GEORGE DODDRIDGE ROWAN

Los Angeles County

Biographies

GEORGE DODDRIDGE ROWAN

ROWAN, GEORGE DODDRIDGE (Deceased), Merchant and Real Estate Operator, Los Angeles, California, was born at Corfu, New York, September 7, 1844, the son of James and Rebecca Rowan. He married Miss Fannie F. Arnold, of Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, New York, at Lansing, Michigan, in 1873, and to them there were born eight children, Robert A., Frederick S., Earl Bruce, Paul, Ben. G., Philip Doddridge, Fannie F., and Florence Rowan. Mr. Rowan’s family was among the early settlers of New York State and his father was a pioneer merchant of the town of Batavia. His wife’s father was a woolen manufacturer of Rensselaer County, New York.

Mr. Rowan was reared in Batavia and attended the schools of that town during his early boyhood, and supplemented this with a course at Hamilton College, Hamilton, Ohio, whence he was graduated in 1865, after he had already made a start upon his business career.

When he was twenty years of age, or two years before he graduated from Hamilton College, Mr. Rowan associated himself with his brother-in-law, Mr. E. B. Millar, in the wholesale grocery business at Lansing, Michigan, under the firm name of E. B. Millar & Co. They operated at Lansing for several years, but in the early seventies moved to Chicago, Illinois, where the firm became one of the best known of that city. Mr. Millar managed the main business, while Mr. Rowan carried its trade to the West and finally went to the Orient, making his home in Yokohama, Japan, for more than a year. He withdrew from the firm in 1876, but the house is still in existence in Chicago, under the same name.

On account of Mrs. Rowan’s failing health, Mr. Rowan moved to Southern California in 1876-77, and located in Los Angeles, then a city of only a few thousand inhabitants. He established a grocery store on North Main Street immediately after his arrival in Los Angeles and conducted it successfully until the year 1884, when he sold out and moved to San Francisco, to engage in the commission business. He was a member of the firm of Jennings & Rowan, commission merchants, for about a year, but returned to Los Angeles in 1885 and engaged in the real estate business.

As one of the pioneer real estate men of the city, Mr. Rowan was identified with its growth to a large extent and aided in attracting to Los Angeles in those early days a large number of the residents who went to increase its population and add to its prestige among the cities of the country. Associated with Mr. Rowan in his early operations were Col. J. B. Lankershim, O. H. Churchill, I. N. Van Nuys and M. Y. Kellam, all men of large affairs, who, like him, saw the city grow to a metropolis.

He continued in the real estate business in Los Angeles for several years, being one of the men who participated in the historic boom enjoyed by the city in 1887. Although a period of depression, caused by the financial stringency which was prevalent in the country during the late eighties and early nineties, followed this boom, the men who had stirred interest to its high pitch of boom proportions, were credited with having greatly advanced world interest in the city. Mr. Rowan retired from active business in 1889, but still retained his interest in various large properties and continued in partnership with Colonel Lankershim in land operations until 1898, when the partnership dissolved.

When he retired from business in 1889, Mr. Rowan transferred his home from Los Angeles to Pasadena, Cal., but lived there only four years, returning to Los Angeles in 1893. He remained there until he was claimed by death on September 2, 1902.

Mr. Rowan was a great believer in Broadway, even when it was called Fort Street. He acquired much property on this thoroughfare and never parted with a foot of it. He also predicted that Los Angeles would be built solid from the mountains to the sea, and it now looks as if his ideas would again be proved correct.

Mr. Rowan is recalled as one of the men who built the foundation for the present greatness of Los Angeles, in the making of which his sons have taken such a prominent part.

Mr. Rowan enjoyed great personal popularity and was a member of numerous social organizations in Los Angeles and Southern California, but was especially esteemed for his exceptional integrity and fair dealing in business. A gentleman of the old school, he placed honor above all other considerations and in this respect furnished an inspiration for his sons.

He was closely identified with church work and was a supporter of all worthy charities.

Transcribed 9-12-11 Marilyn R. Pankey.

Source: Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 788, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.

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