Harrison Gray Otis

Harrison Gray Otis (February 10, 1837 – July 30, 1917) was an American Union Army officer during the American Civil War, who became president and general manager of the Times Mirror Company, then the publisher of the Los Angeles Times.

Biography Early life and education

Otis was born near Marietta, Ohio, on February 10, 1837, the son of Stephen and Sara "Sally" (Dyar) Otis. His father was from Vermont and his mother, a native of Nova Scotia, Canada, came to Ohio from Boston, Massachusetts, with her family. The young Otis received schooling until he was fourteen, when he became a printer's apprentice at the Noble County Courier in Ohio.

He was wounded twice in battle, was "twice breveted for gallant and meritorious conduct" and was promoted seven times.

Journalism After the war, Otis was Official Reporter of the Ohio House of Representatives, then moved to Washington, D.C., where he was a government official, correspondent and editor. He gave up journalism temporarily in 1879 when he was offered the post of chief government agent or special treasury agent of the Northern Seal Islands, now known as the Pribilof Islands, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the newly acquired territory of Alaska. He left that position in 1881 to return to Santa Barbara. Later the company was named Times-Mirror, and on April 6, 1886, it was reorganized, with Albert McFarland and W.A. Spalding as owners and Otis as president and general manager. That was Otis's official title at the time of his death in 1917. The Times story about his demise noted that the Times-Mirror Company was "publishers of the Los Angeles Daily Times." The article called Otis the "principal owner" of the newspaper but never referred to him as publisher. Eleven years earlier, however the Associated Press had called him "publisher of the Los Angeles Times."

Otis was known for his conservative political views, which were reflected in the paper. His home was one of three buildings that were targeted in the 1910 Los Angeles Times bombing. During his time as publisher of the Times Otis is known for coining the phrase "You are either with me, or against me."

When the Spanish–American War broke out in 1898, Otis asked President William McKinley for an appointment as Assistant Secretary of War. But Secretary of War Russell A. Alger did not want the conservative Otis serving under him. Otis thereupon again volunteered for the Army and was appointed brigadier general of volunteers. He served in the Philippines. He did not see any action against the Spanish, but commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, VIII Corps during the Philippine–American War.

His support for his adopted city was instrumental in its growth. He was a member of a group of investors who bought land in the San Fernando Valley based on inside knowledge that the Los Angeles Aqueduct would soon irrigate it.

Otis and his son-in-law Harry Chandler and others formed the Colorado River Land Company, which bought land in the Mexicali Valley of Baja California at the turn of the twentieth century when Mexico's President Porfirio Díaz encouraged foreign investment to develop the country. The company weathered the Mexican Revolution (1910–20), but the rich agricultural land held in foreign hands was expropriated by the Mexican government during its postrevolutionary land reform.

On December 23, 1916, General Harrison Gray Otis donated his spacious Wilshire Boulevard home across the street from MacArthur Park, known as the Bivouac, to Los Angeles County to be used "continuously and perpetually for the Arts and advancement of the Arts." The Otis Art Institute of the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science, and Art eventually became Otis College of Art and Design. The home was torn down in the 1950s, but the school built new buildings and occupied the space until 1997. It is now the site of a public elementary school.

Personal life Otis married Eliza Ann Wetherby in Lowell, Ohio, on September 11, 1859, and they had three daughters: Lillian Otis McPherson; Marian Otis Chandler, who was secretary of the Times-Mirror; and Mabel Otis Booth.