Los Angeles County
Biographies
EZRA THOMAS STIMSON
STIMSON, EZRA THOMAS, Lumberman, Los Angeles, California, was born at Big Rapids, Mecosta County, Michigan, August 18, 1861, the son of Thomas D. Stimson and Acacia J. (Spencer) Stimson. He married Anna C. Waters at Muskegon, Michigan, April 13, 1886. He is descended of a family long prominent in the commercial progress of the country, his father having been a pioneer lumberman and the founder of a gigantic business which he and his brothers are now conducting.
Mr. Stimson’s father was of Welsh descent, possessed of the ruggedness for which Welshmen are noted. For many years prior to moving to the far West he had been one of the leading lumbermen of Michigan and was the head of an extensive business. He had large timber holdings in northern Michigan, with mills at Muskegon, and accumulated a large fortune before he retired from business and transferred his residence to Los Angeles, where at first he sought only rest and recreation. He did not remain inactive long, but planned and built the Stimson Building, at that time one of the finest buildings of the West and still one of the imposing structures of Los Angeles. He died in 1898, but the lumber business founded by him is still carried on by his sons, E. T., Charles D. and F. S. Stimson.
E. T. Stimson received his early education in the public schools of Big Rapids, Michigan, and later attended Fairbault Military Academy, in Minnesota, leaving the latter institution in 1883 to go into the lumber business with his father.
Going to Muskegon, where his father’s mills were located, Mr. Stimson began in a minor capacity, it being the idea of his father to train him thoroughly in the manufacturing end of the business. He passed through the various grades and in 1887, when the elder Stimson established a lumber yard at South Chicago, Illinois, he was sent there as its first foreman.
Mr. Stimson was in charge of the business at South Chicago until 1890, and then went to Seattle, Washington, where, with his brothers, Charles D. and Frederick S. Stimson, he purchased large timber properties and built two lumber mills which are still in operation under the ownership of the Stimson Mill Company. These mills have been among the important units of the lumber industry of the Northwest from the time they were established and Mr. Stimson, as Treasurer of the company, takes an active part in their management. Although he has made his home in Los Angeles since some time during the year 1892, he spends some part of each year in the North.
Mr. Stimson first went to Los Angeles to establish a wholesale and retail lumber yard to distribute through Southern California and the Southwest in general the products of the mills owned by his company at Seattle. He conducted this enterprise with great success for about eighteen years, or until 1910, when he disposed of it in order to look after other interests and to manage the estate of his father.
He is still heavily interested with his brothers in lumbering operations in the State of Washington, their mills at Seattle, where they maintain their headquarters, having a capacity of 125,000 feet of lumber per day. The holdings of the three brothers are the largest of any on the Pacific Coast, it being estimated that they have enough timber in sight to keep their mills running at full capacity for the next twenty-five years.
In addition to his lumber interests, Mr. Stimson, for many years, has been actively interested in petroleum production in Southern California and Mexico, and in this branch of industry is associated with several of the leading oil producers of the United States and Mexico.
In company with the above, all of whom are well known capitalists of the Southwest, headed by E. L. Doheny and C. A. Canfield, he, in 1902, acted as one of the incorporators of the Mexican Petroleum Company, Ltd., to operate in Mexico. This company was the forerunner of numerous other American-owned oil corporations in Mexico and is rated among the largest producing companies in North America, having large holdings of oil lands, numerous wells and various subsidiaries. The National Gas Company of Mexico, which supplies the lighting and fuel gas used in Mexico City and other places in the Republic, being one of the latter.
Mr. Stimson has various other interests in Los Angeles and Southern California, and has under his management the Stimson Building, owned by the Stimson Estate. He also is a factor in the financial affairs of the city, being a member of the Board of Directors of the Merchants’ National Bank of Los Angeles, one of the strong financial institutions of the West.
Recognized as one of the progressive men of the city, he takes an active part in civic affairs of a non-political nature, but never has ventured into the political field. His father before him was intensely interested in the upbuilding of Los Angeles and Mr. Stimson, ever since his residence there, has given up much of his time to movements for the general improvement of the city.
As a member of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, he has taken an active part in various civic enterprises fathered by the organization, and is generally regarded as one of the energetic workers in the membership of the body.
He devotes the greater part of his time to business affairs, but despite the diversity of his interests finds time for recreation in golf and automobiling. He also has traveled extensively in the United States and Europe and is a member of the leading clubs of Los Angeles, these including the California Club, Los Angeles country Club, Jonathan Club and the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
Transcribed
by Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 751,
International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2011 Joyce
Rugeroni.
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