Reese J. Llewellyn
Born
Reese James Llewellyn

30 August 1862[1]
Llangiwg, Glamorganshire, Wales[2]
Died15 December 1936 (aged 64)
New York City, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
OccupationBusinessman
Employer(s)Llewellyn Iron Works (co-founder and president)
Parent(s)David Llewellyn, Hannah D. James
RelativesLlewellyn James Llewellyn (brother), Thomas Llewellyn (brother), William Llewellyn (brother), John Llewellyn (brother), David Edgar Llewellyn (brother), Margaret Winifred Llewellyn (sister), Reese Llewellyn Milner (nephew)

Reese James Llewellyn (30 August 1862 – 15 December 1936) was a Welsh-American businessman. He was the co-founder and president of Llewellyn Iron Works, a company based in Los Angeles, which provided iron works and steel for the construction of buildings in Southern California, the Western United States, Mexico, and South America. The company also produced steel from iron ore and during the World War I shipbuilding boom it was one of the largest manufacturers of triple-expansion steam engines on the West Coast.

Early life

Llewellyn was born in the parish of Llangiwg near Pontardawe in Glamorganshire, Wales, the third of six sons born to David and Hannah (née: James) Llewellyn. His father was an engineer and fitter at an iron works.[2][3][4] He emigrated to the United States, first settling in San Francisco, California.[5]

Career

Ironwork inside the Bradbury Building.

Llewellyn was the co-founder of Llewellyn Bros with his brothers in Los Angeles, California in 1889.[6] Llewellyn served as its president, while his brother William was vice-president and his other brother David was secretary.[6]

The firm provided the ironwork inside the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles in the early 1890s.[7] By 1905, it had provided ironwork and steel work in Southern California, but also in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico as well as abroad in Mexico and South America.[6] Many skyscrapers in Los Angeles were built with steel from the firm.[6] In 1929, the company merged with the Consolidated Steel Corporation.[5]

Additionally, Llewellyn served as the president of the Helsby Red Sandstone Company in 1895.[8] He also served on the board of directors of the Home Savings Bank of Los Angeles in 1905.[9]

Civic life

Llewellyn was a member of the Business Men's Association of Los Angeles, alongside businessmen Walter Newhall, Frank Hicks, John H. Norton, Hancock Banning, Joseph Schoder, James Cuzner, H. E. Graves, and William Lacy.[10] Together, they opposed the closing of saloons in 1905.[10]

By the 1920s, Llewellyn served as the vice president of the Better America Federation for Los Angeles County.[11]

Death

Llewellyn suffered a stroke on board the Grace Line ocean liner Santa Barbara on her trip between Valparaíso and New York City, where he died in 1936.[12] His remains are interred, alongside his parents and siblings, in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale).

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925
  2. 1 2 1871 Wales Census
  3. ↑ 1880 United States Federal Census
  4. ↑ "Blythe's Nativity". The San Francisco Chronicle. 21 November 1889. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Pioneer Business Man of L. A. Dies". The San Bernardino County Sun. 17 December 1936. p. 5. Retrieved 15 May 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Industrial. Llewellyn Iron Works". The Los Angeles Herald. 3 September 1905. p. 12. Retrieved 15 May 2016 – via Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  7. ↑ "Llewellyn Bros". The Los Angeles Herald. 10 October 1893. p. 17. Retrieved 15 May 2016 – via Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  8. ↑ "Annual Meeting". The San Francisco Chronicle. 7 January 1895. p. 8. Retrieved 15 May 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Home Savings Bank". The Los Angeles Herald. 1 January 1905. p. 25. Retrieved 15 May 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 "Business Men To Fight Ordinance. Will Oppose Closing of Saloons. Campaign Committee Named. Entire City Will Be Polled and Determined Opposition Made Against Adoption of "No-Saloon" Measure". The Los Angeles Herald. 16 May 1905. p. 12. Retrieved 15 May 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Layton, Edwin (May 1961). "The Better America Federation: A Case Study of Superpatriotism". Pacific Historical Review. 30 (2): 137–147. doi:10.2307/3636698. JSTOR 3636698.
  12. ↑ "L. A. Industrialist Dies in New York". Oakland Tribune. 16 December 1936. p. 7. Retrieved 30 July 2021 – via Newspapers.com.Free access icon
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