Thomas W Temple Ii (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. 1st Edition. Quarto. Frontispiece portrait & map. Condition: DJ nicked, chipped and soiled; light scattered foxing; else very good in fair DJ. Pages: [v], 125.

Paperback. Demy folio, [27.75cm/11inches], comb-bound with pictorial covers, non-continunous pagination Fully illustrated with . Please feel free to inquire as to particulars and/or additional photographs. . Thomas W. Temple II (1905-1972) was the eldest child of Laura Gonzalez and Walter Temple, founder of Temple City. He was raised in the Old Mission community near Montebello where his parents were both from. At the age of 9, Thomas accidentally discovered oil on his family's sixty-acre property and the oil became the basis of the Temples' wealth. Later, he attended the Pasadena Military Academy, Santa Clara College for both high school and undergraduate studies, and Harvard Law School, from which he received his law degree in 1929. After graduating, Thomas served briefly as a director of the Temple Townsite Company. As reflected in the stained glass window that inspired this panel, Thomas was deeply steeped in his family's multiple heritages: British, American and Latino. He was fluent in Spanish and well connected to his family's history and traditions. While studying at Harvard, near where his ancestors lived, Thomas was exposed to family documents and photographs which sparked his interest in his family history and that of California. Thomas became well-known for his English translation of the voluminous records of the California missions and for genealogical work conducted for families descended from Spanish and Mexican Californians. From the 1930s, he and his wife Gabriela Quiroz hosted a "Pioneer Reception" as part of the annual celebration commemorating the Mission San Gabriel's founding. He later became the city historian of San Gabriel, as well as the mission historian. Upon his death in 1972, he was the first layperson permitted burial in the courtyard next to the old church. …