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 60
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ALBERT COURT
Well-known among the industrious, respected and prosperous business men of Livingston is Albert Court, proprietor of the Court Theater and the Court Confectionery Store. He was born in the County of Surry, England, on May 23, 1862, a son of Albert and Elizabeth (Stanley) Court. The father, who was a carpenter and joiner, made two visits to America and for a time followed his trade in Philadelphia. The paternal grandfather, George Court, was an Englishman and his wife was a native of Wales. He also was a car- penter and builder ; his family, consisting of his wife and seven child- ren lived in County Surry, England, where he and his wife passed their last days.
Albert Court attended school in England and at the age of twenty- one was married to Miss Marion Leeding, native of County Surry, and daughter of Edwin and Charlotte (Thompson) Leeding. In 18.92 Mr. Court removed to Saskatchewan, Canada, where he worked as a carpenter, building many of the substantial buildings of that place. In 1907 the family moved to San Francisco, where he followed his trade for two years. In the fall of 1909 Mr. Court located in Livingston, purchased ten acres near town and in partnership with Finch Wilcox, built the first real estate office south of the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks; his firm, known as Court and Wilcox, built the Crowell block, the grammar school building, and many business houses and residences in the town. In 1917 Mr. Court erected the Court Theater building and since that time has added to it and re- modeled and enlarged it until it will now comfortably seat 250 people. Mr. and Mrs. Court are the parents of nine children : May Stanley is the wife of Herbert Holley, Southern Pacific freight agent at Livingston; they own a twelve-and-a-half-acre vineyard within the city limits. Arthur Stanley served four years over seas with the
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Canadian Army during the World War and received a medal from King George; he married Emily Kimmerle and is a carpenter and builder residing in Livingston. Gilbert Stanley married Hazel Mc- Connell and is in the ice and fuel business in Livingston; Harold E. Stanley died at the age of twenty years; Eleanor Stanley is the wife of Richard Allen, a railroad brakeman, and they reside at San Jose ; Edwin Stanley married Sarah Mary Smith and he is a farmer in Saskatchewan, Canada. Albert Stanley married Naomi Herndon and is in partnership with his father; he served in the United States Navy during the World War. Dorothy Stanley is the wife of William Choisser, a barber in the Court building; and Vincent Stanley is assist- ant cashier in the First Bank of Livingston. There are thirteen grand- children in the families. Mr. Court votes the Republican ticket. In 1921 he became a member of the first board of trustees of the city of Livingston and is still serving in that capacity. Mr. and Mrs. Court are members of the Episcopal Church at Livingston, of which Mrs. Court is organist; she has been a teacher of piano for many years, but is now retired. The daughter Dorothy Stanley and the son Albert Stanley are both musicians; they play the organ in the Court Theater and are in demand at local functions.
OSCAR A. WICKSTROM
A citizen of the strictest integrity, honorable and upright in all his dealings with his fellow-citizens and a pioneer of the Hilmar Colony in Merced County, Oscar A. Wickstrom was born July 17, 1851, at Jonkjoping, Sweden, a son of Peter Anderson and Maria Larson, who were well-to-do farmers in Sweden, owning 160 acres of land. They had three children. One son, Johan, is still farming in Swe- den. Oscar A. went to the thorough Swedish schools and was brought up and baptized in the Lutheran Church. He remained in Sweden until May 3, 1871, when he took passage on the old Anchor Line, passed through Scotland and reembarked at Glasgow for America, landing in June. He went to Jamestown, N. Y., where he was employed at various kinds of work, principally as a laborer. He was married in Jamestown, N. Y., March 12, 1876, to Miss Caroline Johnson, like himself of Swedish birth, and who had come to this country in 1869, when she was eighteen.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wickstrom farmed at Fowler, Benton County, Ind., on rented land; later they went to Iowa for two years, thence to Beresford, Dakota Territory. In 1886 they went into Colorado and from there to Knox County, Nebr. It had been the aim of Mr. Wickstrom to come to California and this he did in
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1902, and settled here with his family in February, 1903. He was the seventh man to buy property in the Hilmar Colony and here he has forty acres of land, well improved and in a flourishing condition, all through his own efforts. His wife has proven a true helpmate and they have made a host of friends since settling in the San Joaquin Valley. He bought land in this colony for seven of his friends and was true to his trust and assisted them in every way to get ahead. He supports the Swedish Evangelical Mission Church, although not a member. He does jury duty and serves on the election board of Irwin Precinct, also on the school board.
Mr. and Mrs. Wickstrom have had six children : Arthur O .; Mrs. C. A. Mord; Florence, widow of Elmer Ahl and the mother of a daughter, Evelyn; Minnie; Roy, electrician in Los Angeles; Elmer is on the home ranch. All have been given the best of educational advantages consistent with the means of their parents.
ANDREW ANDERSEN
Notwithstanding hardships and discouragements, of which he has experienced not a few, Andrew Andersen, by persistency of purpose and perserving industry, has risen to a position of influence among the business men of Gustine, where for the past twelve years he has been the agent of the Buick automobile and in connection therewith operates a modern garage with a good stock of accessories. He was born at Marstal, Denmark, January 28, 1885, a son of Hans R. and Agnes (Christensen) Andersen, both natives of the same country. The father, Hans R. Andersen, is a blacksmith by trade and with his wife is still living in Denmark.
Andrew Andersen received his education in the public schools of Denmark and learned the blacksmith's trade with his father. At the age of nineteen he left home and came to California, locating at New- man, Stanislaus County, where he worked on ranches for Simon Newman & Company for two and a half years; he then worked for about six months in the blacksmith shop owned by Mr. Jefferson in Newman. Following this he engaged in the blacksmith business for himself in Gustine, where he had bought a lot and built a shop on it. In 1912 he sold a half interest in the business to Peter E. Petersen. Mr. Andersen then made an extended trip to his home in Denmark and upon his return to California in 1914, built a modern garage building and became the distributor for the Buick automobiles, the firm being Andersen and Petersen. In 1919, Gilbert Kerr bought Mr. Petersen's interest in the garage and the firm is now Andersen and Kerr. In 1923 Mr. Andersen sold the blacksmith business to
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Mr. Petersen. In 1924 he made another trip back to his old home, taking his wife and children, to attend the golden wedding anniver- sary of his parents' marriage.
At Fresno, Cal., on October 6, 1914, Mr. Andersen was married to Miss Volberg C. Petersen, also born in Denmark, daughter of Rasmus Petersen. Mr. and Mrs. Andersen are the parents of three children: Jane, Richard, and Virginia. In 1910 Mr. Andersen re- ceived his United States citizenship papers and since that time has voted the Democratic ticket; he has served as deputy constable of Gustine and also as trustee of the city. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Dania Lodge and Romero Lodge No. 413, I. O. O. F., of Gustine.
C. R. DAVIS
The name of C. R Davis is well-known throughout Merced County, where he has been identified with the business, political and social life for several years, and he holds a place of especial promi- nence among the citizens of Livingston. He was born in Steubenville, Ohio, on January 12, 1880, a son of Edmund and Laura (Kettle- wood) Davis, natives of Wales and Pennsylvania, respectively. Edmund Davis came to America while a young man and followed his trade of sheet-metal worker; while working in a mill at Wellsville, Ohio, he sustained injuries from which he died in 1916, aged sixty- eight years. The mother is still living and makes her home at East Liverpool, Ohio, and has reached the age of sixty-eight years.
C. R. Davis is the third in a family of seven children and is the only one residing in California. He grew up in his native State and there received his education in the common schools; after leaving school he thoroughly learned the sheet-metal trade. Before leaving Ohio, Mr. Davis was married to Miss Erla Thompson, born at Wells- ville that State, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Malone) Thomp- son, in whose family there were four children. The mother passed away when Mrs. Davis was six years old and the father is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have a family of four children : Wil- lett McFarland is a lineman for the San Joaquin Light & Power Com- pany ; Ralph; Bert; and Dorothy Elizabeth. The Davis family came to California in 1903 and direct to Merced County, where Mr. Davis bought forty acres one mile north of Livingston; this he improved to fruit trees and vines and after five years sold it. He then entered the employ of Hammatt and Crowell as outside man, putting in crops of oats, rye, barley and wheat; two years later he became clerk in the store for the same company. He has grown up with the business and is now head of the hardware department for the Crowell-White
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Company, Inc., successors to Hammatt and Crowell. Mr. Davis and his family reside in a modern six-room residence in Livingston built in 1913. He is a Democrat in politics and is a member of the Boosters' Club of Livingston. When Livingston was incorporated as a city, Mr. Davis was elected a member of the first board of trustees; for six years he served as clerk of the grammar school board. For the past eighteen years he has served as a fireman, first on the bucket brigade; Livingston now boasts an up-to-date fire department and Mr. Davis serves as fire chief. Largely through the efforts of Mr. Davis the Livingston branch of the Merced County free library was established. Fraternally Mr. Davis is a member of the Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen of America of Livingston. The family are members of the Episcopal Church of Livingston.
OSCAR EPHRAIM PHILLIPS
It is the second generation of people who are now maintaining the standard set by more advanced settlers of the pioneer period in the Golden State, and none is more deserving than Oscar Ephraim Phillips, who was born at Badger Flat, Merced County, May 23, 1875, the son of the late William Milton and Sarah Jane Phillips, mention of whom is made on another page of this history. After finishing the courses at the Center Point school near Los Banos, O. E. Phillips became associated with his father, remaining with him until twenty-three years of age. He was then given forty acres of land by his father, who gave him the necessary equipment to carry on the project he had undertaken and for more than twenty-five years he has carried on a dairy industry. As he has succeeded he has bought sixty-five acres nearby, and finally he purchased eighty acres south of Los Banos on the plains, and in 1921 added fifty-five acres to his holdings one mile east of Los Banos. He raises grain on some of his land and on the rest he maintains a dairy of fifty cows. He is one of the successful ranchers of this part of the county and takes a live interest in all that pertains to the advancement of the people's interest.
On November 1, 1898, Oscar Ephraim Phillips and Miss Phoebe Mills were made man and wife at Gonzales, Monterey County. Mrs. Phillips was born in that county, the daughter of John Board- man and Louise (Bickmore) Mills; and she was reared in the San Miguel Canyon. Her father was a rancher and carpenter and one of the early settlers of that locality. He died at the age of fifty ; Mrs. Mills lived to be fifty-six. D. O. Mills, pioneer banker in Sacra- mento, was an uncle of Mrs. Phillips. The following children have
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been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Phillips: Ervin Glenn, Lurine, Irma, Hazel and Melva Illeen. Mr. Phillips is a Republi- can and he holds membership in the Los Banos Center of the Merced County Farm Bureau. Fraternally, he belongs to the Woodmen of the World at Los Banos.
REV. E. N. TRAIN
To Rev. E. N. Train is given the credit for the building of the new and modern Swedish Evangelical Mission Church at Hilmar, Merced County. He was born in Sweden, June 22, 1881, the young- est son of Gustav and Mathilda Train, who came to America in 1886, and made their first settlement at Lindsborg, McPherson County, Kans., where the father followed making and repairing shoes. They were poor but honest people and, with their family of eight, had a struggle for existence. The father had been well-to-do in Sweden but lost his means through signing notes for another and had to begin all over again and in a land of strangers. Our subject attended the local public school, after which he entered the office of the Lindsborg News as printer's devil and started to learn the business. He next became a grocer's clerk and worked hard to get the necessary means to attend college and finally entered North Park College, near Chi- cago, and finished the regular theological course, graduating with the class of 1907. This college is controlled by the Swedish Evangelical Mission Church of America. Although he had graduated, the rules of this church require three years service as a preacher and mission worker before ordination; accordingly Mr. Train complied with the rules and was ordained a minister in 1910. He began his duties as a mission worker and preacher in South Bend, Ind., during his last year in college and, after finishing, returned to South Bend, in all spending five years there.
The year of his graduation Mr. Train was married, on June 12, 1907, at Clyde, Kans., to Miss Elvira Ostlund, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Ostlund, who were farmers in Republican County, Kans. She was born and educated in Kansas, taking a musical course in the Conservatory of Music at Lindsborg, Kans., studying vocal as well as instrumental. She developed a fine soprano voice and sang in the Messiah, the oratorio which is rendered annually in the Linds- borg College and said to be the best rendition of the Messiah in America. They have had five children, all boys: Edward N., Jr .; Roy Enoch; Wesley Andrew; John Harvey Lind; and Ronald James Waldo.
Following ministerial work, Rev. Train went from South Bend, Ind., to Helena, Mont., and a year later took a post graduate course
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in the Montana Wesleyan University and won the Ryder scholarship. He was then sent to Seattle, Wash., in 1913, and while there also did post graduate work at the University of Washington, pursuing classi- cal studies, modern and ancient languages. He was at Seattle for seven years. In 1919 he came to Hilmar, Merced County. Reverend Train is a leader in the young peoples' conferences of the Swedish Evangelical Mission Church and is recognized as an organizer of the young peoples' organizations, having specialized in that in Indiana, Washington and California. He is deeply interested in the public schools at Hilmar; is treasurer of the California Conference of his Mother Church; is president of the Young Peoples' League of Cali- fornia ; is vice-chairman of the board of directors of Emanuel Hospi- tal at Turlock and is active in all other philanthropic and worth-while enterprises that have for their object the raising of the moral and religious standard of the people.
It was largely through the efforts of Reverend Train that the handsome church edifice at Hilmar was erected at a cost of $40,000. It is a modern structure 68 by 80, stucco construction, with a belfry sixty-two feet high. Ground was broken on January 4, 1921, the cornerstone was laid Easter week of that year and the building was dedicated in November of the same year. It is the best-appointed church in any country town and is the pride of the congregation, which was organized only in 1903. Every modern convenience is installed in the construction and arrangement of the building and the various rooms, and all in all it is considered to be a model of its kind.
ROY KRUGER
A native of California, Roy Kruger was born in Merced County, four miles south of the present site of the town of Gustine, on No- vember 16, 1884, a son of Charles and Sarah Kruger, the former a native of Germany but a resident in California since he was twenty- five years old, when he located in Merced County and in time be- came the owner of an hundred-acre farm on which he raised hogs. There are two boys in this family, Hartley, of Gustine, and Roy, the subject of this review. The mother of our subject passed away when he was fourteen months old; the father made his home in Glendale, Cal., for several years and died in December, 1923.
Roy Kruger attended the Enterprise district school, which is now in the Gustine school district. At eighteen years of age he began to earn his own way in the world and for eighteen months worked at the New Era Creamery. He then learned the carpenter's trade, which he has since followed, and for the last ten years he has been
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in the contract building business in Merced County. His good work- manship and reliability have been the means of bringing him a com. fortable income and at the same time have aided in the development of his home town.
At Riverdale, Cal., December 10, 1913, Mr. Kruger was married to Miss Saidie Bradley, born at Mustang, Merced County, a daughter of W. T. and Frances (Leek) Bradley. There were four children in the Bradley family: Cora, now the wife of William O. Brown; Eba, now Mrs. Jerome Harlan; Maude, married Thomas Virgo and is deceased; and Saidie, the wife of our subject. Mrs. Kruger received her education at the Clay district school in Merced County. Fraternally, Mr. Kruger is affiliated with Merced Lodge No. 1240, B. P. O. E. of Merced and politically is a Republican. Mr. Kruger built his present home in Gustine ten years ago and his interest centers in the locality where he has spent his entire lifetime.
WILLARD K. McBRIDE
A man of unquestioned ability and integrity, active and enterpris- ing, Willard K. McBride, as manager of the California Milk Pro- ducts Company, is prominently identified with the industrial progress of Merced County ; he is also interested in agriculture, owning a half interest in a forty-acre ranch in Stanislaus County and a twelve-acre ranch devoted to walnuts at Gustine, Merced County. His birth occurred on his father's ranch near Salida, March 15, 1895, a son of S. N. and Alice M. (Keeley) McBride. The father came to California about 1876 and followed teaching for about nineteen years. He mar- ried Miss Keeley, whose family came to California in an early day, and they are now living retired on their ranch near Gustine.
Willard K. McBride is the only child of his parents. His educa- tion was obtained at the grammar and high school in Modesto; then he was sent to the Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania and during this time was an understudy with Smith-Kline & French Company in Philadelphia. In October, 1917 he entered the United States Army and was placed in the 154th Depot Brigade of the 79th Division; he was promoted to the post of sergeant and attended the 3rd Officer's Training School at Camp Mead, Md., and at that camp received his discharge on account of disability. He returned to Modesto, Cal., and worked for one year for the Carpenter Cheese Company in Modesto. In 1919 he located at Gustine and assumed the manage- ment of the California Milk Products Company; this company manu- factures milk sugar, albumin and casein. Under the able supervision of Mr. McBride this company has built up a fine business which is
M. a. Marshall.
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steadily growing from month to month, as the products become better known.
On September 9, 1919, Mr. McBride was married to Miss Ora Lathrop Powers, a native of California, daughter of Lathrop B. Powers, a farmer residing near Oakdale. Mrs. McBride passed away in July, 1920. On July 23, 1924 he married Miss Fay Truitt, a native daughter of California. Mr. McBride is a Republican in his political views and fraternally belongs to Hills Ferry Lodge No. 136, F. & A. M., of Newman; Modesto Chapter No. 49, R. A. M .; Modesto Commandery No. 57, K. T., and Aahmes Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Oakland; and to Romero Lodge No. 413, of Gustine.
