Los Angeles County, CA, Biographies

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


P. M. GREEN.
 
        Among the worthy and enterprising citizens who came from the Eastern and 
Middle States to this favored spot in California, Pasadena, and who have devoted 
both their time and means to the development of its wonderful and varied 
resources, none are more justly entitled to honorable mention in a work of this 
character than is P. M. Green. A brief review of his life gives the following 
facts: He was born on a farm in Rush County, Indiana, in the year 1838. At 
fourteen years of age he accepted a clerkship in a general store at Milroy, 
holding this position four years.  At twenty he went to Shelbyville, the same 
State, where he studied law with the firm of Davis, Wright & Green, and in 1860 
he began the practice of law there. In the meantime he was elected city clerk 
and helped to organize the city government. After serving two years as city 
clerk he was elected city attorney, holding that office till the spring of 1867, 
at which time he moved to Indianapolis and engaged in the wholesale and retail 
drug business. In the fall of 1873 he closed out his interests in Indianapolis 
and came to California, first locating in Santa Barbara and later in Los 
Angeles. He was a member of the "Old Indiana Colony," the first settlers of 
Pasadena. The original purpose of that colony was a failure, and its members 
organized what was known as the San Gabriel Orange Association. This association 
purchased 4,000 acres of land on which is built the western half of Pasadena. 
The Indian colony adopted the name of Pasadena. At that time there were only 
about twenty families living in the place. Here Mr. Green devoted much time and 
labor to setting out young fruit trees, and the flourishing orchards showed in a 
few years that his efforts were being crowned with success. From a small 
beginning Mr. Green has, by industry and economy, amassed a fortune. In 1879 the 
subject of this sketch represented his district in the State Legislature. He was 
a member of the first session after the adoption of the present constitution, 
this session being of great importance and lasting 115 days. The work of 
changing the laws to conform to the constitution was very trying. Mr. Green was 
chairman of the committee on labor and capital, and was a member of the 
committee on education. He served one term and declined a second nomination. In 
1885 Mr. Green organized the Pasadena Bank, a State organization, and was 
elected its president. It continued as a State Bank until 1886, when it was 
merged into the First National Bank, with a capital of $100,000, Mr. Green still 
being president. The bank now has a surplus of $52,500, or a combined capital of 
$152,500. Mr. Green was married in 1860 to Miss Hettie Campbell, the daughter of 
the postmaster at Shelbyville, Indiana. Much of his success in life he 
attributes to the assistance of his estimable wife, who has been a great 
helpmate through all the struggles of life. Mr. Green has been identified with 
the Methodist Episcopal Church since its organization in Pasadena.
 
An Illustrated History of Los Angeles County, California �  Chicago, The Lewis 
Publishing Company, 1889   Page 477
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler