In his day, Dr. John Strother Griffin (1816-1898) was known as “the Father of East Los Angeles” – meaning present-day Lincoln Heights, not East L.A. He was also one of the county’s first trained physicians. The native Virginian was orphaned as a child, raised by an uncle in Louisville, and earned his M.D. at UPenn in Philadelphia. As a surgeon with the U.S. Army, Dr. Griffin came to California in 1846 with General Stephen W. Kearny to run a field hospital during the Mexican–American War. He left for a spell, then returned to Los Angeles in 1854 to set up his practice and purchase 2,000 acres where much of Griffin Avenue now lies. (The county would award him additional land as payment for his medical services.) Dr. Griffin, his nephew Hancock M. Johnston, and ex-governor John G. Downey subdivided this property in 1873-1876, developing the first residences east of the river. Dr. Griffin also owned, with “Don Benito” Wilson, another juicy piece of land: Rancho San Pascual, the future Pasadena.
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