Samuel Bradford Caswell

Samuel Bradford Caswell (1828–1898) was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles Common Council, as well as one of the first trustees of the first Los Angeles public library.

Personal

Caswell was born January 3, 1828, in Taunton, Massachusetts, and about 1845 he moved to Fall River, and in 1849 to Wareham, where he was married to Mary Bradford Gibbs the same year. They had one daughter, who died around 1878, and a son, William M. Caswell.[1][2]

For many years Caswell was a trustee in the local Unitarian Church.[3]

In May 1895 the Caswells made a trip to Europe, returning aboard the RMS Campania of the Cunard Line.[4]

Caswell felt a heart pain in the morning of February 3, 1898, but went to work as usual. At midday, though, he returned to his home at the southeast corner of West 5th Street and Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, the site of today's central Los Angeles Public Library.[5] Later that afternoon he collapsed and died in a greenhouse in his garden.[3] "The news spread rapidly and many friends of the family hastened to the Caswell residence to offer their condolences and any assistance they might render." Interment was February 6 at Rosedale Cemetery.[1][6]

Vocation

He went to Nevada County in 1855, leaving his family in San Francisco, and became a miner, pioneering in the use of hydraulic washing in the mining process. He was also in the mercantile and express businesses. He moved to Los Angeles in 1865 or 1866 and opened a general merchandise store with John F. Ellis at the corner of Los Angeles and Arcadia streets.[1][2]

In 1887 Caswell was appointed by a Superior Court judge as a special administrator in the estate of wealthy landowner and entrepreneur Remi Nadeau, whose will was being contested by Nadeau's son, George A.[7]

On December 14, 1876, he, with J.F. Ellis and H.C. Wiley, filed a claim to the Towsley Petroleum Mine in Newhall, California, and on August 20, 1879, they received a mineral lode patent from the U.S. government, which gave them title.[8]

In 1878 he became auditor of the Los Angeles City Water Company,[1][2] and on August 3, 1890, he was arrested "on three charges of violating the water ordinance, charging higher rates than those fixed by the [Common] Council. He was taken before Justice Austin, when the cases were set for trial, and he was released on his own recognizance.[9] There is no record of the disposition of this case.

Public service

Caswell was elected to the Los Angeles Common Council, the governing body of the city, on December 6, 1869, and served until December 9, 1870.[10]

In 1872 Caswell was chosen to the first board of trustees of the Los Angeles Library Association, which was just then being organized.[11][12] He served on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 1872–74, representing the 1st District, and from 1875 to 1878 he was clerk to the Common Council.[2]

Legacy

Caswell is honored with a plaque in the interior of the Los Angeles Public Library, stating: [13]

In honor of the founders of the Los Angeles Public Library. The first board of trustees 1872–1878. John G. Downey – president; H.K.W. Bent; R.H. Dalton; W.B. Lawlor; W.H. Mace; J.R. McConnell; Harris Newmark; A.W. Potts; Ygnacio Sepulveda; George Hugh Smith; George Stoneman; T.W. Temple, 1925.

Being Dead They Yet Speak.

References

Access to the Los Angeles Times links may require the use of a library card.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Died Very Suddenly," Los Angeles Times, February 4, 1898, page 7
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Sudden Death: Samuel B. Caswell Expires Without Warning," Los Angeles Herald, February 5, 1898, Image 5
  4. ↑ The Gjenvick-Gjonvik Archives
  5. ↑ Location of the Caswell home on Mapping L.A.
  6. ↑ "Death Record," Los Angeles Times, February 5, 1898, page 14
  7. ↑ "Nadeau's Will," Los Angeles Times, February 17, 1887, page 3
  8. ↑ "Brief History of Oil Development in Towsley Canyon"
  9. ↑ "City Briefs," Los Angeles Times, August 3, 1890, page 8
  10. ↑ Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials,1850-1938, compiled under direction of Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles (March 1938, reprinted 1966). "Prepared ... as a report on Project No. SA 3123-5703-6077-8121-9900 conducted under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration."
  11. ↑ Classified advertisement, Los Angeles Daily Herald, December 28, 1873, image 1
  12. ↑ "Los Angeles Public Library," Los Angeles Times, December 5, 1897, page 14
  13. ↑ "Lodwrick M. Cook Rotunda, Public Art in L.A.