The Street Seen: Ocean Park People
Ocean Park People
Alvin Nye Archer (1844 – 1923). Founder of Ocean Park’s first volunteer fire brigade.
Walter Lee Armacost (1878 – 1947). Nursery man / wholesale florist.
Nicholas Gabriel Baida (1869 – 1941). Dealer of fine Persian carpets.
Benjamin 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.
Adelbert Bartlett (1887-1966). Santa Monica Photographer.
Alton Earl Beane (1865 – 1956). Imperial Ice Company.
Granville Pelham Beauchamp (1855 – 1889). Ocean Park Ostrich Farm.
Edwin Palmer Benjamin (1853 – 1917). Real Estate Investor.
Allen P. Bentley (1816 – 1896). Administrator of the Nancy T. Lucas estate.
Born in NY, he comes to CA and lived for 2 years in Santa Monica. He went to Compton, where operates lumber business for ten years. He served as justice of the peace and city attorney in Compton. Father of Farina Maria Bentley Lucas and Sylvia Louise Bentley Lucas Sessions (1854 – 1944). He is the brother of Edwin R. Bentley (1821 – 1876) who is the father of Edward Howard Bentley of Wicks, Lucas, and Bentley.
Edward Howard Bentley (1857 – 1913). Partner in the law firm of Wicks, Lucas & Bentley. Born in Detroit, MI , comes to Los Angeles in 1879. E.H. Bentley is a cousin of sisters Farina Maria Bentley Lucas and Sylvia Louise Bentley Lucas Sessions. In 1882, he is a partner in the law firm of Wicks, Lucas & Bentley. Later he partners with James R. Dupuy. Bentley also invests in Los Angeles real estate, and he runs unsuccessfully for the office of City Judge in 1894. He marries Elizabeth N. Wristen of Fresno in 1885, and they had two sons, Howard E. and Basil Wristen.
William George John Samuel Bentley (1869 – 1938). Fountain Glen Tract.
Juan Bernard (1824 – 1889). South Santa Monica Wharf Tract.
Mary Adaline Berryman (1850 – 1930). Owner Wisconsin Apartments. Berryman block – 3 story – Wisconsin Apartments on Pier Ave. Married 1872 John R Berryman in WI. Moved to Los Angeles in 1903.
William John Rufus Berryman (1849 – 1914). Husband of Mary Adaline Berryman.
State Law Librarian of WI. Law Book editor. Author of “Berryman’s Digest of Laws of Insurance” and “History of the Bench and Bar of Wisconsin”. Married 1872 Mary Adaline Perkins in WI. Moved to Los Angeles in 1903. The plaintiff in Berryman v. Hotel Savoy Company, 1911.
John Dustin Bicknell (1838 – 1911). Los Angeles lawyer founds the firm that would become Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Bicknell came to Los Angeles in 1872 and participated in the real estate boom of the coming years both as an attorney and through his own investments. With a reputation for real estate expertise, Bicknell became a lawyer for the Southern Pacific and later for Huntington and the Los Angeles Suburban Railway.
John Damon Blanchard (1862 – 1916). General manager of the Imperial Ice Co.
Edward Frank Bontty (1877 – 1950). Son of early Ocean Park Resident.
Son of Joseph and Anna Bontty. Born in Portland, OR 1883 comes to Santa Monica with his family (brother Joseph A and sister Sebaldena). He is for several years (1898 to 1905) salesman in his father’s (Joseph Bontty) grocery in OP. Bontty was a conductor four years for the Los Angeles-Pacific Ry. Co., which position he resigned and in April, 1906, opened his fish, poultry and game store at 216 Broadway. In 1903, married Alice Novetny and had son Richard Robert (1907 – 1909)
John N. Bontty (1842 – 1928). Early Ocean Park Resident. Born Czech Republic and came to US in 1855. John Bontty was in Iowa 1860- 1870, married Marie (1842 – 1907) and was in Portland, OR 1875. John (and his brother Joseph Bontty) and their family came to Santa Monica in 1883. He was involved in real estate. By 1910 he was in San Diego, where he died in 1928.
Joseph Bontty (1845 – 1934). Early Ocean Park Resident. Born Czech Republic and comes to US in 1855. Bontty is in IA 1860- 1870, and in Portland, OR in 1875. Marries 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 come to Santa Monica in 1883. His house is on Strand between 2nd and 3rd Streets. Joseph opens the first grocery store on Main St. He also becomes involved in real estate. He is involved in the defeated 1903 election to separate Ocean Park from Santa Monica. He closes his grocery and moves to San Diego in 1905, where he engages in the grocery business. By 1920, he is back in Los Angeles, where he dies in 1934.
Joseph Antone Bontty (1879 – 1948). Son of early Ocean Park Resident. Son of Joseph and Anna Bontty. Born in Portland, OR come to Santa Monica with his family (brother Edward Frank Bontty and sister Sebaldena Bontty) in 1883. He was a conductor for the Los Angeles-Pacific Railway Co. from 1900 to 1910. In 1908, marries widow Katherine O. Eastman Burton Bontty. In 1910 ran for Los Angeles constable. Died in Los Angeles.
Charles Warren Brown (1864 – 1920). Contractor and Councilman.
Charles Warren Brown House at 2504 Third Street is a 1908 Craftsman.
Nathan Pearl Bundy (1846 – 1913). Early settler. Came to Santa Monica in 1876. Real estate developer. Born in OH. House and sign painter which he followed in IA and to some extent after coming to Santa Monica in 1876. Later he invested in real estate. Director of First National Bank of Santa Monica. Retires in 1898 and moves to Los Angeles.
Thomas Buchanan Carlisle (1853 – 1910). Early Settler and Real Estate Investor.
James Chalmers (1844 – 1933). ???link to 2701 Main??? Founder of gelatine manufacturing business.
Eli P. Clark (1847 – 1931). Railroad Interests and Investments. Born in IA. Clark moved to Prescott, AZ in 1875, where he met Gen. M. H. Sherman. He marries Lucy H. Sherman in 1880. In 1891, Clark comes to Los Angeles to be associated with Sherman in the construction and operation of electric railways. Clark and Sherman participated in many real estate ventures in conjunction with the development of their rail lines.
William George Cochran (1844 – 1921). Physician Real Estate Investor. Arcadia tract.
Larkin Brown Craig (1881 – 1954). Main Street Meat Market.
James M. Davies (1830 – 1904). Los Angeles Real Estate Investor.
Richard Clifford Diebenkorn (1922 – 1993). Abstract Painter of the ”Ocean Park” series.
Thomas Horace Dudley (1867 – 1934). Businessman and Politician.
Matilda Brooks Ryan Dudley (1860 – 1940). Married Francis Ryan. Then T.H. Dudley.
Percy Jackson Dudley (1868 – 1962). Cashier of Ocean Park Bank
Edwin McFarland Fisk (1877 – 1965). Aviation Pioneer.
Thomas J. Fitzgerald (18?? – 1905). Bookmaker.
James Rison Fones (1879 – 1948). Automobile Dealer.
Sam Francis (1923 – 1994). Abstract Painter and Printmaker.
Alexander Rosborough Fraser (1856-1926). Real Estate Investor and Developer.
Claude Leever Freeman (1879–1965). Santa Monica Contractor.
Herbert Richmond Gage (1848 – 1930). Real Estate Investor.
Carmelinda Donatelli Lasorella Gallo (1888–1947). Grocery Store. Cafe
Fannie Ellen Hopkins Gallo (1869 – 1929). Grocery Store. Laundry.
Guiseppe Gallo (1877 – 1945). Municipal Band Member. Grocery Store. Cafe.
May Ratcliff Garlock (1881 - 1973). Laundry Manager.
Bishop Simpson Garrison (1860 – 1949). Subdivider of Fountain Glen Tract.
Slate-writer and materializer. Professional medium-exposer.
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.
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.
Irving John Gill (1870 – 1936). Pioneer of the modern movement in American architecture.
Nathaniel Carl “Nat” Goodwin (1857 – 1919). Vaudevillian comic. Café owner.
Henry Xavier Goetz (1861 – 1944). Contractor for early buildings in Santa Monica, Ocean Park, and Venice.
Washington Hair (1832 – 1905). Subdivider of the Fountain Glen Tract
Newell Hiram Hamilton (1852 – 1933). Physician and real estate investor.
Dwight Howard Hart (1875 – 1942). Hotel owner. Brother of G.A. Hart.
George Alandson Hart (1870 – 1929). Subdivider of the Central Beach Tract.
John Wilson Haverstick (1842 – 1923). Subdivider of the South Santa Monica Tract.
Patrick Hawe (1847 – 1923). Founding pastor of St. Clement’s parish in Ocean Park.
Charles William Hawes (1852 – 1901). Santa Monica Dairyman.
Charles Frederick Hinckle (1845 – 1914). Weiman Apartments.
Thomas Hines (1870 – 1942). Laundryman.
John George Holborow (1860 – 1926). Hotel operator.
Charles W. Hollister (1858 – 1935). Real estate investor. Clergyman. Attorney and real estate investor (and distant cousin of the namesakes of Hollister Peak and Hollister Ranch). Hollister and Thomas Wadsworth purchased the north end of the Central Beach tract from Hart & Fraser in 1902 and developed the Wadsworth Hollister Tract for residential use. Hollister retired as a Episcopalian minister (St Paul’s) in Venice.
William Spencer Hook (1840 – 1904). Street Car Company Operator.
President and general manager Jacksonville IL street car company. In 1895, he came to Los Angeles and organized the Los Angeles Traction Company, in which he was chief owner and manager. In 1902, Kinney forms a partnership with Hook. Although construction of the new line is started, Hook sold out to railroad interests who didn’t want competition. In 1903, he returned to Jacksonville IL.
Moses Hostetter (Hostetler) (1823 – 1903). Early Ocean Park Resident.
An Iowa farmer who came to Ocean Park in 1893. Born in Ohio. Married Mary Brant (18?? – 1905) in Wisconsin in 1847. Son William Morgan Hostetler. He served on Santa Monica’s first Board of Trustees, and was chairman of the police, fire and light committees. In 1893, he bought seven lots at what are now 2547, 2601 and 2628 Second St.; 236, 237 and 242 Beach St. and 2623 Third St. for $45 each. Choosing to live next door to his son (William, 237 Beach).
William Morgan Hostetter (1851 – 19??). Son of Moses Hostetter.
Born in Iowa. Married 1870, in Iowa to Edwina L. Keeler. Three children Moses Leroy (1871 – 1956), Alita May (1873 – 1884) and Morven Deloy (1877 – 1900).
Albert Beecher Hotchkiss (1839 - 1905). Los Angeles attorney marries Mary Green.
Mary A. Hotchkiss (1849 – 1934). Wealthy Donor of Hotchkiss Park.
George Davidson Hughes (1865–1933). Sheet Metal.
Arthur J. Hutchinson (1846 – 1926). Acquires part of the Rancho La Ballona from the Machado family.
John Standish Hunt (1865 – 1945). Physician and real estate investor.
William Albert Irwin (1869 – 1924). Developer of Irwin Heights
Forms East Santa Monica Land & Water Co and Irwin Heights Company with C. E. Towner
Edward Charles Japs (1884 – 1943). Tire man. Real Estate Owner.
Pleasant “Plez” James (1836 – 1917). Cashier of Ocean Park Bank. Venice City Clerk
Joseph W Jauch (1863 – 1949). Physician. Husband of Mary A Green.
Dorothy (Doria) Deighton Jones (1824-1908).
George Merritt Jones (1861 – 1932). Real estate investor.
Georgina Frances Jones (1853 – 1936). Wife of John Percival Jones.
Henry Latimer Jones, Jr (1859 – 1923). Subdivider of the Ocean Spray Tract.
John Percival Jones (1829 – 1912). Founder of the town of Santa Monica.
Robert Freeman Jones (1847 – 1939). Nephew of John P. Jones.
Born in Cleveland and served as member of the Cleveland City Council for two terms before coming to Santa Monica in 1891. In 1893, he purchased the First National Bank of Santa Monica for Senator Jones, and changed it to a state bank under the name of the Bank of Santa Monica. Mayor of Santa Monica 1894 to 1900. Created camera obscura in 1898. Married Maria J. Tilden. Robert and Roy Jones formed Santa Monica Land Company.
Roy Jones (1869 – 1947). Son of John P. Jones.
Marcellus L. Joslyn (1873 – 1963). Philanthropist.
Franklin Thompson “Frank” Kegley, Jr (1886 - 1962). Ocean Park Library Architect
Bertha Mae (May) Davis King (1873 – 1948). World Women’s Billiards Champion.
Abbot Kinney (1850 – 1920). The visionary developer turns South Santa Monica into a beach resort (Ocean Park) before developing “Venice of America.”
Alvah Willard Layne (1877 – 1949). General manager of the Ocean Park Journal
Thomas Harrison Leavell (1866 – 1934). Laundry Manager.
Florence Mary Leavitt (1865 – 1924). Grand daughter of W.D. Vawter. Copeland Square
Mary Ellen Leavitt (1836 – 1928). Daughter of W.D. Vawter. Born in IN, the first child of W. D. and Mary C. Vawter. In 1854, she begins teaching school. In 1859 she marries Ward Leavitt.
Ward Leavitt (1833 – 1896). Builder. Born in NY, he in 1859, marries Mary Ellen Vawter in IN. In 1875, the Leavitt’s with their daughter, Florence, move to California. They were stockholders in the Indiana Colony (Pasadena), but after a short time they move to Santa Monica. In 1880, they return to Pasadena and live there on their orange ranch. In 1887, they return to Santa Monica.
Edward Benjamin Leepy (1863 – 1934). Main Street Real Estate.
John Rathbone Leonard (1862 – 1935). Meat & Grocery Store Owner.
“Baron” Michel Leone (1909 – 1988). Professional wrestler.
Thomas Addison Lewis (1839 – 1899). Real Estate Investor.
Born in Franklin, IN. In the Civil War with Illinois cavalry – wounded leg amputated below the knee. In 1886, with R.R. Tanner, buys 53 acre Santa Fe tract from the Vawters. In 1888, with G. S. Van Every makes an application for a franchise (Santa Monica Wharf Company) to build a wharf at the foot of Bicknell Ave. Board of Trustees 1888 – 1896. Married Permilia ‘Millie’ S. Robinson (1850 – 1933) in 1870 in IA.
Charles Jacob Lick (1882 – 1971). Lick Pier Investor
September 1921, Lick, executive Vice President of Pabst Brewing Company, Los Angeles, along with Austin McFadden and George Leihy invested $250,000 in constructing a new pier seaward of the Dome Dance Pavilion. The Lick Pier at the foot of Navy Street adjoined the south side of the Pickering Pier (Ocean Park Pier) and was almost entirely in Venice.
Lycurgus Lindsay (1858 – 1931). Owner of the Hollister Avenue Pier
James Birney Lorbeer (1873 – 1933). Ocean Park Steam Laundry.
Charles Edward Lovelace (1870 – 1926). Ocean Park Postmaster.
Catherine T. Lowery (1874 – 1949). Founder and operator of St Catherine’s Hospital.
The three LOWERY sisters (Catherine, Helen and Anna Lowery) graduated as nurses from St Josephs Hospital in Chicago. Although the sisters were Catholics, St. Catherine’s was run as a partnership and not as a religious institution. They named the hospital in honor of their mother (who died in 1911). The sisters were successfully sued in 1920 by student nurses who alleged that they were not paid for work they performed as part of their “training.”
Edward Lucas (1842 – 1882). Son of Nancy Lucas and heir to Lucas ranch.
Farina Maria Bentley Lucas (1844 – 1924). Wife of John Henry Lucas.
John Henry Lucas (1836 – 1924). Son of Nancy Lucas and heir to Lucas Ranch.
John Lucas (1794 – 1873). Husband of Nancy Lucas.
Nancy Talbot Jones Lucas (1806 – 1881). Ocean Park pioneer. Owner Lucas Ranch.
Agustín Machado (1794 – 1865) & Ygnatio Machado (1797 – 1878). Rancho La Ballona grant holder.
