Sutter County
Biographies
Nelson Dewey Ashford
1899 - 1983
The splendid orchard property of Nelson D. Ashford is the visible expression of his life of well-directed thrift and industry. He was born on March 14, 1899, in Nebraska, near Harrisburg, a son of William and Cora M. (Slafter) Ashford. He began his education in the grammar school near Harrisburg, and in 1906 accompanied his mother and stepfather to California and finished his schooling at Antioch, Cal. In 1914, when his uncle Wilson Wesley Ashford’s estate was divided, Nelson D. Ashford received as his share of the estate the 126 acres on which he now resides. Of this tract he has developed forty acres to an orchard of peaches and prunes. Mr. Ashford entered the Aviation Section of the United States Army in February, 1918, and was sent to Fort McDowell, and later to Kelly Field, where he was placed in the 126th Aero Squadron. From there he was sent to Langley Field, Virginia, and was placed in the flying detachment of the Aero Squadron. He has 120 honors to his credit, and held the rank of first-class sergeant. At the Presidio, in San Francisco, on June 27, 1920, he received his discharge from the service and then returned home to Tudor.
On May 10, 1921, Nelson D. Ashford was married to Miss Mary Flanagan, born at Meridian, Cal., a daughter of Frank and Polly (Pratt) Flanagan, natives of Iowa but now residing near Tudor. Mrs. Ashford received her education in the Central Grammar School and the Marysville High School. Mr. Ashford is a member of the Yuba-Sutter Post No. 42, American Legion. In politics he is a Republican.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, pp 999-1000