Sutter County
Biographies
JACOB PROBST
Among the industrious and thriving horticulturists and dairymen of Sutter County is Jacob Probst, who is the proprietor of thirty acres located near Esmeralda Station, ten acres of which he intends to set to prune trees. He was born at Leutzelfluh, in Berne, Switzerland, July 24, 1863, the youngest of three children born to John and Christina (Ramsaer) Probst. The father passed away in Switzerland in 1886; the mother had died some years before, at the age of forty-one years.
Jacob Probst was reared in the same part of Switzerland as the famous Captain John Sutter. In 1889 he left home for America with a party of his countrymen, and after a voyage of six days reached New York. Previously he had served in the army of Switzerland, and had also gone to France and enlisted in the French Legion, being sent to Africa and thence to China, where he served in the French army in a war with China. In December, 1887, he received his honorable discharge and was awarded a medal for bravery. After his arrival in America he went to Castile, Wyoming County, N.Y., and worked on a farm for two years. From there he made his way to Philadelphia, Pa., where he was employed with a contractor and builder. For a while thereafter he farmed again, and then moved on to Valley Mills, Coatesville, Pa., and was in the employ of W. W. Kurtz & Son, owners of iron and steel plate works, and later became coachman and gardener for Mr. Kurtz for a period of two years, after which he went to Florence, N.J., to take charge of the grounds of Walter Wood. This position he filled ably and well for a period of fifteen years, except for six months’ time which he and his wife spent in Florida, where they made a purchase of land. This did not prove a satisfactory investment, and he returned to the employ of Mr. Wood in Florence, N.J.
In 1912 Mr. and Mrs. Probst decided to come to California to make their home. Here their industry and frugality have brought them ample returns for their hard labor. Aside from ranching, Mr. Probst has a dairy and apiary, and is also engaged in raising poultry.
On October 10, 1891, Mr. Probst was married at Germantown, Pa., to Miss Barbara Werner, a native of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, whence she came to Germantown, Pa., in 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Probst are active members of the Fairview Christian Church. They are Republicans in politics.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 1047
RICHARD CARLETON ASHFORD
The career of Richard Carleton Ashford has been an active and useful one, and has won for him the respect and confidence of his fellow men; and at the same time he has gained substantial success as an orchardist. He owns a fine orchard home of thirty acres two miles southeast of Tudor, twenty acres of which is in bearing cling peaches. He was born near Lehigh, Iowa, February 25, 1885, a son of William N. and Addie (Hemstreet) Ashford, both natives of Illinois. Later the family removed to Nebraska, where Mrs. Ashford passed away at the age of thirty-one years. Four children were born in the family: Grace, Richard Carleton, of this review, Dean, and Spencer Winfield. William N. Ashford subsequently married Miss Cora M. Slafter, and passed away in Nebraska, aged forty-seven. Mrs. Cora Ashford was later married to Lawrence Hague, and they now reside at Tudor, Cal.
Richard Carleton Ashford received his education in the Nebraska public schools, and at seventeen years of age began farming on his own account.
On June 10, 1905, Mr. Ashford was married in Nebraska, to Miss Hattie J. Hague, a native of Iowa, daughter of Jacob K. and Celesta (Axford) Hague, both natives of England, who had settled in Iowa in an early day and later had removed to Nebraska, where they homesteaded land. There were four children in the Hague family: Lawrence, Charles, Hattie J. (Mrs. Ashford), and Edward, deceased. Jacob K. Hague passed away at the age of fifty-three, and his wife at the age of thirty-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Ashford are the parents of four children: William, Dean, Harold, and Raymond. When Mr. Ashford came to Sutter County, in 1914, he worked on a ranch for one year; then he conducted a dairy of sixty cows for a year, after which he sold out and bought his present home of thirty acres southeast of Tudor. Mr. Ashford is independent in his political views.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 1048