Los Angeles County
Biographies
GEORGE
DOUGLAS PESSELL
George Douglas Pessell, member of the Los Angeles city council in the ‘90s, has also made a very creditable record in the responsible position of treasurer of the Municipal Water, Power & Light Department of the City of Los Angeles. He was born on a farm in Allen, Hillsdale county, Michigan, October 21, 1860, a son of Henry D.and Susan (Watkins) Pessell, and the eldest of eight children, all living but one. One brother, Arthur, is a retired railroad man, and a sister, Mrs. Lucy Mitchell, is a teacher in The John Muir School. George D. remained at home until he had attained his majority. In the acquirement of an education he attended the district and high schools of his native state and subsequently pursued a business course at Valparaiso, Indiana. He became a district school teacher when a youth of eighteen years and at the age of about twenty-two entered the employ of the Champion Machine Company, with which he remained for five years or until 1887. In that year he came to California for the benefit of his health, arriving in Los Angeles on the 9th of October, and the following morning obtained a position in the post office under E. A. Preuss, postmaster, and Motley Flint, assistant postmaster. Later he was in the service of the Lowe Gas Company until it was sold to the City Gas Company and next spent two years with the Germain Fruit Company. Thereafter he was associated for four years with C. J. Shepherd, fruit buyer and shipper, at Winthrop Station, at the corner of what is now Main and Jefferson streets. He shipped the first carload of oranges across the Rocky Mountains from the Wolfskill orchard. In 1892 he was elected councilman from the sixth ward, which comprised all the territory south of Ninth street and east of Main street. He thus served for two terms and afterward was out of the council for two terms, during which period he filled the position of exchange teller in the old State Loan and Trust Company at the corner of Second and Spring streets. Mr. Pessel was then reelected to the city council serving for another term. He was a member of that body during the hard times of 1893, when work was provided for the unemployed by the building of roads at Elysian Park. It was also during his aldermanic service that the city jail was erected, together with the city hall which was located on Broadway and which was expected to stand for generations. The Richmond fire alarm system was replaced by the present system, and streets, sidewalks, sewers and other public improvements marked the growth of the city. South Park was purchased and developed, and the site for the outfall sewer was purchased from Dan Freeman. Mr. Pessell was a member of the land committee that accepted the land now comprising Griffith Park from J. G. Griffith. At the conclusion of his third term in the city council, Mr. Pessell was appointed by Mayor Snyder to the water department, with which he has since been continuously associated, having served as water overseer and as cashier. The following interesting review of his career appeared in the publication “Intake” in 1932:
“George D. Pessell, known to most of us as cashier of the department of water and power, also may justly be called Zanjero of the city of Los Angeles. He received the last appointment to this position in 1901 and so far as the records show he retains that title, even though the work of Zanjero or water overseer has been cast aside with the growth of the city.
“Since Mr. Pessell’s arrival in Los Angeles from his birthplace in Allen, Hillsdale county, Michigan, he has been bookkeeper, accountant, councilman, zanjero and cashier. The cheery, friendly cashier came west forty-six years ago. After his connection with many of the leading business enterprises in Los Angeles, he was elected councilman from the sixth ward in 1891.
“As councilman, Mr. Pessell’s name was linked with many forward movements of a civic nature, notably construction of the first outfall sewer, the city jail, purchase of land for South Park. During his term in council, grant was given to two men named Doheny and McGinnis to drill for oil in the Wilshire district. Thus was a fortune (for Mr. Doheny) started.
“Mayor Snyder appointed Mr. Pessell zanjero or water overseer in 1901. Senator del Valle relates that in years gone by the zanjero was looked upon as the most important individual in the city. Under Mr. Pessell the work covered supervision of irrigation water, the domestic service being handled by a private company.
“When the city took over the company properties in 1902, Zanjero Pessell joined the department and has continued with us since. For fifteen years he has been cashier. He retains the same kind heart, is ready with sympathy and understanding for all and ever ready with a helping hand. He offers an example in courtesy and friendliness we all might emulate.
“Mr. Pessell is one of the two charter members of South Gate Masonic Lodge No. 320. With the approach of Christmas, Mr. Pessell likes to recall an early buying experience in Los Angeles. It was Christmas Eve—one of those nice rainy kind. He and his brother started downtown for a last-minute buying tour. They came down via mule-drawn street cars on Main street. After exhausting themselves lifting the car back on the slipper rails, they gave up, walked to a drug store at the corner of Washington and Main streets and did their buying near home.”
On te 31st of January, 1885, in Michigan, Mr. Pessell was united in marriage to Lillian E. Barnes, also a native of that state, who had been on of his schoolmates and pupils in earlier years. Mr. And Mrs. Pessell are the parents of four daughters, the eldest born in Michigan and the other three in California. They are as follows: Grace, the wife of Arthur Bierley, of Los Angeles; Marian, who is the wife of C. D. La Moree, of Los Angeles, and the mother of a son, George De Witt; Myrtle, the wife of Willim A. Swanfeldt, of Los Angeles, and the mother of two sons, Roy and Jack; and Cora, twin sister of Myrtle, who is the wife of Stanley West, of Burlingame, California, and has three daughters, Marian, Muriel and Florence. The family home is at 2130 Santee street, in which locality Mr. Pessell has resided continuously since 1887. He is a member of the City Club of Los Angeles and has long enjoyed high standing in civic and social circles here.
Transcribed 3-24-12 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: California
of the South Vol. II, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages
211-214, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 Marilyn R. Pankey.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPIES