USA > California > Merced County > A history of Merced County, California : with a biographical review of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 56
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Father Doyle prefers to stand by the principles of the Republi- can party, but is liberal-minded in selecting the candidate best suited to fill the office for which he has been chosen. Fraternally he is
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identified with the Elks and the Knights of Columbus, Fourth De- gree. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Merced. He takes a good citizen's part in all civic affairs that aid in the prosperity and advancement of his community.
FRANK F. SOUZA
A prosperous and well-known rancher of the San Joaquin, Frank F. Souza has been active in development work in Merced County since November, 1888, and during that interval of time has built up a reputation as a sweet potato grower and shipper. Starting among the very earliest in sweet potato culture, he is now one of the largest shippers of that product in the valley, and his trademark on a ship- ment, "Frank Souza," carries weight to the trade wherever found, as to quality and evenness of product. A native of Caveira, Flores, Azores Islands, he was born September 21, 1869, the only son in a family of nine children born to his parents, Juan F. and Catherina (Souza) Mendoza, who lived and died in their native land, the mother in 1922, aged eighty years, and the father in September, 1925, aged eighty-three years. They were farmers, successful and well-to- do, and highly thought of by their many friends.
Frank F. received his education in the schools of his native isles; reared on the home farm, he saw but few opportunities ahead and decided to start for the New World, boarding the vessel Sarah, a three-master. After a voyage of twenty-one days, he reached Boston on May 22, 1886, with seven dollars and a half in his pocket, and took a job at New London, Conn., on ships and fishing smacks, at twenty dollars per month, working two seasons on the water. The inspiration received when he first saw Old Glory floating in the breeze on the Massachusetts shore, never left the immigrant lad, and his one object was to work and save, so that he could take advantage of the opportunities he felt sure awaited him in his adopted land To this end he spent one and one-half years in New London, saving what he could of his wages, and also sending some home to the dear ones left behind; he was ambitious to succeed, and knew. the only path for him lay through hard work and self-denial.
Late in 1888, with funds enough to make a start up the ladder, he came west to California, and on reaching here, went to work on the Chowchilla; later becoming foreman on a ranch for Joe King of Merced. After reaching this State he found so many named Men- doza that it was difficult to receive any mail; so he took the name of Souza from his mother's family, and has ever since been known as Frank F. Souza. For the next five years he worked and saved, and
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in the meantime made several small investments which proved good, and he was soon able to start in business for himself, on twenty acres in the Buhach Colony. Over twenty-four years ago he made his first shipment, 240 sacks of sweet potatoes, to J. D. Martinez, a San Francisco broker, which brought him $105. He has steadily carried on the business since, and in 1923 was the heaviest of any shipper in the district, as shown by the books of December of that year. He does most of his loading at Keyes and Fergus, dealing in fruits and sweet potatoes in the territory from Turlock to Merced, his brand finding a ready market, and known as dependable all over the State. In 1915, at the P. P. I. E. in San Francisco, he received the gold medal for sweet potatoes of the San Joaquin Valley.
The marriage of Mr. Souza, occurring at Martinez, Contra Costa County, on June 1, 1896, united him with Mary Frietas, born at Al- amo, that county, and daughter of the late Joseph Frietas, a Forty- niner and gold miner in early days in California. Six children have blessed their union: Catherine, deceased; Rosa, Mrs. Arthur Brill, who has one son; John; Frank; Joseph; and Antone, deceased. Mr. Souza is the owner of 130 acres of choice farming land in the Merced- Atwater district. Besides his profitable shipping business he is inter- ested in real estate in Atwater. A progressive man in every respect, he received his citizenship papers in Merced, from Judge Fred Ostrander, and has always been a true patriot to the land which has proved so kind to him, doing all in his power to bring even greater advancement to his section of the country. He is a stockholder in the Merced Security Savings Bank. Fraternally, he is a member of the Odd Fellows, both Lodge and Encampment, and is Past Presi- dent of both the U. P. E. C. and the I. D. E. S. Societies. For over twelve years he served as school trustee in the Buhach district, helping to further the cause of education; and he is a member of the Buhach Catholic Church, and donated one-half acre of land to the Immaculate Conception Church.
ALBERT OSCAR JOHNSTON
There is something commanding respect and honor in the per- sonal appearance of a man, and if to that is added a character of sterling worth we have a gentleman of whom any community is proud and does well to place in the foremost ranks of representative citizens. That is what we have in Oscar A. Johnston, dealer in hardware in Irwin, Cal. A man of powerful frame, large and generous-hearted, he has made his way to the top by an integrity of character, skill and native genius that have been the admiration of all who know him.
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Mr. Johnston was the fourth of six children namely: Amanda, Mrs. Bjork, Sweden; Edward, who died single in Denver, Colo., 1910; Carl, who died single in Calexico, Cal .; Albert Oscar, our sub- ject; Leonard F., a rancher in Irwin; Theodore, still in Sweden.
The son of Johanas and Anna Charlotte Johnson, he was born in Jan Kjoping, Sweden, April 24, 1871. His early education was ob- tained largely in the shop of his father, who was a blacksmith; it was there he got the principles of iron-working which made him an expert machinist. He was brought up and instructed in the faith of the Swedish Lutheran Church and passed his confirmation. Then, like all aspiring youths of red blood he began to think of what he was going to do in the world. His eyes were turned to the New World beyond the sea; accordingly on March 27, 1888, he embarked at Gottenberg on the Cunard line for England and after eight days in Liverpool he set out again for America and arrived in New York in April, 1888. His seventeenth birthday was passed on the train on the way from Chicago to Waverly, Nebr., where he found employment with his uncle, for whom he worked five years. With his earnings he was able to buy a threshing outfit, which he ran with unprecedented suc- cess. Being a natural machinist, he was able, not only to repair machinery of all kinds, but to make the tools to do it with, and he ran a whole season without losing more than an hour on account of a breakdown. For eight years he carried on this business threshing thousands of bushels of wheat, and he had a corn-sheller with a capac- ity of a thousand bushels an hour.
In May, 1902, he came out to the Hilmar Colony in California and bought 160 acres of land for himself and brother, who is living on that land. On December 1, 1906, he came to Turlock and engaged in farming and blacksmithing. He also had a blacksmith shop in connection with his farm for some years in Irwin. When he came to Irwin he sold part of his 160 acres to his brother and improved the rest of the farm with buildings. In 1918 he entered the hardware business in Irwin and built the A. O. Johnston brick block, 50x75 feet and further improved his sixty-acre farm; later he built a frame addi- tion of the same dimensions, making a fine business block.
On February 6, 1915, he was married to Miss Hulda B. Ander- son, a native of Minnesota and daughter of A. T. Anderson, now living in Irwin. There are two children of this union, Freda Olivia and Veda Evelyna, pupils in the Hilmar School. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston are both members of the Swedish Evangelical Mission Church. The name was originally Johnson but was changed to Johnston on account of confusion of names in the postoffice.
Mrs. Johnston's parents, A. T. Anderson and Hannah (Nelson) Anderson, were married in Minnesota and were farmers at Eagle
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Bend, Minn. They came to California in 1912. They had two chil- dren, Hulda Beatta, now Mrs. Johnston, and Nels T., who served in France, was wounded and honorably discharged. The Andersons own a farm of twenty acres near Irwin. Mrs. A. T. Anderson was born in Sweden in 1867 and came to America when she was eleven years old.
JOHN PEARSON
When the Fin de Siecle Company launched the Hilmar Colony the first twenty-acre plot was bought by John Pearson, who still holds the title deed dated July, 1902 signed by the president, G. B. Bloss, and the secretary, Horace Crane. He and his good wife hold a high place in the affections of the people of the colony for their generous hospitality, their activity in the church and their intelligent efforts to promote the general welfare.
Mr. Pearson was born in Christianstadslan, Sweden, April 12, 1864, the youngest of five children, four boys and one girl, born to Per and Bertha (Oakesdatter) Soneson. John grew up in Sweden, worked on his father's farm, attended the public schools and was con- firmed in the Lutheran Church. The father was a carpenter and wagon-maker as well as a farmer ; thus it came about that John learned the carpenter trade under his father, which afterwards was of great service to him. He served two years in the military camps and worked on farms when he was grown up. At one time he was employed on the farm of Rudolph Stjernsward, who was secretary to Queen Sophia of Sweden. Sone Pearson, John's elder brother, was the superintendent of that farm for eleven years. Niels Person Norberg, another brother, was already in Omaha, Nebr., and the favorable accounts which he wrote home induced John to bid goodbye to his native land and in the latter part of April, 1891, he embarked at Malmo, Sweden, for Hull, England; and passing through England to Liverpool, he sailed again on the "Teutonic" of the White Star Line and arrived at Old Castle Garden, N. Y., May 1, 1891. He proceeded at once to East Orange, New Jersey and got a position as gardener and coachman with E. B. Brooks, a manufacturer of government and railway supplies and held it eleven years. He united with the Swedish Mission Church in East Orange and helped raise the money for the new Mission Church which was built there in 1894.
It was in East Orange that he met Clara Wilhelmina Anderson, a native of Opland, Sweden, the daughter of Anders and Karen Per- son, farmers in her native country. She came to America when she was twenty years old and worked in East Orange, where she met Mr. Pearson. She came to California in 1902, worked for a while in Los
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Angeles but soon went to San Francisco, when she accepted a position in the household of General Hughes at Fort Mason. Thence she came to Hilmar to marry Mr. Pearson, and was one of the first, if not the first bride in the Hilmar Colony, the nuptials being performed on April 25, 1903. They united with the Mission Church in Hilmar. Mr. Pearson brought with him letters of the highest recommendation from his employer in East Orange.
The land on which the Mission Church in Hilmar was located was donated by the Fin de Siecle Company. When the first church built by Rev. N. O. Hultberg became too small the present magnificent new church edifice was built in 1921-1922, Mr. Pearson being a donor. His knowledge of carpentry enabled him to build his own house and other buildings on his place, which is devoted to raising alfalfa, dairy- ing, hogs and poultry. He has helped along the irrigation schemes of Merced County. He was a stockholder in the Rochdale store in Tur- lock. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson have two children; Ethel Margaret is a student in the University of California studying to become a high school teacher; Arthur is in the Hilmar high school and helps on the home farm. Mr. Pearson is a Republican in politics but at all times aims to vote for correct principles and the man who may be relied upon to carry them out.
THOMAS A. WASSUM
It is a frequent occurrence that the entire family of Mr. Wassum gather around the festive board at his home in Atwater to enjoy all the good things to eat and to recount the good old times the pioneers of California enjoyed. There are six living children, six- teen grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren to be accounted for in this family. Though aged eighty-six T. A. Wassum is hale and hearty and enjoys the gatherings of his large and interesting family. He is now living in quiet retirement at his Atwater home, which he purchased from Charles Shaffer in 1919.
Thomas A. Wassum was born in Missouri on May 2, 1839, the eldest of five children, three of whom are still living, of Jacob and Jane (Alexander) Wassum, natives of South Carolina and Tennes- see, respectively. As the son of a planter, when he grew up, Jacob Wassum was called "Squire Wassum." In 1846 he went down into Texas with a band of stock but the venture proved very unprofitable and he returned to his home in the spring of 1847. In 1852 he fitted out an expedition for crossing the plains to California, his outfit consisting of two yoke of oxen, one yoke of cows, fifteen head of cattle and a blind horse, which was ridden by one of the party in driving the loose stock. He joined a party of seventeen wagons
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under James Fryer and Steve McReynolds, a Forty-niner, who head- ed the train. On account of making a late start they laid over in Salt Lake until it was safe to travel the following spring, when the party arrived safely in Eldorado County and settled at Mud Springs. Our subject worked at teaming, hauling supplies to the mines, with the ox-team, as his father was in poor health. His partners in the enterprise were Ed. Schlossi and a French boy. During the winter seasons they did prospecting for about ten years. In those early days Mud Springs was a considerable town and there was a camp of about 1500 Chinese there also. In 1922 Mr. Wassum made a trip by automobile through that section of the country and he was unable to locate any landmark that told of his early days in the sec- tion. During the time he was teaming he made a trip into the Napa valley and worked in the harvest fields. He located in the Berry- essa Valley in 1870 and undertook to start a dairy business but the locality was not suitable for that industry and he turned to dealing in stock which he sold in the larger markets. He also raised grain.
The advent of the California pioneer into Merced County dates back to 1904, when he began renting large tracts of land in the Cressey and Livingston districts, also some in the Tully tract in Stanislaus County, and over in the Planada section. He raised large crops of grain and prospered exceedingly and when he sold his last standing grain crop in 1919 he decided he would retire.
On October 18, 1858, Mr. Wassum was united in marriage with Amanda Stice, born in Missouri on August 24, 1842. She was reared in the home of an uncle, Moses Stice, and crossed the plains with his family in 1857. Moses Stice became a well-known figure in the Sac- ramento Valley as a raiser of blooded stock and harness horses, but he suffered heavy losses in the flood of 1861-1862. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Wassum the following children were born: Charles, a resident of Napa County, is married and has a family of six children; John, also residing in Napa County, is married and has a family of four children; Sarah lives at home and cares for her aged father; Clara married W. H. Johnston and died leaving four children, three now living. Her son, Finis E., was killed on the battlefield in France. Thomas now resides on the home ranch at Atwater, is married and has one daughter; Jennie, widow of F. A. Doane, resides at Atwater; and Jacob, a rancher in Stanislaus and Merced Counties, is married and has a daughter and son. Mrs. Wassum died on February 19, 1917, on the ranch near Atwater. Mr. Wassum has always been public-spirited and a believer in the great future of the Golden State. Now in the evening of his days he is surrounded by those he loves and is living in the enjoyment of the competence he won by his own exertions and sound judgment.
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ELBERT GARNETTE ADAMS
Although not a native Californian, the earliest recollections of Elbert Garnette Adams are associated with the scenes of his adopted State, in which all but the first three years of his life have been spent. The family is of English ancestry, for many generations residents of New England; the first emigrant was supposed to have settled in New Hampshire. The paternal grandfather, Charles W. Adams, was born in New Hampshire and was directly descended from John and John Quincy Adams, who later became Presidents of the United States. Charles W. Adams settled in central Illinois in 1840, and ten years later crossed the plains via the Oregon trail and settled in Sacramento, Cal., where he established a shop on Front Street and engaged in business as a carpenter and cabinet-maker. He married Maria Henry, who is related to the Northern branch of the Patrick Henry family, and is a direct descendant of General Putnam, of Revolutionary fame. Charles W. Adams helped to build the first railroad in California from Sacramento to Placerville. Then he was employed on the Central Pacific Railroad, and still later he became a car-finisher for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. He died as a result of a fall in 1918, aged ninety years. His widow is still living at Berkeley, and has reached the advanced age of ninety-two years.
Charles Henry Adams, the father of our subject, was born at Springfield, Ill., and was four years old when his parents came to California. His preliminary education was obtained in the common schools of Sacramento; and while still a young man he went to New York City and there studied law and shorthand. He then returned West, and at Denver, Colo., was married to Miss Mertie Dratt, born at Canton, Ohio, the daughter of David Dratt, a Civil War veteran. David Dratt lived to be seventy years old, and was one of the last survivors of the battle of Lookout Mountain, which was fought above the clouds. Charles Henry Adams and his wife removed to Cripple Creek, Colo., where he was the first justice of the peace. Later, when they removed to San Francisco in 1892, he became a practicing lawyer and court reporter. He followed this profession at Santa Rosa, Auburn and Sacramento, being court reporter for the third appellate district court. Four children were born in the family : Benita, now the wife of H. N. Herrick, an engineer for the Standard Oil Co., residing at Berkeley, Cal .; Kenneth Clyde, who married Bernice Marshall and is a newspaper man residing in San Francisco; Elbert Garnette, our subject ; and David Arden, assistant city editor of the Sacramento Bee, who married Phyllis Kramer and resides in Sacramento. The father passed away in Sacramento in 1921, aged sixty-two years.
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Elbert Garnette Adams was born at Elizabeth, Colo., August 11, 1889, and lived there until he was three years old, when he was brought by his parents to California. He grew up and attended school in Santa Rosa and Auburn. During his junior year in the Auburn High School he left school and went to Sacramento, where he found employment as a reporter on the Sacramento Star, remaining in that position for three years. Then he went to San Francisco and became pony telegraph editor for the United Press at that place. From 1910 to 1912 he was a reporter on the Fresno Herald. In 1912 be became a citizen of Merced County and worked for three years on the Merced Sun. In 1915 he purchased the Livingston Chronicle, a weekly news- paper of eight pages devoted to the news of this section of Merced County. Mr. Adams has succeeded in putting the Chronicle on a pay- ing basis, and has given to the Livingston section a necessary adjunct to its future prosperity and development. This newspaper was estab- lished in 1909 by the late P. H. Higgins, who passed away in 1912. When Mr. Adams purchased it in 1915, everything was in a run-down condition ; he equipped the plant with new machinery, thus enabling him to turn out any job of printing that may be demanded.
On October 25, 1911, Mr. Adams was married to Miss Mayme Hamlett, of Le Grand, Cal., daughter of E. W. Hamlett, an old settler and rancher who still lives at Le Grand. Her father married Lillie Turner, daughter of Marion F. Turner, familiarly known as "Rupe" Turner. He crossed the plains from Missouri in 1851 with his father, Nicholas Turner, and the family settled on Mariposa Creek near where Le Grand now stands. In 1855, when Merced County was formed from a part of Mariposa County, the first session of the district court of Merced County was held at the home of Nicholas Turner on Mariposa Creek. Mr. and Mrs. Adams are the parents of two children, Vernon and Udell.
Perhaps no citizen has been more active in the development of Livingston than Mr. Adams. He made the first motion, as director of the Merced County Farm Bureau, which later resulted in the organ- ization of the Merced Irrigation District; he became the secretary of the organization committee, bonds were voted, and the district was established. Mr. Adams never for a moment relaxed his zeal in this undertaking, and appeared several times before the California legis- lature in its behalf. He is local registrar of vital statistics at Livings- ton, holding this office by appointment of the State Board of Health, since 1918, when the law creating it was passed. Mr. Adams is a director in the Livingston branch of the California Home Improve- ment Association, with headquarters at Oakland. The most outstand- ing community enterprise in which Mr. Adams was the prime mover is the Community Fund, which has given to this section the reputation
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of an exceptionally progressive community. Mr. Adams conceived the idea of the Community Fund, which is subscribed to in January of each year, practically every business house and other interest con- tributing a given sum monthly. The fund makes possible the main- tenance of a thirty-piece community band, which renders weekly concerts from May to October each year; a winning baseball club; and an active booster club; and pays for all community enterprises, such as the community Christmas tree and a Raisin Day entry, and any other special undertaking. The Merchants' Association of Livingston is the director of this fund and designates how it shall be disbursed. Mr. Adams is the secretary of the Boosters' Club, successor to the old Board of Trade.
Becoming the candidate, in 1924, of the Democratic party for the forty-ninth California legislative district, comprising Merced and Madera Counties, Mr. Adams won out by the largest majority ever obtained by any candidate for the legislature in said district and that, too, in a Republican landslide year in a strongly Republican district. He has ably championed the interests of the producers of the State, having introduced and successfully passed Bill No. 225, known as the Commission Men's Regulation Bill. He has introduced several other bills and has especially sought to further the interests of the farm bureaus of the State. Four of his bills aimed at relief for the Delhi Land Settlement, one of which was introduced as a concurrent resolu- tion calling for the appointment of a legislative investigating com- mittee for the purpose of looking into the conditions at Delhi and resulted in giving substantial relief to the colonists. His influence is ever cast for the good of the people, according to true Jeffersonian doctrine. Both Mr. and Mrs. Adams are members of the St. Mark's Mission in Livingston. Fraternally, he is a member of the Fresno Camp, W. O. W.
A. W. STOTHERS
It was on August 28, 1874, that A. W. Stothers was born, a son of William and Caroline (Duff ) Stothers, in Pratt County, Mo. Six weeks later the parents brought their son with them to California and here he grew up and attended school in the Russell district in Merced County. When he was twenty he started out for himself and leased 1260 acres of the Ivett property, south of Planada, and began opera- tions as a grain farmer. He continued thus occupied for twelve years, sometimes having as many as 2500 acres in grain, principally wheat. In carrying on his operations he employed from three to forty men, as occasion required, and he had a combined harvester drawn by mules and horses, but as more modern methods came into vogue, Mr.
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Stothers kept up with the period and was one of the first in this sec- tion to use a caterpillar tractor and combined harvester and thresher. In 1919 he gave up grain farming, and by 1923 he had set ninety acres to figs and twelve acres to almonds on his own property, which comprises some 414 acres in all; and on this ranch he has made every one of the improvements seen today, he having owned the land for the past twenty-five years.
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