Edward French was an American lawyer, civil war veteran, professor at Wells College, and early California pioneer.
[1] French taught Latin, literature, chemistry and mathematics at Wells College, beginning in 1868, the year of its founding.
In 1888, French decided to move the family to Southern California, part of "a mass migration to Southern California promoted by an aggressive publicity campaign orchestrated by Los Angeles boosters and driven by a fare-price war between the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads."
[1] French took a job teaching in the Los Angeles public schools.
He lived out his days in the Los Angeles Old Soldiers' Home as a resident employee, taking a clerical position in the records office.