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 94
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County canal. At the end of the summer he was back again in San Francisco, just in time to experience the earthquake.
After Mr. Plate's return to Fresno County, he worked awhile as a carpen- ter, and then he went back again to San Francisco and engaged with the building department of the Southern Pacific Railroad. He was also in the employ of Horst Bros., at Sacramento, and he assisted to put in the first hop-picking machines. At the end of five seasons, with that well-known firm he returned to Fresno for the last time. This was in the spring of 1915, when he leased his present place on Cole Avenue, near Clinton, where he started to raise and feed hogs for the market. He has continued in this line, with increasing success.
Two sons and two daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Plate: Nora, who is Mrs. Barr of Fresno; Cora, with the Rosenberg Company ; Charles, with the Associated Oil Company; and William, a rancher at the corner of Palm and Trenton streets. In politics, Mr. Plate is a Socialist, but first, last and all the time he is an American.
JESSE G. DICKEY .- Fresno, like many other cities of California, num- bers among its prominent citizens of today many who came thither for their health. Such was the case of Jesse G. Dickey who was born on a tobacco plantation near Mayfield, Ky., February 7, 1865, the son of Jackson and Jane Elizabeth (Sammons) Dickey, both natives of Kentucky. The Dickey family is of Scotch origin, while the Sammons are of English descent.
Jackson Dickey was born in Harrowsburg, Ky., the youngest of a family of twelve children, he lived to the advanced age of seventy-two years ; his estimable wife passed away at the age of seventy. Grandfather James Dickey was born in the South, where the Dickey's had been planters for several generations. Jesse G. Dickey's maternal grandfather, William Sammons, was a pioneer merchant near Madisonville, Ky.
Jesse G. Dickey attended the country school and later the Male and Female Academy at Providence, Ky., and at the early age of fifteen he left home and began single-handed to fight life's battles for himself and ever since has been making his own way in the world. For eight years he was a retail salesman in a clothing store at Corydon, Ky., and for five years subsequently was associated with the E. Donovan Company, who conducted a chain of stores throughout the South. Severing his connection with the Donovan Company he learned the painting and decorating trade, which business he followed for a number of years in the Middle West.
On account of ill health Mr. Dickey left the Middle West and in 1904 came to Fresno, Cal., where he has resided ever since. For the first eight years he was employed as a journeyman with leading painting and contract- ing concerns in Fresno and in 1911 he began contracting for himself and chose as his business motto "quality first." Through fair and square deal- ings and conscientious efforts Mr. Dickey has built up an extensive and lucrative business. The following are mentioned as some of the contracts he has completed in Fresno: The Wonder Store; Hill Milliner Store; the Ball Block; the First Christian Church; the F. W. Woolworth Building. Mr. Dickey also worked on the Frank Short residence, the Charles G. Bon- ner home and many other residences.
Mr. Dickey is a member of the Master House Painters' Association, local, state and international, of the United States and Canada. He is an influential member of the executive board of the State Association of California. Mr. Dickey owns a forty-acre ranch northwest of Fresno and his attractive cot- tage residence at 101 Oleander Street, Fresno, where he and Mrs. Dickey dispense a liberal hospitality.
Jesse G. Dickey was married in Kentucky in 1890, to L. Eunice Powell, a resident of the same state. Both he and his wife are active members of the First Christian Church of Fresno.
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HENRY PRETZER, JR .- A prosperous dairyman and farmer, Henry Pretzer, Jr., who resides on his 100-acre ranch, on North and Lincoln ave- nues eleven miles southwest of Fresno, is a native of Russia, born about twenty miles from Soratov on April 24, 1880, a son of Henry and Katherine Margretha (Weber) Pretzer.
In 1887 Mr. and Mrs. Henry Pretzer, Sr., emigrated from the Volga River country, Russia, to Yankton, S. D., where Mr. Pretzer was a farmer. In 1888 he migrated farther west bringing his family to Fresno County, Cal. He was a West Side grain farmer in Fresno County for years but is now practically retired from active farm work and lives with his good wife on Blythe Avenue, Fresno County, but is still the owner of an eighty-acre ranch. After the family located in the Golden State, Henry Pretzer, Jr., at- tended the public schools, worked with his father as a grain farmer and it was in Fresno County that he grew to manhood.
In May, 1902, Henry Pretzer, Jr., was united in marriage with Miss Anna Schütz, a native of Russia. She came to America with her mother in 1902. Her sister Katie, who is the wife of Will Pretzer, Jr., had come to California in 1888, but were members of the Pretzer party that left Russia in 1887. They reside in Fresno.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Pretzer, Jr., are the parents of eight children: Dan- iel Albert; Samuel Fred; Bertha, who died at ten years of age; Emma ; Katie and Elizabeth are twins; Elsie; and Rosa. The family are members of the German Evangelical Church of Fresno of which organization Mr. Pret- zer is a trustee. By hard work and persistent efforts he has become a suc- cessful dairyman and rancher on the land he purchased about 1910. Forty acres of his ranch are devoted to raising alfalfa for his herd of twenty cows. He has made every improvement on the place, built the buildings, checked for alfalfa the forty acres and installed an electric pumping plant.
Mr. Pretzer is public spirited and always interested in worthy move- ments that have as their aim the upbuilding of Fresno County and the ad- vancement of the community where he resides, but is especially interested in all educational matters and served three years as school trustee of the Kearney district and is a member of the San Joaquin Valley Milk Producers Associa- tion.
P. D. TANGNEY .- An experienced machinist who understands the prin- ciples of machinery so that he is careful of every detail of responsibility, is P. D. Tangney, who was born in New York City on December 2, 1864, the son of John Tangney who was a mechanic and a tanner. He married Adelia Darcey ; and both lived their useful lives and died in "York State."
The second oldest of three children, P. D. Tangney was reared in New York State where he received a good schooling in the public system and at the Franklinville, N. Y., high school; and after completing the course in the latter institution, he was apprenticed as a machinist with the New York Steam Engine Company, where he became a journeyman. He then went to the Pennsylvania oil fields and learned the oil business, beginning with tool dressing and finally becoming an oil operator in the Bradford district. He was also an oil operator in the McKean field in Pennsylvania. Next he was active in West Virginia, and later in Ohio, and then he spent a while in Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas and Kentucky, in each case working in the oilfields.
In 1885 Mr. Tangney made a trip to England and spent almost two years in that country working in Manchester, Bolton, Liverpool, and York- shire. The experience was broadening, and particularly satisfactory, on ac- count of the favorable way in which his methods and work were received by the English.
As a gold-mining engineer, Mr. Tangney, in 1907, made his way to Jack- son County, Ore., and for a year engaged at Gold Hill, on Rogue River, as the superintendent of a mine. In 1908 he came to Oilfields and entered the
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employ of the California Oilfields Limited, as foreman of their machine shops, and in August, 1913, when the Shell Company purchased the Oilfields holdings, he continued with the new owners in the same capacity, being in full charge of the mechanical department, a place of responsibility he fills to everyone's satisfaction. His years of experience with different companies, and knowledge of human nature and the world in general, make his services everywhere appreciated.
At Parkersburg, W. Va., Mr. Tangney was married to Miss Helen Gil- bertsen, a native of New York State, and a lady who has likewise endeared herself to all who know her. He is an active member of the Oilfields Club. of which he has been both a trustee and its president.
FRANK V. RODRIGUES .- A man of strict integrity who by hard work and frugal living has become the owner of a well-improved ranch of forty acres, five and one-half miles northeast of Kingsburg devoted to raisins and peaches, is Frank V. Rodrigues, who was born on the Island of Pico in the beautiful Azores, on December 24, 1861. When only sixteen years old he crossed the ocean in search of a more promising future ; he pushed on across the continent to California and began to work out by the month on farms in the San Joaquin Valley. He would liked to have gone to school again; but he could not, and so had to content himself with his circumstances. He did learn farming and besides he acquired the practical, commonsense business- ways of the western American. For many years he worked out, in both Kings and Fresno counties, and saved as much money as he could.
He married in Fresno County, Miss Mary Enos, then he rented land for several years, and in 1907 bought his present holding of forty acres. On this he has worked intelligently, profiting by past experiences, and at the last harvesting was able to display an area in the highest grade. of cultivation. He has built a fine bungalow, good barns and a tank house, and laid out yards and irrigation ditches. As a raisin grower he is counted very successful ; and he not only looks well after his own interests, but he enters heartily into the work of the California Associated Raisin Company, of which he is a member.
Mr. and Mrs. Rodrigues have had ten children, and eight are now living, the others having died when they were very young. Minnie is the wife of Frank Pimentel, a rancher near Kingsburg; and the others are Frank, who served in the World War and received his honorable discharge; Annie mar- ried Manuel Miguel, and resides on his ranch near Hanford; Tony returned from his service in France, June 10, 1919; Joe; Rosa; Lena ; and Clarence. Remembering his own want of a liberal education, Mr. Rodrigues is endeav- oring to give them every opportunity for study.
JACOB ZWANG .- A man of ability, energy and enterprise and one of Coalinga's most successful business men is Jacob Zwang, the vice-president and manager of the Crescent Meat Company, and a director of the First National Bank of Coalinga. Jacob Zwang was born in Baden, Germany, in 1879, and received his early education in the schools of his native country. At the early age of sixteen he emigrated to the United States, locating in Tulare County, where he continued his schooling at Visalia. After leaving school he learned the butcher's trade while in the employ of M. Levy, and when the shop was moved to Laton, Fresno County, Mr. Zwang became a partner of Mr. Levy who opened the first shop in the place.
In 1905, Mr. Zwang, accompanied by M. Levy and his son Albert, moved to Coalinga, where they purchased the Crescent Meat Market, from Kreyen- hagen Brothers, and in 1906 incorporated the business as the Crescent Meat Company, Mr. Zwang becoming vice-president and manager, a position he has since held. Under the able and efficient management of Mr. Zwang the business has greatly increased; the company remodeled the building, built a large cold-storage plant with a three and a half ton ice machine, and have
A Madamex Wife
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also built a modern slaughter house one and a half miles from the city. The Crescent Meat Company conducts a large and extensive wholesale and retail business and in addition is raising cattle and sheep, and buying and shipping cattle, hogs and sheep. They maintain a large ranch in the mountains for pasturing the cattle and sheep. In 1912, Mr. Zwang helped to organize the Hays Cattle Company which is extensively engaged in raising cattle in Ari- zona, on the Company's ranch near Prescott, and he is the secretary of the organization. Mr. Zwang is financially interested in several oil companies, and was formerly one of the directors of the Bank of Coalinga before it was consolidated with the First National Bank, of which he is now a director.
Jacob Zwang was united in marriage with Miss Maude Wagner, of Park- field, Monterey County, Cal., the ceremony being solemnized at San Fran- cisco, and they have two children: Darrell and Herman. Fraternally, Mr. Zwang is a member of the Odd Fellows, and is Past Grand of the Coalinga Lodge; he is a member of the Encampment at Hanford, and of the Rebekahs, also a member of the Eagles and of the Coalinga Chamber of Commerce. The career of Jacob Zwang is an illustration of what can be accomplished in California by young men of good character, even without means, who are industrious and exercise prudent thrift and wise forethought in the manage- ment of their affairs, and who possess an abundance of self-confidence and a determination to succeed.
H. A. ADAMS .- A well-educated, self-made man who has become suc- cessful in business and as a financier, and representing by direct descent one of the great American families long identified with the political history of the United States, is H. A. Adams, a member of the distinguished Colonial family of our country, whose ancestors flourished in and came from the Mother Country, England. He was born at Parkersburg, W. Va., on January 9, 1867, the son of James W. Adams, a prosperous farmer there, who first saw the light in what was then Virginia, but has now become West Virginia. The grandfather, Robert Adams, was a coal baron, a pioneer oil operator. and a proprietor of salt-wells and salt-works on the Ohio River, and also owned a line of Ohio River steamboats. He lived to be ninety-nine, and died in full possession of his faculties. He married Sarah Waggener, and both of them were of English Cavalier stock.
James W. Adams married Elizabeth Ellis of New York State, who lived to be sixty-nine. He came to California in 1887, with his wife and two children, after first living in Saline County, Mo., for eighteen years. They moved to Missouri from West Virginia when our subject was only three years old; and seven years later he and his mother, with a brother and a sister went back to the scenes of their former home. There were only these three children in the family, and they are: Harry, who is city agent for the New York Mutual Life Insurance Company ; Herman Ansley, of whom we are writing in detail ; and Hattie, the widow of Fred Eaton, the former store-keeper at Burrel, now a resident of Fresno.
Herman A. attended the county schools in his home district, and the high school of Saline County, as well as the Normal at Warrensburg, Mo., and the Missouri State University at Columbia, from which he was graduated in 1888 with the degree of Ph.D., having received in all four diplomas for his studies and learning. This pursuit of knowledge called for some sacrifice, however; for while his parents moved and were settling in California and Fresno, the young man remained behind in Missouri to finish his education.
Arriving in Fresno, Mr. Adams went to work for the Valley Lumber Company, and was sent to Caruthers, where he became the resident manager. He worked for the Valley Lumber Company in all eight years; and during this time he was married to Miss Jean Forsyth, a native of Scotland. In July, 1897, he bought out a store in Caruthers and conducted a general mer- chandise business there until 1914. In 1900 he bought his first ranch of 303
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acres north of Burrel, and improved it with houses and a large barn. Soon after, he bought 177 acres and improved that property, also. He purchased the section he is at present most identified with about twelve years ago.
In 1914, Mr. Adams sold his store and moved to Los Angeles, where he bought a fine residence at 1130 West Thirty-seventh Street, intending to reside there, but in June, 1918, when food was needed in the World War, he returned to the soil, rolled up his sleeves, and became a real producer, thus patriotically helping his country. While at Caruthers, he built a resi- dence, garage and store-building, and the two former he still retains.
Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Adams: Jessie, Georgia, How- ard and James, who are living to honor the family name; and a babe who died in infancy. Mr. Adams knows everybody in the South Central part of Fresno County, and he and his wife are widely known and highly esteemed.
WILLIAM H. DILLIN .- A successful and enterprising business man who has contributed his share in the development of California, one who has improved many acres in the Barstow and Empire sections of Fresno County, and at present is busily engaged in looking after his highly improved ranch and vineyard on Madera Avenue, is William H. Dillin. A native of the Hawk- eye State, W. H. Dillin, was born at Marengo, Iowa County, Iowa, July 6, 1860. His father, Thomas Dillin, a native of Knox County, Ohio, settled in Iowa before there was any railroad in his section of the state.
During the Civil War, Thomas Dillin raised a company of volunteers, of which he was commissioned the captain, the company being attached to the Twenty-eighth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry. Thomas Dillin was a millwright and carpenter by trade and was the owner of two flour mills in Iowa.
In 1881, he migrated with his family to Orange County, Cal., where he built a flour mill at Olive, which he conducted for seven years under the name of Dillin and Company. After selling the mill he removed to Los Angeles where he resided until his death. Mrs. Dillin was Hester Ann Wilson, before her marriage, a native of Indiana, her death occurring at Los Angeles, in 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Dillin were the parents of six children, five of whom grew to maturity, and are living: Curtis A., resides in Los Angeles; Tilcus R., lives on the old home place in Iowa; John I., resides in Los Angeles; Wil- liam H., of this review; and Mary R., who is now Mrs. Geo. H. Weitz, of the Empire district.
William H. Dillin followed in his father's footsteps by learning the trade of a miller. In 1881, he accompanied the family to Orange County, Cal., where he assisted his father in the operation of a flour mill at Olive until the mill was sold. Afterwards, in partnership with his brother J. I. Dillin, he was engaged in the grain commission business for two years in Los Angeles, being located on Los Angeles Street, and doing business under the caption of Dillin Brothers. William H. Dillin decided to engage in farming and with his brother, purchased a ranch of 320 acres in San Diego County, near Otay, where for four years he operated the ranch. His next business enterprise was in Los Angeles where, with his brothers C. A. and J. I., he built a planing mill at Sixth Street and Central Avenue, known as the Arcade Planing Mill. The mill was successfully operated by the Dillin Brothers for eight years during which time they built up a large business, employing at times as high as fifty men. After the mill was sold W. H. Dillin spent one year in Canada, . and while there purchased a ranch ninety-five miles north of Calgary, dis- posing of it during the same year. Mr. Dillin returned to California, this time locating in Fresno County, where he purchased 160 acres in the Barstow colony in 1905. After improving the ranch by planting eighty acres to alfalfa, and the remaining eighty to a vineyard and an orchard, he sold it in 1911, after which he spent some time in Los Angeles and San Diego. It was in October, 1916, that Mr. Dillin returned to Fresno County, when he purchased
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his present place of forty-six and a half acres on Madera Avenue. He has brought this property up to a high state of cultivation, thirty-six acres being devoted to a vineyard of Thompson seedless grapes. In addition to this ranch Mr. Dillin is the owner of valuable business property in Fresno, a ranch at Otay, and real estate in San Diego.
On June 25, 1916, William H. Dillin was united in marriage with Clara Belle Flor, a native of Fremont, Nebr., the ceremony being solemnized at San Diego. Mr. Dillin is greatly esteemed for his high ideals of business integrity, courteous and genial manners, which have won for him a large circle of warm friends. He is an enthusiastic member of the California Asso- ciated Raisin Company.
CARL O. ERICKSON .- A reminder of the important contribution made by Sweden to the developing of America, and particularly through the intel- ligence, industry and special adaptability of her steady-going sons and daugh- ters, to the success of one or another department of agriculture, is offered in the life story of Carl O. Erickson and his brother who live on a ranch two and a quarter miles north of Kingsburg on Grant Avenue. He was born at Askesund, Sweden, on February 13, 1872, the son of Gustav Oscar and Sophia Matilda (Person) Erickson, who married and died in their native country, the parents of six children, four of whom are still living. The other sons are Emil Erickson, who was born in June, 1870, in Sweden and is now Carl's partner, and Hugo Valentine and John August Erickson, both of whom live in Sweden. Carl grew up in Sweden on the little farm of his father's, there attended the district schools, and was confirmed in the Lutheran Church.
Emil was the first to break away from home and country and to come to America, and in 1901 Carl sailed from Göteborg, and landed in New York City in November. He soon came through to Chicago, and there he remained for a year and a half. If he did not immediately see his goal, he profited by his environment to get rapidly acquainted with the characteristics of Amer- ican institutions.
In 1903 Mr. Erickson continued West and reached California, accom- panied by Emil; and since then the two brothers have pooled their interests and worked hand in hand. Three years later they bought their present forty acres, sixteen acres are planted to peaches, three and a half to Thompson seedless, eight to Sultanas, eight to Muscats, while four acres are given up to yard, a drying yard, etc. The Erickson brothers belong to and heartily support the work of both the California Associated Raisin Company and the California Peach Growers, Inc.
Mr. Erickson is a member of the Swedish Methodist Church at Kings- burg, and with his brother, bought liberally of liberty bonds and otherwise supported the War work. In civic matters, also, they endeavor to give their votes and support only to the best men and the best measures.
WILLIAM BECKER .- California could scarcely have become the re- nowned Golden State had it not been for the high character and unselfish toil of her citizens, among whom we mention William Becker, the assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Riverdale, who came to Fresno first in 1904. Mr. Becker was born at St. Helena, Napa County, Cal., on November 2, 1886, the son of A. C. Becker. a native of Germany, who came to California and set up as a merchant in St. Helena. He died when William was only three years old. Mrs. A. C. Becker was Charlotte Smith before her marriage, and after she became a widow she married William Rennie. He was engaged in mining quicksilver at St. Helena, being associated with his brother, James Rennie. As William Becker grew up, he was seized with a desire to become a mining engineer, as there was a great deal of profitable mining at St. Helena.
In 1904 the step-father moved near the City of Fresno with his family, where he became manager of the great Barton Vineyard Company, Ltd. The lad was given an opportunity of attending the high school, and after grad-
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uation he went back to the quicksilver mines of St. Helena and engaged to work, for his uncle ; but the price of quicksilver had fallen to such a point that its mining was unprofitable. So he came back to Fresno County and worked with his step-father at the Barton Vineyard. There was a still for making brandy, and Mr. Becker was detailed to tend the still, but as this seemed without a future it was not to his liking, and led him to take a graduate course in business at the High School.
At first he accepted a clerkship in the First National Bank at Fresno in 1909, which he held until December 2, 1911, when he became both a stock- holder and a clerk in the bank at Riverdale, which was then a state bank. He saved his money, and when Homer J. Hoyt of the First National Bank of Riverdale moved away, Mr. Becker was able to buy a considerable portion of Hoyt's stock in that bank. Since then he has risen from clerk to assistant cashier, where his thoroughness and accuracy have helped to make it one of the best banks in the county.
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