Sutter County Biographies

Wesley Abel Moon accompanied his parents to California in 1874, and throughout his active career has been identified with its agricultural and industrial interests. He was born in Dekalb County, Ill., July 4, 1864, a son of Orren Wesley and Elizabeth (Comstock) Moon, both natives of New York. Orren Wesley Moon was a blacksmith by trade and also followed farming in the State of Illinois. He brought his family to California in 1874 and settled at Meridian, where he farmed for a couple of years; then he purchased a quarter-section of land one mile south of the present site of Sutter City. Five children were born to them. Lela, now Mrs. Devore, resides in Oregon; Mary A. is now Mrs. Lybecker, whose sketch appears in this history; Annette R. is now Mrs. T. J. Moore and resides in Sutter; Wesley Abel is the subject of this sketch; and Lester G. is deceased.

Wesley Abel Moon received his education at the Washington district school adjacent to the home ranch, and has always been associated with his parents in farming. The father of our subject passed away when he was seventy-two years old, and the mother survived him until 1922. The home place of the Moons consisted of 240 acres, which remained the home place until 1919, when it was sold and our subject and his mother moved into Sutter City, where the mother passed away, aged eighty-seven. Mr. Moon has never married and is now living retired from active business cares, but interested in the welfare and advancement of his home community.

History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924

p 820

SETT THURE CARLSON

California, and more particularly Sutter County, has been the home of Sett Thure Carlson the greater part of his lifetime; for he was only seven years old when he accompanied his parents to the Golden State, whither they removed thinking to better their material condition. He was born in Smaland, Sweden, June 7, 1863, a son of John Peter and Johanna (Munson-Soderlund) Carlson, both natives of Sweden. John Peter Carlson was a wheelwright and cabinet-maker, as well as a blacksmith, being an all-around mechanic. He brought his family to Chicago in 1870, where he remained until the Spring of 1871. Coming then to California he located in Sutter County, where he was in the employ of his brother-in-law, John Soderlund, a pioneer blacksmith and wagon-maker in Sutter county, located at Sutter Station. While he was there, they completed the first all-steel plow made in California, which is still in possession of our subject, and prized very highly by him. John Peter Carlson was in charge of the woodworking department of the establishment. He also worked for a time as mechanic on railroad construction in Sutter County. In 1875 he was farming in Sutter County; and from that time until 1878, when his crops were swept away by the flood, he enjoyed good crops and prosperity. But he lost everything in the flood of 1878. Eight children were born to this pioneer couple: Mary, deceased wife of Per Olson, survived by six children; Carl Peter; August, deceased; Sett Thure, of this sketch; Josephine E.; Frits, deceased, survived by five children; Emma M., deceased wife of M. C. Bailey, survived by two sons and one daughter; and Minnie, deceased. August Carlson was in partnership with Sett Thure under the name of Carlson Brothers, until he met an accidental death while painting the inside of a 3000-gallon water tank with prepared asphalt paint No. 2. There was no caution label on the can, nor had he been cautioned by the salesman. He had painted from the top down, and when he started on the bottom the poison fumes overcame him and he was asphyxiated. This was in 1909. The mother passed away on December 25, 1899; the father survived until February 26, 1912.

Mr. Carlson and his brother Carl have farmed since 1878 in Sutter County. S. T. Carlson owned 320 acres of the Starr ranch until 1916, when he sold 160 acres, which, however, he still operated. Mr. Carlson was executor for his parents’ estate, as well as his deceased brothers’. His brother Frits and his wife died in Sutter City, of the flu, in 1918, leaving six children. The oldest, Frits Byron, died of the flu two weeks after his parents; the others are Willard Wilfred, Lucile Anna, Norma Firth, Nylda Areta, and Enoma Jaunita. These five children make their home with their uncle, Sett Thure Carlson, and their aunt, Miss Josephine Carlson, who are caring for them and rearing them as if they were their own. Miss Josephine Carlson is a native daughter of Sutter County, born at Sutter Station, and is the owner of an eighty-acre ranch. She presides competently and gracefully over her brother’s household and is the legal guardian of her five nieces and nephew just enumerated. She is a member of the Barry Ladies’ Aid. Liberal and kind-hearted, Mr. Carlson and his sister are much appreciated and highly esteemed. They enjoy dispensing the old-time California hospitality, and it is a pleasure and privilege to visit at their home.