Los
Angeles County
Biographies
LAWRENCE M. ANDERSON
Lawrence M. Anderson, comptroller of
the department of water and power of the city of Los Angeles since May, 1902,
has been continuously identified with this corporation through various changes
in ownership during the past forty-five years.
He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 4, 1864, his parents
being Joseph W. and Sarah (McClelland) Anderson, who were Southern California
pioneers of 1873. In the year 1886 the
family left Orange for Los Angeles, where Joseph W. Anderson was secretary of
the Citizens Water Company of Los Angeles, and later was associated with the
Redondo Improvement Company and the Redondo Railroad Company at Redondo Beach. He passed away in 1915, being for many years
survived by his widow, whose death occurred in 1929.
Lawrence M. Anderson pursued his
education in the public schools of Southern California and next engaged in
fruit growing in Orange County for a time before entering business
college. Subsequently he spent a
brief period in the service of the Farmers and Merchants Bank and then in 1888
entered upon what has proved to be a permanent connection with the Citizens
Water Company of Los Angeles, which was later purchased by the City Water Company
and eventually by the Los Angeles City Water Company. It was in May, 1902, that Mr. Anderson was
appointed auditor, now comptroller of the department of water and power, of
which he is one of the oldest employees in point of service and also one of the
most valued representatives. He
organized the accounting division when the city took over the waterworks and
the joint operation of water and power.
In 1889 in Los Angeles, Mr. Anderson
was united in marriage to Miss Priscilla B. McNitt, a
native of Illinois, who had been a schoolmate.
They are the parents of three children, namely: Mary, who is Mrs. W. A. Jepson; Josephine,
who is Mrs. S. T. Kunkel; and Melvin L., associated with the Fruit Growers
Supply Company, of Los Angeles. There
are six grandchildren.
In politics Mr. Anderson is a
Republican, while fraternally he is affiliated with the Westlake Masonic
lodge. Golf is his favorite form of
recreation. His life has been an exemplary
one in every relation and his friends are legion.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. III, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 497-498, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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