USA > California > Glenn County > History of Colusa and Glenn counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 90
USA > California > Colusa County > History of Colusa and Glenn counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 90
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The marriage of Mr. Paulson united him with Martha E. Eggbrecht, a native of Wisconsin, of German extraction; and they are the parents of one daughter, Ruth, aged eight years, and a native of California. The family are members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Paulson's father died in Illinois about 1898, after which the mother joined her son and lived with him until her
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death in 1914, in her ninety-third year. She left four sons to mourn her loss: Spencer, of Geneseo, Ill .; Jolm, of this review; Nels P., of Petaluma ; and August B., of Canada.
CHARLES A. WHITSETT
The Orland district of Glenn County has come to the front so rapidly, and is making such remarkable progress along agricul- tural lines, that for one man to stand out prominently from the background of progressive and successful ranchers in that sec- tion means that he is possessed of exceptional qualities and unusual energy. Charles A. Whitsett is a man of this type. He was born on October 8, 1874, in Lafayette County, Mo., a state which has given so large a quota of its best citizenry to aid in the progress of Glenn and Colusa Counties, and to become im- portant factors in bringing this section to its present high state of development. In 1876, the family came to the Western Coast and settled on a ranch near Eugene, Ore. Here he received the foundation of his education, in the common schools of that dis- trict, and later attended the Agricultural College at Corvallis, Ore., for one year, and the State University at Eugene for one year. On the completion of his studies, he became manager and bookkeeper for a general merchandise establishment for seven years, after which he took up scientific farming in central eastern Oregon, using the Campbell System of Dry Farming. In Crook County (in that part which is now Jefferson County), he owned three hundred twenty acres of land, and leased other tracts, becoming one of the important farmers and alfalfa raisers of that section.
In 1910, Mr. Whitsett came to California, and settled in the Orland district, purchasing sixty acres of land five miles east of town. This property he has improved, until he now has one of the best-developed ranches in this community of splendid farms. He built a comfortable home and set out a family orchard; fenced and leveled his land, and planted alfalfa ; and built commodions barns for his stock. He has a herd of full-blooded and high- grade Jersey cows; and as a breeder of fine prize-winning stock, he has won an enviable reputation in the county. At the Orland Fair, in 1916, one cow he exhibited took first prize; his bull calf took first prize; and his two-year-old heifer took second prize. He has developed a well ninety-two feet deep on his property, for which he has installed a pumping plant, with a fine flow of water,
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almost as strong as from an artesian well. In 1918, he will set ont twenty acres of his ranch to orchard.
Mr. Whitsett is a student of modern and scientific methods of agriculture, and keeps absolutely abreast of the times in his work; and to this fact he attributes his snecess. In this enlightened day, farming has ceased to be merely a labor of the hands. The man of keen mind and broad intellect takes advantage of this fact and makes the most of his opportunities. In the beginning the new methods were frowned npon by the more conservative farm- ers; but when they realized how quickly the men who adopted them rose to a success beyond their furthest dreams, they, too, joined the majority in the march of progress.
The development of community interests, as well as his own, has always been Mr. Whitsett's aim; and he has given readily of his time and knowledge to help further various undertakings which have meant prosperity and progress for all. A director in the Orland Agricultural and Live Stock Association, he has helped materially in bringing this body up to its present high standard, knowing full well that competition is the life of trade, or business, and that agriculture ranks as the most important business in the world today. He is a director in the Orland Unit Water Users' Association, a project which is literally changing the face of the valley; and a director of the Glenn County Farm Burean, and of the Plaza Farm Center of Orland. His success has made him an influential "booster" for his district; and as he is prominent in all its affairs, his opinion carries weight in the outside world wherever the question of agricultural centers is raised.
The marriage of Mr. Whitsett, on December 1, 1898, united him with Miss Minnie Wright. a native of Indiana. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Whitsett, four living and one, Mildred, deceased. The living are as follows: Charles Willis and Helen, born in Oregon; and Florence and Vernon, natives of California. The family are members of the Methodist Church.
