Reginaldo Francisco del Valle

HON. REGINALDO FRANCISCO DEL VALLE

DEL VALLE, HON. REGINALDO FRANCISCO, Attorney at Law, Los Angeles, Cal. Was born there Dec 15, 1854. His father was Ygnacio Del Valle and his mother Ysabel (Varela) Del Valle. On Sept. 2, 1890, he married Helen M. White Cayatile in San Francisco. There is one child, Lucretia Louise Del Valle.

     Mr. Del Valle entered St. Vincent’s College in 1867, remaining until June, 1871; then went to Santa Clara College, Santa Clara, Cal., where he graduated with the degree Bachelor of Sciences June, 1873.

His first venture in the law was at Los Angeles, where he opened practice shortly after he was admitted to plead in the Supreme Court. In 1879 he was elected to the State Assembly of California from Los Angeles on the Democratic ticket and was re-elected in 1880. In this year he was Presidential Elector for Hancock and English. A year later received complimentary vote for Speaker.
In 1882 he was elected Senator from Los Angeles County and served four years, part as president pro tem. In 1884 ran for Congress. Four years later he was chairman State Convention at Los Angeles, and in 1890 was nominated for Lieut. Gov. In 1892 he was chairman of the Committee on Resolutions of the State Convention at Fresno. He was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the Unites States in 1893. In 1894 he was chairman Democratic State Convention at San Francisco. He has been a member of every State convention for more than thirty years, has been a campaign orator and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 1900 at Kansas City. He is an authority on Parliamentary law.
At present he is a member of the Board of Public Service in charge of the Water Department of Los Angeles.
Transcribed by Betty Vickroy.
Source: Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 254, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.

Ygnacio's son Reginaldo was born in the family home on the Plaza in 1854, the second child born to Ygnacio and Ysabel Varela after their marriage in 1852. Perhaps it was his father's influence and the numerous political meetings held at the house that led Reginaldo into public life. By 1873, he graduated with honors from the Santa Clara College in San Jose and by 1871 he was admitted to the bar and elected to the Assembly in 1880. In

1882, at the age of 28, he was the youngest member ever elected as president of the State Senate.Although he lost- the 1884 congressional campaign, he continued to work for the Democratic Party as a delegate to

numerous state conventions and as elector in almost all

presidential elections. Following his campaigning for Grover Cleveland in 1893, he was offered ministries to Chile and Japan, which he declined.

In addition to Democratic politics, Reginaldo del Valle had a great interest in California history and promoted it through preservation efforts due in large part to the influence of his close friend, Charles Lummis. Together with Lummis, Reginaldo was a founding member of the Landmarks Club of Southern California, formed in 1887 to advocate for the restoration of the missions. He was one of the forty founding members of the Southern California Historical Society and spearheaded the committee to restore the San Fernando Mission and to mark the El Camino Real with bells.

In 1913 Reginaldo was appointed by Woodrow Wilson as his personal representative to Mexico, and in 1914 was appointed president of the Los Angeles Public Service Board, later known as the Water and Power Commission on which he served for more than 20 years.