This collection contains papers of Henry M. Robinson (1868-1937), chairman of the board of the Security-First National Bank in Los Angeles, California, and attorney George E. Farrand (1878-1954), who worked with Robinson and also served as trustee of his estate. The collection includes correspondence with letters related to business transactions such as the merger of First National and Security Pacific Banks in Los Angeles and the Julian Petroleum scandal as well as personal correspondence amongst friends, acquaintances, and political allies. Also includes twenty journals written by Farrand, dating from 1915-1954.

Henry Mauris Robinson (1868-1937) was born in Ravenna, Ohio, to George Foreman Robinson (1844-1917), judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the 2nd subdivision of the Judicial District of Ohio and Mary (Gillis) Robinson. He married Laurabelle Arms in February 1894. Henry Mauris Robinson was educated at Western Reserve Academy and Cornell University and practiced law in Ohio and New York City before moving to Southern California in 1905. He served as chairman of the board of Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles and was also on the board of directors of numerous Southern California corporations and institutions, including the Huntington Library. From 1917 to 1927, he served on the Council of National Defense, the Supreme Economic Council of Peace in Paris, the U.S. Shipping Board, the International Labor Conference, the President's Industrial Conference, the Bituminous Coal Commission, the Unemployment Conference, and the International Economic Conference at Geneva, in 1927. He died without issue in November 1937. George E. Farrand (1878-1954) was born in Dogton, Pennsylvania, to William and Jeanette (McKevett) Farrand. He moved from Pennsylvania to Ventura County, California, in 1899. He served as Ventura County Clerk from 1900 to 1907. He married Alice Knox in November 1903. He was a founding partner at the law firm of Farrand & Slosson. His sons, Knox and Stephen, joined him in his practice. George E. Farrand served as the Chairman of the California Agricultural Legislative Committee and as legal counsel for farmers’ co-operative organizations, including the California Fruit Growers Exchange and the California Walnut Growers. Herbert Hoover appointed him to the position of general counsel of the Federal Farm Board. George E. Farrand worked with his friend Henry Mauris Robinson on the merger of First National and Security Pacific Banks and subsequently served as a member of the executive committee of the consolidated bank. George E. Farrand also served as trustee of Henry M. Robinson’s estate after he died in 1937.

3,504 items in 19 boxes

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