Los Angeles County
Biographies
WILLIAM
ALLEN BARNHILL
A prominent attorney who was active in civic affairs in Los Angeles county for years was the late William Allen Barnhill. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 18, 1879, and attended the public schools there until he was thirteen years old, when he ran away from home and got to New York city, where he later boarded the clipper ship Shenandoah and signed as ordinary seaman under Captain James Murphy for the trip around Cape Horn to San Francisco. The voyage took one hundred forty-seven days and he arrived in the Golden Gate October 8, 1896. He later became boatswain on the old S. S. Corona, and then settled in Los Angeles. On the trip around the Horn Captain Murphy took a liking to young Barnhill and assisted him in every way possible, and this friendship was maintained until death parted them.
After arriving in Los Angeles Mr. Barnhill entered St. Vincent’s College and was graduated therefrom in 1899 with the Bachelor of Science degree, and won a gold medal for the highest general average. From Los Angeles Mr. Barnhill went to Berkeley and enrolled in the law department of the University of California, then known as Hastings College of Law, and in 1902, received his LL.B. degree; and that same year the Master of Science degree was awarded him by St. Vincent’s College. While attending school and afterwards Mr. Barnhill worked at any employment he could find and paid back every dollar that had been advanced him by his friends. In 1903 he was appointed United States attorney from the territory of Alaska and served until he took up his practice in Los Angeles in 1910, when he became connected with the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Mr. Barnhihll specialized in irrigation law and as his reputation for knowledge of the law in this particular field became known beyond the confines of California, he received an appointment from Governor Campbell of Arizona to handle the irrigation matters for Arizona before the Congress of the United States and was so occupied until 1920, when he returned to Los Angeles. Once more in this city Mr. Barnhill became connected with the law firm of Lissner & Lewinson, the firm name becoming Lissner, Lewinson & Barnhill, and very soon thereafter Mr. Lissner dropped out of the firm and it was known as Lewinson& Barnhill.
During the World war Mr. Barnhill enlisted and served as a private, first in the infantry, and later in the field artillery branch of the United States Army. After his honorable discharge he resumed the practice of his profession and became widely known for his comprehensive knowledge of the law. He was a member of the International Law Association; the American Bar Association; the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles Bar Association. He was a member of the Academy of Political Sciences; the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce; Los Angeles Post No. 8, American Legion; the Pioneers of Alaska, an Arctic brotherhood; the Masons and the Elks. His clubs were the California, the Los Angeles Athletic, and the Los Angeles Masonic No. 233. His hobbies were amateur photography and fishing.
In 1913 William Allen Barnhill was united in marriage with Mrs. Winifred (Scott) Haugh, who had a son Clifford William Haugh. The family home is at 3651 Crestmont avenue, Los Angeles, where Mr. Barnhill passed away on October 8, 1933. During his career in professional life he made a host of friends who sincerely mourned his passing.
Transcribed
2-21-13 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: California
of the South Vol. V, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages
631-632, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2013 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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BIOGRAPHIES