History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches 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, Volume I, Part 139

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1362

USA > California > Fresno County > History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches 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, Volume I > Part 139

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MRS. MARY A. IMRIE .- The widow of the late Josiah Imrie, a pioneer settler who located in Round Mountain district, Fresno County, in 1870, still resides on her ranch eight miles northeast of Sanger. Mrs. Mary A. Imrie, in maidenhood, was Mary A. Elliott, the daughter of Joseph S. and Jane B. (O'Connell) Elliott, natives of Massachusetts and Maine, respec- tively. Joseph S. Elliott came to California in 1849, via Cape Horn, and nat- urally rushed to the mines where he remained for a time. He then drove stage to St. Helena. He was married in Napa, in 1860, his wife having come to California in 1859, also via Cape Horn, and after their marriage they farmed in Napa County until 1869, when they located in the Round Moun- tain district. They homesteaded a quarter section and preempted another. The Round Mountain schoolhouse is located on this land, he having donated the site and having been a member of the original board. Subsequently buy- ing another quarter section of land, Mr. Elliott engaged extensively in grain- raising, and at one time filled the important post of county superintendent of roads. He died in 1893, and his wife preceded him two years. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph S. Elliott were the parents of two daughters: Mary A., who is the widow of Josiah Imrie, and the subject of this sketch; and Amanda H., Mrs. Alex. Barringer, also of this district.

Mary A. Elliott was born in Napa City, where she attended school, con- tinuing there after her parents removed and later joining them in Fresno County, in 1874, where she completed the local school. At her parents' house, April 5, 1877, she was united in marriage with Josiah Imrie, and this union was blessed with six children: Margaret, who was Mrs. Allison, is now deceased ; Robert, of Madera County ; Elliott, who is also deceased ; William, a rancher; Walter, in the Aviation Section of the United States Army, serv- ing overseas; and George, who is assisting his mother.

mary Q. Inie

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Josiah Imrie was born at Delhi, N. Y., where he became a carpenter and builder. He was a pioneer settler of Napa County, having located there in 1860, afterwards moving to Round Mountain, Fresno County, in 1870, where he homesteaded one quarter section and preempted another quarter section of land, improving the quarter that he homesteaded and engaging in raising grain, also some stock. After selling his property to John Bacon, he pur- chased the ranch where his widow now resides, which consists of forty acres and moved there in 1908. This place has been nicely improved since they purchased it and is now devoted to vines and fruits. On September 17, 1915. Josiah Imrie passed away, his loss being lamented by many. Since his death Mrs. Imrie continues to operate the ranch, assisted by her son, George. She holds membership in the California Associated Raisin Company and the California Peach Growers, Inc.

Mrs. Mary A. Imrie is beloved for her many kindly and gracious deeds. Since the death of her daughter, Mrs. Margaret Allison, her home circle has been increased by the addition of her two grandchildren: Zella May and Imrie Allison, whom she has reared from babes and who make their home with her, the former being a graduate of Sanger High School. Mrs. Imrie's life is full of benevolence, and she is always helping others, and is much esteemed for her many charities and kindnesses.

WILLIAM H. MCKENZIE .- A liberal and enterprising citizen, and an upbuilder of the best interests of county and state, the late William H. Mckenzie was one of the most widely known and honored men of Fresno County. The son of a pioneer and himself born among the primitive condi- tions of an early civilization, his efforts were laid along the lines of the be- ginning of a statehood, the development of natural resources and the pro- motion of enterprises calculated to promote the growth of the community's interests. A business man of unusual executive ability, unerring judgment, conservative yet progressive ideas, he made a personal success, and in addi- tion to the position accorded him as a factor in pioneer enterprises he also held the esteem of his fellow citizens for these qualities which distinguished his character.

The Mckenzie family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, County Sligo, Ireland, being their home for several generations. Alexander McKenzie, the grand father of William H., was a large landowner in that locality, a gentleman of means and education, who gave to his family every possible advantage. James McKenzie, the father of William H., was born in County Sligo, came to New York about 1848. and in 1853 he joined the United States Army. The regiment was ordered to the Pacific Coast to subdue the Indians in 1854. The soldiers traveled by steamer to Aspinwall, thence across the Isthmus on mule-back, thence by steamer to San Francisco, then to Benicia, and by land to Fort Miller. Mr. Mckenzie became sergeant in the company, with Cap- tain Lozier commanding. They remained at Fort Miller until being ordered to Oregon to serve in the Indian wars. At the end of his enlistment, in 1858, Sergeant Mckenzie was honorably discharged, and as a citizen of California he began raising sheep and cattle on a ranch just above the Fort. He re- mained in that location and occupation until his death, January 1. 1864. He was married in New York, in 1854, to Ann Brennan, a native of County Sligo, born November 7, 1826, and who came to the United States in 1848 to visit a sister. Her wedding journey was a trip to the West. and as did her hus- band, she rode a mule across the Isthmus of Panama. She made her home at the Fort up to the time of her husband's discharge, owning their quarters there until 1861, when they sold out and located on the ranch. She after- wards became the wife of Judge Charles A. Hart.

Of the three children born to his parents, William H. Mckenzie was born at Fort Miller, in Mariposa County (now Fresno County), March 10, 1857. He was reared to young manhood on the farm, which is still in pos- 56

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session of the family and which now comprises 10,000 acres on the San Joa- quin River, and on the ranch is located the old Fort and the town of Miller- ton, and the old courthouse of Fresno County. For many years this old fort formed the residence of the family. Mr. Mckenzie was educated in the public schools at Fort Miller, after which he was graduated from Heald's Business College at San Francisco in 1873, and the following year he returned to his home and soon after was appointed a deputy, under Sheriff J. S. Ashman, after which he acted as deputy clerk, assessor and tax collector. In 1879 he was elected county assessor and the adoption of the constitution extended his term about three years. In 1882 he became interested in the abstract business which was later incorporated as the Fresno Abstract Company, he being a director for years and the largest stockholder. At the same time that he was engaged in farming he was also interested in mining and the oil-well business, meeting with success in both lines. With Mr. Griffith he was active in building the electric railway, and after it was built the com- pany bought the old road and formed the Fresno Electric Railway Company, of which Mr. Mckenzie was a director and manager. The company expanded their lines and put in new equipment and finally sold out in 1903. Mr. Mc- Kenzie was active in developing the Mud Spring Mine in Madera County, and also gold mines in Fresno and surrounding counties. He was one of the men to get into the "oil game" at an early period, in Kern County, and was interested in several producing companies; he was also interested in the Coalinga field.

In Healdsburg, Cal., Mr. Mckenzie was united in marriage with Carrie E. Hoxie, who was born at Millerton, a daughter of Clark Hoxie, a pioneer farmer and one of the first supervisors of the county. To Mr. and Mrs. Mckenzie five children were born: Alfred H .: William T .; Richard ; Donald ; and Truman.

Mr. Mckenzie was a Democrat and served as treasurer of Fresno City for twelve years; he was a member of the county and city Democratic com- mittees ; a member of the board of fire and police commissioners and of the Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the Odd Fellows of Fresno and a past officer. He died at his home, December 21, 1909, mourned by all who ever knew him.

Since the death of Mr. Mckenzie his property remains intact as a trust estate under the management of his eldest son, Alfred H. Mckenzie. In 1913 the estate in conjunction with S. N. Griffith erected the Griffith-McKen- zie Building, a ten-story Class A steel structure that is the largest of its kind not only in Fresno County but in the San Joaquin Valley.

JOHN JONSEN .- As a pioneer merchant of Fresno John Jonsen proved the value of his citizenship and the integrity of his character. A native of Preston, Ontario, he followed the shoe business from boyhood. In 1878 Mr. Jonsen arrived in Fresno, at that date a town of twelve hundred people. After his arrival, he opened a small shoe shop on the corner of I and Mariposa Streets. He later moved to 1937 Mariposa Street and remained in business at that location for twenty-three years. T. J. Kirk was Mr. Jonsen's first partner, under the firm name of Jonsen & Kirk; at the end of three years Kirk sold out and went east for three years; returning, he again bought in with Mr. Jonsen, and the firm was then Kirk & Jonsen, until Mr. Kirk was elected state superintendent of public instruction and moved to Sacramento. In 1890 A. D. Olney became a partner, and the firm name was then as it now stands, Olney & Jonsen. For one year Mr. Jonsen retired from the business on account of ill health, and bought a forty-acre vineyard at Malaga and engaged in outdoor work.

A public-spirited and influential man, Mr. Jonsen was foremost in all plans for the promotion of the public welfare, and gave all such movements the benefit of his keen judgment and wise cooperation. A man of broad and charitable views, he aided every movement for the advancement of educa-

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tion, morality, and the well being of the community. When the new Odd Fellows Building was erected, on the corner of I and Merced Streets, Mr. Jonsen was chairman of the committee of five who had charge of the raising of funds and erecting the building.

Mr. Jonsen's marriage, in Sparta, Ill., in 1875, united him with Margaret Young, a native of that city, and three children were born to them, now all deceased : Mary, a musician and accomplished pianist, who died aged twenty- one; John, Jr., a graduate of the Hastings Law School of San Francisco, who started a weekly paper called the Fresno Saturday Night, which was later sold to the Sunday Mirror; Arnold, who was in the insurance business, and later with his father in the store. Mr. Jonsen passed away in Fresno on January 5, 1916.

During her many years of residence in Fresno, Mrs. Jonsen was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church ; she was the soprano in the church choir for many years.

GEORGE COSGRAVE .- A native of California, George Cosgrave was born in Calaveras County, California, on February 20, 1870, the son of Michael Cosgrave who came to California in the early fifties about the same time or soon after Mark Twain was searching for gold in the region he later made so famous through his "Jumping Frog" story-that inimitable contribution to not only western but world literature-and like Mark also followed placer mining in Calaveras County. He had married Margaret Pyne, who proved just the help-mate to him required for that trying formative period and place.

Growing up with the usual indifferent school opportunities, Mr. Cos- grave's ambition led him to matriculate at the San Jose Normal School from which he was graduated in 1889, and thereafter he devoted himself to teach- ing, thus becoming one who early helped to lay the foundation for popular education in the Golden State. Pedagogy, however, was not his ultimate aim, and he continued to direct the training of youth only so long as it was necessary to master the pages of Blackstone and other learned legal works. In 1895 Mr. Cosgrave was admitted to the bar, and since then he has more and more come to the front in the community with which he is so honorably connected.

On June 1, 1904, at Alameda, Mr. Cosgrave was married to Miss Irene Copeland, the daughter of Isaac and Ellen G. Copeland, a native daughter representing another pioneer family with an interesting history. Her father was an hydraulic miner in the days when that phase of engineering absorbed the keenest of minds; and the mother was among the earliest white children born in Butte County. One child, a daughter named Margaret, has blessed this fortunate union. Mr. Cosgrave is a Mason, having been master of Fresno Lodge, No. 247, F. & A. M., in 1900.

A Republican in matters of national politics, Mr. Cosgrave has also done good civic duty by serving on the Fresno board of education to which he was appointed in 1897 and elected in 1917.

WALTER L. CHOISSER .- Hard-working, experienced and successful dairy ranchers and breeders of registered cattle and hogs, Mr. and Mrs. Walter L. Choisser, who started life together, in their youth in Califorina, are deserving of more than ordinary interest on account of their memberships in well-known pioneer families. They own and operate a twenty-acre dairy ranch two and a half miles west and half a mile south of Riverdale.

Mr. Choisser was born in Mariposa County, on May 18, 1880, the son of LaFayette Choisser, a French-American hailing from Indiana, who had married Miss Julia Riley in Illinois, in which state she was born. He was a constable and deputy sheriff of Mariposa County, and his fame is still talked of there on account of exceptional courage displayed by him during the troubles between the rangers and the Indians,-an absorbing story told in detail in the Fresno Republican of September 30, 1917. His greatest act

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of bravery occurred in January, 1878, when Indian Willie, accused of having murdered Jonas Thompson, a ranger of the Chowchilla district, was placed on trial in the wooden courthouse in Mariposa, and some half a hundred rangers, under the leadership of a giant Kentuckian, watched the trial in and around the court-room, and only awaited the moment when they could relieve the sheriff of all responsibility in disposing of the prisoner, as they had previously endeavored to relieve the county of the expense of the trial.

Unknown to the revengeful members of the Chowchilla band (some of whom were looked upon as likely to know more about the murder than did the poor Indian), LaFayette Choisser, riding a saddle horse and leading an- other, met the sheriff and prisoner at the back stairs of the court house and. running the gauntlet of the crowded streets, dashed madly off for Merced, followed by the prisoner strapped to the saddle, and the jail, fifty miles away. Within ten minutes, many of the rangers were dashing off, too, and far in the lead of the band, and hot after the fleeing couple, was the tall and powerful Kentuckian, swinging his heavy gun. The ten minutes' gain on the side of the Frenchman was counterbalanced by the burden of the half- dead Indian, whose spirits he tried to keep up. Beyond Princeton, six miles out, the road divided into what was then a thicket of oak so dense that the fork was invisible a rod away; Choisser took the branch to the old Buck- ingham toll-road, smooth as glass but with many treacherous turns and open spaces, and the Kentuckian, with unerring frontier instinct, hurled himself after him along the same devious route. Into Hornitos, twenty-four miles covered, pursued and pursuer rode, the former able to effect a change of horses at the little stable ; but the steeds supplied were not equal to those started out with, and it was a wonder that for them darkness dropped as the officer and his prisoner, now unstrapped and armed with a revolver, crossed the bridge over Bear Creek and rushed into the town of Merced. No telephone or telegraph had foretold their coming, so that it was doubly lucky that the jailer was on hand to open the prison door and, almost in the face of the cursing pursuer, to swing back the iron door. LaFayette Choisser looked at his watch. Fifty miles over mountains, foothills and plains they had ridden in exactly four hours, and the ten minutes' gain at the start had never lessened. To Hornitos neither could boast the better horse, but there Black Bess had been left, while the poor Kentucky charger with its heavy burden had plunged on through the entire stretch with but one drink of water. LaFayette Choisser was a hero; but one night in the eighties (after he had ceased to do sheriff work and had become the superintendent of the old Fremont Grant and also superintendent of the Mariposa Commercial and Mining Company), his dearly loved horse came back alone to the Chois- ser home in Bear Valley and turning, mutely led a party of searchers over the mountain to the Merced Canyon where, six miles below Benton Mills, now Bagby, on the river bank the little Frenchman lay dead. "He told nothing then, as he told nothing in life, and only his Creator knows the story" of his "damnable taking off."

La Fayette Choisser was only forty-five years old when he was killed; besides his widow (who died also aged forty-five), he left seven children, all of whom are now living. Nancy has become Mrs. J. B. Trabucco of Bear Valley ; Phil is in business at Riverdale; another daughter is Mrs. S. E. Ball of Le Grand, Cal .; Joe resides at Livingston; John works at mining in the Yosemite Valley, but owns a ranch near Kerman ; Walter L. is the sub- ject of this review; and Daisy is Mrs. Condrey of Riverdale.

Walter grew up in Bear Valley. but he hardly recalls his father, who died when he was four years old. He remembers that he saw him ride off on his horse-his last ride ; and he also remembers viewing his father's re- mains lying in the coffin, when someone lifted him up so that he could see. He attended the short-termed district school at Bear Valley and had only very meager educational advantages.

Henry Ramacher.

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At Bear Valley, on October 5, 1902, he was married to Miss Minnie M. Ball, the daughter of R. F. and Lizzie (Kaler) Ball, the former being a real estate agent at Le Grand. He is the very interesting person who superin- tended the hauling-out of the gigantic World's Fair California redwood tree, moving it from Converse Basin, in Fresno County, to Visalia in 1892, and there loading it on the cars to Chicago. Mrs. Choisser was born in Kansas, and from there was brought to California when an infant; and in Fresno County she grew to maturity.

After his marriage, Mr. Choisser settled at Riverdale and set to work to improve his twenty-acre ranch. Originally, these twenty acres were a part of the John's Ranch, but they tell a different story now that they are im- proved with a well-built house, barn and other outbuildings, forming a stock ranch. Of late, Mr. Choisser has entered a new field and is breeding full- blooded Holstein-Frisian cattle and Poland-China hogs, duly registered. He has four full-blooded registered cows, a bull and two heifer calves; and he has three registered Poland-China sows. Having begun their hard struggle together with very little money, and little by little bought their place and worked themselves out of debt, they are now beginning to invest their sur- plus money in this new field.

Mr. and Mrs. Choisser have had two children-Walter, who died when he was four years old, and Everett, who died when he was thirteen. Mr. Choisser takes a live interest in civic affairs, though not a politician, and marches with national issues under the banners of the Republican Party.

HENRY RAMACHER .- One of the best-known builders-up of Fresno County, a fine old gentleman, whose influence has been especially potent be- cause of his reputation for uprightness and honesty, is Henry Ramacher, a pioneer of the early eighties. He was born in the Rhine provinces of Ger- many, near Elberfeld, June 1, 1843, the son of Henry Ramacher, a harness- maker and saddler, who in 1853 brought his wife and six children to America, sailing from Havre, France, on the sailing vessel Ocean Home. After a . voyage of seven weeks they landed in New Orleans, and then came up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to Evansville, Ind., and thence by rail to Vin- cennes, finally locating near Linton, in Greene County. There he settled on a farm, and there he died. His wife, who had been Mary Hochwar, also died there, the mother of six children, of whom Henry is the only one living and the only one who came to California. His youngest brother John had gone to Mississippi to establish himself in the harness business; and there he was pressed into the Confederate Army and served in Kentucky until he had a chance to desert. Then he came to Illinois, and finally died in Indiana.

Brought up on a farm, Henry Ramacher was educated at the public schools, attending for a while a school that was held in a log cabin ; and when, at the age of nineteen, he lost his father, he continued to manage the home farm for his mother, and ran it until she died in 1872. Then he bought the farm and conducted it as his own, making some reputation thereabouts as a successful husbandman.

Desiring, however, to locate in California, Mr. Ramacher sold out and brought his wife and three children to California in 1884. After carefully examining into the claims of the several sections of the state, he located in Fresno County, and here for a while he followed stock-raising. Then he took up vineyarding, and when he had mastered its details he bought twenty acres in the Kutner Colony. He did not like the situation, however, so he let the holding go, and then purchased eighty acres in the northeastern part of Kut- ner Colony, twelve miles northeast of Fresno. There he set out a vineyard to Tokay and Malaga table grapes and muscat raisins, and planted a small fam- ily orchard. He had over forty-three acres in the vineyard. The rest of the farm he planted to alfalfa. Soon his experience brought him a reputation of

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commercial value, and his services were in demand for setting out and caring for hundreds of acres of vineyards owned by other people.

While in Indiana Mr. Ramacher had married Miss Mary Fainot, a native of Louisville, Ohio, and the daughter of French parents; and with her he lived very happily until she died in 1909. He continued to manage the ranch until 1913, when he leased it to his son and bought the residence at 1628 White Avenue, Fresno. From the time of the formation of the first raisin association here, Mr. Ramacher has actively supported every movement designed to advance the interests of that industry, and he is now a stock- holder as well as a member of the California Associated Raisin Company.

Public-spirited to a very commendable degree, Mr. Ramacher has al- ways been ready to serve his fellow citizens when he could, and has acted as school trustee in the Kutner Colony school district for twenty-two years. or until he moved away ; part of the time being clerk, and part of the time president of the board of trustees. He helped build both the first and second schoolhouse in Kutner Colony. Fond of social life, he was made a Mason in the Bloomfield Lodge, in Indiana, and was a Past Master there; and he used to be a member of the O. E. S., and is an Ancient Odd Fellow ; but he finds his greatest social delight in the company of his children, of whom he has eight. They are: Leroy, who lives at the old home ranch; Verny, now Mrs. Michael, residing near Clovis: Leonard, who is a rancher in the Kutner Colony ; Henry, a rancher living near Rolinda; Mary, who presides over her father's house; Annie, better known as Mrs. Campbell of Biola; Bismarck, who is in the United States Army, serving in France as a corporal ; and Hen- rietta, who is at home.

LEVI NELSON FINCHER .- A man of unusual intelligence and learn- ing, though practically self-educated, Levi Nelson Fincher has left his mark in the world as one who was honorable and upright in all his dealings, deeply religious, though never obtrusively so, and well read and informed in the world's doings during his full and useful life. A native of North Carolina, he was born October 30, 1830. His father brought the family to Missouri when Levi was a child of less than six years, and there they settled on a farm, in Osage County. The small boy's schooling was limited as there was no school system in Missouri in those early days, and he had only one year of school, the balance of his education he received at the hands of his father and older sister, who were both well educated ; his first instruction was from the Bible, and he was a great student all his life. He became a well-informed and scholarly man, able in later life to quote whole chapters from the most ancient of all books.

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History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches 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, Volume I, Part 139

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858- Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1362

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1362