Edward Falles Spence

Edward Fallis Spence
E. F. Spence in 1885
17thMayor of Los Angeles
In office December 9, 1884 – December 14, 1886
Preceded by	Cameron E. Thom
Succeeded by	William H. Workman
President of the Los Angeles Common Council
In office December 11, 1880 – December 10, 1881
Preceded by	William B. Lawlor
Succeeded by	John P. Moran
Personal details
Born	December 22, 1832 Enniskillen,Ireland
Died	September 19, 1892(1892-09-20)(aged 59) Los Angeles,California

Edward Falles Spence(December 22, 1832 – September 19, 1892) was a banker, entrepreneur and property developer who was a member of the California legislature, a Nevada County official and the mayor of Los Angeles from 1884 to 1886.

Personal

Spence was born on December 22, 1832, inEnniskillen,Ireland, the son of Gabriel Spence. He was educated there by private tutors, and at the age of 20 he emigrated to America and worked on a farm nearPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania,for several months, then shipped to California via theNicaragua route,arriving in San Francisco in December 1852. He spent some twenty years inNorthern CaliforniaandNevada,settling inSan Jose, California.

After some years spent in San Jose and San Diego, he returned to Ireland in 1872, where he married his second wife, Anna Maria Spence, who was fromFive Mile Town, County Tyrone, Ireland.He returned with his bride to the newly established Monrovia. Together they had four children, William Glenn, George Edward, Albert Harry and Kathleen.He had two other children, Nellie J. and J. Porter, from his first wife.

Spence died ofheart failureSeptember 19, 1892, in the home of a friend, John A. Fairchild, on Burlington Avenuenear Ninth Street, in today'sWestlake district,Los Angeles. He was 59 years old.The September 22obsequies,which began in the family home on Burlington Avenue, were said to be "in point of attendance one of the largest ever held in this city" and the funeral procession toEvergreen Cemetery"one of the largest ever witnessed."

Vocation

Spence gained his knowledge ofbusiness affairsthrough assisting his father in the management of the family's large farmingtractsand herds of cattle in Ireland. He engaged inminingIn Northern California and Nevada, but in San Jose he "controlled an extensivedrug business"and then switched tobanking.As well, he was one of the organizers of the Commercial Bank of San Diego.

In 1875 Spence was namedcashierof the Commercial Bank of Los Angeles, organized byJohn Edward Hollenbeckand reorganized in 1880 as the Commercial State Bank, the forerunner of theFirst National Bank of Los Angeles,of which Spence became president in 1881. He held interest in other banks as well, and owned property inWhittierandMonrovia,California.

Spence was also responsible for building the firsthorse carline across theLos Angeles Riverand, in 1886, financing the firstelectric car linein Los Angeles.

Public service

A Republican, Spence was elected to theCalifornia State AssemblyfromNevada Countyin 1860and was later the treasurer of thatcounty.

On December 5, 1879, Spence was elected to represent the 3rdWardon theLos Angeles Common Council,the legislative branch of the city government, and he served until December 10, 1881.

He was mayor of the city from December 9, 1884, to December 14, 1886, and under his mayoralty the city reorganized thePolice Departmentand theFire Departmentand placed all the personnel onsalary.In his final year as mayor, the city retired its lastzanja,or openfresh-water ditch.

University of Southern California

Spence was one of the founders of theUniversity of Southern California,which was then called Methodist College, and he was on itsboard of directors.He promised to donate some of his property, "including the lot at the corner of Pearl and Sixth streets (on which the Gates Hotel now stands)" to USC so that it might be sold and the proceeds used to place a telescope on the summit ofMount Wilson.University PresidentMarion M. Bovardordered a lens from the Cambridge manufactory Alvan Clark & Sons, but Spence died before the deal could be completed, so Bovard had to sell the glass to theUniversity of Chicago.Another source said that Spence had agreed to give the cash sum of $50,000 to fund the telescope project,but it was later reported that the gift was indeed in the form of land that eventually lost its value and the USC contract with "a French firm for a forty-inch telescope, the largest in the world", had to be canceled.