CHARLES M. McLOUTH
A much-traveled and well-informed man, Mr. MeLonth has worked his own way in the world since a boy of eight years; and what success he has made, what position he now ocenpies, has been the result of his own perseverance and hard work. A native of Michigan, he was born in Hillsdale County, February 23, 1858, a descendant of prominent New England ancestors. His
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family is noted for its educators, from district school teachers to college presidents, and has furnished as many as any other single family in the United States. The early days of Mr. McLouth were passed in Michigan and New York; and he began teaching school in the former state, where he was later engaged in farm- ing and stock-raising. Going to Chicago, he took up contracting and building for five years. At the breaking out of the Spanish- American War, in 1898, he enlisted in the Second Mississippi Volunteer Infantry, serving until his discharge at Havana, in 1899. During the war he was transferred to the hospital corps and stationed at Jacksonville and Savannah, and at Havana, and saw service under General Fitzhugh Lee.
After his discharge from duty, Mr. MeLouth returned to New York, and in Ontario County became associated with the best breeders of Jersey cattle in the country. He thus gained a great deal of valuable information, and has since been per- sonally interested in the breeding of thoroughbred Jersey stock. It comes natural to him, for from a boy he has always had a leaning towards the cattle business. In 1908 he came to the Coast and located at Ellensburg, Wash., and engaged in the dairy cattle business. He has traveled all over the Coast region, and has likewise been in nearly every state in the Union, thus gaining a wide knowledge of prevailing conditions in all sections of the country.
In June, 1916, Mr. MeLouth located in Orland. Since then he has brought a herd of sixty pure-blooded Jersey cattle here, more than any other person has brought at any one time. He brought stock from Michigan, Kentucky, and Ohio into the Western states, and is part owner of twenty-seven thoroughbred registered Jersey cows. He has a pure-blooded bull, Jacobas Emanon 84177, bred in Nebraska by J. B. Smith, one of the leading breeders in this country. This is considered the best Jersey bull in the state. Jacobas Emanon 84177 is a Register of Merit bull, a grandson of Jacoba Irene, a cow that made 2781 pounds of butter, with three calves, in thirty-seven months, a record unequaled by any other cow of any breed. His daughters average, with their first calves, more than 483 pounds of butter in one year, with an average percentage of butter fat in milk of more than 6.5. Eminence Miss Pratt, leading cow in this herd, has made better than 60 pounds of butter fat the first month since she freshened, on June 24, 1917. At the Orland Fair, the stock Mr. MeLouth exhibited took first prize for yearling heifer. He expects to exhibit at the State Fair in Sacramento, and in Los Angeles, in 1917. As a member of, and field agent for, the American Jersey Cattle Club, Mr. MeLouth is posted on all developments in his line. He is
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considered an authority in Northern California, and one of the best breeders in the state. At the Chico Fair, in 1917, Mr. McLouth exhibited five head of registered Jerseys-consisting of one aged bull, Jacobas Emanon 84177, one bull calf, one two-year- old cow, one yearling heifer, and one heifer calf-and took nine ribbons, including Senior and Grand Champion bull, Senior and Grand Champion cow, and first on bull calf.
EDWARD NELSON
A man who has been a benefactor to the city of Willows, and who has given special service to his community by bringing the sidewalks of the town up to a standard never before reached by the other contractors, is Edward Nelson, or Ed Nelson, as he is better known by his friends. He was born in Odalen, near Kongsvinger, Norway, February 12, 1864, a son of Peter Nelson, a wood-turner by trade, who had a manufacturing plant at Odalen, which he operated until his death in 1868. There were six chil- dren in the Nelson family, Ed being the youngest. He had the advantage of a good education in the local schools; and being of an inquiring turn of mind, and inheriting some of the qualities of a genius from his father, he learned wood turning by using the tools left by him. Later he apprenticed himself to learn the shoemaker's trade, which he afterwards followed until he came to the United States, in 1887. His mother's death occurred some years later.
On his arrival in this country Mr. Nelson went to Duluth, Minn., where he was employed in different grain elevators. He could speak no English; and being very desirous of acquiring the ability to make himself understood, as well as to understand what was said to him in the English tongue, he spent his spare time in studying, when his day's work was done, and soon learned to read, write and speak English. Young Nelson remained in Duluth until 1892, and then went to Chicago, where he returned to his trade of shoemaker, and also clerked in a shoe store for two years. His next move was to Bevidere, Ill .; and here he took up another line of work, being employed in a milk-condensing factory for about a year, after which he returned to Duluth, his first location. In the various cities where Mr. Nelson lived, he was continually getting experience, and a knowledge of various lines of business, and was mixing with men of all classes, by which he was greatly benefited. When he again settled in Duluth, he went to work for a cement contracting firm and helped build
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concrete elevators, working in various capacities, and there learned the formula for properly mixing concrete. This necessarily had to be exact, the mixing being done in large rolling drums. Here was something that interested Mr. Nelson more than anything else that he had undertaken. To perfect his knowledge of the business he worked for this company for two years, and then with another concern that was building coke ovens and concrete gas tanks; and in time he became foreman of construction.
During the years he had been in America, Mr. Nelson had been hearing favorable reports about California ; and so he decided to come to the Coast. Arriving in Glenn County on June 3, 1905, he secured work in the Sites stone quarry, and worked there until 1906. After the big fire in San Francisco, he went thither and at once went to work to help rebuild the city, being employed by different firms during his stay there, but principally by Flynn & Tracy. He was foreman for a while, and was engaged in laying sidewalks and foundations a greater part of the time, for two years.
Mr. Nelson had received such a good impression of Glenn County, and especially of Willows, that he decided to come to this city. For a while after his arrival here, he divided his time between carpentering and cement work. Then the era of building cement walks came, and he began specializing as a sidewalk con- tractor. During the boom times he was not idle a day, unless of his own volition. He has been thus engaged ever since, and has to his credit most of the walks made of concrete that have been laid in Willows ; and besides he has put in cement foundations for some of the important buildings constructed since he located in the city. It is well known that the sidewalks laid by Ed Nelson do not crack. This is due to his thorough knowledge of the proper method to be observed in the construction of the base before sur- facing the work. He also makes terrazzo for curbing, steps, bath- room floors, etc., and mannfactures brick and cement block. He is well satisfied with his success since coming to California ; and each year has seen the enlargement of his sphere of influence, and the growth of his prestige in the commercial world. He is a public- spirited citizen, and in polities is a Republican. Religiously, he was reared and confirmed in the Lutheran Church.
MRS. MARY G. JONES
Living on her ranch in Colusa County, Mrs. Mary G. Jones has taken an active part in the upbuilding of the county. She was born in Norway, at Throndhjem, a daughter of John and Annie (Rystad) Gaustad, both natives of that same place, where they
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were accounted well-to-do farmer folks. The father inherited the place called Gaustad, being educated and reared there. He farmed in Norway, and five years in Wisconsin and Minnesota, working on farms and getting familiar with the country. California seemed to hold out good inducements to him, and he came out here and located in Modoc County, after which he went back to Norway; and in 1885, with his family, consisting of his wife and three children, he returned to California, sailing from Throndhjem on the old Inman Line, to Hull, England. Crossing over to Liverpool, he reembarked on the same line, arriving in Castle Garden, New York, on May 20. No untoward incident marred their voyage except a collision with an iceberg, which delayed them several days. They came right through to Modoe County, where Mr. Ganstad bought a ranch, which he later sold, and moved to Sno- homish, Wash., where he died in 1915, at the age of seventy- seven, and where his widow is still living. Their children are Gertrude, who married Evans Cuff, of Snohomish; Mary G., Mrs. Jones; and Rasmus, of Modoc County, who married Nellie Thompson.
Mary G. Gaustad attended the schools in Norway, and was confirmed there. She was fifteen when her people came to Cali- fornia; and she finished her schooling in Modoc County. She there met Frederick G. Jones, who went there to work on a ranch owned by his brother. He was born in Colusa County, August 10, 1869. They were married in 1890, after which they came down to this county and he bought the ranch of one hundred forty acres where Mrs. Jones now lives. They have two children: Edith Francis, a graduate of the Colusa high school and the San Jose State Normal, who was a teacher until her marriage to Ralph Westfall, a farmer in Butte Creek precinct ; and Alice Anita. Mrs. Jones is carrying on the ranch, and is meeting with success.
