Week 19: Julia Pope, Dr. Chandler's First Wife
- Chandler Museum
It is often said that behind every great man is a strong woman. In Dr. Chandler’s case, there were actually three.
Dr. Chandler’s first wife was Julia Pope. Originally hailing from St. Louis, Julia was the daughter of Judge John Dawson Pope, a federal judge who had served in the Confederate cavalry during the Civil War. She married Dr. Chandler in Phoenix on September 23, 1890, in a small ceremony that was actually moved up a day to avoid an impending rainstorm. On their honeymoon, they spent several weeks at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco and the Hotel Nadeau in Los Angeles.
The couple made their primary residence in Los Angeles, where Judge Pope lived and where Julia was active in numerous social endeavors. She was a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy, La Causie Francaise (a French literary society), the Ebell Club of L.A., and the Friday Morning Club, among others.
Their California connections were well known and widely publicized. A notice in the Chandler Arizonan from 1912 boasts the headline “Dr. Chandler Wins Bronze Button,” and brags that the good doctor had caught a 27 pound yellowtail that had landed him a third place prize in a fishing competition on Catalina Island. Dr. Chandler and Julia posed with the fishing boat captain, the prize winning fish, and the rest of the day’s catch on the dock. This is the only known photograph of the two of them together. Interestingly, the photo was donated to the Slusser Memorial Library at the Postal History Foundation in Tucson. Staff there recently discovered it in their collection, and contacted the Chandler Museum to see if we would be interested in collecting it. So despite the circuitous route to get here, thanks to some sharp staff members at the Slusser Library the photo of Dr. Chandler and Julia with their prize fish ended up in the right place.
When it came time to design and build the San Marcos Hotel, Dr. Chandler relied on Julia to help with the interior design. A headline in the July 18, 1913, edition of the Chandler Arizonan newspaper proclaimed “Furnishings for San Marcos Hotel to be Finest in State; Cost is $50,000; Color Scheme Work of Mrs. Chandler.” The color scheme would be “a rich color scheme of blends, and restful and harmonious to the eye.”
In addition to the color schemes, Julia was in charge of furnishing the hotel. She spent several weeks in Grand Rapids, Chicago, and New York choosing furnishings and finishes. With her on that trip was William Loftus, a furniture dealer in the employ of Dr. Chandler’s Improvement Company. The selected many French inspired finishes, wicker furniture, and light fixtures that would highlight the color scheme.
Life for the Chandlers wasn’t all work and social clubs. A blurb in the same July edition of the Arizonan noted that upon Mrs. Chandler’s return from the east she would continue on to Los Angeles to meet Dr. Chandler for several days of recreation on the beach.
Unfortunately for Dr. Chandler and Julia, their relationship did not end well. By 1916 she had filed for divorce from Dr. Chandler and was married to the same William Loftus with whom she had spent weeks shopping for goods for the hotel. Julia and William remained married until her death in 1951.