Los Angeles-Inyo County CA Archives Biographies.....Hull, William I. 1859 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com December 12, 2005, 10:46 pm Author: Luther A. Ingersoll (1908) WILLIAM I. HULL, who is one of the most active and influential citizens of Santa Monica, is a native of Lynn County, Oregon, born December 4th, 1859. His father, Nathan Hull, was a public school teacher by profession, upwards of thirty years of his life being given to the work. He was born in Cattaraugus County, New York, August 2nd, 1823. He came to California as early as 1852 and mined in the placer gold diggings of the central part of the state and likewise in the bed of the American River, in which he was moderately successful. In 1853 he emigrated to Oregon, locating in Lynn County, where he pursued his profession, held the office of County Superintendent of Schools and also engaged in farming. He there married Miss Nancy Stillwell, who was a native of Indiana; she came west at eighteen years of age, an orphan, to live with a sister. In 1876 the family removed to Inyo County, California, purchased a farm, and located near the town of Bishop. There Mr. Hull founded and served as president of the first corporation organized to take water out of the Owens River for irrigating purposes, which enterprise has developed into the most successful system in the Owens River Valley. He owned a transit and made his own surveys. In 1884 he removed to Los Angeles where he purchased a ranch on Alameda Street, adjoining the city limits to the south; there he died in 1891 at sixty-eight years of age. He was a man of great energy; while possessing strong religious convictions he was not a member of any church. He had ten children, of whom William I. is the fourth and oldest living. Up to sixteen years of age William I. lived in Oregon and enjoyed the advantages of good schooling. In 1882 he came to Los Angeles where he found employment with Northcraft & Clark, furniture dealers. In 1884 he came to Santa Monica and embarked in business for himself, furnishing tents and camp supplies. This business he pursued about two years. In 1886 he built a bath house on the ocean front at the foot of Colorado Avenue, known as Central Bath, which he sold a year later. During the real estate boom of 1887 he bought and sold real estate, handling only his own property. In 1891 he purchased of J. L. Allen what was the nucleus to his present, extensive furniture business. It was a small store on Third Street, between Utah and Arizona Avenues, having about 1500 feet of floor space. Mr. Hull has been continuously in the business from that date and now has a veritable emporium in the two story W. C. T. U. Building, 1429 Third Street, with over 8000 feet of floor space and 15,000 feet of floor space in buildings of his situated at 1517-1521 Third Street, embracing an extensive stock of house furnishing goods of nearly all descriptions. In 1888 Mr. Hull married Mary A., a daughter of Thomas H. Elliott, one of Santa Monica's esteemed pioneers. (See index.) Mr. and Mrs. Hull have two sons, Francis E. and Walter I. An only daughter, Grace, died in 1903 at five years of age. It is safe to say that no citizen of Santa Monica has been more intimately in touch with the civic, business and social development of the city than has Mr. Hull. He has always taken a personal interest in municipal affairs and has ever been found on the side of clean government. By instinct and training a temperance man, he has stood for principles advanced by the National Prohibition Party and has opposed the saloon on general principles as a menace to good society and public morals and has, therefore, worked in harmony with all movements to regulate the local liquor traffic. When Mr. Hull came to Santa Monica it was a small town of about 300 people, supporting twelve saloons. It is for the citizen of the beautiful city of today to say whether or not organized opposition to saloons and rigid regulation of the same by fostering a strong public temperance sentiment is a good thing for a growing community. When called by his party to stand for public office, Mr. Hull has accepted the role that he deems the duty of every American citizen, and was made the candidate for his party for the State Assembly in 1902 and the State Senate in 1904. Mr. Hull was one of the organizers of the first city fire department in 1889 and served as president of the organization about fifteen years. He retired from active membership of the department in the spring of 1907, tendering the fire boys a banquet as a fitting recognition of long terms of faithful service. Mr. Hull has served five years as a member of the City Library Board of Trustees and was president of the Board from 1903 to 1907. He is one of the organizers of the Santa Monica Board of Trade, which is an alliance' of citizens representing the leading business and commercial interests of the city, having at heart the public weal, civic and otherwise, and has been president of the reorganized board two years. Mr. Hull has never been a seeker for public office, preferring as a rule to work in the ranks. In response to what seemed a call of duty, he became a candidate for mayor of Santa Monica under the Freeholders Charter of 1907,and was loyally supported by a large constituency. With two other candidates in the field, he failed of election by 107 votes. His campaign for the office was made upon a platform which clearly and frankly defined his position upon questions of public expediency that were made issues of the campaign, which was dignified and noticeably free from the average political bickerings and invidious personalities. Mr. Hull is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters and has served one term as Chief Ranger and a like period of time as High Auditor of the State. He is a Good Templar of thirty-six years standing and has been an active supporter of the work of the local lodge. He is very active in the Grand Lodge of the State, and Chairman of the Finance Committee for many years. No citizen of Santa Monica entertains higher ideals of true American citizenship and more nearly succeeds in living up to those ideals than W. I. Hull. He is essentially a man of action and during his twenty-four years residence in Santa Monica has been identified with every public movement for the city's upbuilding and growth. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Ingersoll's century history, Santa Monica Bay cities: prefaced with a brief history of the state of California, a condensed history of Los Angeles County, 1542 to 1908: supplemented with an encyclopedia of local biography and embellished with views of historic landmarks and portraits of representative people. Los Angeles: Luther A. Ingersoll (1908) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/losangeles/bios/hull147bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/ File size: 7.2 Kb