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 71
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Mr. Marchese was married on January 19, 1916, to Ida Morbes, born in Stockton, and they have two children, Eddie, born in 1917, and Mary, born in 1920. Mr. Marchese is a wide-awake citizen, ready at all times to do his share towards the general good and is highly respected by all who know him.
JOHN ERICSON
The position held in Merced County by John Ericson has been reached by his own unaided efforts; and the varied interests with which he has been identified indicate his adaptability to conditions and his resourcefulness. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 14, 1856, and at the age of fifteen began clerking in a store; when he was seventeen he went to Hudviksvall, Sweden, and for eight years was in the service of two employers. In 1881 Mr. Ericson bade good bye to his native land and embarked on the S. S. Wyoming, at Gottenburg, for America and he arrived at Castle Garden, N. Y. on July 6. Proceeding to Chicago he secured a position in a grocery store, working for his board the first two weeks; for the next four weeks he received five dollars per week in addition to board. His first week's pay was given to him in a $5 gold coin, which he had made into a watch charm. He continued as a clerk until 1890, then secured a position of time keeper in the shops of the Chicago and North Western Railway in Chicago, remaining with that company until 1912. Owing to his being a good penman, and quick with fig- ures, Mr. Ericson was advanced from one position to another adding more responsibility each time, until the last ten years with the com- pany he was general time keeper and cashier and had general charge
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of the company's pay roll, there being about 5000 employees to be settled with each month.
When Mr. Ericson came to California in 1912, he settled in Merced County and purchased twenty acres from the Crocker-Huff man Land & Water Co., Lot 85 in Merced Colony No. 2, Winton district, which he improved and set to Malaga grapes and fruit, now having one of the finest Malaga vineyards and orchards in the district. He has won more than ordinary distinction as a horticulturist and is a frequent exhibitor at the Merced County Fair and other local ex- hibitions and usually brings home the blue ribbon, now having quite a collection. He is a member of the California Fruit Exchange, the California Prune .and Apricot Association, and the Almond Growers Exchange. He is also a member of the Winton Center of the Merced County Farm Bureau. Mr. Ericson knew nothing about fruit grow- ing but he has developed a fine fruit ranch; he knew nothing about carpentering but with his own hands he built his house and other ranch buildings.
On June 24, 1886, John Ericson and Miss Josephine Davis were united in marriage. She was born in Clinton, Iowa, on May 19, 1867, the daughter of David and Sarah H. (Sluman) Davis. Mr. and Mrs. Ericson have one daughter, Florence Dorothy, who married Edward Sandman and lives at Fresno; and they have two children, George and Jeanette. Mrs. Ericson is a member of the Woman's Improvement Club of Winton. Mr. Ericson is a Republican in national politics. Fraternally he is a member of Austin Lodge No. 850, A. F. & A. M .; Cicero Chapter No. 180, R. A. M., both in Chicago; Siloam Com- mandery No. 54, K. T. of Oak Park, Ill .; and Medina Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. in Chicago. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ericson have at- tained to a high place in the esteem of the community where they live and they take an active interest in all movements for the betterment of the conditions of the county in general.
CHARLES F. RIEDLE
The position of postmaster in any town or city is an office of pub- lic trust and the holder of such a position is selected for the post because of his personal qualifications and ability. Such a man is Charles F. Riedle of Los Banos, who received his appointment from President Wilson, although he is a Republican in politics. He was born in New York City on October 15, 1885, and his education was obtained in the grammar and high schools in that metropolis and in Macon, Mo., which he supplemented by attending Park College in Parksville, Mo. This schooling enabled him to secure an appoint-
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ment in the United States postal service in Denver, Colo., which he held for eight years. He arrived in Los Banos in 1914 and engaged in the building business, later becoming a contractor, specializing in erecting dairy buildings on the ranches in the vicinity of Los Banos. He was building up a reputation for efficiency and his abilities were soon to gain recognition.
The fire which caused the loss of over one million of dollars oc- curred in Los Banos on August 27 and 28, in 1919, and it was the day following that he received the appointment as postmaster. He was confronted by a serious problem, that of keeping the postal ser- vice in operation and creating order out of chaos. This he did to the eminent satisfaction of the citizens, who recognized in Mr. Riedle distinct qualities of leadership, and he won and has since main- tained the confidence of all the people of Los Banos. He is a boost- er of the highest order for Los Banos and vicinity. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, holding his membership in Denver, Colo. Locally he belongs to the Los Banos Chamber of Commerce.
LESLIE A. KAHL
Among the younger representative ranchers of Merced County we find the Kahl name closely identified with its best interests through Leslie A. Kahl. He was born on Bear Creek on the Kahl ranch established by his grandfather, Adam Kahl, on September 26, 1890, the oldest of the two sons born to Ernest D. Kahl and his wife, mention of whom is made on another page of this work. Les- lie attended the Plainsburg school and the Oakland Polytechnic, where he took a business course, after which he returned to the ranch and assisted with its operation. With his brother James A., he is carrying on the extensive interests owned by their father, to whom the sons give all credit for their present success. The sons raise large quantities of wheat, barley and oats, and are continually do- ing development work, having leveled and checked sixty-five acres and put in alfalfa, and have set out seventy-five acres of fig trees. The brothers have become popular through their breeding of Duroc Jersey hogs and Durham cattle, thereby doing a great deal to raise the standard of hogs and cattle in this section. They own and con- duct the grain elevator at Athlone, where the ranchers within a ra- dius of ten miles find it convenient to store and ship their grain. Their land under cultivation reaches some 3000 acres.
On August 10, 1916, at Stockton, Mr. Kahl was united in mar- riage with Miss Gladys Brandon, a native of Merced County, the youngest daughter of Amberson Brandon, well-known grain farmer
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here. Mrs. Kahl is a graduate of the Stockton Normal and was en- gaged in teaching school in Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties for seven terms. Of this union three children have been born: Elizabeth Ann, Phyllis M., and Marvin Leslie. Mr. Kahl is a director in the Le Grand Bank, and clerk of the board of trustees of the Plainsburg school, serving his third term. He belongs to the Presbyterian Church at Merced. Fraternally, he is a member of Yosemite Lodge No. 99, F. & A. M., and belongs to Merced Pyramid of Sciots, and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is straightforward in all business matters, believes in doing what he can to assist in the development of his native county and is held in high esteem. Both brothers have erected comfortable homes ad- joining on the home ranch, where they were reared.
JOSEPH A. WOLF
In many ways Joseph A. Wolf has proved himself a good citizen of Merced County, contributing to its growth, fostering its enter- prises and promoting its general welfare. He has been especially in- terested in education and is a member of the board of trustees of the Livingston Grammar School and helped to carry the vote for the $200,000 bond issue for the new Merced Union High School district, $125,000 of which was used for the Livingston unit of the district. He was born in Detroit, Mich., on August 2, 1879. His father was a native of Germany who came to America when a boy; he was a building contractor and died at his home in Detroit when seventy-one years old. His mother, Mary (Crowley) Wolf, was accidentally killed by a motor truck when on her way to church the Sunday before Thanksgiving in 1916, at the age of sixty-three.
Joseph was the eldest of five children, the others being Jeremiah E., a building contractor in Detroit; Daniel, a contractor and builder and an insurance and real estate agent in Detroit; Clara, wife of C. M. Spencer, in Detroit; Charles, a foreman for his brother in building and contracting. Joseph A. Wolf attended the public schools in Detroit and worked for three years in the Roe & Stevens Iron Works in that city. The next two years he worked with his father at contracting and building. While in Detroit he was a mem- ber of Company E., Michigan National Guard, and when war was declared against Spain, the regiment of which Company E was a unit was united with the regular United States infantry and Mr. Wolf was placed in Company M, 32nd Regiment of Michigan Volunteers. He was mustered in April 26, 1898, at Island Lake, Mich., and served through the Spanish-American War, stationed at
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Tampa, Fla. He was mustered out November 9, 1898, being dan- gerously ill with typhoid malaria, and was discharged in February, 1899. After the war he put in ten years with the Detroit United Railway. In 1909 he came to California and bought land of the Cooperative Land and Trust Company in the Livingston . district, where he now lives.
On January 8, 1903, J. A. Wolf was married to Miss Lynne Roxana Daly, born in Dover township, Lena County, Mich., the daughter of Franklin and Maria (Macomber) Daly. She repre- sents the fifth generation of the Dalys in America. Grandfather Daly was a Collector of the Port at Lockport, N. Y., and was a veteran of the Mexican War. She was the youngest of six children. The others were as follows: Henry F., of Adrian, Mich .; Jos- ephine E. became Mrs. George Oram, of Adrian, Mich., and died in 1920; Mary Evaline, widow of John Pooley, lives in Detroit; Edwin F., also of Detroit, and Thaddeus B., of Blackfoot, Idaho. Mrs. Wolf was educated in the high school in Adrian and is the mother of five children: Phyllis H .; Edith Louise, who married Robert Sutherland and lives in Modesto; Robert Joseph; Laura Helen and Edwin Leo. In 1920 Mr. Wolf was elected a member of the board of trustees of the Livingston Grammar School, since which time the new building has been erected and now the city has two fine grammar schools employing ten teachers. He is an active member of and chairman of the Livingston Farm Center. Mrs. Wolf has passed through all the offices of the Home Department of the Livingston Farm Center. The family are members of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church at Merced. As a man and citizen, Mr. Wolf keeps himself well informed on all matters of public moment and votes for the best men and measures at all elections.
NETTIE H. MAYES
From the time of the establishment of the San Joaquin Valley Cement Pipe Company, Nettie H. Mayes has had charge of the financial end of the business and owns a third interest in the concern. This company owns and operates three factories, one at Chowchilla, established in 1917, one at Livingston, established in 1919, and one at Herndon, established in 1922. The firm is composed of S. Y. Mayes, the originator of the business, Nettie H. Mayes and John Baisa ; they manufacture the guaranteed hi-test irrigation drainage and sewer pipe under their duly registered trade mark, "Hi-test," and the three factories have a combined capacity of one and a half miles of pipe per day. The sand used in the factories is washed-sand from Friant,
F. H. Piedle
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Fresno County, and the cement comes from Davenport, Cal., and is known as Santa Cruz Portland cement.
Mrs. Mayes' maiden name was Nettie Hartzell and she was born at Waubeek, Iowa. She grew up in the Hawkeye State and was grad- uated from the State Teachers' College at Cedar Falls. She came to California in 1907 and for six years taught in the Wilson Grammar School at Pasadena. At Santa Ana, Cal., Miss Hartzell was married to S. Y. Mayes, born at Melrose, Texas. The third partner, John Baisa, was born in Texas and is of Spanish descent; he has charge of the factory at Livingston. Mr. and Mrs. Mayes reside at Chow- chilla, where they own the telephone building and other valuable pro- perty; they also own a lemon ranch in San Bernardino County, and property in Livingston and Herndon, besides a row of houses near their factory in Livingston, which are occupied by their employes.
FRED H. RIEDLE
The natural-born capacity that developed Fred H. Riedle into one of the most successful contractors and builders in Los Banos began to manifest itself when he started in to learn the trade of carpenter at an early age. He was born in New York City, on August 18, 1887, attended the public schools, and after leaving school began learning the trade in Sayer, Okla., after which he traveled about and worked as a journeyman in Amarillo, Texas, in Fargo, and in Port- land, Ore., coming to Los Banos in 1912. In point of service he is the oldest builder in Los Banos, having erected eighty per cent of the dairy buildings on the West Side in Merced County. He constructs every- thing in line with dairying, barns, milk houses, flumes, silos, windmills, tank houses, pump houses, etc. He has built over 300 homes in and about Los Banos, designing many of them himself. Of these homes we mention those of Mrs. Alma Wilson, Mrs. Carrie Wilson, A. C. Smith, Carl Hultgren, S. P. Dismukes, and Mrs. Harry Lower. He also built the Catholic parish house, the L. H. Hoffman and Nick Cuiffo business blocks, and thirteen houses for Dr. C. E. Heikner. In 1925 he built the American Legion building costing $15,000, in Los Banos. To facilitate his work he operates a planing mill and lumber yard in Los Banos.
Mr. Riedle was united in marriage with Sephese Van Wickle, daughter of a pioneer family in Merced County. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Los Banos Lodge, No. 312, F. & A. M. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, belongs to the Los Banos Volunteer Fire Department, and is serving as a city trustee.
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WILLIAM H. JOHNSTON
Honored as the son of most worthy parentage and the father of a family that has done great credit to their country and their bringing-up, W. H. Johnston is the sixth in order of birth of seven children born of the marriage of Rev. Thomas M. and Helen (Steele) Johnston, natives of Kentucky and North Carolina, re- spectively. The father went to Missouri with his parents in the early thirties and there studied law and became a journalist; later he entered the ministry, which calling occupied the greater part of his life. He came to California about 1859, followed by his family in 1860, and they settled first in the San Ramon Valley, in Contra Costa County, removing in 1865 to Stockton. While at Alamo he was publisher of the Pacific Observer, a Presbyterian organ. In 1870 they moved to Berryessa Valley, in Napa County, where he had charge of the Presbyterian church work through his declining years. The present pastor of this church at Winters, in 1923, cele- brated the fiftieth anniversary as successor to Rev. Thomas Johnston. He died in Napa in 1877.
The son, W. H. Johnston, was born in Greene County, Mo., on April 16, 1857, and educated in the schools of San Joaquin and Napa Counties. He was brought up as a farmer's son and early gave attention to the production of grain and stock. In 1886, in company with his brother, J. R. Johnston, he carried on a farm in Berryessa Valley for four years when the partnership was dissolved. Our subject was thereafter for thirty-seven years engaged in raising cattle and hogs in the same location. Selling out the property in Napa County he came to Merced County in 1908 and engaged in the dairy business and fruit raising near Atwater. He is the owner of fifty acres on the edge of Atwater, a portion of the late J. W. Mitchell estate.
W. H. Johnston was married in Napa County in 1885, to Clara Wassum, the third of seven children born to T. A. Wassum and his wife. She was born in Yountville, Napa Valley, in 1865, and died from injuries received in a train and auto collision at the Yam crossing on the Santa Fe, in 1921. There were four children of the union: Edith (Mrs. W. S. Newhall), who has two children, William S. and Franklin; Thomas H .; Finis, and Bennett M. Thomas H. served in Company C, 361st Regiment of the A. E. F., and was honor- ably discharged on May 5, 1919. Finis served in Company F, 58th Infantry, 4th Division, and was killed in action at Chateau Thierry, on July 18, 1918. Mr. Johnston recalls the first steam train to Stockton in 1869. The family were living then on Sutter and Weber streets, that city.
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GEORGE B. SMITH
Holding the important office of supervisor of the Fifth District in Merced County, George B. Smith has taken a part as a leader in his section of the county and by his close attention to the wishes of his constituents has won a firm place in their regard. He was born in Warren, Warren County, Pa., on April 21, 1872, the son of Cyrus and Sarah (Spaulding) Smith, natives of New York and . Pennsylvania, respectively. The Smith family came to California in 1877, the father following ranching near Galt, in Sacramento County, and later near Lodi, in San Joaquin County. George B. was educated in the public schools of Galt and in the Woodbridge Academy, after which he worked out on ranches, in time becoming a manager, which position he filled with several ranch owners. In the spring of 1890 he came down into Merced County and engaged in farming on the plains about fifteen miles south of Los Banos ; then for a time he was in the liquor business in the town, selling out upon the enforcement of the prohibition proclamation issued by Presi- dent Wilson.
George B. Smith was united in marriage with Bertha Nelms, a native of Tennessee, and they have two children: Earl B. and Mrs. Georgia M. Powers. Mr. Smith was elected a member of the board of trustees of Los Banos and for eight years, from 1914 to 1922, served as chairman of the board. It was during his administration that the city voted a bond issue for $150,000 for municipal improve- ments and the old water works were purchased from Miller and Lux, greatly enlarged and extended to every part of the city; also nearly all of the street improvements were installed and other civic projects were carried out. Mr. Smith has always favored public improve- ments for town and county and in the fall of 1922 he was elected, on the Democratic ticket, to membership on the board of super- visors; and as such he is filling the responsible office to the best of his ability and giving the people of the entire county the best there is in him. He stands high in the esteem of all who know him.
EDWARD SCHULTZ
An intelligent and prosperous business man of Merced County is found in Edward Schultz, who is a member of the firm of William W. Abbott & Sons Garage at Livingston, and a prosperous baker in the town of Le Grand, where he opened up a bakery on March 1, 1925, and is rapidly building up a good trade with the able assistance of his wife. He was born in one of the German colonies on the Volga
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River in Russia, on December 21, 1888, a son of Rev. Alexander George Schultz, a Lutheran minister and also a school teacher who is still living in Russia. When eighteen years old Edward bade good- bye to his home folks and sailed for America, and landed at Ellis Island, N. Y., on November 21, 1907. He left immediately for Cincinnati, Ohio, where he found employment in a shoe factory at six dollars per week; remaining there until 1908, when he came to California and stopped at Fresno, where he worked in the Home Bakery, and learned the business thoroughly; later he worked in a restaurant in Fresno, where he has a number of relatives living. In 1910 he located in Merced County and for three years worked in the Merced Bakery, but in 1913 he removed to Turlock and was employed in the Home Bakery there for several years.
On May 1, 1915, Mr. Schultz was married to Miss Mildred E. Abbott, a daughter of William W. Abbott, whose sketch will be found elsewhere in this history. After going out of the bakery busi- ness, Mr. Schultz became agent for the Chalmers, Briscoe and Chevrolet automobiles in Turlock, continuing there until his removal to Livingston in 1918 when he became a partner in the Abbott & Sons Garage. Mr. Schultz is a member of the Masonic Lodge No. 395 of Turlock.
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FULGENZIO C. RUSCONI
All praise is due men from foreign shores who have come to this country, and, by dint of unremitting industry and strict frugality, have built up a competence for themselves and their families, educating their children to be an asset to any community, and who uphold the principles and aims of their adopted land. Among these must be mentioned F. C. Rusconi, of Merced County. He was born in Canton Ticino, Switzerland, on February 20, 1870. Com- ing to California when a young man, in 1883, he located for a time in Napa County, then went to the Santa Maria Valley, and there spent twenty-two years in the dairy business at Guadalupe, working early and late, the hardest kind of work, and making his work count for something, in that he saved the proceeds for future investment.
In 1917, Mr. Rusconi went to Sanger, Fresno County, where his brother, Louis, is an extensive land owner and pioneer raisin grower. He also owns the 400-acre Meadow Brook Ranch, two miles from Merced, in the Franklin District. In 1921, F. C. Rus- coni moved onto the property and had charge of operations as gen- eral superintendent of the vineyard and alfalfa, carrying on develop- ment work on a large scale. The brothers, Louis and F. C., owned
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and were developing 800 acres on the Merced River, fifteen miles from Merced. In 1925, F. C. acquired the latter property known as the Barfield ranch; he is developing a large acreage to vineyards, the land being well adapted to raising grapes, and in doing so has added materially to the value of land in this section of California, for his work is a demonstration of what can be accomplished along horticultural lines when the right spirit is behind the enterprise.
The second marriage of Mr. Rusconi, which occurred April 29. 1905, at San Luis Obispo, united him with Miss Josephine Tog- nazzini, who was born in Melbourne, Australia, the daughter of Noah and Mary (Zanolli) Tognazzini, ranchers of that country. She came to California when two years old, with her parents. F. C. Rusconi's brother, Victor, is a successful dairyman of Napa County, and Philip is in Santa Maria, Cal .; and he has two sisters in Cal- ifornia, also. Both of his parents are deceased. Mrs. Rusconi's father died at the age of sixty-three; her mother is still living, at Guadalupe, Cal. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rusconi: Theodore, Christine, Wilfred, Lelola, Vivian, Eugene, and Irma, all natives of the Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County. By his first marriage he has a daughter, Mrs. Mamie Ca- roni, of Guadalupe. Fraternally, Mr. Rusconi is a member of San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322, B. P. O. E., and in all ways he is a man of worth, ready to do his share in promoting the further pro- gress of his county and state, and with unbounded faith in the future of the fruit industry and the opportunities offered land owners in Merced County:
JOHN W. LANDRAM
A native-born son of California, and a worthy representative of an honored pioneer family of Merced County, John W. Landram has been actively identified with the development and advancement of Livingston since 1917, and now holds a position of prominence among the younger generation of practical and progressive business men. He is the manager of the Livingston branch of the Merced Lumber Company. He was born in Merced, Cal., August 17, 1891, a son of W. E. and Ida (Banks) Landram. The father, W. E. Lan- dram, formerly manager of the Merced Lumber Company, holds the position of vice-president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank.
John W. Landram completed the Merced Grammar School course and then entered the Merced Union High School where he remained for one year; then he took a business course at Heald's Business College in Oakland. After his graduation from business college he returned to Merced and became the stenographer and bookkeeper for
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the Merced Lumber Company and in 1917 came to Livingston as yard foreman, and in 1921 he was put in charge as manager.
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