Merced County
Biographies
HENRI DESSIAUME
The life of Henri Dessiaume presents an example of industry and worthiness creditable alike to his native country and to the country of his adoption. He is the senior partner in the Winton Mercantile Company at Winton, successors to the Winton branch of the Pregno Mercantile Company. The firm employs the same systematic methods that characterized the work of the former concern and are assured of continued success. Henri Dessiaume was born at Bourges, France, on January 13, 1888, a son of John and Helen (Pigeit) Dessiaume, vineyardists who spent their entire lives in the land of their birth.
Henri Dessiaume received a thorough education in the schools of France, Germany, Belgium and England; he can read, write and speak French, English, German and Spanish and can read Latin and understands the Japanese language. Mr. Dessiaume became a steward in some of the leading restaurants and hotels in England, being thus engaged in the city of Liverpool and other large cities; in 1906 he went to Japan, where he spent two years as assistant manager for the Metropole and the Imperial hotels. In 1908 he came to America and directly to Victoria, B. C., where he was steward of the Empress Hotel, owned and conducted by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Later he removed to San Francisco and was steward at the St. Francis Hotel; also for a year and a half he was steward at Hotel Oakland, in Oakland, Cal.
In 1914 Henri Dessiaume was married in San Francisco. In 1916 he located at Winton and was placed in charge of the Pregno Mercantile Company, which carries a full line of staple and fancy groceries, dry goods, clothing, hardware, farming implements, etc., and handles meat and provisions. Under the direction of Dessiaume and Gavazza, the firm is doing a thriving business. On July 1, 1924, the present establishment was taken over by H. Dessiaume and J. Gavazza, who continue the business under the name of the Winton Mercantile Company.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 806-807
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
FRED R. FERGUSON
A public-spirited man whose principles have determined his progress in the business world is Fred R. Ferguson, the capable assistant manager of the Yosemite Lumber Company, at Merced Falls. He was born at Toronto, in Ontario, Canada, March 20, 1875, the eldest of four children born to Andrew T. and Amelia (Reynolds) Ferguson, who were also born in Ontario of Scotch and English families. The father was widely known as Rev. A. T. Ferguson, and was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He moved with his family to Michigan in 1884, and following the ministry in that state became the assistant superintendent of the Michigan State M. E. Conference, passing away while in office. His wife passed away two years previous to his death, in that state.
Fred R. Ferguson was graduated with the Class of 1894 at Albion College, and soon identified himself with the teaching profession by teaching school at Manistee, Michigan. In 1900 he went west to Arizona, and locating at Williams, he entered the employ of the Saginaw-Manistee Lumber Company in the clerk's office, and soon became one of their superintendents, remaining with this enterprising firm for seventeen and one-half years. The following three years he was superintendent of the Charles Ruggles Company, manufacturers and lumber dealers, in Amador County, California. In June, 1922, he accepted the position of assistant manager to H. R. Lowell, of the Yosemite Lumber Company, at Merced Falls, where he is superintendent of the shipping and sales. The shipments of this company in 1922 totaled seventy-five million feet, with a handsome increase during 1923, and preparations to store and handle still greater amounts of lumber are rapidly being made at the Yosemite yards in Merced Falls.
The marriage of Mr. Ferguson occurred at Williams, Ariz., in 1906, when he was united with Mable H. Adams, daughter of H. F. Adams, ex-pioneer lumberman of Arizona and Michigan, now living retired at Pomona, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson have two daughters, Florence and Lauretta, who are both being educated in the best possible way. Mr. Ferguson's brother, Prof. W. A. Ferguson, is principal of the Porterville High School, and his sister, Miss L. M. Ferguson, is vice-principal of the Sacramento High School. Thus the members of this family have contributed liberally to the educational progress of our Golden State.
The activities of Mr. Ferguson in public and political life have been characterized by efficiency and sagacity, and while at Williams, Ariz., he was deputy sheriff for two terms. For eight years he was an active member of the Arizona State Republican Committee, when Thomas Campbell, Arizona's first Republican governor, was elected, and for his efforts in the campaign Mr. Ferguson was highly commended by those who knew the conditions and principles involved. He is active in fraternal life, being a valued member, of the B. P. O. Elks, No. 499, at Flagstaff, Ariz., and the Masons in Hornitos Lodge No. 98, F. & A. M.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 807-808
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
U. ORA ABELL
A successful grower of figs in California, who is highly esteemed in the community of Merced, is U. Ora Abell, who first saw the light near Indianapolis, Ind., on March 11, 1868. He was the eldest of the five children born to Perry and Rebecca (Klepfer) Abell, who were born in Pennsylvania and Michigan respectively. Perry Abell settled in Indiana where he helped his father carve a home out of the forest and where he farmed until the Civil War broke out, when he enlisted in the 70th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving throughout the conflict. He moved to Nebraska in the eighties, homesteading land twenty miles from a railroad, and about 1890 he removed to Salt Lake City, where he lived for six years. In 1896 he located in Merced with his family and here he and his wife both spent their last days.
The common schools of Indiana and Nebraska afforded U. Ora Abell a good elementary education. Being a farmer's son he worked steadily on the home farm and in the meantime learned the carpenter trade, accomplishing a great deal as a journeyman, and later engaged in the building trade as a contractor. He accompanied his parents to California in 1896, where he continued to work at his trade. That same year he invested wisely by purchasing a tract of land on the Merced River, one and one-half miles below Merced Falls, where he began farming and made improvements. By 1900 he had a few fig trees, and as the years progressed, he set out many more, until the property became a valuable one. At present he is the owner of thirty acres of highly developed orchard set to Black Mission figs, the trees ranging from ten to twenty-five years of age. A newly completed residence 'fills the need for an orchard home.
On January 14, 1913, at Merced, Mr. Abell was united in marriage with Miss Nan R. Peak, who was born in Merced, the youngest of seven children. Her father was the late Luke Peak, a Forty-niner and pioneer of Contra Costa County. He had come from Jacksonville, Illinois, to California, and in the sixties he moved to Plainsburg, Merced County, where he was a well and favorably known farmer. Just prior to moving to Merced he owned and operated a grain farm adjoining the Atwater ranch. Mrs. Abell's mother came from Southern stock and was a member of the Hancock family who arrived in Contra Costa County in 1853. One daughter, Isabel May, has blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Abell, who are popular in Merced social circles. Mr. Abell is a baritone singer of ability, and has favored the public by appearing at many functions, giving his talent freely for general enjoyment. He was the director of the Merced Methodist Episcopal Church choir from 1912 to 1917. He has belonged to the Merced Lodge of Odd Fellows since 1899, and to the Modern Woodmen of America since 1903. His political views and efforts have been with the Democratic party, but any movement for civic and community betterment has his hearty endorsement.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 808-809
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler