Bible Truth Hall, Hollywood, CA

This editor owns a bound 1898 Help and Food annual, that is stamped in cover with "Bible Truth Lending Library", 1239 N. Vista St., (now West) Hollywood, California. It is presumed that there was a Grant assembly there at one point. The book was #28405. Other stamps in the book indicate it was owned by J.A. Hewitt, of the forementioned address, as well as Harry O. Thompson @ 11216 Hortense St., North Hollywood.

James Arthur Hewitt

James was born in 1890 in Oxford, Ohio. By 1900, the Hewitt family resided in El Paso, Texas. In 1910, he was employed as a "tinner keeper" for a street paver. In 1914, he married Marie Elizabeth Henn (b. 1892 OH - d. 1970 L.A., CA) at her parent's home on 1112 N. Campbell St., El Paso, the wedding was officiated by Rev. C.L. Overstreet. Their intent was to spend the rest of 1914 in Los Angeles, then settle in Stockton where Arthur had business. By 1920, they were residing back in El Paso where Arthur was employed as a foreman for a laundromat, which he continued thru 1930. By 1940, they resided at the forementioned address of 1239 N. Vista St. in what was then Beverly Hills (now West Hollywood). In 1950, they resided at 406 Hulyard, L.A. where his wife was employed as a housekeeper. In 1968, Arthur died in Pasadena.

Marie's father was Joseph P. Henn (1865-1920 Hamilton, OH), son of Adam Henn (b. 1841 Germany - d. 1890 Hamilton, OH) & Catharine Bruck (1844-1923 Hamilton, OH). Marie's mother was Mary Ann Bruck Henn (b. 1865 Hamilton, Butler, OH - d. 1941 Hollywood, CA), daughter of Jacob Bruck (b. 1829 Germany - d. 1882 Hamilton, OH) & Elizabeth Dehr Bruck (b. 1832 Germany - d. 1896 Hamilton, OH), immigrating in 1850. In 1870, Jacob Bruck was employed in Hamilton (Cincinnati metro) as a grocer, and Adam Henn was a shoemaker.

Harry Thompson

There was a Harry O. Thompson in Los Angeles who was a hotel manager in 1917, but has not been successfully cross-referenced with the address.

However, from at least 1940-1957, Harry Arthur Thompson (b. 1884 Auburn, ME - d. 1957 Hollywood, CA) resided at that exact address. He was employed in 1942 for the City Hall of Van Nuys, as a civil engineer, and in his military draft papers, gave a reference of John Harding, an engineeer for L.A. Harry was a son of Melville Augustus Thompson (b. 1850 Steep Falls or Standish, ME - d. 1912 Boston, MA) & Clara Augusta Andrews Thompson (b. Naples, ME). In 1860, Melville resided in Bristol Mills, Lincoln, ME.

He was a descendant of David Thomson (b. 1592 St. Andrew, Plymouth, Devon, England - d. 1628 Piscataqua, Rockingham, NH), a pharmacist who emigrated to Boston in the Jonathan of Plymouth in 1623, settling off Odiorne's Pt. (Portsmouth, NH) in a place called "Little Harbor". In 1626, he founded what is now known as the Cathleen Stone Island, off the Boston Harbor, which functioned as a trading post for David with Native Americans. From 1833-1975, the island served as a farm and trade school for orphans, later rebranded, and continuing thru today (2024) is as the Cathleen Stone Island Outward Bound School initiative.

While in Plymouth, he served as a sea captain and attorney for Sir Ferdinand Gorges ((1565-1568)-1647), a founder of Maine in 1622, who had previously (1607) co-funded the Popham Colony, founded a few months after the first English colony of Jamestown. See bio by Charles Deane in 1876 of David, and The Great Migration, Vol. 3.

David's wife Amyes Colle Thomson-Maverick was allegedly the first white woman to New Hampshire, as per The Compendium of American Genealogy, Vol. 7. See Ancestry.com.

Sources

• Ancestry.com