Ingersoll's Century History Santa Monica Bay Cities (Being Book Number Two of Ingersoll's Century Series of California Local History Annals), 1908, 1908a, 1880
[p. 269] Chapter VII. Public Institutions: Schools; Post Offices
[p. 269] School Trustees of Santa Monica
1879-80: Loren Heath, George Boehme, W.S. Vawter (clerk).
1880-81: M.D. Johnson, Loren Heath, W.S. Vawter (clerk).
" . . .
[p. 270] Supervising Principals of Santa Monica Schools:
1879-80: Miss Blanche L. Downs.
1880-81: Florella King.
" . . .
[p. 282] PostOffice
. . . [p. 282] In 1880, M.B. Boyce was appointed postmaster and held office until 1886 . . .
" . . .
[p. 326, Abbot Kinney, 1908b]
[p. 327] Chapter XI Venice of America and Its Founder
Abbot Kinney [1850-1920] was born in Brookside, N.J., November 16, 1850, his parents being Franklin Sherwood and Mary Cogswell Kinney, both descendents of old colonial families. His boyhood was mostly passed in Washington where his uncle, James Dixon, represented the state of Connecticut in the United States Senate. Here the young man had advatntages of education and of contact with many of the prominent men of that time and thus retains memories of the men who made the history of that period. To complete his education, he went to Europe and studied at Heidelberg, Germany, and in France and Switzerland, perfecting himself in foreign languages and making a special study of political, economic and social problems.
On returning to Washington, he became interested in the tobacco business and after a couple of years practical experience, he decided to go to Turkey and make a personal study of their methods of manufacturing cigarettes. In 1877, he started on a three years' tour of the world, one year of which was passed in Egypt. His keen powers of observation and active intellect were devoted during these years to the study of the conditions as he found them in various countries, and the conclusions thus acquired have since been applied in many ways to the problems presented in our own country.
He reached San Francisco, on his return voyage, in the winter of 1880, and finding himself unable to proceed directly east on account of heavy snow blockades in the Sierras, he came to Southern California. Here, after a few weeks spent in the old Sierra Madre Villa, he felt that he had found the climate for which he had sought the world over. He secured a large tract of unimproved land in the vicinity of Sierra Madre and at once set about creating a beautiful and profit-yielding home out of what had been a waste. He planted out a large citrus orchard and turned his mind to the solution of the many difficulties which seemed almost insurmountable to the pioneer horticulturists of this region. As a result, "Kinneola" became a fine example of the possibilities of citrus culture and is known as one of the most beautiful country homes in California.
Broad-minded and public-spirited, he devoted the knowledge gained through investigation and costly experiments to the public use and became one of the projectors of the Southern California Pomological Society and served as its president.