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 II, Part 33

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1424

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 II > Part 33

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

AUGUST KRUSE .- Despite his natural love for the country of his birth, August Kruse believed that he saw in America still greater freedom and opportunity, and so crossed the seas and threw in his lot with California. He is the son of Henry and Frederika Kruse, well-known farmer-folk of West- phalia. His father began to farm as a boy, and when he was ready to ask for the heart and hand of Frederika Brinckmann, a member of another of the substantial families of that section, he had a farm to go to, and one of which he could well boast. Both father and mother lived to be considerably past the proverbial four score years, and when they died they left their chil- dren that most blessed heritage-a good name.

Like his brother Henry, August Kruse was born at Enger, in West- phalia, but four years later, in 1863, being the next to the youngest in the family. He went to school until he was fourteen, getting all the hard drill of the local schools and enjoying the usual benefits, and then, for three years, he worked at farming in that vicinity, mastering as thoroughly as he could the various stages of agriculture as practised in Germany. When he was seventeen, he concluded to come to America, and having so decided, took passage and soon arrived in New York. He caught a glimpse of the Ameri- can metropolis, and then made his way west to Chicago, later coming on to Nebraska, where, at Fremont, in Dodge County, he labored as a farm hand and, in order to acquire English more rapidly, attended school part of the first winter.

In 1886, Mr. Kruse made his first trip back to the old homestead in Germany ; and such were his descriptions of the advantages and possibilities of life in America that his two brothers, Henry and Gustav, together with August Halemeier and ten others, all friends, came with him on his return to Nebraska. He continued farming there with success, laid aside money, and in 1892 made a second trip back to his old home, later returning to Nebraska.

In 1899 Mr. Kruse came to Fresno County, Cal., where he bought fifty acres of land on National Avenue. It was raw land; but he leveled and

Aug. Kruse

1611

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

staked it, setting out vines and caring for them, and at the same time work- ing for several seasons in the Bon Ton Winery. Finally, when he had greatly improved the place, he built his large residence and barns. He had now a model farm, which he operated until 1915, when he sold it at a highly com- plimentary figure, making a good profit by the transaction. In 1917 he bought his present ten acres near Clovis, and there he has since made his home, car- ing for his vineyard of Malagas and muscats. The same year that he bought this place he made a trip to Arizona and there purchased some 600 acres of land near Pearce, some way out from Yuma.

Mr. Kruse is a member of the California Associated Raisin Company and takes a live interest in general local affairs. He is a loyal member of the German Lutheran Church.

W. R. CARTER .- An enterprising ranchman, whose fine place reflects most creditably his scientific and practical knowledge of viticulture and horti- culture, is W. R. Carter, a native son hailing from the Bay Metropolis where so much of California history was made, and who is much interested in the preservation of local history. He was born on Van Ness Avenue, San Fran- cisco, on May 20, 1873, the son of Bernard Boucher Carter, who first saw the light in London, England. When only twenty-one the elder Carter left England and went to sea ; and for fifty or sixty years he followed a sea-faring life. Finally he came round the Horn in a sailer to San Francisco, and for a while he remained here; then he sailed from the Golden Gate on a long voyage around the world. He was steward on a government transport, and at the time of the Russian-Japanese war, he was held in Yokohama. He followed the sea until he quit to engage in the bakery business on Van Ness Avenue, but his love for the ocean drove him forth again, and he continued to sail until he had to retire. Now, in his eighty-ninth year, he resides with his son, W. R., where he was for some years engaged in viticulture in Fresno County, and on the ranch where his family lived when he roamed the sea. Mrs. Carter was Margaret Isabelle Gill before she became the wife of B. B. Carter, and she was born in Ireland. Twenty years ago she died in Fresno, the mother of three boys and four girls, of whom two daughters are now dead. W. R. Carter is the second oldest.

Having resided in San Francisco until 1881, W. R. then came to Fresno, where the parents bought twenty acres in the Scandinavian Colony. They improved the land and made it into a vineyard, and while this was going on, the lad went to school in the district. From a lad, therefore, he was fortunate in learning how to care for a vineyard ranch ; and remaining home he was able to take care of the estate and manage it for his mother. When the proper time came, however, he pushed out for himself, and having learned both viticulture and horticulture, he leased a vineyard near Kearney Park and, striking a lucky year, he cleared $1,500 at the first stroke. After this success, he wanted a place of his own ; and so he bought twenty acres in the American Colony, ran it as an orchard for eight years and during that time cleared it of debt, after which he sold it for a thousand dollars in advance of the price that he had paid.

At Kearney Park, Mr. Carter was married on February 3, 1900, to Miss Kittie Burnham, who was born in Coffey County, Kans., the daughter of F. M. and Lucinda (Foote) Burnham, who came to California in 1890 and had a fine vineyard at Kearney. Mr. and Mrs. Carter have two children: Margaret Lucinda and Gladys Verna.

After this, Mr. Carter became superintendent of the Pleasant Valley Stock Farm near Coalinga, owned by A. G. Wishon & Son. He continued in that responsible position for a year, but then returned to business for himself. In 1912, therefore, he bought twenty acres of alfalfa in the Barstow district and engaged in the raising of that commodity and stock; but suc- cessful as he was in the double undertaking, his desire was still ungratified. He preferred, above all, a good vineyard, and a good vineyard he soon set 76

1612

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

about acquiring. A year later, having sold his stock and alfalfa ranch, he bought his present place of forty acres one mile west of the Barstow school, and there, with his usual enterprise, he is now engaged in horticulture and viticulture. Most of his property is set out to Thompson seedless grapes, but he has fifteen acres of peach trees, and in addition he leases twenty acres of Thompson grapes. All in all, Mr. Carter has one of the really fine ranches in the neighborhood, which makes it natural that he should be a stockholder in the California Peach Growers, Inc., and in the California Associated Raisin Company.

Always interested in the cause of popular education, Mr. Carter has served for four years as a member of the board of school trustees of his district, and for the same length of time as clerk of the board. Both Mr. and Mrs. Carter lend their aid in any local movement for the welfare of the com- munity generally ; and both are members of the Fraternal Brotherhood.

PETER OTTO NELSON .- A viticulturist who is a hustler and has always made a success of whatever he has undertaken, and who is not only absorbed in his own plans but is greatly interested in the development and prosperity of Fresno County, is Peter Otto Nelson, a native of Oeland, Sweden, where he was born on February 6, 1870. His father was Nels P. Peterson, a farmer there. Peter was reared a farmer's boy, and attended the public schools; and he continued to work on a farm, acquiring a most practical training in the usual lines of agriculture, until he was seventeen, when he made the decision to leave Sweden and make his way as best he could to America and far-famed California. He crossed the ocean and the continent in safety, and reached San Francisco, in December, 1887. From there he went to Greenwood or Elk, where he entered the employ of the L. E. White Lumber Company. Later he worked in the shingle mill of the same con- cern, and after six months secured a position in the service of Jim Poland, on Salmon Creek, where he remained for two years. He then went to Caspar and began work for the Caspar Lumber Company, where he became an ex- pert sawyer, and for fifteen years he was a valued employee of this firm. While there he served as a trustee of the Caspar school district. On leaving the Caspar interests he accepted a position as sawyer with the Albion Lum- ber Company, which he continued to fill for four years.

In 1907, Mr. Nelson removed to Fresno County with the ambition to engage in viticulture; and for that purpose he bought a twenty-acre vine- yard in the Granville district. He secured some three-year-old vines, cared well for them, and added others ; built a fine residence and several additional outbuildings; and made many desirable improvements. Later he bought twenty acres adjoining his property, and now he has a fine pumping plant and a home place of forty acres, set out to muscat, Malaga, Empire and Thompson Seedless grapes. He also has a twenty-acre vineyard of muscat vines, a half mile to the south on Ventura Avenue, and owns besides forty acres of land in the Kutner Colony on McCall Road. This he is setting ont to vineyards of grapes for shipping, and to figs. He is a member of the Cali- fornia Associated Raisin Company and of the California Peach Growers, Inc

While at Caspar, Mr. Nelson was married to Miss Louise Anderson, a native of Oeland, by whom he has had nine children. Walter is in the United States Service; Ellen, now Mrs. Parker, lives on Belmont Avenue; Archie is at home, as are Mabel, Ruth, Harry, Harriette, Arna and Roy. The family attend the Lutheran Church. In matters of national politics Mr. Nelson is a loyal Republican, and has done good service in party lines ; but he is one of those citizens who cast party politics to the winds when local issues are at stake, and who support the best men and the best measures. He has done good service as a trustee of the Granville district. Fraternally, he is a mem- ber of the Eagles.

Perre Barcan

1615

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

GEORGE DANIELSEN .- A successful horticulturist and viticulturist, and a man who has been very active in the development of his section of Fresno County, inasmuch as he has owned several places and through his intelligent efforts converted them from unimproved to productive ranches, is George Danielsen, who has been a resident of Fresno County since 1893. He was born in that portion of Denmark which was wrested from the little nation by the Germans. He is the son of George and Mata Danielsen, who were the parents of eight children: Helen; Christina; George; Annie ; Andrew; Ros; Enger ; and Catherine. Seven of the children and the parents came to this country, and the father and mother passed away in Fresno County.

George Danielsen first saw the light of day on February 2, 1868, being born under the German flag, a fact which he thoroughly regrets, as he is now a loyal citizen of the United States of America, having been naturalized in 1894, and liberally contributes his bit to the furtherance of all enterprises to build up county, state and nation. In 1885 he immigrated to the United States and after his arrival located for one year in Michigan and later moved to Texas. He joined the United States regular army and after serving one year he was discharged because of his being a minor. In 1893, he came to Fresno County, Cal., where he soon purchased sixty acres of land and besides owned an interest in eighty acres. He improved part of each ranch and when they were in good condition he placed them on the market and sold them, then he purchased his present ranch, which is a highly improved place both in land and buildings. In 1915, he built an attractive and comfortable residence which is an ornament to the neighborhood. His ranch is located four and one-half miles south of Sanger and is devoted to apricots, peaches, vines and other small fruit. He is a stockholder in both the Raisin and Peach Growers Associations.

In 1902, Mr. Danielsen was united in marriage with Miss Mary Nielsen, the daughter of S. Nielsen of Denmark, and this union has been blessed with two children: George J. and Caroline G. An agriculturist who lives in close touch with the true source of all things good, and sees His wonderful power manifested in nature, is George Danielsen. He and his family are members of the Danish Lutheran Church.

PIERRE BOUCAU .- A very successful viticulturist, whose studious habits, years of hard work and self-denial. foresight, and willingness to invest in order that he might reap have at last been rewarded with a comfortable independence, is Pierre Boucau, who was born near Pau, Basses-Pyrénées, France, on June 3, 1862, the son of Pierre Boucau, a native of that same re- gion and for over a score of years a soldier in the French army. He served with distinction at Sebastopol, and also went through the campaigns in Mexico; and only at the expiration of twenty-one years did he return to his home. In that vicinity he became the superintendent of a large farm, and having rounded out a very useful life, he died in 1882. His devoted wife, who was Rose Mendau before her marriage, was also born in the neighborhood, and there she died, the mother of seven children, of whom our subject is the only one living.

Pierre Boucau was fortunate in being reared in sunny France and there acquiring both a knowledge of and liking for certain lines of work; for when he was only eight years old he began making his own way on farms. His dis- advantage was his limited chance for schooling; but this handicap he has made good, in part, since coming to America. For a year he also served in the French army; and when he had secured an honorable discharge he left France and Europe to cross the wide ocean.

In December, 1882, he arrived in Fresno, and went to work on Birkhead Ranch, dividing his time, for four and a half years, between ranching and working in town. At the end of that period, he bought 1,700 ewes for sixty

1616

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

cents a head ; but the next spring, pasturage being scarce, he started to cross the mountains and was caught and penned in by a snow-storm, and lost every sheep that he had. This gave him a serious set-back, but it by no means de- stroyed his courage or prevented him from pushing forward again. He bought five acres in the Easterby Colony and began to try his hand there at viticulture. He also worked for others, and took contracts for pruning. This outside service extended over a period of twenty years, and in that time he was in the employ of John Dickie at his Margherita vineyard, and at St. George's vineyard, where he sometimes had charge of seventy-five hands. He bought more land, until he had a vineyard of forty acres, which by hard work he made one of the attractive properties on Tulare Avenue.

In 1905 Mr. Boucau bought his present ranch of sixty acres. It was raw land when he took hold of it; but he saw there what others had failed to dis- cover. its possibilities for the growing of the grape, and with his experience of years in the service of others he set it out with vines. Now he has five acres sown to alfalfa; but the most of the acreage is devoted to grapes, and most of the grapes grown are for wine. He also owns twenty acres ad- joining, and this he purposes making of equal or greater value by wise hus- bandry. He has supported every movement tending to develop the state's industries, and has been particularly devoted to the interests of the Califor- nia Associated Raisin Company, of which he is an active member. One in- vestment has fostered another, and he also owns valuable property in Fresno.

Mr. Boucau has been twice married. In 1888, at Visalia, he was joined to Miss Eulalia Huntas, who came from the same town in France that claimed her husband's birth ; and by her he has had three children: Marie, now Mrs. Domesta, who lives near Caruthers; Rosa, or Mrs. Ellis, residing in Kern County ; and Victory, now Mrs. Valentine, of Fresno. Mrs. Boucan died in March, 1906, on their home place, in which she had come to take such a fond interest. While he was on a visit to his old home in France, some eight years ago, where he remained amid the scenes of his youth for ten months, he married a second time, choosing Leontine Changuett, a native of the same vicinity, for his wife.

As far as he has been able, Mr. Boucau has familiarized himself with American ways, and few if any of his fellow citizens surpass him in a love for his adopted country and a live interest in its political welfare. Generally, he votes with the party which, in his independent view, he believes most likely to accomplish the greatest good; but in local politics he never con- siders party, and only regards the man and the issue of the hour.

IVY WATSON SHARP .- A viticulturist who has been successful be- cause of his varied experience in all departments of his field, and because he studies ordinary, every-day details, is Ivy Watson Sharp, the superintendent of the Rogers vineyards, where he has some 700 acres under his supervision. He was born in Shelbyville, Tenn., September 17, 1878, the son of William Sharp, a native of Scotland, who sailed from that land for the United States when he was six years of age but lost his parents on the voyage, and so arrived in Tennessee an orphan. There he was reared by his grandmother Sharp, and in time he married Mary Raby, a native of that state, of Scotch descent. The father is now dead, while the mother resides on the old farm near Petersburg, Tenn. There were ten children in the family, one of whom, Clifford, was accidentally killed in the San Francisco railroad disaster in 1917.

The second eldest in the family, Ivy W., was reared on a farm and attended the public school. After the death of his father, who passed away while the son was in his twentieth year, he continued to help his mother on the farm. Later he went to Alabama ; but finding it so malarial there that his health suffered through the change, he looked for relief in California. On September 3, 1903, he arrived in Fresno. For a while he was employed in the Wallace vineyard in Temperance Colony, and there he learned the art of setting out and propagating vines, and caring for them generally. He liked

1617

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

the work and for nine years continued with the same ranch, then resigning to associate himself with the Sperry Flour Mill in Fresno.

As early as 1906 Mr. Sharp made his first trip back to Tennessee, and five years later he returned there again, this time bringing his mother, two sisters and a brother to Fresno, where the mother lived until in 1917, when she returned to Tennessee. The pleasure she derived from this filial act has ever since given him the greatest satisfaction.

Following his engagement with the Sperry mill, Mr. Sharp became a motorman for the Fresno Traction Company; but at the end of six weeks he resigned and accepted his present post as superintendent of the Rogers vineyards. He makes his headquarters on the ranch near the Belmont and McCall roads, and from there goes out to survey the three ranches for which he is responsible. In 1917-1918 he set out about 200 acres in a new vine- yard, and he has also grafted 125 acres to different varieties. In 1919 he bought twenty acres of unimproved land, a part of the Waverly ranch.

At Fresno, in 1912, Mr. Sharp was married to Miss Vertie Arnold, a native of Shelbyville, Tenn., and a lady of talent and charm; and by her he had one child, a daughter named Mary Louise. Mrs. Sharp died in March, 1915. Mr. Sharp belongs to Fresno Lodge, No. 343, I. O. O. F. In politics he is a Democrat.

ERNEST T. WILSON .- A self-made man who has become an influen- tial leader, is Ernest T. Wilson, the longest resident in his vicinity in the Barstow section, who returned to his native home in 1907 only to appreciate more than ever his California home and all the advantages of Fresno County. He was born on May 3, 1878, in Ralls County, Mo., the son of J. Henry Wil- son, a native of that state, who is still a prosperous farmer near New London. He had married Margaret Farrell, another Missourian, who is also happily still living, the mother of seven children, six of whom are spared to her.

The second oldest of these, Ernest T. is the only one in California, and his success in recent years is due in part to the good grounding he received in the public school of his neighborhood, and the practical training that was his on his father's farm. By 1895 he began to work at agriculture for him- self, but hearing that the extreme West afforded better opportunities, he moved to Wyoming in 1899. Eight months of life and work there, however, led him back to Missouri, but convinced that California had something to offer that he had not yet discovered, he came West once more, and in October, 1900, reached Fresno County.

He was fortunate in having here a former friend, J. F. Myers, foreman on the Sharon estate, and for eighteen months he worked there under him in the dairy. Then he engaged with Myers & Emery to farm for grain and for a year took charge of their ranch; and having given entire satisfaction, he put in a second year in the same place. He was next in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad, pumping water at Kerman, but tiring of the loneliness of the place at that time, where he saw only the depot and the section house, for three and a half miles round about, he quit and came to Barstow district.

Here Mr. Wilson bought from Ben Epstein thirty-two and a half acres of raw land along the San Joaquin River, and set out six acres of orchard and five acres of vineyard. He put in alfalfa and continued the development for three years; and then he sold his place at a profit. He next bought his forty acres in the Barstow Colony, and soon made a fine orchard and a vine- yard. He had fifteen acres of alfalfa, and engaged in dairying for some years. Seven acres of peaches and twelve acres of vines made a picture decidedly pleasing to the eye. In 1918, he also bought twenty acres on Valentine and Church Avenues in the Madison district, which he set out as a vineyard. On the forty-acre tract he built a residence, made all the needed improvements in yard and other buildings, and after creating a valuable property he sold

1618

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

it at a big profit in the spring of 1919, and moved to his Madison ranch where he is improving another vineyard.

In the Empire Colony, Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Ellen Esbjörn- son, a native of Fowler, Cal., and the daughter of Ole Esbjörnson, a farmer in the Madison district, and they have had three children: Lewis Henry, Edwin Lloyd, and Ruth Evelyn. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson belong to the Fraternal Brotherhood.

Ready at all times to aid in any good cause for the advancement of the community, Mr. Wilson is a Republican in national politics, and has done good service in raising the standard of civic ideals. He also gives hearty support to the California Peach Growers, Inc., and the California Associated Raisin Company.

O. D. LYON .- Perhaps no man in California has done more to induce homeseekers to migrate from the Southern and Mid-Western states and locate in Fresno County, especially that section adjacent to Reedley, than Judge O. D. Lyon. He is a native of West Virginia, where he was born in 1860. His parents, Thomas D. and Mary (Clark) Lyon, migrated to Illinois in 1864 and settled near Bloomington, afterwards removing to Nebraska. Their home was blessed with eight children, O. D. Lyon being the seventh in order of birth. His preliminary education was supplemented by attending the Mount Morris Seminary at Mount Morris, Ill., from which school he was graduated in 1882. In his early manhood he taught school for a while, and afterwards held several important and responsible positions in Nebraska. For two terms he was the county superintendent of schools of Cheyenne County : twice he was appointed postmaster at Sidney, Cheyenne County ; and he also served as assessor and deputy county clerk.

Judge Lyon has been very active and enthusiastic in promoting the growth and development of Fresno County since 1904, the year of his coming to Reedley, which was then but a hamlet of seventy-five souls. He is espe- cially interested in the development of unimproved lands and has been actively engaged in intensifying the interest of the ranchers in a more extensive range of agriculture. In this movement he has been successful, but not to the degree of his highest desires. Having been closely connected, in a business way, with both the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe Railways, he was instrumental in securing special terms and profitable inducements for homeseekers contemplating location in the Golden State. As a result of these arrangements the county of Fresno, and especially the town of Reedley, have made rapid strides in population, and with the growth in population have come its attendant and beneficent results, increased wealth and im- proved lands. Cultivated ranches are now to be seen reaching nearly to the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Judge Lyon continued in the land improvement business until 1910, at which time he was persuaded by his many friends to seek election as justice of the peace for Reedley. He was elected by a large majority and is the present incumbent of that important office. Judge Lyon is well and favorably known in the county, and is highly respected for his integrity of character.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 II, Part 33

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858- Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1424