Los Angeles County
Biographies
REA EDWARDS MAYNARD
MAYNARD, REA EDWARDS, Civil and Mining Engineer, Los Angeles, California, was born in Tipton, Iowa, July 17, 1870, the son of Dr. Henry H. Maynard and Susan H. (Edwards) Maynard. The Maynard and Edwards families are among the oldest in the United States, Mr. Maynard’s maternal grandfather, Gen. John Edwards, having been a noted officer of the Union Army in the Civil War and his father a noted surgeon during the war and in Los Angeles.
Since his eleventh year Mr. Maynard has been a resident of California and received his education in the schools of the city of Los Angeles. After leaving high school he entered Leland Stanford, Jr. University and was graduated in 1894 with the degree of A.B. in Mechanical Engineering. He supplemented this with a year at the Colorado School of Mines, graduating in 1896 with the degree of Engineer of Mines.
Following his graduation, Mr. Maynard went to Arizona and there became associated with the Standard Mine Company. He was thus engaged for about a year, resigning at the end of that time to go to the Hawaiian Islands. He remained in the Islands for approximately five years and during that time was engaged in extensive engineering projects, which formed a large part of the modern improvement and development work in that country.
His chief work was the building of railroads for various corporations in Hawaii, these including the Honolulu Plantation Company, the Kona Sugar Company and the Hawaiian Agriculture Company. He also designed and supervised the building of various municipal improvements in the city of Honolulu, serving as engineer for the Government there for more than a year.
On the completion of his tasks in Hawaii, Mr. Maynard, who had won a splendid reputation for himself in those few years, was employed by W. P. Hammon, of San Francisco, to report on tin mining properties in Southern Asia. Mr. Maynard was engaged on this work for about a year, and in 1905 returned to San Francisco, having been out of the United States for about six years.
In San Francisco Mr. Maynard accepted the position of Superintendent of Construction for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, having charge of their work for about a year. He then resigned to become a Director in the California Nevada Electric Power Company, in which he had purchased an interest. This company was engaged in various important power projects in the West and for nearly two years Mr. Maynard aided in the work to the exclusion of everything else. In 1908, however, he bought an interest in the Globe Construction Company, and took an active part in its affairs also.
Disposing of his other interests in 1910, Mr. Maynard became Chief Engineer for Captain John Barneson and E. J. De Sabla, of San Francisco, in the handling of various projects and also was chosen Chief Engineer for the General Petroleum Company, General Construction Company and the General Pipe Line Company of California, three affiliated concerns in which Messrs. Barneson and De Sabla were heavily interested. He is engaged in directing the construction work of these companies at the present time (1912-13), all projects of vast magnitude.
Mr. Maynard is one of the highly regarded men of Los Angeles, both professionally and as a substantial man of business.
He is a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers and is also prominent in fraternal and club circles. He is a member of the Honolulu Lodge of Elks and a Thirty-Second Degree Mason, member of the Shrine, and other organizations in Los Angeles. He is also a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
Transcribed 6-2-09
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 293, International
News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston,
Atlanta. 1913.
© 2009 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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