Fred Lind Alles (August 2, 1851 – March 7, 1945) was a businessman and civic leader in Los Angeles, California, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, serving as secretary or other officer for various committees and for the
National Irrigation Congress
The National Irrigation Congress was held periodically in the Western United States beginning in 1891 and ending in 1916, by which time the organization had changed its name to International Irrigation Congress. It was a "powerful pressure group." ...
.
Professional life
Lind was born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, on August 2, 1851, and attended the public schools of
Pitt Township between 1857 and 1861. He entered the printing business as a "kid press feeder" with the ''
Pittsburgh Post
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...
'' at age about 13 in 1864, followed by stints at the ''
Pittsburgh Dispatch
The ''Pittsburgh Dispatch'' was a leading newspaper in Pittsburgh, operating from 1846 to 1923. After being enlarged by publisher Daniel O'Neill it was reportedly one of the largest and most prosperous newspapers in the United States. From 1880 ...
'' and the ''Workingman's Advocate,'' also in Pittsburgh.
[
He moved to Chicago in 1868, where he was an office worker at the ''Religio-Philosophical Journal,'' being then promoted to foreman and writer. During this time, he attended a public school in Saint Charles, Illinois. He moved in 1872 to ]Sparta, Illinois
Sparta is a city in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,095 at the 2020 census.
The city was the principal filming location for the 1967 film '' In the Heat of the Night''.
Consumer ammunition manufacturer Underwood a ...
, where he was the publisher of the ''Sparta Plain Dealer.'' In 1874 he was the editor of the Belleville, Illinois, ''Advocate,'' and he worked for the ''Sentinel'' in Pontiac, Illinois
Pontiac is a city in Livingston County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,931 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Livingston County. The town is also the setting of the 1984 movie '' Grandview, U.S.A.''
Geography
Location
...
, from 1875 to 1883.[
Lind moved to ]Ontario, California
Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...
, in 1883, where he was president of the San Antonio Water Company in 1884 and 1885. Between 1884 and 1888 he was the publisher of ''Rural Californian'' magazine. In 1887, to recover his health, he made a trip to Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
, accompanied by Senators George Graham Vest
George Graham Vest (December 6, 1830August 9, 1904) was a U.S. politician. Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, he was known for his skills in oration and debate. Vest, a lawyer as well as a politician, served as a Missouri Congressman, a Confederate ...
of Missouri, Charles B. Farwell of Illinois and J. Donald Cameron of Pennsylvania, and returned "weighing fourteen pounds more than when I started."
In 1889 he became temporary managing editor of the '' Riverside Press and Horticulturalist,'' but the next year he sold his Riverside County
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...
orange grove and moved back to Los Angeles, where he became secretary and general manager of the Los Angeles Printing Company between 1890 and 1902.[ In 1890, a strike by printers
]paralyzed the composing rooms of all the Los Angeles newspapers. Alles rounded up his print shop employees and dashed to the rescue, taking personal charge of the composing room of The Times and putting two of his foremen in charge of printing The Tribune and the Herald. One of his proudest possessions n 1941is a letter from Gen. Harrison Gray Otis thanking him for his efforts, "without which it would have been necessary for The Times to temporarily suspend publication.
In March 1897 he became business manager of the '' Los Angeles Express,'' and in 1901 he established his own printing business, which he maintained until 1905.[
Alles was honored in January 1941 for his life's work when a portrait of him by artist Arthur Cahill was unveiled in Los Angeles's prestigious California Club.]
Volunteer work
Lind volunteered as an officer or member of many nonprofit organizations
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
. They included:
* Illinois Press Association between 1877 and 1883, secretary[
* Pomological Society, Los Angeles, secretary, 1885
* Illinois Society of Los Angeles, secretary, 1886
* Los Angeles Fair Committee, secretary, 1887
* ]National Irrigation Congress
The National Irrigation Congress was held periodically in the Western United States beginning in 1891 and ending in 1916, by which time the organization had changed its name to International Irrigation Congress. It was a "powerful pressure group." ...
, secretary, between 1893 and 1895[
* La Fiesta Association in Los Angeles, organizer of an annual parade and fiesta, vice president, 1896 and 1897][
* ]Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is Southern California's largest not-for-profit business federation, representing the interests of more than 235,000 businesses in L.A. County, more than 1,400 member companies and more than 722,430 employ ...
, director, 1897[
* Mechanics Institute in Los Angeles, director and secretary, from 1902 to 1923.][
* Sunset Club of Los Angeles, secretary, for which he wrote ''The Sunset Club: A History'' in 1905.][
By 1889 Alles had become commissioner of immigration for the Southern California Immigration Association and made a four-month trip to Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia that year. On his return, he was quoted as saying:
]Everywhere I found people interested in . . . Southern California, and all were anxious to obtain some reliable information about our soil, our climate, our resources and our future prospects. . . . The impression that this is only a country for rich men is everywhere present, and people were surprised on being told that we have an abundance of cheap lands which can be profitably worked by men of ordinary intelligence possessed of muscle which they are not afraid to use.
In September 1889, Alles began circulating a petition to change the name of Fort Street in downtown Los Angeles to Broadway southward between First and Tenth Streets and to North Broadway northward of First Street, At first the petition "received but little encouragement," the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported, "as Fort Street is one of the oldest landmarks in Los Angeles, and the impression seemed to prevail that the name should not be blotted out," but eventually the argument that "Fort Street" sounded too much like "Fourth Street" prevailed, and the name changes were adopted.
Controversy enveloped Alles in 1895 when C.M. Heintz, his successor as secretary of the National Irrigation Congress, accused Alles of falsely claiming that the congress in Albuquerque, New Mexico, had voted to thank both Alles and congress chairman William E. Smythe for their service after they had announced they would not seek re-election to their seats. Alles was defended editorially in articles in both the ''Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Herald.''
Personal life
Lind was born August 2, 1851, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Henry Alles or Alois and Elizabeth Kaufman. In his later years, he recalled that he once sat on a streetcar seat next to former president Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...
, who died in 1862, when Alles was about seven. He was married to Mary Elizabeth Allen in Sparta, Illinois, on December 4, 1873, in a double wedding with Mary's sister, Avis. Lind and Mary Elizabeth had three children, Allen Alles, Clara Lavinia Greaves and Lind Chesley Alles. Mary Elizabeth died on July 23, 1923, at the age of 73.[
Alles died March 7, 1945, at the age of 93. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alles, Fred Lind
1851 births
1945 deaths
American businesspeople
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
People from Pontiac, Illinois
People from Sparta, Illinois