John Goller | |
|---|---|
| Member of theLos Angeles Common Council | |
| In office 1865 – 1866 | |
| In office 1863–1862 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 7, 1825 Bavaria |
| Died | July 7, 1874 (aged 49) |
John Goller (July 7, 1825 – July 7, 1874) was an American pioneer and the first blacksmith inLos Angeles, California. He owned a blacksmith and carriage-making business and was a member of the governing body of Los Angeles as well as a founder of the city's first gas company.
Goller was born inBavaria on July 7, 1825. He grew up in a community of miners inSt. Louis, Missouri, before settling inIllinois.[1]
John Goller set out with otherCalifornia Gold Rushpioneers fromGalesburg, Illinois, on April 5, 1849, and traveled with them through Missouri toSalt Lake City. From there, they traveled on theSouthern Emigrant Trail on December 4, 1849, but were redirected to California on an unrecorded route. The emigrants, included two children, age four and seven, traveled throughDeath Valley, often without water. Eventually they found their way to theSanta Clarita Valley, where they were welcomed, fed and given shelter.[2]
When Goller arrived in Los Angeles, a man named Louis Wilhart or Wilhardt outfitted Goller withblacksmithing tools and sent him customers. He was the firstblacksmith in Los Angeles;[3] his first order was for anawning, for which he received five hundred dollars. He put together an American-stylewagon, which remained unsold for a time because "The native people gazed at it with curiosity, but distrust, and went back to theircarretas."[4][5]
The porch roof of his wagon shop at the corner ofLos Angeles Street and Commercial Street, which was a block south of Negro Alley, then part ofChinatown, was used as alynching spot in theChinese massacre of 1871, in which eighteen Chinese were confirmed dead.[6]
Goller alsomade shoes, one account relating that he "hunted up old tires thrown away on the plains" to make them."[5] Goller was the second man in the Los Angeles area to invest in a team oftrotters.
In June 1867, Goller joined with James Hagan, W.H. Perry, Wallace Woodworth and George J. Clark to incorporate the firstgas company in Los Angeles, whose population was then about 5,000. One historian later observed that the gas was made from "brea[tar],grape pumice, wood, coal and pretty near every thing available from which it could be derived. ... In time, coal imported from Australia became the source."
He worked in theforwarding business inSan Pedro, Los Angeles, in competition withPhineas Banning, and also continued hisprospecting endeavors in partnership with Grant B. Cuddeback. Goller eventually sold his forwarding business toJ.M. Griffith, a lumberman.[7][8][9]
Goller served on theLos Angeles Common Council from 1862 to 1863 and again from 1865 to 1866. At the time,Common Council was the main governing body of the city, which had a population of 1,610 in 1850 and 4,385 in 1860.[10]
John Goller is memorialized in Goller Canyon, located in the southern portion of thePanamint Range, which offers passage from thePanamint Valley into Death Valley.[11][12][13]
Goller died on July 7, 1874.[14] He was survived by three daughters, his wife having predeceased him.[3] One daughter, Christine, was born in 1863 and married George Stephenson in 1886.[4]