vibrations were felt also throughout the other counties of Southern California, and in many of the northern counties as well. It was more severe at Fort Tejon than at any other point. This was the greatest earthquake since that of 1812. Mr. H. D. Barrows wrote in the San Francisco Bulletin of January 28, as follows:
"The great earthquake felt here on the morning of the 9th instant was rather more extensive in its operations than we at first anticipated; it did some appalling execution in various places. In the vicinity of Fort Tejon, 100 miles north of Los Angeles, the effects were most violent.
The ground opened in places from thirty to forty miles, and from ten to twenty feet wide. The line of disruption runs nearly northwest and southeast, in an almost straight line, passing near Elizabeth Lake. The ground appears to have opened in the form of a ridge, and then to have fallen back, leaving the earth pulverized and loose about twelve feet wide generally, so that in many places it is almost impossible to pass. An eye witness saw large trees broken off near the ground; he saw cattle roll down steep hillsides; and he himself had to hold on to a post in order to stand up. The people in the fort were unceremoniously honored with a shower of plastering and a general tumbling down of walls and chimneys; and it seems providential that none of them were killed. He judged that it would take months to repair the buildings at the fort. The officers and men are now camping out in tents. Quartermaster Wakeman reports the time of the shock at 27 minutes before 9 o'clock, which agrees very well with the time as reported here. The motion was preceded there and accompanied here by a heavy rumbling report. At the Reservation much damage was done, but I have not heard the particulars. There are no signs of aught being thrown up from the openings at the Tejon. It is supposed that though the causes of these disturbances may be subterranean fires primarily, the secondary and immediate causes are the escape or explosion of gases generated by those fires. This we conclude from the entire absence of all kinds of volcanic matter, although the disruptions of the earth, and the force that caused them, in the movement of the earth on the 9th instant, were tremendous. We had at Los Angeles five or six shocks during the same day and night, and within about eight days' time we had twenty shocks,—some violent, some light. Since that time we have had none to speak of."
In 1868 there was a heavy shake, and another in 1872. In May, 1877, there was a series of shocks during one night and the succeeding day, some violent enough to crack plaster on the walls, and break the glass on a clock swinging out from the wall where it was hung.
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.