Los Angeles County CA Archives Biographies.....Langdon, Frank C. 1856 - ************************************************ 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 13, 2005, 12:10 am Author: Luther A. Ingersoll (1908) FRANK C. LANGDON, a pioneer and representative citizen of Sawtelle, is a native of Spencertown, Columbia County, New York, where he was born the 17th day of March, 1856. His father, Lyman W. Langdon, was of New England parentage and ancestry and was born in New Hampshire in 1802, where his boyhood was spent. When a young man he owned boats on the Hudson River, which he navigated to points north of New York City. He married Miss Zulina Hull, who bore him five sons and six daughters, ten of whom grew to maturity In 1857 the family moved to New York and located on a farm in Columbia County. In 1857 they emigrated to Illinois and settled near Galena, in Daviess County. From here three sons, Henry, Eugene and Edgar, volunteered in the Federal Army to fight for the preservation of the Union. Henry lost an arm in the Battle of Corinth, Eugene was wounded at Lookout Mountain, and Edgar lost four fingers of his right hand while on picket duty. The family in 1866 moved again westward and located on the open prairie in Lyon County, Minnesota, and for several years there lived with Sioux Indians as their principal neighbors. Returning to Illinois they lived for a time at Cleveland, McHenry County. In 1880 they removed to Brainerd, Minnesota, where the father died in 1882. Mr. Langdon married in 1879 at Glenwood, Pope County, Minnesota, Miss Nellie E., daughter of Colonel Stephen J. Russell, a fanner by occupation, a veteran of the civil war, for several years sheriff of Douglass County, Minnesota. He was a native of London, England. He came to California in 1892 and lived for a time at Inglewood. He died at Sawtelle July 8th, 1905, at seventy-three years of age. In the winter of 1885-6, Mr. Langdon went to Sims, Morton County, Dakota and engaged in stock raising. In March, 1888, he went to Montana to prospect for gold. He commenced operations in Lewis and Clark County about eighteen miles northeast of Helena and for a time had indifferent success. In the month of July, while drifting into the side of a bluff at French Bar on the Upper Missouri River, he unearthed a vein of quartz that proved to be a veritable mine of sapphires, rubies and diamonds of almost fabulous wealth. One, a rose diamond, of twelve karats, value $30,000, was put on exhibition at the Paris Exposition by Prof. Kunz, of Tiffany & Company, New York. This is the first and only vein of sapphire and ruby quartz ever discovered and created a sensation through the mineral world— diamonds in Africa having been found in alluvial washings. Mr. Langdon and a brother, Edgar Langdon, who was associated with him in mining operations, sold their claim for $50,000 cash and the property later passed into the hands of the Rothschilds Brothers, of London, England, who paid $500,000 for it, who developed it and it has since been sold for $20,000,000. Mr. Langdon still owns a quantity of these beautiful gems as souvenirs of his mining exploits. After disposing of his mine interests in Montana, Mr. Langdon returned to Hart River, forty miles west of Bismark, and engaged again in stock raising until 1899 when he came to California. The following year Mr. Langdon settled with his family in Sawtelle and cast his fortune with the then small hamlet, made up of seven buildings and occupants thereof, and from that time has been one of its most active and enterprising citizens. He has invested heavily in city realty and now owns eighteen cottages, which he leases, besides other business and residence property. He built the Langdon Hotel in 1903, which for a time was operated upon the American plan but is now upon the European plan. He has been somewhat active and influential in city politics and was one of the original movers for the incorporation of the city, the history of which movement may be found elsewhere in this volume. The second election for incorporation, held November 26th, 1906, carried about three to one, and Mr. Langdon was elected to the Board of Trustees and subsequently chosen chairman of the board, which position he later resigned in favor of the present incumbent. Mr. Langdon's services as a public official have proven eminently satisfactory to his fellow townsmen. His attitude upon all questions affecting the public weal has always been consistently in favor of a clear government and healthy condition of public morals. A man of the strictest integrity and high ideals of citizenship, the people have implicit faith in him as a true and faithful public servant. Mr. and Mrs. Langdon have two sons and two charming daughters. Nellie is wife of Frederick Pardee, of Los Angeles; Cassie, a graduate of the Dobinson School of Expression, Los Angeles, is now Mrs. Harry Keys, of Bisbee, Arizona. The older son is Frank Clifford Langdon, of Modesto, Cal., and the youngest of the family is Tedd Russell Langdon, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Langdon are leading members of the Church of Seventh Day Adventists, of Sawtelle, and are ready workers in all movements favoring the moral and spiritual upliftment of their home city. 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/langdon167bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/ File size: 6.0 Kb