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 52

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 52

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The family home is a comfortable cottage which is built on the winery property at Parlier. Mrs. Madsen is an accomplished musician and an acqui- sition to the social life of Parlier. Mr. Madsen was a member of the old Raisin Association, in which he held stock and whose interests he did all in his power to further. He also helped organize the Parlier Packing and Raisin Seed Company, and also the Vinegar and Pickling Company at Parlier, which are operated in connection with the winery.

MARTIN J. JUUL .- Many of the pioneers of Fresno County are still identified with the interests of the commonwealth, some as horticulturists, developing the riches of the soil, some as business men enlarging the com- merce of the state, others as professional men devoting their learning and mental resources to the good of the people. Among the honored and thrifty pioneer ranchers of Fresno County, one who has spent twenty-five years in developing the resources of the soil, and is especially interested in the growth of viticulture and horticulture, is Martin Juul, residing in the vicinity of Selma. He is a native of Denmark, born near Grenaae, on February 20, 1863, a son of J. S. and Karen Marie (Rasmussen) Juul, who were both natives of Denmark, farmer folks, owning about seventy-five acres of land. The mother died two years ago: the father is still living in Denmark and has reached the advanced age of eighty-one years. They were the parents of six children, Martin being the third child and the only one residing in the United States of America.

When twenty-five years of age, Martin Jnul decided to seek his fortune in America, so he set sail from Copenhagen in October, 1888, on the good

annie B. Trump

V.It trump

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

ship Heckla of the Tingvalla Line, and after a voyage of two weeks and a half, arrived at Castle Garden, New York City, having stopped for a day and a half at Christiania, Norway, en route. Having acquaintances in Fresno County, Cal., it was but natural that he came at once to the Golden State. After arriving in Fresno County, Mr. Juul secured work as a ranch hand, being employed by the month. By his association with English speaking people he soon learned enough of the language to enable him to conduct his business affairs. After three years of laboring for others he rented land near what is now Del Rey, but, after one year of paying rent to a landlord, deter- mined to be a landowner himself and in 1891 purchased his present place of twenty-five acres. At the time of purchase it was a part of a wheat field, and having no water for irrigation he was obliged to haul it from a neighbor- ing ranch. Mr. Juul began to improve his land and in due time planted ten acres to muscat vines, four to peaches, three acres to Thompson seedless grapes and one acre to alfalfa. He experienced the discouragements that are usually the lot of the early pioneer, but, with a resolute spirit and an indomi- table will to succeed, he overcame all obstacles and ultimately won success and gained a splendid ranch in which he has a justifiable pride of ownership.

In 1902, Mr. Juul made a visit to his native land, and seven years later enjoyed a second trip to the land of his birth.

Martin Juul is greatly esteemed in the community where he has resided for so many years, as a man of high principles and unquestioned Christian character, a devoted member of the Danish Lutheran Church at Selma, of which he is a trustee. He is a member and stockholder of both the Raisin and the Peach Growers' associations, and in politics he is a Republican.

VICTOR HUGO CRUMP .- A family not only emanating from pioneer stock, but thoroughly Californian, and therefore out and out American, is that of Victor Hugo Crump, a stockman and rancher on the West Side. His father was John Gray Crump, a native of Virginia, who had married Nancy Ann Cox, born in Missouri. He died in 1912, and she passed peacefully away on June 15, 1914.

When still a young man, John Gray Crump emigrated to Paris, Mo., and there he both went to school and taught school. In 1850, when everybody was talking gold, he crossed the plains with a party of friends, traveling with the slow-going ox teams, and finally reached the goal of their ambition, the practically unexplored and unsettled state of California. He mined in Amador and Calaveras Counties, and then located in Santa Clara County, near Gilroy, where he farmed. In 1860 he settled near Kingston, in Fresno County, becoming one of the very early pioneers there. He followed stock- raising but the flood of 1861-62 drove him out. Believing that Fancher Creek offered still better conditions in that field, he removed to land near Academy, where he homesteaded 160 acres and followed stock raising. In 1872 he located in Warthan Canyon, in the mountains above Coalinga, and there he bought 320 acres, which was later increased to 1,340 acres. There he fol- lowed stock-raising the remainder of his life. He was the first post master of Warthan Post Office and was one of the first school trustees of Pleasant Valley school district.

Mr. Crump was a man of sterling character, supremely honest, open- hearted and generous, and especially inclined to help the poor. A good student and a devouring reader, he took up the study of law and medicine, the history of the Bible, ancient history and also political economy; and as he was quite familiar with these subjects, he was a hard man to beat in an argument. He was a stanch Democrat, but refused many offers from fellow- citizens to nominate him for public office. He belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

John Crump was twice married. His first union was with Mary Cox, and after her death he married her sister, Nancy Ann Cox. Of the children of Mr. Crump, nine grew up and are still living. The eldest is Mrs. Califor-

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nia Wier, who makes her home with her brother on the old home ranch. She has two sons-Dillard Spencer, the divisional superintendent of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Portland, Ore., and Cullen Gray of Coalinga. The next in order of birth is Mrs. Anna West, of Coalinga, who has four children. Then comes Robert Hayne, who died in 1890. Mrs. Elizabeth Kreyenhagen, of Coalinga, is the oldest of the second marriage, and whose marriage was blessed with three children; Victor Hugo, the subject of this sketch ; and after that Mrs. Virginia Bell Croy, of Los Angeles, who has three children ; then there is Frank, who is married and has three children, and Archibald, who is also a father of two children, and Chesterfield who, with Frank and Archibald, is ranching in Sacramento County.

Victor H. was born on Fancher Creek, twenty-two miles east of Fresno, June 22, 1859, so was only five years of age when his parents moved to the West Side. He attended school in Pleasant Valley, and in Warthan Canyon districts. From a youth he learned the stock business with his father, con- tinuing with him until his death, when he took charge of the place. When twenty-one he had homesteaded 160 acres and also purchased land adjoining his homestead, and leasing the old home, he runs about 2,000 acres in Warthan Canyon, where he engages in stock-raising. It has not all been a path of roses, but has required hard work, energy and sacrifice, so with fore- sight fortified with the experience of the past, and an enterprising spirit prompting and permitting him to dare, where others falter, and at length to do, Mr. Crump has become one of the leading stock-raisers of Fresno County.

When Mr. Crump married near Lemoore, June 28, 1906, he was united to Mrs. Annie Belle (Shore) Merrill, a native of Santa Clara County, where she was born into a pioneer family that in 1882 moved to Tulare County. Mrs. Crump is the daughter of Gilbert Edward and Emily (Bullard) Shore. Born in Missouri, her father crossed the plains in an ox team train

with his parents when six years of age and was reared in Santa Clara County. Her mother came by way of the Isthmus of Panama. In 1882 Mr. and Mrs. Shore moved to Tulare County in the portion that afterwards became Kings County. He was a prominent man, served as supervisor of Tulare County and then was supervisor of Kings County, soon after the county was organ- ized, for two terms until shortly before his death. He was a prominent Mason and a past master of Lemoore Lodge. His widow now resides near Lemoore. Annie Belle Shore received a good education in the public schools of Kings County, supplemented by a course at the Santa Clara High. Her first mar- riage was in 1893, to Strong Merrill, a native son, born in San Francisco. He was the first under sheriff of Kings County and was the nominee for county assessor at the time of his death in 1894. She had one daughter, Mae, by her former marriage, and she is now the wife of Justin Miller, formerly district attorney of Kings County. Mr. and Mrs. Crump have five children, and they are: Anna Victoria; Cecelia Elizabeth; Laurence Shore, died October 28, 1918; Edward Herndon ; and Jeanette Winnifred. Mrs. Crump is a member of the Neighbors of Woodcraft, and clerk of the Circle; she is also a member of the Lilly of the Lake Chapter, No. 41, O. E. S., at Lemoore, of which she is past worthy matron. Mr. and Mrs. Crump are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Coalinga and active in all movements for moral uplift and welfare of the people of the community. The Crumps own a residence in Coalinga where the family reside during the school months but the summers are spent on the ranch.

MRS. ANNA M. ANDERSEN .- A lady of motherly qualities and stead- fast Christian character, in which she worthily represents her deceased huis- band, the late Niels Andersen, the pioneer among the Danes in this locality, is Mrs. Anna M. Andersen, like her husband an expert in farming and fruit- raising, and a good organizer and financier, as has been agreeably demon- strated since she took charge of the family estate. She is managing the farm by the help of her sons, all excellent young men, and they have built the beauti-

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ful bungalow house in which she now makes her home. Her ranch is about midway between Selma and Parlier, and it is frequently visited by ranch fanciers who enjoy seeing a modest "show-place."

Mrs. Andersen was born in Denmark, the daughter of Soren Sorensen, who married Christini Pedersen, and both of whom were born, married and died in Denmark. She was the fifth of six children, and three of her brothers preceded her to America. Soren P. Sorensen owns a forty-acre ranch three and a half miles from Selma; Niels P. Sorensen is half a mile to the north of her land; and Chris Sorensen, the rancher, is about a mile away in the same direction. Mrs. Andersen came to America in 1897, and took her course west- ward by way of Canada, in which country she stayed for a while. In 1899 she reached the land of promise of which she had heard so much, and at once built her camp-fire at Selma. The following year she met Mr. Andersen, and after a brief courtship they were married.

He was born in Denmark on September 23, 1860, the brother of Jes Andersen whose biography is sketched elsewhere in this work; he learned the carpenter's trade in Denmark, and in 1880, when only twenty years of age, left Denmark and came out to the middle west of the United States. He worked as a carpenter, and at building and grading a railway in Wyoming, and little by little he made enough progress to enable him to remove further west. When he reached California, he worked in the timber woods at Pine Ridge, Fresno County; and continuing to save his money, he was able to make his first investment in a California ranch. At the same time that his brother bought twenty acres, he also purchased twenty adjoining, both tracts being wheat field. The purchase was made of W. J. Berry, the pioneer of Selma, and has proven an excellent buy. Mr. Andersen had worked for three vears at the famous Boston Ranch at Fresno, and there had acquired valuable knowledge and experience that stood by him when he came to develop his new possession.

Later he bought forty-eight acres more, and, as soon as he could, he planted all his land and otherwise improved it. He had always been a very conscientious, careful worker, striving for the highest results and least of all favoring himself, and through overwork and exposure he was taken with pneumonia, which developed into Bright's Disease, and he died on October 26, 1915, aged fifty-five years. He was mourned by a devoted widow, by a whole community, and quite as much by his three children, Hans, Christian, and Edith,

Business-like in managing his private affairs, a man who believed in setting his house in order and in assisting others to do likewise, Mr. Andersen helped to organize the First National Bank of Parlier and was on the bank's first board of directors. Men of far larger affairs reposed their faith in his integrity, no less than in his judgment, and were never misguided.

HORACE E. NORMAN .- A public-spirited citizen, generous to a fault and untiring for the public welfare, is Horace E. Norman, the one surviving son of J. L. Norman, the vice-president of the Bank of Kingsburg. He owns a splendid ranch of about forty acres half a mile north of the Clay school, and besides operating that, he rents forty acres of his father's property. He was born in Saunders County, Nebr., on August 1, 1889, but grew up mainly in Fresno County, having come to California when he was five years old.

His father, who had much to contend with and who, as a successful American of an interesting type, is represented elsewhere in this work, had a career worth noting again. He was born in Sweden, in 1860, the son of Andrew and Johanna Norman who came to the United States in the late sixties and settled in Saunders County, Nebr., where they homesteaded. The tough experiences of a pioneer, in contending against grasshoppers, cyclones, blizzards and panics, undoubtedly hastened Andrew Norman's end, for he passed away in Nebraska, while his widow was able to come west to

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California, in the middle nineties, bringing her family. J. L. Norman, as a boy in Nebraska, earned his salt and many times over, so that when he became of age he was able to assume the leadership of the family. He farmed, and he also married, taking for his bride Miss Elna Nelson, who was born and reared in Sweden. When he came to California, he bought and im- proved twenty acres of land, and afterward he bought and improved forty acres. He sold the twenty and bought another forty. On these ranches he set out peach-trees and muscat vines, and became so active as a successful rancher that he was naturally made a trustee of the California Associated Raisin Company. Busy as he has constantly been, he has found time for wide travel, back to Nebraska and then to Sweden, with his family, and so has become a well-informed leader of men. As late as the winter of 1916-17, J. L. Norman had erected for his residence one of the choice dwellings in Kingsburg's select quarter.

After passing his boyhood attending the Clay Grammar School, and doing chores, and growing up, Horace E. Norman was married to Miss Edith Louisa Peterson, at Kingsburg, on January 19, 1916. She was the daughter of Alexander E. and Anna Petersen. Mr. and Mrs. Norman have one child, Horace M.

The association of father and son made Mr. Norman his father's main stay in running the home ranch. He is not only an excellent worker, but a young man of principle, good judgment, and common sense. He is one of Fresno County's most promising young men. Mrs. Norman also de- serves her full share of honor, not only for her worthy family connections, but also for her part in the social life of the community, and she is, in more than one sense, a model citizen.

JOSEPH MARTIN .- Born in Ray County, Mo., in 1862, Joseph Martin is a son of William and Emeline (Clark) Martin. His father served in the Civil War and died in Missouri in 1877 : his mother is still living and now resides in Fresno. Joseph grew up in Missouri, where he received a good education and in April, 1881, he migrated to California and engaged in ranch- ing in Fresno County.

Joseph Martin was united in marriage at Kingsburg, Cal., on September 7, 1890, with Abbygail Woodmansee, who was born in Ray County, Mo., the daughter of Oliver and Frances (Huddleston) Woodmansee, natives of Ohio and Harrison County, Mo., respectively. Mr. Woodmansee was a soldier in the Union Army and served in an Ohio Regiment of Artillery until the close of the war, after which he came to Missouri where he was married and fol- lowed farming and stock-raising until his death, in 1884. Besides his widow he left three children : Abbygail, widow of Joseph Martin ; James ; and Mary, now Mrs. Kline. After her husband's death Mrs. Woodmansee brought her family to Traver, Cal., in 1886, and two years later located at Kingsburg, Fresno County, where she made her home until her death.

Abbygail Woodmansee was the oldest child of the family : she attended the public school at Traver, but, being the eldest, was early obliged to take up the duties of life and assist her mother with the work at home, becoming her mainstay and greatest help, and remained with her mother until her marriage to Mr. Martin. After their marriage Mr. Martin leased a part of the Alfred Baird place near Academy and engaged in raising grain for three years and then leased a part of the Simpson place, in the same vicinity. In 1900 Mr. and Mrs. Martin purchased the old Kern place of 1,800 acres on Fancher Creek, where they engaged in stock-raising and soon afterwards they bought another ranch of 556 acres close by. In 1910 they sold the 1,800- acre ranch and purchased the present place of 410 acres in the Round Moun- tain District and moved there. During these years Mr. Martin also bought and sold other ranches. He also found time to serve as a trustee of the Fancher Creek district.

Joseph Martin of of Martin

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Five months after they settled on the Round Mountain ranch Mr. Martin passed away, on February 11, 1911, at the age of forty-five years, leaving besides his widow, six children: Harry, who resides in Fresno; Bertha, is the wife of Lawrence Simpson, of Sanger; Walter, assists his mother on the ranch; Elsie, is the wife of Clarence Moore of Round Mountain ; Hazel ; and Joseph. Since the death of Mr. Martin, his widow continues to operate the home ranch but leases the Fancher Creek ranch. Mrs. Martin is one of the very oldest settlers in this part of the county and, like her late husband, is favorably known and highly respected.

FRITZ E. NORD .- A hard-working, progressive, large-hearted and public-spirited young man, who is equally successful with his brother, E. M. Nord, reviewed elsewhere in this history, and who is rapidly forging to the front, socially, financially and politically, is Fritz E. Nord, a rancher living four miles northeast of Kingsburg, on Central Avenue, in the Clay school district, where he is clerk of the school board. There he has thirty acres of land; and there his good wife, who is an excellent mother, neighbor and citizen, assists him to dispense a liberal hospitality.

He was born in Sweden on December 13, 1887, and when six months old came to California with his parents, who settled, with good judgment, in Fresno County, at West Park, and the next year came to Kingsburg. His father was John P. Nord, and he is still living, a pioneer rancher in the Kingsburg Colony, having reached his sixty-fourth year. He married Sus- anna Timan, and she became the mother of four children. These were E. M. Nord; I. J., who died on August 3, 1917; Fritz E., the subject of this review; and Alfred, who was born at Kingsburg and died in infancy.

Almost a native son, Fritz grew up on his father's farm and attended the Harrison district school; and when twenty-one-having meanwhile remained at home to help, as a dutiful son-he started in for himself by renting land. The next year he bought his twenty-acre place which he has converted, as if by a miracle, from a patch of weeds into a highly developed area ; and still later he purchased another ten acres adjoining. On January 21, 1914, Mr. Nord was married to Miss Hannah Anderson of Kingsburg, and since that time he has been the fortunate enjoyer of a happy home life. They have three children: Ethel E., Helen V., and Chester A. E.

Mr. Nord has served as the efficient clerk of the school board; he is both a member and a stockholder for the California Raisin Growers Associa- tion, and a solicitor as well, and he succeeded in getting one hundred per cent. of the acreage assigned to him in his territory, namely, Sections 7-16- 23, signed up, and subscribed willingly. He is also a member and a stock- holder in the California Peach Growers Association, and has encouraged all movements to improve the market for the ranchman, and to produce more stable agricultural conditions, on which so many thousands depend. This interest of Mr. Nord in commerce and industry has led him to take a live interest in politics, voting always for the best man and the principle in- volved ; and while giving loyal support to the national administration, he is keenly alive to all affairs affecting the community.

E. M. MIKKELSEN .- Good and effectual boosters of the industrious, thrifty, progressive, successful and happy sort, such as are always a credit to the land from which they come, while they are a blessing to the United States, and just such pioneers as Fresno delights to welcome and to honor, are Mr. and Mrs. Mikkelsen, a contented, confident couple of superior and impressive personality. They own a twenty-acre ranch near the Ross school- house, two miles south of Parlier, and all who know them respect them and wish them well.

E. M. Mikkelsen was born at Hirtshals, Denmark, near the Skagerack Light House, on March 20, 1871, and attended the Danish common schools, while he prepared for confirmation in the Danish Lutheran Church. From

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fourteen to eighteen he followed fishing; and having tasted of the romance of sea-life, he came to America and settled at Merrill, Wis. He sailed from Hamburg on the steamship Prussia of the Hamburg-American line, and on March 28, 1889, landed at the old Castle Garden in New York City.

Settling in Wisconsin, he engaged in the ardnous and dangerous work of a woodsman in the service of various lumber companies, and for five seasons drove timber down the Wisconsin. Then he moved to Minneapolis and there, with a partner, ran a Merry-go-Round, continuing to manage the amusement for a year and a half. He realized considerable income from his combined labors and investnrent, and began to plan greater things.

Between 1898 and 1900, Mr. Mikkelsen made a visit to Denmark, and coming back to America and the Pacfic Coast, he settled in San Francisco and engaged in the oyster business. He became the foreman for the Morgan Oyster Company, being with them seven years. He then made a second trip to Denmark, staying a year; and after he returned in 1910, he was mar- ried, at San Francisco, to Miss Johanna Christina Fredericksen, a daughter of Denmark, who had come to Iowa when she was sixteen years old, and there became a trained nurse in the Sioux City Hospital. Later she came to San Francisco and continued her nursing ; and when she married, she was finely equipped for pioneer work. Mr. Mikkelsen bought his place in 1909, and soon after his marriage made it his home. They have one child, the light and life of the household, Envoid Miller, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Mikkelsen are members of the Danish Baptist Church in Selma. They are thus disposed to aid in building up and improving Parlier in every respect. They also belong to the Danish Brotherhood. As mem- bers of the Peach Growers and Raisin Growers associations they also labor to advance Central Calfornia's great industries, and they put in many days of effectual work in the great raisin drive in the winter of 1917 and 1918. They are enthusiastic advertisers of the country and the county in which they have had their prosperity ; and as loyal citizens, they vote for the best man and the highest principles.

W. H. DEWHIRST .- A young man of such ideals that his numerous customers not only get the best there is to be had but always find him courteous in his attention to their wants, is W. H. Dewhirst, the wide-awake manager of the Selma Rochdale Company store, the famous emporium for general merchandise. His father was the Reverend A. Dewhirst, a Methodist minister who died a few years ago, and a member of a well-known family reaching back several generations in Lincolnshire, England. His mother was Miranda Byrne before her marriage; and she is still living at Selma. His father belonged to the Southern Illinois Conference, and following the itiner- ary assigned him, he moved with his family from place to place, having at different times a church and a home at Olney, Claremont, Sumner, Flat Rock, Louisville, Belmont, Oblong and Bone Gap. In all these places, the good influence of the Reverend Dewhirst's unselfish work is still felt today; and in each of these places his excellent wife and attractive family soon found a circle of steadfast friends,

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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 II, Part 52

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