ANDRE RENAUD
The gentleman who is in charge of the Southern Pacific park at Willows, Andre Renaud, has made it a thing of beauty which is much appreciated by the citizens of the thriving little city. He was born in Anais, in Charente Inferieur, France, September 1, 1866, a son of Andre Renaud senior, a farmer in France until 1888, when he migrated to California. After remaining here some five years, he returned to the sunny land of France, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Andre, of this review, was the younger of two children, and received a good education in the schools of his native land. He
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learned to carry on the farm work at home, working at gardening and farming, until he enlisted in the French army, for service in the Sixth Infantry Regiment. After receiving his honorable discharge, he decided he would come to California, having heard a great deal about the opportunities offered to young and ambitious men who were willing to work and, perhaps, to deny themselves many things in order to get a start. He made liis way to this state in 1891, and for the following eight years was employed in the Stan- ford vineyards at Vina. His next place of residence was in Wil- lows, to which place he came in 1899, and where, until 1912, he was employed on various ranches in the vicinity.
His connection with the Southern Pacific Company began in the last-named year, when he was engaged in the track department. His steady and industrious habits were appreciated, and in 1916 he was placed in charge of their park at Willows. Since then his entire time has been given to keeping it in its present splendid con- dition. His early knowledge of gardening stood him in good stead, and the park is now considered one of the most attractive beauty spots along the company's lines in the Sacramento Valley.
Mr. Renand made a visit to the land of his birth in 1903, and while there, on September 12, of that year, was united in marriage with Alida Renand, born in the vicinity of his old home. They have three children: Louise, Andrew, and Harriet. Reared in a republic, Mr. Renaud still retains his love of republican principles, as illustrated in the government of his adopted country.
GUSTAVE GUENON
A resident of California since 1888, Gustave Guenon has earned a place for himself among the citizens of his adopted country by a life of steady application and persevering industry, as well as honesty in all things. A native of France, he was born in Depart- ment La Vendée, Angust 24, 1870, a son of Francois and Mary (Mathee) Guenon, both natives of La Vendée, the father born in 1840, and a farmer by occupation. They were the parents of two children : Gustave, and Mrs. William Gauthier.
Gustave Guenon was brought up on the home farm in France, and attended the public schools of that country. When a youth of eighteen years he came to the United States, locating in Vina, Cal., and joined the first French camp established here, at the Stanford vineyards. He went to work in the vineyards, continuing there for four years, in the meantime learning to read and speak the English language.
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In 1892, Mr. Guenon came to Willows, Glenn County, and engaged in ranch work on the St. Louis ranch, for two years, and later on other ranches, driving big teams of horses and mules. He occupied himself in this way until 1908, when he entered the employ of the Glenn County Lumber Company, at Willows, be- ginning at the bottom and working his way up until he became foreman of the yard, a position he now holds.
Mr. Guenon built his home, in 1892, in East Willows, and arranged for his father and mother to join him here and make their home with him, his sister also coming at the same time. The father died in 1901; the mother now presides over his home, having reached the age of seventy-two. A Republican in national politics, Mr. Guenon believes in the best man for the office in county affairs. A man of sound principles and ready to do his share toward the welfare of the community in which he has made his home, Mr. Guenon well deserves the round in the ladder of success which he has reached, solely by his own efforts, with no help but habits of industry and thrift.
JOHN LAUSTAU
An upright and deserving business man of Willows, who has built up a good business in his line, is John Laustan, a native of France, where he was born, in Pau, Basses Pyrénées, February 16, 1865. His father, Jean Baptiste Laustau, was a farmer; so John was brought up a farmer's boy and educated in the public schools. In June, 1888, he came to San Francisco, and first found employment on a ranch at Redwood City for a time, after which he worked in the vineyards in the same vicinity, and later for the Spring Valley Water Company for a year; and thereafter we find him for several years employed in the brick yards at San Rafael.
In 1894, Mr. Lanstan went to Sacramento and began his connection with the laundry business, being employed in the French Laundry on L Street until 1902, when he came to Willows, Glenn County, and started a French Laundry on Tehama Street. This he conducted for about four years, and then returned to Sacramento and purchased the French Laundry on Tenth and P Streets in that city. He did a successful business there until he concluded to move back to Willows, and started the Glenn County Laundry at his residence on North Tehama Street, in May, 1911. He met with success, and two years later leased his present place of business on Willow Street, remodeled it for a laundry, and installed modern machinery to handle his increased business.
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Mr. Laustau was united' in marriage, in Sacramento, with Miss Justine Laborde, who was born in Landes, France; and they are the parents of two children, Joseph and Eugenia. Though not a native of this country, Mr. Laustau has always been interested in its welfare, and willing to help all projects for the advance- ment of his section of it, to the best of his ability.
LOUIS PLEAU
As the only representative of an old French family in Cali- fornia, Louis Plean has lived in this state since 1866, and has been identified with its development from that date. He was born in Champly County, between Montreal and Quebec, Canada, April 25, 1838, and is the oldest of fifteen children born to his parents. He went to school and worked on farms in Canada until coming to this state in 1866. He crossed the plains, driving five yoke of oxen hitched to his wagon. There were thirty-four big wagons in the train that started from St. Joseph, Mo., and coming by way of Salt Lake City arrived in California after a trip lasting six months, and fraught with many dangers and privations.
Arriving in the state, Mr. Pleau remained in Yolo County three or four years, engaged in chopping wood on contract on Cache Creek. In 1871 he came to what is now Glenn County and bought three hundred twenty acres of railroad land, and began improving his home where he now lives. Elk, deer, and many other wild animals roamed the plains and timber lands at that time. He bought a team of horses and put the first plow in the ground on his ranch, set out trees, built fences and buildings, and planted wheat, which when harvested had to be hauled to Prince- ton to load on the boats that transported it down the river. He added to his holdings another half section, but sold off one hun- dred sixty acres, and now has four hundred eighty acres located about ten miles southwest of Willows, which is devoted to wheat- and harley-raising. Of late years he has been farming with his sons, leasing adjoining lands, and runs about eight hundred acres, using a combined harvester and other modern methods to save labor.
In 1877 Mr. Pleau went back to Canada and married Miss Cordelia Marie Therien, born in Louisville, Canada; and to them have been born fifteen children, seven of whom are living: Louis, a druggist in Sacramento; Arthur, farming on the home place; Laura, Mrs. George St. Louis, of Glenn County; Joseph, of San Francisco, who is connected with the Pacific Gas and Electric
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Company; and Alphonse, Henry and Emile, who are at home with their parents, and aid with the farming operations. Mr. Pleau has been successful, has won a host of friends since making his residence in the county, and has done his duty as a public-spirited citizen.
FRANK JOSEPH AUSTIN
Although comparatively a newcomer among the enterprising ranchers of the Delevan district, Colusa County, Frank Joseph Austin is already well known as a man who has a thorough knowl- edge of the business he is devoting his time and energy to, having had much practical experience in the different branches of his work while living on the eastern shores of the continent. Born in Lewiston, Maine, February 16, 1867, he is a son of Joseph and Abbie (McKeen) Austin, both natives of Maine. The father served his country in the Civil War, enlisting in Company G, Seventeenth Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry, and took part in thirty- two different engagements. After the war, he engaged in the shoe-manufacturing business. Both he and his wife are now deceased.
The second of three children born to his parents, Frank Joseph Austin was reared in his native state, receiving his educa- tion in the public schools there; and when twenty years of age he started westward, coming to Dillon, Mont., in March, 1887. There he followed cattle ranching, riding the range for four years and learning all the quickness of body and mind necessary in riding after and roping cattle. At the end of this period he returned to Maine and, purchasing a farm of one hundred sixty acres at New Portland, engaged in the dairy and stock business, which he continned successfully for nine years, when he sold his farm and removed to Old Virginia. Here he purchased a farm at Remington, and followed general farming for three years, when he sold his interests, returned to Maine, and purchased another farm there, in Madrid. This he cultivated for three years, and then sold it and went to Boston, Mass., purchased the Jamaica Honse, and engaged in the hotel business for two years.
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