Los Angeles
County
Biographies
GEORGE
BURKET LOGAN
A
pioneer businessman of Los Angeles and southern California, George Burket Logan
left the imprint of his personality on the community in which he lived and
labored for its good for many years. He
was born in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, August 27, 1879, the son of Marshall L. and
Anna (Rainey) Logan. The father was a
dentist by profession and was a veteran of the Civil War, in which he was
wounded in action. After his discharge
from the service he studied dentistry and practiced in Pennsylvania until his
death in 1884. Soon thereafter the
widowed mother brought her family of two daughters and one son to
California. They left the railroad train
at Saugus and took a stage for Santa Paula, where they stopped for a time and
then the family moved to Pomona and it was here that George Burket, known among
his close friends as Burket, attended the public schools and was graduated from
the high school. While attending school
he worked in various stores as a clerk and at the age of seventeen he was
manager of the general merchandise store of G. A. Steffa
in Pomona. Thoroughly mastering the
details of the business he had selected as a life work he made the best of
every opportunity and at the age of eighteen he secured a position as traveling
salesman’s helper for the large wholesale hosiery and underwear firm of Brown,
Darrell & Company. While on one of
his trips the salesman he was with was taken ill and Mr. Logan took over his
job and was paid a salary of two hundred fifty dollars a month and
expenses. He carried seven large trunks
containing his line of samples and covered eleven states. In 1901 Mr. Logan located in Los Angeles and
embarked in business with Frank Bryson under the name of Bryson and Logan at
325 South Spring Street where the firm built up a splendid business. About 1903 Thomas Inch bought the Bryson
interest and the firm became Logan and Inch and located at 327 South Spring
Street. This partnership continued for
about a year when Mr. Logan decided he would open a business of his own as he
had watched the growth and development of the city and he established the firm
of “Logan the Hatter” which became one of the best known hat stores in the
United States. From a small beginning
the business grew to large proportions under his management and gave employment
to a number of clerks. The feature of
his business was his advertising methods, unique in their way, and these were
copied by merchants in his line all over the country. While giving his attention to his own affairs
Mr. Logan did not neglect the duties of citizenship and always manifested an
abiding interest in the business, social and civic life of the city. He served as vice president of the Merchants
and Manufacturers Association; president of the Retail Hat Dealers Association
of Southern California for years; a member of the Associated Credit Men of Los
Angeles and acting president in 1920; and was an active member of the Los
Angeles Chamber of Commerce. As he
prospered in business Mr. Logan invested heavily in real estate and in 1925
retired from business to give his attention to his realty interests. He was very popular among his friends and
could be counted upon to support every worth-while enterprise with his
influence and means and his advice was often sought in various cases because of
his sound judgment and reasoning.
On
June 5, 1906, in Los Angeles, George Burket Logan was united in marriage with
Ethel Belle Culver, a native of Sioux City, Iowa, and a daughter of Jefferson
and Sarah (Hazard) Culver, natives of New York City and Columbia County,
Wisconsin, respectively. Both died in
Los Angeles, the former on June 1, 1928, and the latter on August 27,
1932. Mrs. Logan attended the public
schools and took a course in the Cummock School of
Expression founded by Mrs. Grigg in Los Angeles. Mr. Logan was a member of the Masons,
Southern California Lodge No. 278, F. & A. M., and Al Malaikah Temple of
the Mystic Shrine; he also was a member of Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks, the Jonathan Club, the Rotary Club, the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and
the El Caballero Country Club. He died
at his home on Vineyard Avenue January 21, 1935, when in the fifty-sixth year
of his age. His funeral services were
conducted by his Masonic lodge.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. V, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 377-379,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPHIES