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 69
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Mr. Finster was married at Highlands, San Bernardino County, to Miss Annie Baker, a native of Iowa, and they have had four children. Mrs. Florence Conradt, living with her father, has two children, Genevieve and Harry. Lester and Chester are twins. Lester, a driller at Huntington Beach, Cal., saw service with the avia- tion section in France during the World War; he married Zulu Eccles. Chester is also a driller and he married Miss Alice Cook
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and resides at Reward, Cal. Harry Wallace was born in Riverside in 1897, worked with his father after leaving the Taft public school and is now a partner and part owner in the Livingston vineyard. He is now working in the oil fields in Tampico, Mexico. Father and son are Republicans and admirers of Hiram Johnson and are in favor of a clean, honest program for efficient government. In Feb- ruary, 1925, J. M. Finster bought a residence in Livingston where he and his family reside, he having leased his ranch.
HENRY L. KUNS
The custom of many wealthy men, who accumulate property which they must leave behind them to be quarreled over by their heirs when they are gone, has not been followed by Henry L. Kuns. The 1200 acres which he still owns represent what is left after many benefactions, and after distributions to his heirs while yet alive. One of his greatest benefactions, for which he will be remembered by many orphan children, was the gift of a parcel of land at La Verne, in Los Angeles County, for an orphanage known as the David and Margaret Home for Children, named after his father and mother, to whom he was an only child. Four hundred children have been entered and cared for in this place, and at present there are ninety in the institution. There have thus far been but two deaths at this orphanage, it having the lowest percentage of mortality of any institution in California ; and it ranks among the best in the United States.
Henry L. Kuns was born in Cass County, Ind., on November 19, 1847. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and a farmer at Monticello, Ill., where he came in 1853. In 1892 he moved to Cali- fornia ; and here he spent the balance of his life at La Verne, formerly Lordsburg, dying in 1905 at the age of eighty-six years. The mother was of Virginian stock and attained the age of seventy-seven years. The father and mother died just four months apart. They were the first deaths in the family for many years. The son was closely asso- ciated with his father in the farming enterprises, although he left home in 1878 and came to Gilroy, Santa Clara County, where he farmed until 1892. Coming then to the San Joaquin Valley, he made his home in Merced County, in the Romero school district. In com- pany with his father he acquired several parcels of land. At one time they owned 5000 acres, but various parcels have been sold off and given away until there are only 1200 acres left.
Henry L. Kuns has not farmed much for fifteen years and is at present interested in drilling for oil in Merced County. Of an acquir-
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ing and inquiring mind, Mr. Kuns has for years observed and studied the geological structure of California's oil-fields. Becoming con- vinced that the structure of the foothills south and west of Los Banos indicated the presence of gas and oil, he leased up a tract of land in that vicinity. Drilling is now in progress; and if this venture proves as successful as present conditions indicate, it will give Merced County one of the most important oil-fields in California.
Mr. Kuns' first marriage took place in Scioto County, Ohio, on March 28, 1870. His wife, Mary Pearce in maidenhood, was the daughter of Joseph and Mary Pearce. They were farmers living in Ohio, where their daughter was born and reared. She died in 1914 leaving five children, namely: Arthur, at present superintendent of a mine at Angels Camp, Cal .; Margaret, Mrs. Williams, of La Verne, Cal .; Lena, Mrs. Neher, of Porterville, Cal .; David, deceased at the age of twenty; Ora, Mrs. Melvin Johnson, of Spokane, Wash. Besides the above-mentioned five children, Mr. Kuns has seventeen grandchildren, fourteen living and three deceased; and also five great- grandchildren, three living and two deceased. The son Arthur has two living children; namely, Lloyd and Norman. Mrs. Williams has three living children : Dorothy, Ronald and Robert. Mrs. Neher has five children: Elrino, Viola, Victor, Bernice and Leland Kuns. Mrs. Johnson has four children: Eoline, Miriam, Launa and Arliss. The grandson Lloyd had a pair of twins that died, and now has one living daughter. The grandson Elrino Neher has two children.
Mr. Kuns was married to his present wife, formerly Mrs. Bart- lett, of Mattoon, Ill., on March 8, 1915. She was a widow and had two children by her former marriage, Ruth and Wendell. Mr. Kuns has been a member of the Prohibition party for thirty years. He has lived to see the adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment and hopes to see its complete enforcement.
H. BOYD SMITH
A native son of the Golden State, H. Boyd Smith, justice of the peace at Dos Palos, is justifying the confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. He was born at Elsinore, Riverside County, on July 21, 1893, the son of E. B. and Martha B. (Cotton) Smith, natives of Illinois and Iowa, respectively, and both now living. E. B. Smith came to California some thirty-five years ago and was a fore- man in the coal mine in Riverside County; and he later became a rancher of that county. Coming to Dos Palos about eighteen years ago, he engaged in the dairy business, and, meeting with deserved suc- cess, he is now living retired. Mrs. Smith was a descendant of the
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Cotton family whose progenitor came from England on the May- flower. Mr. Smith was twice married and by the first union there are two children, H. M., of Dos Palos, and Mrs. William Codd, of Riverside. Of the second union there are Mrs. V. E. Reynolds, of Manteca; Mrs. H. B. Lucas, of Dos Palos; Mrs. B. Buckham, of Lemoore; and H. Boyd, our subject.
H. Boyd Smith was educated in the schools in Riverside County and Dos Palos and he was a clerk in a general store for some time. Later he engaged in the real estate business in Dos Palos; and he is also handling insurance, representing the Western States Life Insur- ance Company at Dos Palos and is meeting with success.
Mr. Smith married Oramae Shain, a native of Nebraska, and they have a daughter, Geraldine. Fraternally, Mr. Smith belongs to Santa Rita Lodge No. 124, I. O. O. F. at Dos Palos, and to Merced Lodge No. 1240, B. P. O. Elks in Merced. In 1922 Mr. Smith be- came a candidate for the office of justice of the peace for Dos Palos, was elected at the general election that fall and took his office on January 1, 1923, since which time he has ably filled the requirements of the office. He is secretary of the Dos Palos Chamber of Commerce.
P. R. PETERSON
For many years P. R. Peterson has been a resident of Merced County and by his own untiring efforts has become influential in the business circles of Merced, where he conducts a profitable real estate and insurance business. He was born in Wisconsin, November 6, 1872, a son of R. L. and Marie (Sorenson) Peterson, pioneers of Wisconsin. The father is still living at Oregon, Wis., having reached the age of eighty-five years; the mother died on April 3, 1925, aged eighty-one years.
P. R. Peterson completed the grammar and high school courses in Stoughton, Wis .; then he took a business training at an academy. After completing his education he engaged in the shoe business in his native State for twelve years. Then he disposed of the business and came to California.
The marriage of Mr. Peterson united him with Miss Lulu T. Jolley, a native of Merced, and daughter of E. B. Jolley, an old settler of Merced County, who crossed the plains in 1852. Mrs. Peterson's mother came to Mariposa County, Cal., as a girl of eight years ; she was a Miss Phillips, daughter of John Phillips, who came to Merced County in 1849 and settled at Merced Falls where he conducted the Phillips Ferry for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are the parents of two children : Velma Teressa Marie and Ellsworth
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Elden. Mr. Peterson worked in the Merced postoffice for eleven years and was for some time a postal carrier ; besides being thus oc- cupied he was operating a farm in the Bradley Addition adjacent to the city and was among the first to settle in this locality. Mr. Peter- son first engaged in the real estate business with H. Nelson, but the partnership was dissolved after one year and Mr. Peterson has since conducted an office independently. Mrs. Peterson taught music in Merced County for eighteen years. Fraternally Mr. Peterson is a member of the Knights of Pythias; he is an enthusiastic athlete and at one time held the tennis championship for the State of Wisconsin.
J. B. DULCICH
One who has taken advantage of the opportunities that have come in his way, and when the opportunities were not coming has made some, is J. B. Dulcich, the owner of a sixteen and one-half- acre ranch in the Second Bradley addition of Merced, which he acquired by purchase in 1908. It is not a large ranch, but developed as he is doing it, into orchard and vineyard, it will furnish a comfort- able livelihood whenever he may wish to retire from other business.
Though of foreign parentage, Mr. Dulcich is a native of Cali- fornia, born in Hunter's Valley, Mariposa County, July 9, 1883, the youngest of two sons born to George and Adelaide (Spagnoli) Dulcich. His brother, Jaciamore, died when eleven months old. His father was born in Jugo Slavia and died at his home in Merced, January 8, 1914. The mother was born in Canton Ticino, Switzer- land, and died in Hunter's Valley in 1903. The father left home at the age of twenty and went to sea and, after traveling the seven seas of the world, left his ship at San Francisco in 1861, went to Stockton on a river boat, and by stage from there to the home of his cousin near Hornitos, crossing the ferry at Merced Falls. For twelve years he worked in the Washington Mine. He became a nat- uralized citizen and a prominent figure in mining circles. In 1873 he took up Government land in Hunter's Valley, built a house there and engaged in stock and fruit production, planting one of the earliest orchards in that section. It proved a wonderful success and he won the esteem of his fellow men and had a wide circle of friends. The property was held till his death, when his son sold it in accord- ance with a plan of his father's. The mother came out to Cali- fornia in 1868, preceded by her brothers, Joseph and Valentine Spagnoli, both prominent Swiss-Americans at the time of their death, the oldest having come to California in 1849.
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J. B. Dulcich received a good education in the Hunter Valley school, then attended by some twenty pupils. At sixteen years of age he took up ranch work with his father and remained at home till he was twenty-three. He was married at Merced to Miss Eloise N. Wickham, born at West Point, Calaveras County. Her father was a pioneer miner of that place and lost his life in a mine catastrophe. Her mother then married Winfield Scott McSwain and resides in the Bradley addition. They have four children: Harold; Verna, a stu- dent in the Merced High School; Orval, and Elma. Mr. Dulcich is a member of Merced Camp, W. O. W. He left the home ranch to work for the Exchequer Mine and Power Company at Exchequer, and three years later he went to the Barrett ranch at Merced Falls, where he was occupied until 1913. He then moved to Merced, and in 1915 came to his own ranch property. Besides his ranching he was in the employ of the Standard Oil Company for three years and delivered oil throughout Merced County with a horse-drawn vehicle; in 1918 he entered the employ of the Associated Oil Com- pany, of Merced, and with motor vehicle covered forty miles a day, going as far as Chowchilla, Madera County.
Mr. Dulcich holds the high esteem of his fellow men and his family is well and favorably known, their home being the center of many happy and social occasions.
CLARKE P. RALSTON
Perhaps there is no factor so important in the development of an agricultural district as the financial institutions in its immediate vicinity, and the personnel of the management. Among these men is Clarke P. Ralston, a native son of California, born in Bakersfield, on July 23, 1890, the eldest of three children. His father, Frank Wesley Ralston, was also a native Californian, born in San Fran- cisco, on July 21, 1869, the youngest of eight children born to his parents, and was graduated from the pharmacy department of the University of California in 1888. He followed his profession until 1896, when he engaged in ranching on William Cook's ranch, on Bear Creek, Merced County, for three years. At the end of that time, he entered the employ of Klegg, Sherm and Prime Company, a wholesale firm of San Francisco, as traveling salesman, and while on the road, his death occurred in Seattle, Wash., in 1905, when only thirty-six years of age. The mother died at the Bear Creek home in 1895. F. W. Ralston was a member of the Woodmen of the World, and of the Foresters of America of Selma, Cal. A daughter, Mrs. Sadie Meek, resides in Oakland. She is a graduate
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of the Grammar and High Schools of Merced, and of the San Jose Teachers' College, and was vice-principal of the Michael Angelo School of San Francisco. She is the mother of a daughter, Alberta Ralston Meek. The third child, Albert B. Ralston, is proprietor of the Pleasant Corner Store. He enlisted in the United States Navy, for service in the World War, on June 15, 1917, and was honorably discharged on November 28, 1919. He is a member of the Elks.
Mr. Ralston's grandfather, Maj. Clarke Ralston, the founder of the family in California, was a native of Pennsylvania and was a major in the 66th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, serving through the Civil War. He was a California pioneer of 1849, coming around Cape Horn, and put in five years in the Southern Mines. He re- turned East, and after the war, came overland to California with his wife, Eliza (Butler) Ralston, and their six children. He was identified with mining, but located in Landram Colony in Merced County. He moved to San Francisco in 1905, but returned to At- water, where he passed away in March, 1912, at the venerable age of ninety-three years. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Masonic Lodge of Merced.
Clarke P. Ralston graduated from the Atwater Grammar School when there were but two teachers and forty pupils; there are now eight teachers and 280 pupils, an increase of 600 per cent, all the more remarkable when considering the comparatively short interval of time. After a course in the Polytechnic Business Col- lege in Oakland, in 1908, he entered the employ of the Merced Lum- ber Company, on June 23, 1909. Their yard then required only one man in attendance a third of his time; now the yards have been enlarged and two men are needed steadily, with an extra man work- ing part time. Mr. Ralston remained steadily in the employ of this company until June, 1917, being absent not more than thirty days during a period of eight years. He was then offered a position in the Atwater branch of the Merced Security Savings Bank, and in June of 1918 he succeeded C. R. Shaffer as cashier and manager.
About 1912, Mr. Ralston invested in real estate in Atwater, erected and furnished a home, and on June 16, 1913, his marriage occurred, uniting him with Miss Alta Greene, born in Atwater, a graduate of the grammar school, and for three years a clerk in the local postoffice. Her parents were Elmer E. and Mattie (Dunlap) Greene, the family being identified as early settlers in Merced County. Mr. Greene was formerly a grain farmer in the Atwater dictrict, but is now a resident of Chowchilla. The mother passed away at At- water, in December, 1907.
Clarke P. Ralston has been a director of the Merced Security Savings Bank since 1917; on August 12, 1922, he was elected trus-
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tee of Atwater on the eve of its incorporation; and during the war he served as chairman of the Liberty Loan drives, and of the Red Cross, for foreign relief, while Mrs. Ralston served in the Home Department of Red Cross work. He is a Democrat in politics, and fraternally is a member of the Lodge and Chapter in Masonry, and of Merced Lodge No. 1240, B. P. O. E. He contributes to all pub- lic charities, and is active in all projects for the upbuilding of his community.
EDWIN R. FOUNTAIN, M. D.
Along with the agricultural growth of Merced County, has come the advancement of its community centers and the steady growth in population. These have brought to the district a class of men to carry on the work of building and maintaining the business and pro- fessional life in each community, and more especially in the city of Merced, the thriving center of agricultural activity in one of the richest counties in California. And it is to the caliber of such men that much of the present prosperity is due, for they have been both public spirited and farseeing to a degree, and have laid a very real foundation for future generations to work on. Among these may be mentioned Edwin R. Fountain, physician and surgeon, who for the past twelve years has been identified with the welfare of this section.
A native of Mt. Idaho, Idaho, where his birth occurred on Octo- ber 18, 1883, he was reared and educated in Klamath Falls, Ore., and in 1907 he graduated from the University of Oregon with his degree of A. B. He later attended the Northwestern University Medical School, of Chicago, and there obtained his degree of M. D., in 1911, after which he spent eighteen months as an intern in the Cook County Hospital, in Illinois, and then returned to Oregon and in 1913-1914 practiced his profession in Portland.
In 1915, Dr. Fountain located in Merced, and established a practice which has grown since that time, making him today one of the best-known physicians in the Valley. His practice here was interrupted only during the World War, when he enlisted as a cap- tain in the United States Medical Corps at Camp Fremont, went from there to Camp Jackson, S. C., and saw active service over seas at Base Hospital No. 60; also at Evacuation Hospital No. 114, at the Front during the worst stages of the conflict. Returning to Merced in 1919, he resumed his practice, and he has gained the esteem of his fellow citizens, both as a man and a physician. He is past president of the County Medical Society, the State Medical Society and the National Medical Association. Fraternally, he is
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a Mason, having joined that order in Eugene, Ore., and belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Elks of Merced; he is Commander of the Merced Post, American Legion, and Past Commander of the 40 & 8, a branch of the latter organization; also special vice-com- mander of the American Legion. In addition to his private prac- tice, he is surgeon for the Southern Pacific for the Merced district.
The marriage of Dr. Fountain, occurring in 1909 at Eugene, Ore., united him with Helene Holmstrom, a native of Kansas, and one son, William, has been born to them, his birthplace being Ore- gon. The doctor owns a twenty-acre Calsmirna fig ranch on Bear Creek, Merced County, and a forty-four-acre Kadota fig ranch at Lingard. He is a firm believer in the even greater future advance- ment in store for this fertile section of the Golden State.
MATT ROSSI
The country which gave birth to Matt Rossi, on March 24, 1863, is far away Finland. Though about the same as California in area and population it is very different in climate and general character. How Mr. Rossi came to leave that country and take up a residence so far away from the home of his nativity, and struggle against hard adversity until he has accumulated a competence, is a story worth relating. His father, Matt Anderson, died in the early sixties. His mother, Mary, married a Mr. Rossi, and lived to be eighty. The boy, even at eight years of age, had to work for his room and board on a neighboring farm; and to get any schooling he put in his nights in study and was confirmed in the Lutheran Church at the usual age of sixteen. By the law of the land he had to put in three years of service in the army. While there his eyes were opened to the golden opportunities for advancement in America, and having saved a small amount of money before he went into the army, he used it to pay his transportation and still had twenty dollars clear. He reached California on May 25, 1889, and a month later he came to Merced and entered the employ of the Crocker-Huffman Land & Water Company, and for eighteen years he worked at the various ranches and camps of that company. In 1894 he was made foreman and so remained until 1908, when he resigned to give his entire time to his own ranch, which was coming into production. In the following years he bought forty-two acres of land in the Casad Colony and set out almond, peach and fig trees and also a small vineyard. He also owns desirable securities and real estate and has accomplished much by his own unaided efforts. He received United States citizenship in Judge Rector's court in Merced, and exercises the duties of a loyal
Allkeopina
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American by voting the Republican ticket. He is a member of the Winton Center of the Merced County Farm Bureau.
Matt Rossi married Catherine Kaugus, a native of Finland, who died in 1914 survived by three children: David, Mary -Alson. and William. In 1918 Mr. Rossi married Mrs. Mary Johnson, also a native of Finland, who came to California from Canada in 1917, and has four children as follows : Zulla, residing in Canada; Hilda, of Eureka; Harvey, of Humboldt; and Towner, of Atwater. There are besides eight grandchildren. Mr. Rossi had a hard struggle at first, not knowing the English language, but he perserved and studied nights, till now he scarcely betrays a foreign accent. He is a most enterprising fruit grower and has donated fruits of excellent quality to the county exhibits in our state and county fairs and has won many awards. Of late his products have been sought for display at various state fairs.
B. J. UKROPINA
The younger generation of Merced's business men include none more energetic than B. J. Ukropina, one of the energetic and enter- prising proprietors of the United Concrete Pipe & Construction Com- pany, Inc., of Merced. Mr. Ukropina is forging his way to the front solely on his own merits, depending upon tenacity of purpose, ambi- tion and natural ability to connect him with the best citizenship of the county. He was born in Serbia, on October 8, 1895, a son of John and Anna Ukropina; the father is still living in Serbia but the mother has passed away.
B. J. Ukropina was educated in the grade schools of his native land and at an early age went to work at farm labor. When a little over sixteen he left home, in 1912, for the better opportunities of the United States and came direct to California. He spent one year in Los Angeles, then worked two years for a cousin in Venice, who was a general contractor there. He then went to Fullerton and started in the concrete work and remained there until June, 1918, when he went to Ventura, and with Steve Kral, organized the United Con- crete Pipe Company, Inc. He had learned the art of manufacturing concrete pipe, and with his partner continued the business in Ventura with considerable success, until he came to Merced, in the course of the expansion of their business, and in September, 1920, with Tom P. Polich and Steve Kral, organized the Merced Concrete Pipe Com- pany. These partners continued steadily to develop their industry and in 1924 they combined with the United Concrete Pipe Com- pany, of Ventura, under the incorporated name of the United Con-
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crete Pipe & Construction Company, which operates four plants, one in Merced, the others in Woodland, Santa Maria and Ventura, their main office being in the latter city. There is no contract wherein concrete is used that is too large for them to handle and they have carried out some of the largest jobs done in the State in their line. They employ from sixty to 300 men, as the size of the job necessitates, and are continually expanding as their business grows. Each man gives his whole attention to the work in hand and they are accounted among the most representative men of the State in their line of business.
The marriage of Mr. Ukropina, on February 25, 1922, united him with Miss Persida Angelich, and they have one son, John Robert. Mr. Ukropina is a member of the Knights of Pythias and belongs to the Chamber of Commerce of Merced.
THOMAS A. WAYNE
The leading contractor and builder of Atwater, Merced County is Thomas A. Wayne, born in Effingham County, Ill., on January 21, 1873, the third in order of birth of four children and the only son of G. W. Wayne, a native of Kentucky and a wheelwright by trade. In 1875 he came to California, followed the next year by his family; and the family home was established in Lake County, where he worked in the Sulphur Bank Mine. They later moved to Lower Lake, where he opened a wagon shop, carried on the business many years and died at the age of sixty-five years. He had married Cynthia Ellen Jaycox, who died at the age of sixty-four years. Both parents are buried in Lake County.
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