Los Angeles County
Biographies
GEORGE EDWARD AVERILL
AVERILL, GEORGE EDWARD, Oil
and Oil Land Operator, Los Angeles, Cal., is a native of Iowa, being born at
Fairfield, that state, October 22, 1864. His parents were
Norman S. Averill and Anna S. (Wells) Averill.
On April 26, 1896, Mr. Averill was married to
Miss Mamie E. Williams at Los Angeles. They have one son,
Norman W. Averill.
Mr. Averill came with his parents to California in 1879,
and settled first at Garden Grove, coming to Los Angeles in 1880.
He attended the Los Angeles High school up to 1882, when
he entered the service of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, and
became the second manager for the company in Los Angeles.
On leaving the employ of the telephone company Mr. Averill
secured a position with the firm of W. C. Furrey
Company, hardware merchants, then at 159-169 North Spring street, where he
learned bookkeeping under the tutelage of Mr. P. H. Lemmert; in 1885 he became an employe
of the Germain Fruit Company, and in November of that
year he took full charge of the books of that large concern, and was the firm’s
bookkeeper and then cashier until 1894, when he was placed in charge of the
office work of the Porter Brothers of Chicago, in their Los Angeles and
Sacramento offices, remaining five years with this concern.
In 1898 Mr. Averill joined forces with the Earl Fruit
Company in Sacramento and Los Angeles, having full charge of their material
department, purchasing the supplies of box and packing material and distributing
the same to the various shipping agencies.
In 1902 Mrs. Averill’s health became affected, and it was
thought best to move to San Francisco, where Mr. Averill entered the
employ of the J. K. Armsby Company, where
he remained for three years, and in August, 1905, he was made the sales agent
for the Associated Oil Company, his territory being Southern California, with
headquarters in the Pacific Electric Building.
This position Mr. Averill held with unvarying and
technical knowledge to as good advantage for himself as could any one else, so he went into business as an oil broker,
selling oil lands and leases as a broker, and has continued ever since, though
acquiring interests in several companies. Mr. Averill, by straightforward
and honest methods, and by demanding the same of those with whom he deals,
enjoys the confidence of the oil magnates of this region and of San Francisco.
His careful consideration and long experience in the oil
business in the various fields of California has enabled Mr. Averill to be
recognized as a thoroughly reliable man and whose good judgment in matters
pertaining to oil lands is recognized by the prospective investor as well as by
the oil men.
Mr. Averill has been successful in closing a number of
deals on oil properties in the past two years, all of which have been good
money makers for the purchasers.
He came to California with his father, mother and
brother. His brother, John M. Averill, was drowned in 1882 in the
reservoir in East Los Angeles, just east of what is known as the Indian
Village; his father, N. S. Averill, was for fourteen years prior to
his death, in January, 1911, secretary of the Board of Education of the City of
Los Angeles, and left a heritage of fair name and sincerity that no money could
buy.
Mr. Averill’s mother has been connected with the schools,
and various educational and literary institutions of the city, as teacher,
principal, superintendent, and finally was member of the Board of Education and
honorary member of nearly all of the clubs and societies of the city, and was,
as well, a founder of the Los Angeles Y. W. C. A.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
16 October 2011.
Source: Press Reference
Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 689, International News Service,
New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2011 Marie Hassard.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPIES