Edwin T. Earl

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

Edwin T. Earl
Born
Edwin Tobias Earl

(1858-05-30)May 30, 1858
Tehama County, California
DiedJanuary 2, 1919(1919-01-02) (aged 60)
Los Angeles, California
Resting placeHollywood Forever Cemetery,
Hollywood, California
OccupationPublisher
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Emily Jarvis Earl
​
(m. 1902)​
Children4

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 to 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
  1. 'Edwin T. Earl Dies in South', Sausalito News, Volume 35, Number 2, 11 January 1919
  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
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