Los Angeles County
Biographies
DAVID WALTER FERGUSON
FERGUSON,
DAVID WALTER, District Freight and Passenger Agent of the North Pacific
Steamship Company, Los Angeles, California, is a native of Clinton, Iowa,
born January 19, 1875. His father was
William Ferguson and his mother, Elnor Brown (Duncan)
Ferguson. Mr. Ferguson traces his descent through a
notable line of ancestry, among whom is the famed King
Fergus of Scotland. On July 15, 1899, he married Ruth Lillian
Green in Los Angeles,
by which union there were three children, David Halliday, (deceased), Lillian
and Donald Ferguson.
Mr. Ferguson was
educated in the Chicago public schools, and on
moving to Winnipeg, Canada, continued his grammar
schooling in that city. He then took a
brief business course in the Winnipeg
Business College.
About this time
Mr. Ferguson went to British Columbia, and
located in Vancouver. He worked there for several years in a mercantile
house, but decided to seek a more congenial climate and in 1893 he moved south
to Los Angeles, California.
He became associated there with a large dry goods house in the capacity
of salesman and remained in that line until he was appointed manager of the
cloak and suit department. He made a
signal success in this work, but after he had been with his firm for seven
years a better opportunity offered itself and he resigned, going to Portland, Oregon. There he engaged in the cloak and suit
business, continuing in it for a period of approximately a year and a half.
Becoming tired of
commercial work, he turned his attention to amusement enterprises and returned
to Los Angeles,
where he managed several musical organizations.
After traveling for three years and a half he again sought new fields.
Quitting this in
1905, he entered the transportation business and after a year was appointed
Southern California agent for the North Pacific Steamship Company, which
operates a line of vessels between San Diego, California and Portland, Oregon.
For several years
he devoted his entire time to this work, but by the end of four years he had
branched out in the steamship business, assuming the
representation of a number of foreign and domestic lines and soon became known
as one of the leading transportation men in the west. At the present time he is the Southern California representative for thirty standard
steamship lines and in addition to this business is agent for the Marine
Baggage and Accident Insurance Company and the Wells Fargo Express Company’s
checks and money orders. Similarly he
handles the American Express Company’s and the Domestic and Travelers’ Checks
and money orders, which are negotiable in all parts of the civilized world.
Among the better
known companies of which Mr. Ferguson is the representative are the Cunard
Steamship Company, which owns the mighty Lusitania
and Mauretania, the White Star Company, the
Italian Line Co., and the Steamship Line.
Other interests
which he represents are the Thames and Mersey Marine Insurance Company and the
Compania Naviera Del Pacifico, a large corporation with headquarters in Mexico City. He is also a licensed Custom House broker for
the Port of Los
Angeles and is a notary public for Los Angeles County.
Mr. Ferguson is a
member of the National Geographic Society and of the Los Angeles Chamber of
Commerce. He is a member of the
Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association and is one of those men willing to do
anything for the furtherance of his city.
He is a Shriner, Mason, an Elk, a Forester, a Maccabee, and belongs to
the Steamship Agents’ Association, and the Southern California Traffic
Association.
Transcribed
by Bill Simpkins.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 905, International
News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston,
Atlanta. 1913.
© 2012 Bill Simpkins.
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