Matthew Keller or Mathew Keller (1810–81) was an early

agriculturalist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...

and

distiller Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heatin ...

in Los Angeles, California, shortly after it became part of the United States following the Mexican War. He was also on the county Board of Supervisors and on the Common Council, the city's governing body.

Personal

Keller was born in Queenstown, Ireland Queenstown, County Cork, Ireland, in 1810 according to his grandson he graduated from Trinity College, Dublin but in fact Trinity College did not let in Catholics until 1970 and they had no record of his attending. He was well educated and his business ventures show how intelligent he was. "Inventory of the Matthew Keller Papers, 1851–1861," Huntington Museum, Online Archive of California
/ref> He married Eliza Christie and when he died in 1881 he was survived by three children, Caroline E. Shafer, Alice Shafer and Henry Workman Keller.Online Archive of California
/ref> Eight children predeceased their parents. As a mark of respect, Keller was known as

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

Mateo (Spanish for "Matthew").

Business and agriculture

He moved to Texas in the mid-1830s, then spent "the next twelve to fifteen years" in Mexico. While in Guadalajara, he met Andrew A. Boyle, and the two returned to the United States — with Keller going at first to New Orleans, then to San Francisco in 1849 and finally to Los Angeles in 1851. Keller opened a general store at the corner of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and Commercial streets and also purchased ten acres from

Manuel Requena Manuel Requena (1802–1876) was a Yucatán-born Californio politician who served multiple terms as Alcalde of Los Angeles (Mayor of Los Angeles). Requena became active in Los Angeles politics in the 1830s, during the Mexican era, and continued ...

Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...

and Aliso streets, where

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

is now situated.

There he built his home, planted fruit trees and vineyards. In 1852 he established his winery and brandy still, to be known as the Rising Sun and Los Angeles Vineyards winery. He had warehouses in San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia. In addition, he experimented with various agricultural crops —
fruit trees A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by animals and humans — all trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usage, t ...
,
castor oil plant ''Ricinus communis'', the castor bean or castor oil plant, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus, ''Ricinus'', and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of cas ...
s, hops and cotton.

It was said that "At full capacity, the winery could turn out 200 gallons of brandy and 1,000 gallons of wine daily. Keller's sherry was particularly good and won many awards at county fairs." Keller was called the "father of horticulture in Los Angeles" because, as writer Stanley Gordon put it, "In 1853 he planted orange trees from seeds obtained in Central America and Hawaii. He experimented with exotic trees, cotton, rice and tobacco.""Farewell — to Old Los Angeles"
''Los Angeles Times,'' October 22, 1933, page H-11, with a sketch of the

Los Angeles Plaza Historic District LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...

area and a photo of Keller When he sent a bunch of his grapes to the

U.S. Patent Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...

in 1856, "it was almost doubted . . . if such products are common in California." Keller was an original director of the Farmers & Merchants Bank and of the Pioneer Oil Company. In 1857 he purchased the 13,000-acre Rancho Malibu, "whose title was finally confirmed to him in 1864 after much litigation regarding its clouded title." He sold it to Frederick H. Rindge.Judi Gerber, "Laying the Foundation: How Los Angeles Became the Commercial Wine Capital of America," ''Los Angeles Agriculture,'' February 26, 2011
/ref>

Public affairs

Keller was

public administrator Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment ( public governance), management of non-profit estab ...

for Los Angeles County from 1854 to 1858 and on the Board of Supervisors from 1864 to 1867. He was a member of the Los Angeles Rangers, a

Vigilance Committee A vigilance committee was a group formed of private citizens to administer law and order or exercise power through violence in places where they considered governmental structures or actions inadequate. A form of vigilantism and often a more stru ...

and the fire department. He was also a member of the

Los Angeles Common Council The Los Angeles Common Council was the predecessor of the Los Angeles, California, City Council. It was formed in 1850 under state law, when the city had only 1,610 residents, and it existed until 1889, when the city had about 50,400 residents and ...

, the governing body of the city, in 1852–53 and 1868–69.

Legacy

The Keller name is memorialized in two Downtown Los Angeles city streets where the family once owned property — Keller Street and Mateo Street."Los Angeles Revisited," February 8, 2011
/ref> A hiking trail in Solstice Canyon in the

Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in ...

is named in honor of his winery — the Rising Sun Trail. The remains of a stone cottage that Keller built in 1865, believed to be the oldest stone building in Malibu, can be seen from the trail. It "survived many wildfires but was finally destroyed in the 2007 Corral Fire.""Santa Monica Mountains," National Park Service (with maps)
/ref>

Personal

Business and agriculture

Public affairs

Legacy

References

Further reading