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 79
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In August, 1918, he went into the U. S. Army, in the 12th In- fantry, and trained at Camp Fremont, was transferred to Camp Mills, and received his honorable discharge at the Presidio, San Fran- cisco, March 21, 1919. He had worked with his father on railway survey work, and he did surveying and engineering work with the troops while in the army. On leaving camp and returning to civilian life, Mr. Martin engaged in the ranching business, and in 1920-1921 he farmed in the Amsterdam district, on what is known as the Bore- land ranch, also having charge of a twenty-acre peach orchard at Buhach, belonging to his father. In the meantime he resided on the Merced River, and when the fruit development work on the Ruddle farm was started, in 1921, he was the man who did the first planting, setting out forty acres to vineyard, and he has since that time re- mained in charge of the work. The Ruddle ranch now being in a high state of clutivation and development, the property devoted
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to horticulture and viticulture embraces 1290 acres, of which 650 acres are in Thompson seedless grapes, from one to three years old, and 640 acres set to peaches and apricots.
An extensive nursery was built up to root the vines, and until 1923 was kept up; it consisted at one time of 1,340,000 vine cuttings, and to get a better idea of the magnitude of the plantings, the work was done on so extensive a scale that if the plantings had been strung out in single file, they would have reached from the Merced River to Stockton, seventy miles as the crow flies. The value of this show place of fruit cultivation to the future development of Merced County is inestimable, for the Ruddles are giving a con- crete example of what can be done here in horticulture on a large scale, and are spreading the fame of the fertility of Merced soil to the far corners of the earth.
JOE A. RODGERS
A man who is rapidly advancing to a competency by his keen per- ception and the improvement of opportunities, Joe A. Rodgers de- serves the credit of all who have witnessed his progress. The third of eight children, he was born near Sonora, Tuolumne County, on July 31, 1891. His parents, Antone A. and Anna (Jacobs) Rodgers, were both natives of Flores, in the Azores; the father came to Amer- ica a poor boy and worked in the mines of Tuolumne County, saved his wages and bought land and stock and accumulated considerable wealth before he died in Merced on August 3, 1920. The mother still lives at Atwater, where they settled in 1892.
Joe went to the Franklin school and grew up on the farm, taking up the dairy business and alfalfa growing at Buhach. Near Chowchilla he was also associated with his parents in ranching on an extensive scale until the death of his father. With his share of the property left by his father he engaged in fruit raising and did a thriving business with watermelons and sweet potatoes. In 1919 he succeeded F. Valadon in a retail meat business on Front Street, Atwater, beginning in a small way, and by putting every effort into the business, he has made rapid strides and built up an excellent trade. In October, 1923, he opened a first-class shop on Broadway in Atwater. He owns the lot and building, 150 ft. by 25 ft. with fixtures, modern and complete as any retail shop in the Valley. He is joint owner of 113 acres, and a dairy and forty-five head of dairy cattle. Mr. Rodgers has accumu- lated his holdings by a judicious use of the money left him by his father and by his own efforts.
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Mr. Rodgers was married in Atwater to Mary Furtado, a native of El Nido, Merced County. Her parents have been farmers in Mer- ced County since 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers have four children : Edna, Gilbert, Merle and Mary. The three oldest are pupils in the Atwater Grammar School.
He is a member of the Great Republic Life Insurance Co. since 1919. He is a Republican in politics and belongs to the Woodmen of the World and to the Atwater Pentacost Club Association, both in Atwater.
JOHN T. ALLEN
The name of John T. Allen is well known to the citizens of Mer- ced County and is synonymous with prosperity, thrift, honesty and integrity. From 1891 to 1918 he engaged in farming on a sixty- eight-acre ranch under the Miller & Lux canal. This property he sold in 1918 and put the money into an apartment house in Gustine and since that time has made his home in town. In 1922 he purchased seventy acres eight miles southwest of town and is developing it to walnuts ; he has installed a six-inch pump with a sixteen h. p. gas engine for power, thus insuring an abundance of water for irrigation.
A native of California, John T. Allen was born at Sacramento on July 9, 1868, a son of John and Alice (Carroll) Allen, natives of Iowa and Montreal, Canada, respectively, the latter of Scotch descent. His father came across the plains to California and the mother via the Panama route; and they were married in Sacramento. John Allen, the father, was a teamster, hauling supplies to Shingle Springs, Sonora, San Andreas and other mining towns in early days; later in life he engaged in stock-raising and farming, first in Contra Costa County, and then in San Joaquin County near Banta. In the fall of 1881 the family moved to Merced County and located about eighteen miles south of Hill's Ferry, whre the father homesteaded a quarter section of land upon which he farmed the balance of his life, passing away at the age of eighty-two years; the mother passed away at her home in Oakland, Cal., aged eighty-one years. Five children were born of this union, namely: John T., our subject ; James J., de- ceased; Alice, wife of Joseph Pfitzer; Barbara, married Antone Pfit- zer; and Mrs. Ella Parker.
John T. Allen attended the Occidental Grammar School in Mer- ced County and was with his parents until 1891, when he leased a farm on his own account. He soon purchased a half section of land in the Cottonwood district and with his brother James J. as partner, engaged in farming; after the dissolution of the partnership, Mr.
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Allen purchased thirty acres under the Miller & Lux canal, subse- quently thirty-eight acres were added and farming was carried on with good results. In 1918 he sold out and moved to the city of Gus- tine, where he built an eight-apartment building.
At Oakland, Cal., October 21, 1896, Mr. Allen was married to Miss Clara Belle De Mont, born at San Leandro, Cal., daughter of George and Caroline (Potter) De Mont, both natives of Michigan; her father is of French descent and accompanied his parents to Cali- fornia during the gold rush of 1860; the mother came to California when five years old and the parents were married in Oakland. In 1881 the De Mont family removed to Dutch Corners, Stanislaus County, and there farmed a quarter section of land; here the father spent the balance of his life, retiring about eighteen years ago. He and his wife now make their home at San Leandro, aged seventy-four and seventy-two years, respectively. There were eight children in the De Mont family : Joseph ; Mary and John, twins; Clara Belle, the wife of our subject; Carrie; Claudia; Vivian; and Byron, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Allen are the parents of two daughters : Jeanette, Mrs. F. F. Latta, who has two daughters, Monna Star, and Nedra Marie; Elma, Mrs. T. S. Latta, who has two children, Verne Claire and John Thomas. Mr. Allen is a Democrat in politics and has served as trustee of the Gustine High School; with his wife he is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Gustine.
DON P. CROOKHAM
A business which was established at Atwater in 1918 and keeps up with the steady growth of the town, in fact keeps ahead of it by anticipating the wants of the people, is the Atwater Plumbing and Sheet Metal Works owned by Don P. Crookham. He employs two men in the conduct of his business and has unbounded faith in the future of the town as a good place for his business.
The eldest of four sons, Don P. was born in Phillipsburg, Kans., on April 28, 1884. The other boys are, Earl; Warren, who has been with our subject since he started his business; and Roe. Earl and Roe are also residents of California. The father, Perry J. Crookham, in his younger days was a school teacher, but for over forty years he has been a successful contractor and builder in Kansas and Missouri. During the World War he was engaged in building dry docks on the Atlantic Coast for the United States government. His wife was Olive King, born in Iowa; she died in April, 1904. Don P. was edu- cated in the public schools and grew up to learn the trade of car-
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penter with his father. At the age of eighteen he had charge of a crew of twenty men and was engaged in railroad work for six years. In 1908 he came West to Los Angeles and spent four years in the traffic department of the Los Angeles Electric railroad; then he was foreman for the Richard-Neustadt Construction Company, and was also employed by the Selig Polyscope Company, spending two years altogether with these concerns. In 1915 he was interested in a twenty- acre ranch at Winton and came north at that time. He was employed by the California State Highway Commission in the bridge building department in Mariposa County, only to leave them to engage in business for himself at Atwater.
Mr. Crookham was married in 1905 in Norton, Kans., to Miss Margaret Rodell, the eldest of three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Rodell, now of British Colony, Merced County. She was reared in Kansas and was a school teacher in that State. They have seven children: Russell, in the Merced High School, class of 1925; Paul, in the class of 1926; Doris and Mildred, grammar school pupils; and Helen, Wayne and Norma Lee. Mr. Crookham is a charter member of the Atwater Camp, Woodmen of the World; also of the Atwater Pentacost Club Association, and of the Atwater Cham- ber of Commerce. He is a member of the Atwater volunteer fire department and is a supporter of all public movements to keep At- water on the map.
GUST T. PAPPAS
As far as lies in the power of any one individual Gust T. Pappas illustrates in his life the dominant characteristic of the ancient and honorable race from which he sprung. "He who does the best his circumstances allow, does well, acts nobly; angels could no more." It is no small achievement for a foreigner, unacquainted with our language, to come here with limited means and in a few years estab- lish the leading business in his line in a thriving city like Merced and win general respect and honor for his public spirit and interest in every movement that promises to make for the progress and welfare of the community.
Gust T. Pappas, proprietor of the French Grocery Company, in Merced, is a native of Greece, born in May, 1888. His parents, Theodore and Asfacia Pappas, are still living in their native land. The father was in the grocery business but is at present retired. That the son should follow the business of his father might be ex- pected, but it was not until after he had encountered varied experi- ence in various places. His early education was acquired in the public
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schools, after which he was employed in a drug store in Constanti- nople. As a foreigner, under the Turkish law, he was not permitted to extend his business outside of chemicals. After five years he re- turned to Greece to go into the grocery business. The lure of the great West was drawing him as it has so many of his countrymen, and 1907 found him in the State of Washington, where he found occupation in various places until 1910, when he went to San Fran- cisco and engaged in a grocery business under the name of The French Grocery Company, until 1919, when he came to Merced and established a branch of the San Francisco store in company with P. Krekos, whom he eventually bought out; he is now the sole owner. It is one of the finest stores of the kind in California.
Mr. Pappas married Miss Anna Etchegaray. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Lions Club. As a loyal Ameri- can he is a Republican. He is devoted to his business and to the interests of Merced City and County.
BENNETT M. JOHNSTON
A young man who occupies a prominent position in society in At- water, and who is highly esteemed for his enterprise and business integrity, is Bennett M. Johnston, the youngest child of W. H. and Clara Johnston, whose sketch is given in another place in this book. He was born in Berryessa Valley, Napa County, on May 17, 1898, and was educated in the common schools and in the Merced High School. He was reared on the ranch near Atwater. Soon after leav- ing the school room, in 1918. he engaged in the dray and transfer business and made a splendid success of it, developing the Atwater Transfer Co., and operating a fleet of five motor trucks and employ- ing five men steadily. He dealt in hay, coal and wood, and his trucks made bi-weekly trips to Stockton with produce, returning with freight for local merchants. In January, 1925, Mr. Johnston sold his dray business to devote his time to the office of peace officer of Atwater, to which position he had been elected in 1922.
Bennett M. Johnston was married on January 17, 1923, to Miss Margaret Howard, daughter of Anne Howard, of Arbuckle. She was born in Winters, Yolo County, and was in charge of the Arbuckle public library. Mrs. Johnston is one of the charter members of the Atwater Women's Club. Mr. Johnston is owner of valuable realty holdings in Atwater. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of Merced Lodge No. 1240, B. P. O. E., both at Merced; and of the Atwater Booster Club.
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HAROLD OSTERGARD
A by-product of the dairy ranch that is now being produced in large quantities is powdered milk, which is shipped all over the world and is used extensively in making cakes, ice cream and confec- tions of many kinds. One of the largest plants in the world for producing powdered milk is that owned and operated by the Golden State Products Company at Los Banos, this being only one of their twenty plants in the country. The officers of the company are: C. E. Gray, president; B. T. Tognazzi, vice-president, both of San Francisco; and T. E. Day, of Oakland, general superintendent of plant operations. The Los Banos plant is a $200,000 three-story reinforced concrete structure, equipped with the most modern machin- ery and operated by electric power, with three boilers, each of 150 horse power, to produce the steam necessary for sterilization, etc .; and there is one auxiliary turbine generator in case the electric power fails. The daily output of the factory is 12,000 pounds of powdered milk, and 1500 gallons of sweet cream. The plant never closes, but runs twenty-four hours a day. $28,000 is paid annually for transporting the cream to its various destinations; the monthly pay- roll for employes is $6000; and to the dairymen $100,000 is paid out. This plant is conceded by experts to be the most complete and modern milk separating plant west of the Rocky Mountains.
The manager of the Los Banos plant is Harold Ostergard, a native of Denmark, where he was born in Jutland, August 21, 1875. He was reared in a dairy country and learned that business thor- oughly, following that and merchandising in Copenhagen until 1905, when he came to California. He was first employed in the Danish Creamery in Fresno, and later worked in Portland, Ore., in the same line of work. He then became manager of the Colusa Butter Com- pany; and still later of the Golden Creamery Company, in Siskiyou County. From this place he went to the Grizzly Bluff Creamery, in Humboldt County, as buttermaker. Being now thoroughly grounded in all branches of the business, Mr. Ostergard organized the Siskiyou Creamery Company, in Scott Valley, Siskiyou County, he being one of the owners and continuing there until selling out in 1918, to be- come the manager for the California Central Creameries, in Los Banos, operating a plant leased from the Miller and Lux interests. The business grew under the supervision of Mr. Ostergard; this company was taken over by the Golden State Products Company and the business grew until the company was handling 100,000 pounds of milk daily in a small separator plant erected in 1919. Chemical laboratory tests are made of all milk and cream products under the supervision of expert chemists. The personnel of the Los Banos
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plant consists of the following: Harold Ostergard, manager ; Carl Hultgren, field manager; H. J. Preddy, chief engineer ; and W. H. Roberts, office manager.
Mr. Ostergard married Elizabeth M. Sacry, a native Califor- nian, and they have a daughter, Iris. Mr. Ostergard belongs to Los Banos Lodge No. 312, F. & A. M., of which he is a Past Master, and he is a member of the Eastern Star. He is a director of the Bank of Los Banos, which financial institution has been of untold assistance to the ranchers and business men of Los Banos and vicinity.
FRED K. GROVES
Among the best known and most highly esteemed citizens of Merced, Fred K. Groves holds a position of prominence and influence. A man of superior talent and business ability, he has been a dominant power in advancing the agricultural interests of this section of Mer- ced County, and by intelligent effort and wise thrift has come to independence. Mr. Groves first came to Merced County to look after the interests of his clients and found here such a promising out- look that he settled here permanently. A son of F. K. and Mary E. (Hull) Groves, he was born at Brookfield, Ohio, June 17, 1878. The mother was a granddaughter of Isaac Hull, commander of the Constitution, "Old Ironsides," in the War of 1812. The father, F. K. Groves, was engaged in the mercantile business in Ohio until 1886, when the family removed to western Kansas and there he engaged in the real estate business until 1901, when the family came to Cali- fornia. The father, who retired to Pasadena, Cal., passed on March 1, 1924, aged eighty-three years; the mother passed away in 1900.
Fred K. Groves attended the public schools in Kansas, then en- tered Knox College at Galesburg, Ill., from which he was graduated in 1901. Soon after finishing his college course the family came West to California and located at San Francisco, where Mr. Groves found employment with the Examiner, remaining with this news- paper only a short time; he then became connected with the Inter- national Commercial Agency and for seven years sold law books in the northwest. He resigned his position and removed to Los An- geles, and with his father engaged in the real estate business, special- izing on farm lands. In the course of their business transactions they sold considerable land in Merced County to their clients, and also invested their own money in this section. In 1916, Mr. Groves re- moved to Merced to look after their property and was on one of their ranches at Snelling for a time. On account of having had mili-
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tary training at Knox College and considerable work in athletics, he enlisted for service as athletic director during the World War and went overseas with the First Division; he drove a truck over 10,000 miles and his service extended over a period of about ten months. Returning to his home in Merced he again resumed his real estate business, which affords him a comfortable competence.
The marriage of Mr. Groves united him with Miss Sibyl Jose- phine Morrison, of Minnesota, and they are the parents of one son, Fred K., Jr. Mr. Groves was the first president of the local real estate board and is now a director of the State Real Estate Associa- tion. He is independent in his political views. Fraternally, he be- longs to the Elks. He is a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Merced Rotary Club.
CONRAD JONGEWAARD
It is in youth that the life of a man is marked out, his future course decided upon and his choice as to good or evil made, and to the work of instructing and guiding the boys of Merced and vicinity, Conrad Jongewaard is devoting his time, energies and thoughts. As the con- scientious and capable secretary of the local Y. M. C. A., Mr. Jonge- waard is accomplishing an outstanding work among the boys and young men of the community. During October, 1919, State repre- sentatives of the Y. M. C. A. were in Merced and held a conference with several of the local citizens and outlined the advantages of hav- ing a Y. M. C. A. for the boys and young men of the city and environs. The men became so interested in the proposition that within a few days sufficient funds were subscribed to cover the budget for two years. After a board of directors had been chosen the next thing to do was to employ a secretary. Conrad Jongewaard, who had formerly been a Y. M. C. A. secretary in Chicago, and only recently had been discharged from the Navy, was making a visit in the State and he was secured as secretary, taking up his duties November 1, 1919. The Y. M. C. A. has found a definite place in the community to serve. It seeks to supplement and strengthen the home, the church, the school, and the municipality in their relations to the social, recrea- tional, educational, moral and spiritual life. The Association has become a clearing house for community cooperative work.
There are certain activities which are carried on through which it seeks to accomplish its purpose for existence and to make the largest possible contribution to the welfare of the boys. The Y. M. C. A. is ever challenging the constructive forces of the community to a co-
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operative attack on all that prevents the highest expression of com- munity life. Mr. Jongewaard is peculiarly fitted for the responsible position he is so admirably filling ; he is endowed with more than ordi- nary intelligence, gifted with sound judgment and a frank and genial disposition that appeals to boys and young men; all in all, Merced is to be congratulated on their choice of a Y. M. C. A. secretary.
Mr. Jongewaard was born in Sioux Center, Iowa, January 17, 1890, a son of R. C. and Jennie (Ver Ploeg) Jongewaard. The father, R. C. Jongewaard, was a stock-raiser and cattleman; he is now deceased, while the mother is still living.
Mr. Jonegwaard completed the grammar and high school courses in his native State; then he entered Hope College in Holland, Mich., and after his graduation he entered the University of Chicago, and for two years trained as a Y. M. C. A worker and previous to the outbreak of the World War was engaged in this work. On December 13, 1917, he enlisted in the U. S. Navy, and after seven months of service was promoted to ensign; he was discharged from the service on July 12, 1919, and the following November took up his work as secre- tary of the Y. M. C. A. in Merced.
The marriage of Mr. Jongewaard united him with Miss Lydia De Mots, a native of Iowa; they were playmates in their childhood. Mrs. Jongewaard was killed in an automobile accident when her mother, two uncles and an aunt met their death. Mr. Jongewaard is a Republican in politics and belongs to the American Legion of Merced.
CHARLES RUFUS THOMPSON
Since 1920 Charles Rufus Thompson has been an active factor in the material development of Merced County. He first came to the county as superintendent of construction for the California Packing Corporation on their 4000-acre ranch at Tuttle; later he went into the general contracting business for himself. His father, Charles Thomp- son, was a native of Scotland and was married in Detroit, Mich., to Miss Annie Eliza Deering, a native of Massachusetts, and together they came to California in 1867 and settled in Tulare County, where their son, Charles Rufus, was born on August 13, 1874. The father engaged in farming all his life and passed away February 14, 1923; his wife preceded him in 1907.
Charles Rufus Thompson received his education in the grammar and high schools of Tulare County; he then assisted his father on the farm until he was twenty years old, when he learned the carpen- ter's trade. Later he moved to Exeter and was there in business for
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eleven years, during which time he built many business blocks, homes and packing houses, being one of the pioneer contractors of the town. As above stated he located in Merced County in 1920, where he has since resided and now enjoys a lucrative business. He erected the John Muir grammar school building and many of the finer homes in Merced.
The marriage of Mr. Thompson united him with Miss Mabel Scoggins, one of California's native daughters; her father is a native son of California and is still living at the age of seventy years. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are the parents of three children : Pauline is now Mrs. Albert Hall, of Sacramento; Charles D. married Miss Cleo Parr and resides in Merced; and Evelyn Adell. Mr. Thompson is a Republican in politics and while residing in Tulare County served as justice of the peace. Fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of Merced.
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