Workers at the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel were primarily Chinese. This is evident from photos, like the one above, from William Lauren Rhoades‘ History and from the 1880 U.S. Census.
In his History of the Famous Sierra Madre Villa Hotel, Rhoades describes the scene in 1874 when his family arrived in southern California. Rhoades’ grandfather, William F. Cogswell, had purchased 473 acres north of Foothill Blvd. It was up to Rhoades’ parents, William Porter and Jennie (Cogswell), to oversee clearing the land, building the family home and planting the groves and vineyard.
As Rhoades describes, the practice in those days was for ranchers to go to Chinatown for their ranch hands and laborers. For the arrangements, his father hired a “Boss Chinaman” (see note 1) who secured and directed the workers.
Ultimately, 75 Chinese laborers moved out to the newly purchased Cogswell property. They set up camp somewhere north of Foothill, south of Fairpoint, and east of the Eaton Wash. Rhoades does not record whether the men had tents or shelter of any kind. But, as the only available water source was a stream above present-day Pasadena Glen, I assume the camp was struck on as close to the water as possible — probably just north of present-day Eaton Canyon Golf Course. Today, it is fascinating to think that 150 years ago about 75 Chinese men (probably many of whom had worked on the railroads) camped here in east Pasadena on the mesa.
As Rhoades describes, once sufficient land was cleared for the family’s house, a carpenter and his crew were hired to build the Rhoades’ family house. As did the Chinese crew, the carpenters camped on site living in tents. So, during the clearing and construction phases, there were two crews of workers camping on the mesa.
After the land was cleared, groves and vines planted and family house built, Rhoades reports that about 15 Chinese were kept on to maintain the property. By 1880, the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel was in full swing and, according to that year’s U.S. Census, eleven of the hotel workers also lived on site. Below is an excerpt from the 1880 Census listing for the household of William Porter Rhoades.
Six of the hotel workers living on site were born in China including:
Ah John, 20, Hotel Cook
Ah Chung, 18, Second Cook
Ah Sam, 19, Kitchen Servant
Ah Ete, 44, Laborer
Ah Young, 30, Laborer
Ah Wan, 25, Washman (see note 2 about Chinese names)
Likely there were also temporary workers, those living off site and others who were not included in the Census listing.
Below is the complete Cenus listing for the Rhoades household. The listing shows the Villa as part of the “San Gabriel Township” of Los Angeles County. Servants inlcuded the six Chinese and individuals born in the U.S., England, Ireland and France. Borders are also listed and include Abbot Kinney and his servant, a 25 year old Black man born in Maryland. Another border, 48 year old Joseph Pullen from Pennsylvania is listed as an “apriarian” and cared for the Villa’s extensive apiary.
So, here’s a copy of the census page from 145 years ago:
Extraordinary Assembly of People and Experience
One of the fun discoveries of doing this blog has been seeing the incredible collection of people who visited the Sierra Madre Villa. Yes, there were the historical figures who passed through — the Sullivans and Shermans and the like. But, on the regular, the Villa attracted a fascinating crowd.
This census is but a snapshot in time. Just one day, June 8, 1880. On that day, you have people at the Villa (visiting or working) from China, England, France, Germany, Ireland and the east coast — somehow they all made their way to the San Gabriel Valley. There’s a guy, Kinney, who speaks six languages and just finished a travelling around the world. He has quite a future ahead of him. He is travelling with a servant, a southern Black man named James Thomas who was born in 1855 — eight years before the Emancipation Proclamation.
And, by the way, the Villa is owned by famous artist, Cogswell, who painted portraits of Lincoln, Grant and other notables. Cogswell’s daughter and son in law, the Rhoades’ are urbane New Yorkers as hosts.
I have a couple more posts in this series. Next, we will look at some of the interactions between the Rhoades family and the hotel’s Chinese workers. Also coming is a true short story of William F. Cogswell’s brush with Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Notes:
- I am grateful for Mr. Rhoades’ short book, The History of the Famous Sierra Madre Villa Hotel, as it is an irreplaceable first-hand history of the old hotel. However, the book was written in the late 1930’s and sometimes employs words that have derogatory connotations and are not used today, such as “Chinaman” and “Boss Chinaman.”
- All of the Chinese men at the Villa appear in the 1880 census with the same name, “Ah.” The Chinese word translated as “Ah” was not part of the person’s name but was a term of respect or endearment. There is no precise English equivalent, but it is kind of like adding “Mr.” or “Ms.” in front of a name. So, the Census is recording only part of the man’s name and the part may even be an English nickname, like John or Sam. Eric Brightwell’s piece on Pasadena’s Chinatown has a nice discussion of the difficulty in translating Chinese names to English.
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