Merced County
Biographies
GEORGE H. BLOUNT
As proprietor of the Stevinson Hotel and of the Stevinson-Turlock auto stage line, the latter operated under the regulations of the State Railroad Commission, George H. Blount of Stevinson, Merced County, is making his influence felt for the good of his adopted county and is reaping a benefit for himself as well. A native of Canada, he was born at Trenton, in the Province of Ontario, on July 10, 1875, a son of Josiah C. and Rebecca (Losie) Blount. The father died, in 1911, in the Stevinson Colony, aged seventy-three years, and the mother married again and is now the wife of Otto Heinze, of the Stevinson Colony. The Blount family went from the Province of Ontario to Saskatchewan, and from there came down to Wisconsin in 1891, where the father became a citizen of the United States.
George H. Blount is the fifth child in a family of nine, six of whom are still living, and he was educated in the public schools of Canada and Wisconsin, attending only one winter in the last-named State. He came with the family, upon their removal to California in 1893, and settled at Nipomo, San Luis Obispo County; later going to the Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County, thence to Lompoc, and from there to Mendocino County, where he remained for eight years. Then he accompanied the family to Contra Costa County, where he engaged with the Standard Oil Company as a pipe fitter. In 1908 he came to the Stevinson Colony and here he has been an active factor in helping to build up the locality. Besides operating the hotel and stage line, Mr. Blount also owns and runs the two school busses that carry the pupils to and from the Stevinson Colony to the Hilmar Union High School at Hilmar.
The marriage of George H. Blount with Miss Lelia Finley was celebrated in Lompoc on March 23, 1898. Her parents were the well-known pioneers A. W. and Elmira (Hastings) Finley, natives of Missouri. The father of A. W. Finley, Asa Wallace Finley, was a veteran of the Mexican War. A. W. Finley's father-in-law, David Campbell, started for California with a train of covered wagons from Missouri, in the spring of 1846; at first it was a part of the ill-fated Donner party, but was separated from that train at Omaha, where David Campbell became the captain and brought the train safely through to the coast, being guided over the mountains by Kit Carson. Upon arriving in California the Campbells settled at Fort San Jose in October, 1846. The father of Mrs. Blount, A. W. Finley, was only two years of age when his parents came with the Campbell train and he is now making his home with his daughter and her husband. He is hale and hearty at the age of eighty-one. The town of Campbell, in Santa Clara County, was named for Benjamin Campbell of this branch of the Campbell family. Mrs. Blount was born in Hollister, San Benito County and attended the public schools there. Mr. and Mrs. Blount have had nine children: Herbert and Charles both died in infancy; Ethel, married Gavin Wilson of Richmond, Cal., an ex-navy man who served in the World War, and they have one child, Elizabeth Ann; Glena Ana, a student in the Stockton Commercial College; Georgia Isabel, wife of George J. Holm, an ex-service man, who is employed by the Shell Oil Co. at Crow's Landing; Vyren Darrel, William Vernon, Ruth Elizabeth and George Lloyd, all pupils in the grammar school. Mrs. Blount is the local correspondent for the Merced Sun-Star and the Hilmar Enterprise. Mr. and Mrs. Blount are members of the Christian Church at Stevinson. Politically they cast their votes for Democratic candidates, and Mr. Blount served on the County Central Committee in 1924. For the past eight' years Mrs. Blount has served on the election board.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 856-857
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
CURTIS HARVEY CASTLE, JR.
The name of Curtis Harvey Castle, Jr., is held in high regard in Merced County, not only as the son of one of the best known and most highly esteemed physicians and surgeons of Merced and a man who represented his district in the 55th Congress of the United States from 1896 to 1898, but also for his own public spirit and deep interest in the progress of both the city and county of Merced. His father, Curtis Harvey Castle, Sr., is mentioned at length on another page in this history.
Curtis Harvey Castle, Jr., was born at Point Arena, Mendocino County, Cal., in December, 1883, and he was educated in the public schools of the State, attending the high school in Merced for three years. After leaving school he put in two years in Death Valley in mining; then he went to Dinuba, Tulare County, and purchased land and improved a vineyard, remaining for three years. His next move was to Los Angeles and for a year he was in the employ of Barker Brothers, furniture dealers. He then worked for the Southern Pacific Railway at Bakersfield for a year, but returned to his ranch and remained for six years. His next business venture was in Merced, where he bought an interest in the Merced Drug Company, but sold out after four months. He then went to Old Mexico and bought a hundred acres of land and remained there for twelve months, but came back to his Dinuba ranch, where he remained until 1915, when he returned to Merced and engaged in the manufacture of ice cream and did a retail candy business, operating under the name of The Castle for six years. In 1919 he started the Castle Ice Cream Company, now known as the Acme Ice Cream Company, though he still retains stock in the concern.
Mr. Castle was united in marriage in Tulare County, with Mabel Pearl Brewer, born at Traver, that county; and they have a daughter, Virginia. Fraternally, Mr. Castle belongs to the Knights of Pythias; and he is a member of the Lions Club of Merced. Politically, he is a Democrat. He is indulging in one of his hobbies, that of raising high grade pigeons, and at his home near the edge of Merced has some fine birds.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 857-858
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler