Edward French (professor)
Encyclopedia
Edward French was a lawyer, civil war veteran, professor at Wells College
, and early pioneer to California.
. He was induced to take a faculty position at Wells College by his wife to get her brother's new college up and running. French was also a botanist by avocation.
In 1888 French decided to move the family to Southern California, part of "a mass migration to Southern California promoted by an aggressive publicity campaign orchestrated by Los Angeles
boosters and driven by a fare-price war between the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads". French bought a small fruit ranch in Glendale
, but the ranch failed to prosper, their home fire, the business collapsed in the depression of 1893, and the ranch was foreclosed at auction.
French took a job teaching in the Los Angeles public schools. With failing health (cataracts), he lost the teaching job. He lived out his days in the Los Angeles Old Soldiers" Home as a resident employee, taking a clerical position in the records office.
governor Augustus C. French
and Lucy Southwick French. brother of Augusta French Wicker, husband of Mary Wells French, the brother-in-law of Wells Fargo and Company founder Henry Wells
, the brother-in-law of railroad baron Cassius Milton Wicker
, the father of Helen, and poet Nora May French
.
Wells College
Wells College is a private coeducational liberal arts college located in Aurora, Cayuga County, New York, on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake. Initially an all-women's institution, Wells became a co-ed college in Fall 2005....
, and early pioneer to California.
Biography
Starting in 1868 Professor Edward French taught Latin, literature, chemistry and mathematics at Wells CollegeWells College
Wells College is a private coeducational liberal arts college located in Aurora, Cayuga County, New York, on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake. Initially an all-women's institution, Wells became a co-ed college in Fall 2005....
. He was induced to take a faculty position at Wells College by his wife to get her brother's new college up and running. French was also a botanist by avocation.
In 1888 French decided to move the family to Southern California, part of "a mass migration to Southern California promoted by an aggressive publicity campaign orchestrated by Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
boosters and driven by a fare-price war between the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads". French bought a small fruit ranch in Glendale
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
, but the ranch failed to prosper, their home fire, the business collapsed in the depression of 1893, and the ranch was foreclosed at auction.
French took a job teaching in the Los Angeles public schools. With failing health (cataracts), he lost the teaching job. He lived out his days in the Los Angeles Old Soldiers" Home as a resident employee, taking a clerical position in the records office.
Family
Edward French was the son of IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
governor Augustus C. French
Augustus C. French
Augustus Chaflin French was the ninth Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1846 until 1853. He is best known for his fiscal policies, which eliminated the state's debt by the end of his administration, and for the lack of scandals during his administration...
and Lucy Southwick French. brother of Augusta French Wicker, husband of Mary Wells French, the brother-in-law of Wells Fargo and Company founder Henry Wells
Henry Wells
Henry Wells was an American businessman important in the history of both the American Express Company and Wells Fargo & Company.-Early life:...
, the brother-in-law of railroad baron Cassius Milton Wicker
Cassius Milton Wicker
Cassius Milton Wicker was a railroad manager and banker.-The Railroads:Wicker began his railroad career at twenty-one as a check clerk for the Star-Union Line in East St. Louis, moving up to cashier for the People's Dispatch, Chinese emigrant agent for the North Missouri Railway, and assistant...
, the father of Helen, and poet Nora May French
Nora May French
Nora May French was a California poet and member of the bohemian literary circles of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club which flourished after the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906....
.