Yuba County
Biographies
JOEL BEAN
From the time of his arrival in California in 1856 until his death, in 1921, Joel Bean was closely associated with mining interests in Sierra County, and later with the agricultural development of Yuba County, and contributed materially to the same by his influence and the example of his own success. The ranch which he purchased in Yuba County is still held by Mrs. Bean. His birth occurred at Caratunk, Maine, on May 23, 1836, and his parents were Aaron and Sarah (Jones) Bean, descendents of Puritan families, his ancestors having come from England to Plymouth, Mass., on the Mayflower in 1620. Later generations moved to Maine, some of them serving in the Revolution as well as in the colonial wars. They followed various lines of business endeavor, merchandising, lumbering, saw-milling and flour-milling, and farming.
Joel Bean was educated in the public schools of Caratunk and Brigham, Maine, and was reared to the life of a farmer and lumberman; so he naturally became interested in those pursuits and followed them in his native State until he came to California in 1856. He came to this State via Panama, and settled at Pine Grove, Sierra County, where he followed mining. Later, at Scales, in the same county, he became superintendent for the Cleveland Gold Mining Company, a position he held until 1910. In mining circles he was regarded as one of the best-posted men on the State’s mineral deposits. Mr. Bean was identified with the State militia at La Porte, Plumas County, under Captain Russell, until that company disbanded.
In 1911 Mr. Bean purchased the old Columbus House at Strawberry Valley, as well as the ranch belonging to the same; and here he engaged in the hotel business, running it under the name of the Columbus House as a first-class transient and tourist hotel. Columbus House has done much to make Strawberry Valley an ideal summer resort; for the hotel caters to the best trade, and the cuisine and service are strictly first-class. The Bean ranch is beautifully located, and is well wooded with native fir and cedar. There is also a large apple orchard where most excellent fruit is grown; and it is well watered, Sly Creek furnishing the water for irrigation. They specialize in raising stock and have a dairy to supply the hotel with milk and cream. Mrs. Bean owns the water system in Strawberry Valley. The water is obtained from Sly Creek and brought in a ditch by gravity a distance of seven miles to a reservoir above Strawberry Valley, from which it is piped for domestic use to the different consumers in town.
The marriage of Mr. Bean occurred on March 31, 1871, at Scales, and united him with Miss Mary Ann Lewis, daughter of John and Margaret Lewis, born in Glanmorganshire, Wales. Mrs. Bean was born in Fleur-de-lis, Wales, and came to California in 1870, crossing the continent from New York on one of the early transcontinental trains. Mrs. Bean had a brother, William Lewis, who had come to California in the early sixties and was engaged in mining at Port Wine; so she joined her brother, and thus it came about that she met and married Mr. Bean. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Bean proved a very happy one and was blessed with seven children. Abraham Lincoln was a stockman in Scales. John A. is the merchant and postmaster at Strawberry Valley. Ella is deceased. Amanda Elvira is the wife of Dr. Hall Vestal, of Richmond. Morgan George is a rancher of Strawberry Valley. Laura Bernice is gracefully and competently assisting her mother in the management of the hotel; and the youngest, Vernon Joel, aids his mother in the care of the ranch. Joel Bean passed away at his home on August 19, 1921; and in his death Yuba County lost one of its oldest and most worthy pioneers, a man deeply mourned by his family and many friends. Mrs. Bean continues to reside in Strawberry Valley. She is still the proprietor of the Columbus House and ranch; and assisted by her children, she is carrying on the business in the same progressive way always manifested by her late husband, who left an impress for good in both Yuba and Sierra County.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 440-445