Andrew Glassell
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Andrew Glassell Jr. (September 30, 1827 – January 28, 1901) was a
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 ...
real estate attorney and investor. He may be best known as one of the founders of the city of
Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before 1920. While many other ...
.


Early life

Glassell was born as Andrew Glassell in
Orange County, Virginia Orange County is a county located in the Central Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 36,254. Its county seat is Orange. Orange County includes Montpelier, the estate of James Madison, the ...
. Glassell's parents were Andrew Glassell (1793–1873) and Susanna Thornton (1804–1836). In 1834 his family moved to
Greensboro, Alabama Greensboro is a city in Hale County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 2,497, down from 2,731 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Hale County, Alabama, which was not organized until 1867. It is part o ...
, where his father engaged in cotton planting. Andrew was educated in the
University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...
, from which he graduated in 1848. Glassell studied law.


Career

In 1853, Glassell moved to
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
and established a law practice. His appointment as the
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attorney at
Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
soon followed. During the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
his sympathies were with the South, and he refused to take the
loyalty oath A loyalty oath is a pledge of allegiance to an organization, institution, or state of which an individual is a member. In the United States, such an oath has often indicated that the affiant has not been a member of a particular organization or ...
to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
required of lawyers. He left his public office and quit the practice of law and operated a lumber mill near Santa Cruz.


Los Angeles legal practice

After the war, Glassell came to
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 ...
in 1865. He formed a partnership with Alfred Chapman and Colonel George H. Smith, the firm becoming known as Glassell, Chapman & Smith. Their law practice was confined chiefly to real estate transactions and they made their fortunes by being retained in the large partition suits. When Glassell first came to California, he had worked with the federal land commission that reviewed all the old Mexican Rancho grants and so he was very well versed in title land law. Chapman was the businessman of the firm. They would take their compensation in land, and nearly every final decree in partition would find that Glassell and Chapman had quite an area of land in severalty. Glassell was involved in the legal suit known as The Great Partition of 1871 brought against the
Rancho San Rafael Rancho San Rafael was a Spanish land grant in the San Rafael Hills, bordering the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Seco in present-day Los Angeles County, southern California, given in 1784 to Jose Maria Verdugo. Geography The rancho includes ...
property in the eastern San Fernando Valley and
Verdugo Mountains The Verdugo Mountains, also known as the Verdugo Hills or simply The Verdugos, are a small, rugged mountain range of the Transverse Ranges system in Los Angeles County, California. Located just south of the western San Gabriel Mountains, the Ve ...
. The section he and Chapman were awarded later became the community of
Glassell Park, Los Angeles Glassell Park is a neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles, California, in the San Rafael Hills. Population The 2000 U.S. Census counted 23,469 residents in the 2.75-square-mile Glassell Park neighborhood—or 8,524 people per square mile, an avera ...
. In 1875 Andrew Glassell purchased
Rancho Tujunga Rancho Tujunga was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in the western Crescenta Valley and northeastern San Fernando Valley, in present-day Los Angeles County, California. It was granted in 1840 by Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado, ...
, the adjacent northern rancho in the Valley, from Agustin Olvera. Andrew Glassell was one of the incorporators of and attorney for the Farmers and Merchants' Bank. He was the first president of the
Los Angeles County Bar Association The Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) is a voluntary bar association with more than 21,000 members throughout Los Angeles County, California, and the world. Founded in 1878, LACBA's goal has been to meet the professional needs of lawye ...
in 1878 - 1880. He incorporated the 'Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad,' and was prominent in its management until it was absorbed by the Southern Pacific Railroad. When this transfer was made he became chief counsel of the S.P.
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
company in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
, and remained in that capacity until he retired in 1883.


Orange, California

Glassell, Chapman & Smith looked after the interests of the Yorba family of the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, and when after a
drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
, the final settlement was reached there was not enough cash to satisfy attorney fees. Reluctantly a few thousand acres of land were taken in payment, and Chapman and Glassell came into possession of the land on which the City of
Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before 1920. While many other ...
was built. In 1872, the Richland Farm Tract (later Orange) subdivision was placed on the market by Andrew Glassell. Glassell and Chapman employed the former's younger brother, Captain William T. Glassell to plot the town site. Captain Glassell surveyed a section of land for his brother and Chapman in 1871. He divided the tract into 60 lots surrounding a town site, which he called Richland after his father's plantation's name, and served as sales agent for the property. In 1873, when a
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
was sought for the village it was discovered that there was a town in
Sacramento County Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854. Sacramento County is the ...
by the name of Richland. As an alternative, Orange was chosen in honor of Andrew Glassell's home county.


Personal life

Andrew Glassell's widowed sister
Susan Thornton Glassell Susan Thornton Glassell (March 2, 1835 – November 16, 1883) was the wife of Col. George Patton and later of Col. George H. Smith, the sister of Andrew Glassell and the paternal grandmother of Gen. George S. Patton. Early life Susan Thornton G ...
, the paternal grandmother of General George Patton, came to live with him in Los Angeles. In 1857, Andrew Glassell married Lucy Toland (1838 - 1879), daughter of H. H. Toland, a pioneer
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
of
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. Several children were born to this union. After her death, he married Mrs. Virginia Micou Ring (1836–1895) of
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
in 1885. Glassell died at his home in
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 ...
at age 73, and is interred at
Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery is a cemetery in Los Angeles at 1831 West Washington Boulevard in the Pico-Union district, southwest of Downtown. It was founded as Rosedale Cemetery in 1884, when Los Angeles had a population of approximately 28,000, o ...
in central Los Angeles.


Legacy

The Glassell Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, and Glassell Street in
Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
are named for him.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glassell, Andrew 1827 births 1901 deaths Land owners from California Lawyers from Los Angeles Glassell Park, Los Angeles Orange, California People from Orange County, Virginia University of Alabama alumni 19th century in Los Angeles Burials at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery 19th-century American businesspeople