Los Angeles County
Biographies
Arthur B.
Mullen
MULLEN,
ARTHUR B., Clothing Merchant, Los Angeles, California, is a native of Wisconsin,
having been born in Milwaukee,
September 19, 1874. His father was
Andrew Mullen and his mother Mary Teresa Mullen.
Andrew
Mullen, Arthur B. Mullen’s father, was one of the most progressive and highly
respected men of Los Angeles, Southern
California. He was the
founder of the Mullen & Bluett Clothing Company and remained president of
that firm until the time of his death, March 4, 1899. He was appointed by Governor Markham to the
Board of Trustees of the Whittier
State School
and served as president of that institution for a number of years. He was one of the organizers of the Los
Angeles Chamber of Commerce and was its treasurer for many years. He was also one of the organizers and a
director of the Columbia Trust Company, the Citizens National Bank and the
California Clay Manufacturing Company.
He was a most enthusiastic worker for the upbuilding of Los Angeles.
Arthur
Mullen was reared and educated in Los
Angeles, California. After passing through the grammar schools of
that city, he took a brief course in the Los Angeles Business
College. Upon completing these studies, he entered St.
Vincent’s College, Los Angeles,
where he took a college course for several years. He went East, and at
Notre Dame University, Indiana, concluded his education.
Returning
to Los Angeles, Mr. Mullen entered the employ of
the Mullen & Bluett Clothing Company, at that time located at the corner of
First and Spring streets, the high-class business
center of Los Angeles. Previous to his college studies he had worked
for the firm in various capacities, and after settling to work permanently
acted as salesman, clerk and manager of various departments. In 1901, on the death of Mr. Bluett, Mr.
Mullen was made manager of the company. He
took hold of the firm and for ten years has directed its destinies, during
which period the house has been enlarged six times. By March, 1910, the business had grown so
that the company determined to move to the southwestern part of the city, where
the business center was fast becoming established. A lease was secured on the ground floor of
the new Story Building. The firm has been located since that time in
what is perhaps the finest retail storeroom on the Pacific Coast. Mr. Mullen, as manager of the concern, has
charge of the business policies of the house, is one of the board of directors
and a principal owner.
Mr. Mullen
has other business interests aside from his connection with the Mullen &
Bluett Company. He is one of the five
heirs to the $1,000,000 Mullen estate, which in itself requires a large share
of his attention. He has other large business
interests, which include oil, mining, ranching, land and building holdings,
many of them located in and about Los
Angeles, while others are scattered over a greater
part of the Southwest.
He is a
director of the Hibernian Bank of Los
Angeles and a prominent member of the Los Angeles
Chamber of Commerce, having served that organization on numerous occasions both
by force of his capital and prestige. He
is also a member of the Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association. His extensive interests make him a prominent
factor in the development of the city, and he is one of the first subscribers
in all business and civic movements for the advancement of Greater Los Angeles.
Mr. Mullen
is well known in the club and fraternal circles of Los Angeles.
He is a member of the B. P. O. E., 99, and is a member as well as
trustee of the Knights of Columbus. He
is vice president and director of the Knickerbocker Club of that city and is a
life member of the L. A. Athletic Club.
Ed. Note: Mr. Mullen died Dec. 10, 1911.
Transcribed
by Bill Simpkins.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 837, International
News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston,
Atlanta. 1913.
© 2011 Bill
Simpkins.
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