Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853-1913: Containing the Reminiscences of Harris NewmarkNewmark, Harris
History
Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853-1913: Containing the Reminiscences of Harris Newmark
Newmark, Harris
California, Southern; Los Angeles (Calif.)
George Dalton bought a tract of land on Washington, east of San Pedro
Street, in 1855, and set out a vineyard and orchard which he continued
to cultivate until 1887, when he moved to Walnut Avenue. Dalton was a
Londoner who sailed from Liverpool on the day of Queen Victoria's
coronation, to spend some years wandering through Pennsylvania and
Ohio. About 1851, he followed to the Azusa district his brother, Henry
Dalton, who had previously been a merchant in Peru; but, preferring
the embryo city to the country, he returned to Los Angeles to live.
Two sons, E. H. Dalton, City Water Overseer, in 1886-87, and Winnall
Travelly Dalton, the vineyardist, were offspring of Dalton's first
marriage. Elizabeth M., a daughter, married William H. Perry. Dalton
Avenue is named after the Dalton family.
In another place I have spoken of the dearth of trees in the town when
I came, though the editor of the _Star_ and others had advocated
tree-planting. This was not due to mere neglect; there was prejudice
against such street improvement. The School Trustees had bought a
dozen or more black locust-trees, "at eight bits each," and planted
them on the school lot at Second and Spring streets. Drought and
squirrels in 1855 attacked the trees, and while the pedagogue went
after the "varmints" with a shot-gun, he watered the trees from the
school barrel. The carrier, however, complained that drinking-water
was being wasted; and only after several rhetorical bouts was the
schoolmaster allowed to save what was already invested. The
locust-trees flourished until 1884, when they were hewn down to make
way for the City Hall.
Two partially-successful attempts were made, in 1855, to introduce the
chestnut-tree here. Jean Louis Sainsevain, coming to Los Angeles in
that year, brought with him some seed; and this doubtless led Solomon
Lazard to send back to Bordeaux for some of the Italian variety.
William Wolfskill, who first brought here the persimmon-tree, took a
few of the seeds imported by Lazard and planted them near his
homestead; and a dozen of the trees later adorned the beautiful garden
of O. W. Childs who, in the following year, started some black walnut
seed obtained in New York. H. P. Dorsey was also a pioneer walnut
grower.
My brother's plans at this time included a European visit, commencing
in 1855 and lasting until 1856, during which trip, in Germany, on
November 11th, 1855, he was married. After his Continental tour, he
returned to San Francisco and was back in Los Angeles some time before
1857. On this European voyage, my brother was entrusted with the care
and delivery of American Government documents. From London he carried
certain papers to the American Minister in Denmark; and in furtherance
of his mission, he was given the following introduction and passport
from James Buchanan, then Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St.
James and later President of the United States:
No. 282 BEARER OF DESPATCHES
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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