MANUEL A. MARSHALL
Among the largest and most successful dairymen on the West Side in Merced and Stanislaus Counties is Manuel A. Marshall, of the firm of Marshall and Newsom. He is a very hard worker and a very good business man. Manuel A. Marshall is the son of Joao Machado and Mariana (Bento De Ramos Medeiros) De Souza. The father was a native of St. George, of the Azores. When he came to this country he found the name De Souza rather bewildering to the Americans; so he adopted Machado as a surname, which was in course of time changed to the more euphonious name of Marshall, and thereafter he was known as John Marshall. In common with many of the young men of the Azores, the sea appealed to him; and the seaman's life gave him an opportunity to see several of the prin- cipal ports of South America, as well as of North America. Being well educated in the schools of his native country, and apt, he became secretary for a very wealthy Brazilian coffee planter, which position he held for several years. After this he visited the United States and then returned to the Azores and married, and, as captain of a ship, came with his young wife to New York, where he lived for a few years. His first two children, Manuel, who died in New York State, and John, were born in Buffalo. Coming to California, he settled at Tiburon and began farming. Later on, for a short period, he farmed at Sausalito. In 1883 the family moved to Ross Vallev in Marin County, where the family of twelve children were reared. They were as follows: John, Mary, Lucia, Joseph, Manuel A. (the subject of this review), Rose, Anthony, Carrie, Henry, Laura and Lenora (twins), and Helen. There were thirteen in all, including the two born in New York State. John Marshall, the father, died January 5, 1922, and his widow survived but a few days afterward, dying on January 25, that same year.
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Manuel A. Marshall was born at Tiburon, Marin County, July 19, 1882, and worked for his father until he became of age. He was associated with his brother, Anthony L., in purchasing their father's interest in the dairy business in Ross Valley in 1903, and the two brothers conducted the business for about two years. Then Manuel A. bought his brother's interest, and on November 2, 1905, he sold a one-fourth interest to his brother-in-law, Hugh L. Newsom, and the firm name became Marshall and Newsom. This was later changed to Marshall-Newsom Co., when the father, John Marshall, bought a one-fourth interest from our subject, on January 1, 1907. This in- terest in the partnership the father held from that date until he sold it back to Manuel A. in 1921. Marshall and Newsom leased ninety acres of land at Crow's Landing and had two strings of cows. After- ward they located in the Cottonwood district of Merced County, eight miles south of Gustine, where they leased a quarter-section of land from Dennis McCarthy, which became the place of residence. Marshall-Newsom Co. bought 162 acres of the Henry Kuns ranch in 1910, and they have built a fine dairy barn upon it and intend eventu- ally to make this their home ranch. It is one of the best dairy farms in Merced County. Besides this 160 acres, they also rent 1120 acres in Merced and Stanislaus Counties, which is used in connection with the dairy for raising feed and pasturing young stock. They have 300 milch-cows and are among the largest and most successful dairy farmers on the West Side. Mr. Marshall began only with his good will, and empty-handed; but he has been a tireless and intelligent worker and business manager, and his numerous friends are glad to know that he is on the road to success and independent competency.
Mr. Marshall was married on October 9, 1924, to Mary Olivia Chapman, of Twin Falls, Idaho, who was born at Butte, Montana. Mr. Marshall is a member of the I. D. E. S. and the U. P. E. C. Socie- ties, of Gustine. He is also a member of the Knights of Columbus, West Side Council No. 2157, at Newman. He is a Republican.
When the Merced County Farm Bureau was organized in 1917, Mr. Marshall was made a director of the Cottonwood Center of this organization, which office he still holds. Since 1919 he has also been vice-president of the County Farm Bureau. The Cottonwood Center takes in all of the country north of San Luis Creek up to the north county line, and from the San Joaquin River to the west county line. The Cottonwood Farm Center became a positive force in securing the enlarged irrigation district for the West Side. Mr. Marshall was made chairman of a committee of seven, representatives of Cotton- wood and Dos Palos Farm Centers, to take action to bring about the formation of the West Joaquin Irrigation District. The activities of this committee brought about the harmonious co-operation of land-
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