Los Angeles
County
Biographies
CHARLES
E. DONNATIN
In
any written history of Los Angeles and southern California the career of the
late Charles E. Donnatin must be recorded with those representative men, who by
their intelligence, business ability and civic loyalty, were directly
responsible for the phenomenal development of the territory in which they lived
and worked. Mr. Donnatin came to Los
Angeles when the real foundations of its future prosperity were being laid, and
as one of the founders of the Southern California Building and Loan
Association, the first institution of its kind in Los Angeles, he was very
influential and active in the business affairs of those formative days. He became well-known far beyond the confines
of his own vocation, and at all times during his long life he manifested a
sincere and active interest in civic matters and in the betterment of the community.
Charles
E. Donnatin was born in the city of Cologne, Germany, February 5, 1849. In 1868, when he was nineteen years of age,
he came to the United States and first settled in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he
obtained employment with the Erie Railroad Company. Very soon, however, he became
enthusiastically interested in the west and the opportunities existing here for
the young man. Accordingly, he began the
long journey, first coming by immigrant train to Green River, Wyoming, and then
by wagon train to Ogden, Utah, and by railroad thence to Oakland,
California. He arrived on the west coast
in 1875. Here he entered the service of
the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, in which connection he progressed
rapidly and in 1885 was transferred to Los Angeles as master car builder for
the company. He immediately assumed a
prominent place in this city, and his interests likewise became more
widespread. In 1887 he helped to
organize the Southern California Building and Loan Association, which was, as previously
noted, the first business of its kind in the city. This venture of his was remarkably successful
and by 1900 the scope of it had reached such proportions that he was justified
in severing his affiliation with the Southern Pacific in order to devote his entire
time and efforts to the organization which he had perfected. For one year at this juncture he held the
position of superintendent of the motive department of the Pacific Electric
Company. Mr. Donnatin held the place of
president of the Southern California Building and Loan Association until his
death, an incumbency extending over a period of forty-one years. His trustworthiness, his possession of the
implicit confidence of the people, and his skill in financial affairs were
strikingly indicated through this long tenure of office. He and others also organized the noted Dollar
Savings Bank which eventually became the Bank of Italy, and is now the Bank of
America. He was a director in a number
of other Los Angeles banks until the law was passed forbidding building and
loan officials to hold office with banks.
Mr. Donnatin became an extensive property holder in the city, and always
conducted his personal affairs in an unquestioned manner. No hint of criticism was ever directed toward
his activities. A notable and
interesting feature of his life was his zeal and enthusiasm for his work. Until a few weeks before his passing, he had
for years walked to his office, a distance of two miles, arriving punctually at
eight o’clock each morning. As a citizen
of Los Angeles, he was not only public-spirited to a high degree, but was
extremely charitable and sympathetic with those who had been less fortunate
than himself. His many tenants knew him
as an uncommonly liberal landlord and as one who believe in real justice to
all.
In November, 1871, occurred the marriage of Charles E. Donnatin and Susanna Kneib, the
latter a native of Pennsylvania.
To this union there were born five children. The oldest child, Frank, died January 29,
1912, at the age of forty years. Those
living are: Anna J., who is Mrs. Samuel
J. Green, and the mother of one son, George Green; Charles F., who married
Marian Robinson; Louise, who is the wife of Paul D. Robinson and has two children, Paul, Jr., and Robert; George E. took for his
wife Verneta Welch and they have three children, Verneta, Charles and Suzanne. Mrs. Donnatin survives her husband and
resides at the old family home at 1301 North Broadway.
Charles
E. Donnatin was a supporter of the Republican Party, but consistently refused
to accept public office, although he was importuned on a number of occasions to
accept this recognition. Fraternally he
was a member of the Knights of Pythias.
The
death of Mr. Donnatin occurred in the city of Los Angeles June 10, 1933, in his
eighty-fourth year. His passing was
deeply lamented by a vast number of friends and citizens who had been his
contemporaries throughout so many years and his memory will ever be an
inspiration to those who knew him.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 587-589,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
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BIOGRAPHIES