In 1819, brothers José Agustín Antonio Machado and José Ygnacio Antonio Machado joined with Felipe Talamantes and his son, Tomás, to acquire the Spanish grazing rights to the 14,000 acre Rancho La Ballona.
George W. Malim (1849 – 1914). Ocean Park resident.
In 1903, a committee consisting of Col. A. B. Hotchkiss, Joseph Bontty and Captain Malim, were active in urging for separation of Ocean Park from Santa Monica, stating that the new town would remain a town, governed by the Board of Supervisors, and would save the expenses of a city government while improving its own streets, water, and light supply.
Norman Foote Marsh (1871 - 1955). Architect Marsh & Russell
Ellis Gilliam “Jack” Martin (1891 - 1962). Contractor.
Duncan Sinclair McEwan (1874 – 1950). Electrical Contractor.
Austin Aloysius McFadden (1875 – 1960). Amusement Park Investor.
In 1921, McFadden, along with Charles Lick and George Leihy invested $250,000 in constructing a new pier at the foot of Navy Street adjoining the south side of the Pickering Pier.
Walter T. McGinley (1869 – 1932). Circus manager, legal adjuster, entrepreneur, race horse owner, oil man.
Albert Edward Meigs (1830–1921). Ocean Park Postmaster 1902 to 1906
Louis Melczer (1861 – 1942). Owner Savoy Hotel.
Charles Henry Mellen (1862-1946). Banker. Manager Ocean Park Water Company.
Herman Michel (1872 – 1969). Owner of Santa Monica Diary (dba Edgemar Farms).
J. Euclid Miles (1851 – 1924). Real Estate Investor.
Born in Ohio, Miles was a resident of Pueblo, CO for twenty years where he acquired valuable real estate interests. He came to Santa Monica in 1902, and soon thereafter organized the Santa Monica Investment Company, a real estate development company. In 1905, Miles and Charles Tegner formed the real estate firm of Miles & Tegner. In 1911, they constructed the Majestic, the first theater in Santa Monica. Miles was elected to the City council in 1906. Miles married Mary Ann Moore (1850 – 1915) in 1872 in New York City, and after her death, married Katherine D Miles (18?? – 1926) in 1916.
Wellman Bennett Mills (1903 – 1983). Laundry Owner. Santa Monica City Councilman (1953-1961).
Daniel Thomas Mooney (1844 – 1885). Husband of Mary A Green.
Edward Lewis Moore (1892 – 1975). Automobile Mechanic.
John Rigdon Moore (1863–1943). Son-in-law of W.S. Vawter.
Abraham Mooser (1842 – 1931). Last Postmaster of Ocean Park (1913 to 1914).
Elfie Asenath Mosse (1867 – 1939). Santa Monica Librarian (1890 to 1939).
George Andrew Neilson (1890 – 1954). Banker and Councilman. Santa Monica City Commissioner in the 1930s & 1940s. City Council person from the new city charter of 1947 to 1951. VP of the Ocean Park Bank.
Merle (Nethercutt) Norman (1887 – 1972). Co-founder of Merle Norman Cosmetics.
Leonard Beattie Osborn (1843 – 1904). First Postmaster of Ocean Park (1899 to 1902).
Clinton Gordon Parkhurst (1892 – 1931). Real Estate investor and builder.
Henry Dorsey Patton (1858–1906). Ocean Park Postmaster - appointed but does not take up position.
George William Peasgood (1865 – 1948). Peasgood Bros Contractors.
James Thomas Peasgood (1860 – 1938). Peasgood Bros Contractors. Councilman.
John Israel Peasgood (1862 – 1943). Peasgood Bros Contractors.
Ernest Pickering (1873 – 1938). Amusement entrepreneur.
In 1910. Kinney leased pier space to amusement business extraordinaire and partner, Ernest Pickering. Pickering would go on to add several of Venice Pier’s classical amusements. After the 1912 fire of Fraser Million Dollar pier. In 1919 Pickering bought the OP pier. The Pickering’s Pleasure Pier burned down in 1924 leaving it’s builder/operator Ernest Pickering facing rebuilding. In 1925 Pickering announced plans for a million-dollar pleasure pier at Pacific Beach in San Diego. However, Pickering soon backed out.
Pio de Jesus Pico (1801 – 1894). The last Mexican Governor of Alta California.
Martin Pupka (1845 – 1934). Real estate investor.
James Walker Remsberg (1894–1977). Automobile Dealer.
Eino Romppanen (1940–2018). Artist Sculptor.
Harry Franz Rile (1860 – 1949). Professional photographer.
Moved from Philadelphia to Southern California during the mid to late 1880s. His original studio was in a tent on the beach north of the Santa Monica pier.
Frederick Hastings Rindge (1857 – 1905). Businessman, philanthropist and writer.
Rindge inherits his father’s Malibu estate and moves from MA to CA in 1887. As a staunch supporter of the temperance movement, Rindge agreed to reimburse the treasury of the city of Santa Monica any deficit caused by the loss of saloon license fees when Santa Monica abolished saloons. He established the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Santa Monica and wrote several books.
Anderson Rose (1836 – 1902). Farmer for whom Rose Avenue is named.
Abner Leonard Ross II (1832 – 1912). Owner of Holborow / Casa Del Mar hotel.
Fred E Royston (1852 – 1936). Armacost & Royston Nurseries.
Rebecca Wilson Dickey Rubicam (1832 – 1903). Widow came to Santa Monica in 1877
Clarence Henry Russell (1874 -1942). Architect.
Francis George Ryan (1855 – 1898). Partner in Kinney’s Ocean Park Improvement Company.
Carl Francis Schader (1870–1934). Real estate broker and developer.
Jacob Lee Schimmer (1884 – 1933). Contractor.
Jacob Lee Schimmer, Jr (1905 – 1972). Contractor
Gottfried Lauitz Schmidt (1845 – 1909). Imperial Ice Company.
Andrew John Seed (1879 – 1928). Furniture Store Owner.
Edgar Sessions (1843 – 1934). Store owner. Married Sylvia Louise Bentley Lucas.
Sylvia Louise Bentley Lucas Sessions (1854 – 1944). Heir to the Lucas Ranch.
David O’Donnell Shearon (1856 – 1935). Owner Shearon Hotel Apartments.
Moses Hazeltine Sherman (1853-1932). Land and Railroad Developer.
General Sherman, a land developer, builds the Los Angeles Pacific Railway streetcar line and owns property in the San Fernando Valley. He also serves on the Los Angeles Water Board. Founder of the town Sherman (now West Hollywood). The neighborhood of Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley is named for him. Co-owner of the Santa Monica Land Company with C.L. Bundy and Sherman’s neighbor Robert C. Gillis.
Charles Goodrich Shipman (1856 – 1918). Physician.
Charles Jarram Sketchley (1852 - 1916). Ostrich Farm.
George Daniel Snyder (1859 – 1953). Building Contractor. Santa Monica Councilman.
Ralph William Stephan (1900 – 1990). Galley Restaurant.
James Milton Stiles (1881 – 1966). Main Street Meat Market.
Charles Archibald Stilson (1844 – 1915). Ocean Park Postmaster (1908 to 1912).
Emanuel M Stolaroff (1900 – 1984). Cosmetics entrepreneur. Neutrogena.
George Trigwell Stoneham (1843 – 1923). Subdivider of Stoneham Tract.
Born in NJ, his family moves to Chicago in 1845. Stoneham comes to CA in 1899 and grows oranges in Sierra Madre. Moves to Ocean Park in 1903 and buys 12 acres between 4th St and 6th St (Hill to Raymond).
George Cuthbert Leonard Strachey (1848 – 1932). Strachey Tract. Married Jane Maud Evans Strachey (1865 – 1949).
Johnson Wyatt “John” Summerfield (1869 – 1927). Nephew of WS & EJ Vawter.
Felipe Talamantes (1771 – 1856) & Tomas Talamantes (1792 – 1873). Rancho La Ballona grant holder. In 1819, Felipe Talamantes and his son, Tomás, joined with brothers Agustín Machado and Ygnacio Machado to acquire Spanish grazing rights to the 14,000 acre Rancho La Ballona.
Richard 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.
Sebaldena Mary Bonnty Tanner (1875 – 1924). Daughter and wife. Daughter of early Ocean Park Resident Joseph and Anna Bontty. Sister of Edward Frank Bontty and Joseph Anton Bontty. In 1893 marries Richard Robert Tanner (1858 – 1931).
Charles A. Tegner (1866 – 1952). Real estate and insurance. The son of a Swedish merchant, Tegner leaves Sweden, for the West Coast in 1890, where worked as a carpenter. In 1902, Tegner opens a small office in downtown Santa Monica, which is still operating after 100 years. In 1905, Euclid Miles organizes the real estate firm of Miles & Tegner. Tegner hires Hollwedel to build a series of buildings in Santa Monica, including the original Henshey’s Department store and in 1911 the Majestic, a silent movie house. Tegner marries Emma in 1905.
Cameron Erskine Thom (1825 – 1915). Captain Thom is a land owner (Rancho San Rafael), founder of Glendale, and Mayor of Los Angeles.
Horace Guthrie Thursby (1885 – 1965). Merle Norman Architect.
Charles Edward Towner (1849 – 1928). Developer of Irwin Heights and Towner Terrace.East Santa Monica Land & Water Co with W. A. Irwin.
Walter Jones Trask (1862 – 1911). Trask-Kyte House.
James Turrell (1943 – ). Artist primarily concerned with light and space.
Williamson Dunn Vawter (1815 – 1894). Businessman and Civic Leader.
William Smith Vawter (1845 – 1917). Son of W.D. Vawter. Santa Monica Postmaster.
Edwin James Vawter (1848 – 1914). Son of W.D. Vawter.
Edwin James Vawter, Jr (1871 – 1926). Son of E.J. Vawter.
Milo H. Wagar (1847 – 1926). Ocean Park resident.
Born in Janesville WI. Enlisted in Illinois infantry in the civil war. Marries Elizabeth Brewster Sinclair Wagar (1849 – 1937) and they have 3 children: Claron Sinclair Wagar (1870 – 1898), .Abby Attella Wagar Williams (1873 – 1962) and Duane H Wagar (1876 – 1933). Chicago, IL saloon owner. In 1898, Wagar’s business is raided and counterfeit liquor confiscated. In a case that ends up in the Illinois Supreme Court, the case is dismissed. In 1901, Wagar wins a $50,000 judgement for forcible entry and detainer. In 1904, Col. Wagar moves to Ocean Park and buys the W.S. Vawter home.
Thomas Seymour Wadsworth (1853 – 1930). Developer of the Wadsworth Hollister Tract.
Real estate investor. His forte was packaging real estate with financing, with Charles Hollister purchased the north end of the Central Beach tract from Hart & Fraser in 1902 and developed the Wadsworth Hollister Tract for residential use. Wadsworth and Hollister also partnered in copper mining in Arizona and in the development of Pismo Beach. Wadsworth retires as a fruit rancher in Redlands.
Charles Knapp Walrath (1840 – 1926). Subdivider of the Ocean Park Terrace Tract.
Charles Sumner Warren (1874 – 1951). Editor Evening Outlook.
Ivar A. Weid (1837 – 1903). Subdivider of the South Santa Monica Tract.
John J. Weidemann (1929- 2014). Main Street Antique & Furniture Store Owner.
Henry Weiman (1870 – 1944). Builder of the Weiman Apartments.
William Wegman (1943 – 20??). Artist. Photographed dogs in humorous situations.
Horatio David West (1847 – 1936). Commissioned Gill to design Horatio West Court.
Silas Chester White (1905 - 1962). African American Entrepreneur.
Thomas Jefferson White (1876 – 1937?). Adopted son of Mary Hotchkiss.
Virginia M Ferrero Palm Will (1896 – 1983). Owner of Virginia Apartments.
Henry Gaylord Wilshire (1861-1927). Subdivider of Wave Crest Tract.
Charles Modini Wood (1855 1928). Owner of the Goodwin house.
Henry James Woollacott (1858 – 1910). Real Estate Investor.
William M Wright (1844 – 1908). Subdivider of the Ocean Park Terrace Tract.
Lee Harvey Young (1872 – 1950). Grocer.