Merced County
Biographies
JOHN BARNEICH
No better example of the self-made man can be given than the life work and accomplishments of John Barneich; nor of the wonderful opportunities offered by California for the man or woman to rise to positions of affluence and influence by their own endeavors. Coming to California a lad of seventeen, poor in purse but rich in ambition and in strength, the success to which he has attained has been obtained by patient, persevering and honest labor.
John Barneich was born in the Basque province in the Pyrenees in the south of France, on May 6, 1863, and his education was obtained in the common schools of his section of country and he was reared in the sheep industry until he was seventeen. In 1880 his desire to become a citizen of the United States was granted him and he arrived in California and got work herding sheep for J. Miguel Arburua; and at the same time hey was studying the English language. When these sheep were sold to Miller & Lux our subject went along with the band and remained in the employ of Mr. Miller for two years. From 1884 to 1886 he drove sheep through the Pacheco Pass to the stockyards and slaughter houses in San Francisco and Oakland while employed by Eugene Avy, a butcher in San Francisco, who had the Little Panoche Ranch in Fresno County.
In 1885 Mr. Barneich had saved enough money to engage in the sheep business on his own account; in 1886 he homesteaded 160 acres of land on Little Panoche Creek in Fresno County, and as he prospered he kept adding to his holdings until he owned 2000 acres, all in Fresno County. He farmed 150 acres of it, had twenty acres in alfalfa, with water rights. Here he made his home until 1898, when he sold his sheep and came to Los Banos and opened a butcher shop, one of the pioneers of the new town, and this he operated until 1915, when he sold out and retired to devote his time to his personal interests. He owns the O. B. Garage building and some residence property in Los Banos; and he also owns his ranch in Fresno County, which is leased to tenants.
Mr. Barneich was united in marriage in 1890, with Louise Clavere, born in France, and they have had nine children, viz.: Isadore J. of Los Banos; Julia, wife of Martin Jussel of Oakland, and the mother of two children; Mary, wife of Bernard Benitou of St. Helena, and mother of one child; Justine, married Frank La Forte, of Oakland and has one child; Annie, of Los Banos; John L., of Oakland; and Bernice, Louise and Marguerite, all of Los Banos. Mr. Barneich has always been public spirited and helped to promote all interests for upbuilding Los Banos and Merced County.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 682-685
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
REV. DAVID C. WILLIAMS
In writing the history of any section, it is important that we include in its pages the histories of the outstanding men who have contributed to its real growth and advancement, and their effect on the moral and intellectual progress as well as the more material side of a nation's development. For the growth of town and city, county and State, is a part of the whole movement "toward the light" which our glorious country is slowly but surely making, and is important in the general scheme of things; and when we find a man who has worked faithfully both as a minister of the gospel, to help men to a better life, and as a man of affairs in the working world, putting his shoulder to the wheel to bring to actual accomplishment the movements which make for the upbuilding of a community, its general welfare and future progress, such a man is worthy of all praise, and his labors merit permanent record.
Rev. David C. Williams, a Methodist minister, and a member of the State assembly from the 49th District of California, was born in North Wales, Great Britain, June 15, 1879, and was educated primarily in the British grammar schools and a private English classical school, there taking up classic languages and modern sciences under a private teacher. He received his degree of A. B. in the University College of Wales, and in 1900 graduated with the degree of M. D. from the Liverpool College of Medicine. That same year he came to California. After his decision to enter the ministry, he attended the Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tenn. Since 1904, he has been a minister, preaching at various places in California, among them Lemoore, Hanford, Arbuckle, Williams, Red Bluff, Kingsburg, Modesto, Le Grand and Merced. In 1918, Dr. Williams came to Le Grand, Merced County. He was chaplain in the United States Army during the World War, stationed at Camp Taylor, Ky., and received his commission as first lieutenant, being later commissioned a captain. Prominent in ministerial affairs, Dr. Williams is historian for the Methodist Conference, and active in the various meetings of the church body.
As assemblyman from Merced and Madera Counties, Dr. Williams was of invaluable assistance in promoting and putting through to completion some of the most important bills that have ever been before the public from this section of the State, among them the bills providing for the Merced Irrigation District and the Yosemite Valley Highway from Merced to El Portal. He served on the following committees in the State assembly: the Medical and Dental Laws, Labor and Capital, Soldier and Sailor Affairs, Public Morals, Military Affairs, and Agriculture; and he was chairman of the Committee on Irrigation. A brilliant and forceful speaker, he was called the best orator of the assembly, and his constituents were justly proud of his achievements, for they reflect good judgment on the part of those who put him in office, at the head of public affairs in their district. Dr. Williams was the founder of the Mercy Hospital of Merced and put that project through to completion, filling a much needed want in the community. He was president of the Le Grand Board of Trade, and he always gives of his time and knowledge to all causes which he knows are for the real benefit of his fellow citizens, for his vision is unusually broad and he can rightfully be called one of the builders of Merced County. He came to Merced as pastor of Bethel Methodist Church, South, in 1924.
The marriage of Dr. Williams, occurring at Lemoore on January 1, 1917, united him with Ruby Lobb, a native of California; and one daughter has been born to them, Eugenia Pearl. Fraternally, Dr. Williams is a Mason, a member of the Kingsbury Lodge of that order; and he is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, Yosemite Castle, at Merced.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 685-686
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler