The Fay Family: Biographies and Obits of Various Fays
THE FAY FAMILY HOMEPAGE

BIOGRAPHIES, OBITUARIES,
CENSUS DATA AND MISCELLANEOUS
   
FAY BIOGRAPHIES
Researched, transcribed and contributed by Laura Greene
  
G. Hamilton Fay; Elon Galusha Fay; Eli Fay; F. E. Fay
G. HAMILTON FAY, engaged in the laundry business, represents a continuation of a business service with which the Fay family has been identified in Los Angeles for over forty years, Mr. Fay's grandfather having been one of the pioneer laundrymen of the city.

G. Hamilton Fay, who was brought to California when nine years of age, was born at Bryan, Ohio, June 19, 1881, son of F. E. and Laura (Hamilton) Fay, and grandson of Elon Galusha Fay. G. Hamilton Fay's great-uncle, Rev. Eli Fay, a brief sketch of whom is published preceding, came to California in 1886 and was prominent as a Unitarian minister and at one time owned the corner at Fifth and Broadway, where the Fifth Street Department Store now stands. Elon Galusha Fay was born in New York State, December 13, 1824. His home was in Los Angeles from 1888 until his death on October 6, 1909. He was eighty five years old when he died. After coming to Los Angeles he engaged in the laundry business and operated the old Empire Laundry, which has since been succeeded by the Home Service Company of Los Angeles. F. E. Fay became owner of some large properties in the San Juaquin Valley and managed these from his home in Los Angeles. He was retired when he died, February 12, 1922. He was also born near Bryan, Ohio. His wife, Laura Hamilton Fay, who was prominent in social and charitable work at Los Angeles, died September 28, 1919. She was born in 1853 at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, and had lived in Los Angeles since 1890. She was a charter member of the Friday Morning Club, a member of the Ruskin Art Club, and the Galpin Shakespeare Club, the Humane Society, and was member of the Board of Directors of the Maternity Cottage. She and her husband had two sons and two daughters, all of whom were born at Bryan, Ohio: Mrs. Ira A. Campbell, of New York City, G. Hamilton, Cynthia Fay Clarke and Eli P. Fay, all of Los Angeles.

G. Hamilton Fay was liberally educated, attending the grammar schools and high school of Los Angeles, and was a student at the University of Michigan. After leaving school he engaged in the laundry business, learning it from all angles, and was with the Empire Laundry, later with the Home Service Company, and in 1926 sold his interest in the latter corporation. On January 1, 1927, he established the Fay Company Laundry located at 1663-1671 Cordover Street. He was sole owner, and established it as a business with a special mission, handling family laundry work, and both rough and finished work at pound rates, new departure in this business. This company he sold to the Community Laundry Service in September, 1928. Mr. Fay was placed in the managership of the Bay City Laundry at Venice, which laundry is owned by the Community Laundry Service.

Mr. Fay is an independent voter and for a number of years was a University Club of Los Angeles. He married, December 19, 1908, Miss Olive Garver, of Bryan, Ohio, where she was born and acquired her early schooling. Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. M. V. Garver, the latter now deceased. Her father, now retired, was a manufacturer of wheelbarrows in Bryan, Ohio, and later cashier of a bank in that city. Mrs. Fay after the Bryan schools attended Miss Smead's School for Girls at Toledo, the Wells Preparatory School at Ithaca, New York, and also the National Park Seminary at Washington, D. C. She is a member of the Friday Morning Club of Los Angeles.
"California & Californians", edited by Rockwell D. Hunt, A.M., Ph.D. Volume III, published by the Lewis Publishing Company, 1930.
Posted 6/20/2000