Glendale, California Biographies

        Dwight W. Stephenson, a member of the Glendale City Council, was born at Oneida, Illinois, January 18, 1893, a son of Andy and Katherine (West) Stephenson. His grandfather, George Stephenson, was a native of Scotland. He came to Oneida, Illinois as a young man where he was a pioneer farmer. His maternal grandfather, Byron S. West, was a native of Oneida County, New York. He came there in the early days, helped lay out the town, and became a leading citizen of that part of the state. He was a very active Republican in politics. The father and mother of the subject of this sketch are natives of Oneida, Illinois. His father was in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad before coming to Glendale in 1906, where he has since resided. He is now a building inspector in the employ of the city.

        Dwight W. Stephenson is a graduate of Glendale Union High School and of the University of Southern California College of Law, from which he graduated with the class of 1915. He was admitted to the bar in 1915, and became associate counsel for the Title Guarantee & Trust Company of Los Angeles. He remained with that company until February 1917, when he entered the general practice of the law on his own account. In October 1917, he entered the army and was in training at Camp Lewis for eight months, then at Camp Kearney, where he remained until July 1918, and was sent to the Field Artillery Officers’ Training Camp at Camp Taylor, where he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. He next went to Camp Jackson and became an instructor in the Field Artillery Department, where he was located at the time the armistice was signed. He was mustered out of the service at Camp Sherman, Ohio, on December 31, 1918. Returning home, he established himself in his profession at Los Angeles and in January 1920, became a member of the law firm of Jones, Wilson & Stephenson. The firm maintains a suite of offices in the Merchants National Bank Building, Los Angeles.

        Mr. Stephenson is a Royal Arch Mason, a Past Master of Unity Lodge, No. 368, F. & A. M., and one of the organizers and a charter member of the American Legion at Glendale. In June 1920, he was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of Glendale and was made President of the Board. In June 1921, upon the adoption of the new charter, he was elected a member of the City Council, and is Chairman of the committee on Public Service. He is a democrat and a member of the State Central Committee of that party.  Mr. Stephenson is recognized within a wide circle of friends as a man of unusual ability. His legal education and experience, combined with natural talent as a public speaker, give promise of a successful future.

        At Glendale, on April 28, 1920, Mr. Stephenson married Gladys Justema, of Chicago, Illinois. Mrs. Stephenson is a member of the Tuesday Afternoon Club and of the P.E.O. They reside at 327 West Cypress Avenue.