Edwin T. Earl

Edwin T. Earl
Born	Edwin Tobias Earl (1858-05-30)May 30, 1858 Tehama County, California
Died	January 2, 1919(1919-01-02) (aged 60) Los Angeles, California
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California
Occupation	Publisher
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Emily Jarvis Earl ​ (m. 1902)​
Children	4

Edwin Tobias Earl (May 30, 1858 – January 2, 1919) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher and philanthropist.

Biography

Early life

Edwin T. Earl was born on a fruit ranch near Red Bluff, California on May 30, 1858.^[1] His father was Joseph Earl and his mother, Adelia Chaffee.^[1][2] His brother was Guy Chaffee Earl.^[1]

Career

He started his career in the shipping of fruits.^[1] By 1886, he was President of the Earl Fruit Company. In 1890, he invented the refrigerator car to transport fruits to the East Coast of the United States.^[1][2] He established the Continental Fruit Express and invested US$2,000,000 in refrigerator cars.^[1] In 1901, he sold his refrigerator cars to Armour and Company of Chicago and became a millionaire.^[1][2]

In 1901, he purchased the Los Angeles Express and became its editor.^[1][3] Ten years later, in 1911, he also purchased the Los Angeles Tribune.^[1]

He also invested in real estate in Los Angeles.^[1]

He was a Freemason, a member of the California Club and the Jonathan Club, two private member's clubs in Los Angeles, and the Bolsa Chica Gun Club.^[1] He was a member of the California Republican Party.

Philanthropy

In 1901, he made a donation to the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California to start the Earl Lectures.^[2] For more than a hundred years, it has featured distinguished guest speakers like Theodore Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, Harry Emerson Fosdick and Cecil Williams.^[2]

Personal life

He married Emily Jarvis Earl of Louisville, Kentucky on April 30, 1902.^[1] They had three sons, Jarvis, Edwin (1905–1981) and Chaffee, and one daughter, Emily.^[1] They resided in Los Angeles, California.^[1] He died on January 2, 1919, in Los Angeles.^[1][2]

References

• US Patent and Trademark Office, Patent #: US0RE011324

1. 'Edwin T. Earl Dies in South', Sausalito News, Volume 35, Number 2, 11 January 1919 [1]
2. "Pacific School of Religion: Earl Lectures". Archived from the original on August 18, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
3. Kevin Starr, Inventing the Dream: California Through the Progressive Era, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 241

External links

• Huntington Digital Library: Photograph