Los Angeles County
Biographies
PEARL HAWLEY SMITH
SMITH, PEARL HAWLEY,
Capitalist, Los Angeles, Cal., was born at Mount Pleasant, Iowa,
May 18, 1861, the son of Simon Smith and Jane (Kelly) Smith. He
married Blanche Dewey Cooke at New Orleans, Louisiana. He has two children,
Seville and Pearl Hawley Smith, Jr. Mr. Smith is of Dutch-Irish descent.
His father served in the Civil War as a cavalryman under Captain Winslow in the
Fourth Iowa Regiment, and his mother was noted in Iowa for her philanthropies
and her interest in church affairs.
Mr. Smith, who is ranked with the business men of large
affairs, in this country, was not favored with riches in his youth. He began
his education in the public schools of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and later, in his
desire to obtain higher education, swept the rooms and built the fires of Howe’s
Academy in order to pay for his tuition. He had as his teacher there
S. C. Howe, son of the celebrated Professor Samuel Howe, who had
taught many famous men, among them General William T. Sherman and Benjamin
Harrison, afterwards President of the United States. Leaving Howe’s Academy,
Mr. Smith went to the Iowa Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant and there
concluded his education.
Following his graduation, Mr. Smith, who had heard of the
great ore discoveries in the Mesaba Range in
Minnesota, decided to go there in search of fortune, and as a result of his
prospecting trip, discovered and located a strip of valuable iron ore land.
This tract, 154 acres in extent, had been overlooked by the United States
surveyors when they were platting the country into townships and sections and,
as it was virtually “no man’s land,” Mr. Smith, then hardly more than a
boy in years, “squatted” on the property. Up to this point his progress had
been comparatively easy, but he was destined to go through one of the bitterest
battles in the history of the Minnesota iron fields. The powerful interests
that had acquired the bulk of the iron lands, soon
learned that the Smith property was one of the richest in iron in the entire
State of Minnesota, and sought to get possession of it. They tried coercion and
cajolery, and in other ways sought to drive him out of the country, but
Mr. Smith, in whom tenacity is a strong characteristic, resisted at every
point their attempts to dispossess him. He fought to retain possession of the
land for fifteen years. At the end of that time the Federal Government granted
him clear title, thus making him one of the Mesaba
Iron Kings. This land he has leased for several years to M. A. Hanna
& Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, of which the late United States Senator Mark
Hanna was the head, and which is now conducted by his estate together with his
sons and associates. Mr. Smith has reaped a large fortune from his iron
holdings, but in the days when he was fighting for the property he underwent
hardships and suffering that only a man of his great physical strength could
have endured. He is gigantic in build, standing six feet and three inches in
height and is endowed with great strength. While at college he was a noted
athlete and held the record in his day for throwing a baseball, he having
propelled the sphere a distance of three hundred and ninety-four feet and two
inches. He also was a splendid swimmer, boxer and wrestler, and during his
college days devoted a great deal of time to these
sports. It was this training which enabled him to endure the rigors of winter,
year after year during his land fight, for in that time he was compelled to
live on the land, and passed months in his cabin, located in a wilderness miles
away from civilization.
In addition to his iron holdings in Minnesota,
Mr. Smith is identified with other successful lines of activity, to which
he has lent his force and capital. In these, as in all enterprises with which
he is associated, he is a leading factor. He has made most of his investments
in real estate and mineral lands and was the organizer of the Smith &
McLaren Company, owners of 9000 acres of coal lands in the Mendota District of
the State of Washington. This property is operated under the name of the
Mendota Coal & Coke Company. Mr. Smith and Mr. McLaren purchased
these lands soon after the former had won out in his Mesaba
ore fight, and he has been the directing force in the development of the
business, which, owing to the scarcity of coal on the Pacific Coast, has become
one of the important commercial enterprises of the West.
Mr. Smith devotes most of his time to his business, but
since 1908, when he established his home at Los Angeles, he has been engaged in
gathering an art collection, and is the possessor of one of the notable
collections of the West.
Among his pictures is a Venetian scene by Mourin; “Perplexity,” a character study by A. Palau; “The
Storm,” a waterscape by Donovan; “Reveries of a Bachelor,” by Mary Hinkson; two paintings by Yeend
King; “North Sea Fishermen,” by Faser, of London; “Hot
Toddy,” by Harwood, and several others. In addition, Mr. Smith has a
splendid collection of Oriental rugs and rare specimens of precious stones.
Mr. Smith travels extensively and is a well known figure
in the leading art centers of Europe, which he frequents on his trips abroad,
in search of rare works to add to his collection.
He is not actively interested in politics, but is keen
for the growth of Los Angeles and has lent his assistance to various movements
of a civic nature. He is also prominent in club and fraternal circles, being a
member of the California Club, Los Angeles Country Club, Order of Elks, and
several educational clubs and associations.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
24 September 2011.
Source: Press Reference
Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 703, International News Service,
New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2011 Marie Hassard.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPIES