Merced County
Biographies
ALAN B. MARTIN
As superintendent of the J. G. Ruddle orchards and vineyards, Alan B. Martin is demonstrating his knowledge of horticulture and viticulture, gained through experience and first-hand information. He is a native son of Merced County, born on December 10, 1892, in the city of Merced, a son of Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Martin, of that city, natives of New York State, and Snelling, Merced County, respectively. His father and his grandfather Boss were well known civil engineers in California. Alan B. attended the Merced Grammar and High Schools, and after two and one-half years in the latter, left school to enter the employ of the old C. M. F. Store, remaining with them three years.
In August, 1918, he went into the U. S. Army, in the 12th Infantry, and trained at Camp Fremont, was transferred to Camp Mills, and received his honorable discharge at the Presidio, San Francisco, March 21, 1919. He had worked with his father on railway survey work, and he did surveying and engineering work with the troops while in the army. On leaving camp and returning to civilian life, Mr. Martin engaged in the ranching business, and in 1920-1921 he farmed in the Amsterdam district, on what is known as the Boreland ranch, also having charge of a twenty-acre peach orchard at Buhach, belonging to his father. In the meantime he resided on the Merced River, and when the fruit development work on the Ruddle farm was started, in 1921, he was the man who did the first planting, setting out forty acres to vineyard, and he has since that time remained in charge of the work. The Ruddle ranch now being in a high state of cultivation and development, the property devoted to horticulture and viticulture embraces 1290 acres, of which 650 acres are in Thompson seedless grapes, from one to three years old, and 640 acres set to peaches and apricots.
An extensive nursery was built up to root the vines, and until 1923 was kept up; it consisted at one time of 1,340,000 vine cuttings, and to get a better idea of the magnitude of the plantings, the work was done on so extensive a scale that if the plantings had been strung out in single file, they would have reached from the Merced River to Stockton, seventy miles as the crow flies. The value of this show place of fruit cultivation to the future development of Merced County is inestimable, for the Ruddles are giving a concrete example of what can be done here in horticulture on a large scale, and are spreading the fame of the fertility of Merced soil to the far corners of the earth.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 845-846
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
JOE A. RODGERS
A man who is rapidly advancing to a competency by his keen perception and the improvement of opportunities, Joe A. Rodgers deserves the credit of all who have witnessed his progress. The third of eight children, he was born near Sonora, Tuolumne County, on July 31, 1891. His parents, Antone A. and Anna ( Jacobs) Rodgers, were both natives of Flores, in the Azores; the father came to America a poor boy and worked in the mines of Tuolumne County, saved his wages and bought land and stock and accumulated considerable wealth before he died in Merced on August 3, 1920. The mother still lives at Atwater, where they settled in 1892.
Joe went to the Franklin school and grew up on the farm, taking up the dairy business and alfalfa growing at Buhach. Near Chowchilla he was also associated with his parents in ranching on an extensive scale until the death of his father. With his share of the property left by his father he engaged in fruit raising and did a thriving business with watermelons and sweet potatoes. In 1919 he succeeded F. Valadon in a retail meat business on Front Street, Atwater, beginning in a small way, and by putting every effort into the business, he has made rapid strides and built up an excellent trade. In October, 1923, he opened a first-class shop on Broadway in Atwater. He owns the lot and building, 150 ft. by 25 ft. with fixtures, modern and complete as any retail shop in the Valley. He is joint owner of 113 acres, and a dairy and forty-five head of dairy cattle. Mr. Rodgers has accumulated his holdings by a judicious use of the money left him by his father and by his own efforts.
Mr. Rodgers was married in Atwater to Mary Furtado, a native of El Nido, Merced County. Her parents have been farmers in Merced County since 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers have four children: Edna, Gilbert, Merle and Mary. The three oldest are pupils in the Atwater Grammar School.
He is a member of the Great Republic Life Insurance Co. since 1919. He is a Republican in politics and belongs to the Woodmen of the World and to the Atwater Pentacost Club Association, both in Atwater.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 846-847
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
JOHN T. ALLEN
The name of John T. Allen is well known to the citizens of Merced County and is synonymous with prosperity, thrift, honesty and integrity. From 1891 to 1918 he engaged in farming on a sixtyeight-acre ranch under the Miller & Lux canal. This property he sold in 1918 and put the money into an apartment house in Gustine and since that time has made his home in town. In 1922 he purchased seventy acres eight miles southwest of town and is developing it to walnuts; he has installed a six-inch pump with a sixteen h.p. gas engine for power, thus insuring an abundance of water for irrigation.
A native of California, John T. Allen was born at Sacramento on July 9, 1868, a son of John and Alice (Carroll) Allen, natives of Iowa and Montreal, Canada, respectively, the latter of Scotch descent. His father came across the plains to California and the mother via the Panama route; and they were married in Sacramento. John Allen, the father, was a teamster, hauling supplies to Shingle Springs, Sonora, San Andreas and other mining towns in early days; later in life he engaged in stock-raising and farming, first in Contra Costa County, and then in San Joaquin County near Banta. In the fall of 1881 the family moved to Merced County and located about eighteen miles south of Hill's Ferry, where the father homesteaded a quarter section of land upon which he farmed the balance of his life, passing away at the age of eighty-two years; the mother passed away at her home in Oakland, Cal., aged eighty-one years. Five children were born of this union, namely: John T., our subject; James J., deceased; Alice, wife of Joseph Pfitzer; Barbara, married Antone Pfitzer; and Mrs. Ella Parker.
John T. Allen attended the Occidental Grammar School in Merced County and was with his parents until 1891, when he leased a farm on his own account. He soon purchased a half section of land in the Cottonwood district and with his brother James J. as partner, engaged in farming; after the dissolution of the partnership, Mr. Allen purchased thirty acres under the Miller & Lux canal, subsequently thirty-eight acres were added and farming was carried on with good results. In 1918 he sold out and moved to the city of Gustine, where he built an eight-apartment building.
At Oakland, Cal., October 21, 1896, Mr. Allen was married to Miss Clara Belle De Mont, born at San Leandro, Cal., daughter of George and Caroline (Potter) De Mont, both natives of Michigan; her father is of French descent and accompanied his parents to California during the gold rush of 1860; the mother came to California when five years old and the parents were married in Oakland. In 1881 the De Mont family removed to Dutch Corners, Stanislaus County, and there farmed a quarter section of land; here the father spent the balance of his life, retiring about eighteen years ago. He and his wife now make their home at San Leandro, aged seventy-four and seventy-two years, respectively. There were eight children in the De Mont family: Joseph; Mary and John, twins; Clara Belle, the wife of our subject; Carrie; Claudia; Vivian; and Byron, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Allen are the parents of two daughters: Jeanette, Mrs. F. F. Latta, who has two daughters, Monna Star, and Nedra Marie; Elma, Mrs. T. S. Latta, who has two children, Verne Claire and John Thomas. Mr. Allen is a Democrat in politics and has served as trustee of the Gustine High School; with his wife he is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Gustine.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 847-848
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler