JERRY PERSON -- A look back

who don’t know what the mansion was, it was the stately home to many of

the managers of the old Huntington Beach Co. For more than 100 years, the

house stood on a lofty knoll directly across from our Civic Center.

This week we’ll look at one of those past managers who helped shape

Huntington Beach’s future. For more than 27 years, James Sweetser Lawshe

-- pronounced Law-shay -- managed the land holdings of Standard Oil’s

Huntington Beach Co.

On a cold Nov. 15 in 1886, James Lawshe was born in the small town of

Converse, Ind. Lawshe’s father was the editor of the town’s newspaper,

the Converse Journal.

Lawshe’s father accepted a government job, and the family moved to the

Philippines, where the elder Lawshe served as the assistant postmaster

general and served under Presidents McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft.

Lawshe returned to Indiana to finish his education. He attended the

University of Michigan, where he majored in law. While there, he

continued in his father’s journalistic footsteps and became the editor of

the school yearbook -- the Ensian.

Before he graduated in 1919, Lawshe was also a member of Phi Delta Theta.

Lawshe’s father returned from the Philippines and was given the

assignment of agent for the San Carlos Indian reservation in Arizona.

While in Arizona, Lawshe met a man who was the general manager of the

Huntington Beach Co., E.J. Gates.

In 1912, Lawshe married his sweetheart, Gladys Wilson from Wabash, Ind.

The couple moved to Los Angeles in 1913, where Lawshe went to work for

Gates as his personal secretary.

When Huntington’s oil boom began in 1920, Gates died suddenly, and Lawshe

was made general manager.

During his managership of the ranch holdings, he became the father of

four children -- two sons and two daughters. He tried raising pheasants

on the ranch along with sheep and hogs, but this was not successful.

Lawshe loved photography and art, and he belonged to our local camera

club. He was a member of our Chamber of Commerce and garden club.

Lawshe dabbled in oil painting and won several awards for his works. In

his later years as manager of the ranch, he lived in Los Angeles with

Gladys.

Lawshe passed away suddenly in Los Angeles on June 2, 1947, after having

guided the Huntington Beach Co. for 27 years.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach 92615.