Cravens Estate Issue #5 - 2017-03-07

The Pedigree John Smith Cravens was born on March 5, 1871 in Kansas City, Missouri and graduated from Yale University in 1893. Later that year he married Mildred Mary Myers, whose father was George S. Myers, a cofounder of the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company.

Mrs. Cravens was born in Alton, Illinois on July 6, 1871 but spent her childhood in St. Louis where she would meet her husband.

Mr. and Mrs. Cravens began to winter in Pasadena, California in 1897. They moved there permanently when Mr. Cravens became the first elected President of the Edison Electric Co., one of the predecessors of Southern California Edison Co. Mr. Cravens was one of the original stockholders of the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co., a trustee at California Institute of Technology, and on several other boards and organizations. He was active in the development of the towns of Chino, Fontana, and Torrance in Southern California.

Mr. and Mrs. Cravens were very involved with the Pasadena community. They were generous donors to local charities and churches.

After Mr. and Mrs. Cravens passed away in the late 1940s, the estate passed through several owners and some parts were sold separately. It was donated by Mr. Simon G. Zervos, an industrialist and bakery owner, to the American Red Cross in 1962. Today, it sits on an acre and a half of grounds in one of the prettiest areas of Pasadena.