Yuba County
Biographies
PETER J. BUTZ
A well-known and substantial citizen of Celestial Valley is Peter J. Butz, who is engaged in general farming, and stock-raising on his ranch of 160 acres. Born at Celestial Valley, Yuba County, June 16, 1865, he is the youngest and the only survivor of three children born to his parents, Peter and Mary (Mahon) Butz. His father, Peter Butz, was born in Germany, on September 15, 1828, and was three years old when he was brought to America by his parents, who settled in Ohio. He was twenty-five years old when, in 1853, he came via Panama to California. Arriving in San Francisco, he went by foot to Sacramento, and from there to Hangtown, and in the fall of 1853 arrived in Celestial Valley. For a time he followed placer mining on Oregon Creek. Soon after his arrival, he was married at Marysville to Miss Mary Mahon, and together they became the very earliest settlers in the valley. During the fifties and sixties, Mr. Butz served as recorder of mines in Celestial Valley. He was a prominent member of the Odd Fellows Lodge and the Masonic Lodge, both of Camptonville. He passed away on November 1, 1893; and his wife, on December 20, 1895.
Peter J. Butz walked four miles to attend the Camptonville school. While in his teens he became interested in mining in Celestial Valley, Yuba County. Then he drove a bull-team, logging in the mountains, and for twenty-five years followed that occupation in Yuba, Sierra and Nevada Counties, becoming an expert in loading and unloading logs on the trucks, as well as in driving the big bull-teams. As before stated, he is now engaged in ranching in Celestial Valley on his 160-acre ranch, devoted to raising stock and hay.
On April 16, 1895, Mr. Butz was married to Miss Jenny Baden, born at Camptonville, Cal., the eldest of four children of William and Lucy (McNeil) Baden, natives of New Orleans, La., and Sierra County, Cal., respectively. William Baden was a miner and pioneer blacksmith of Camptonville. He passed away in 1910, while his widow survives him and resides in San Francisco. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Butz was blessed with the birth of five children, all sons. Walter was in the United States Army during the World War, and was in the American Expeditionary Forces, serving over-seas until after the armistice, when he returned to the United States and was honorably discharged. He married Frances Lutz; and they have one child, Walter, Jr. He now resides in Trinity County. Chester married Mamie Curry, and they reside at Downieville. Fred, of Camptonville, married Phyllis Nelson, whose parents were pioneers of Garden Valley; and they have one child, Thelma Charlotte. George and Merle are at home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Butz have reason to be proud of their family of manly sons, who are a credit to their various communities. Mr. Butz has held the position of foreman of a section of the State Highway, looking after its maintenance from Freeman’s Crossing, in Yuba County, to Indian Creek, Sierra County. He has also served as a member and clerk of the board of trustees of the Celestial Valley school district. Mr. and Mrs. Butz are very liberal and kind-hearted, and in their modest way dispense the good old-time Californian hospitality; and it is indeed a pleasure to have the good fortune to visit at their home.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 491
FRANK EDWARD SMITH
A descendent of one of the first pioneer families of Yuba County, and himself a pioneer of Marysville, Frank Edward Smith first saw the light of day in the old family home which stood on the lot where he now lives, on B Street, August 28, 1861, the son of Peter and Theresa (Waukenhut) Smith, both now deceased, the father in 1870, aged only forty-four, and the mother in 1920 at the ripe age of ninety-two years. Both parents were natives of Germany. The father came to California across the plains in an ox-team train from Ohio in 1850, and engaged in mining at Hangtown, now Placerville, and also at Browns Valley, coming later to Marysville. The mother came via the Isthmus of Panama, in 1850, to San Francisco and then on to Marysville. Peter Smith was a stair-builder by trade and also a pattern-maker; and as a pattern-maker he worked in the Marysville Foundry. He was also an architect and builder, and worked on the chapel of Notre Dame convent in Marysville when it was being erected in 1869-1870; and besides these trades he was a musician of note in the community, a talent which his son inherited. Three children were born to this pioneer couple, our subject being now the only surviving member of the family. The mother was previously married; and her daughter by her first marriage is Mrs. Erich Schmidt, of Yuba City.
Frank Edward Smith was reared and educated in Marysville, and for a time worked in the Marysville Foundry. Later he studied bookkeeping in Napa College, and on returning to his home city was bookkeeper with the Wightman & Hampton Hardware Company, now the Hampton Hardware Company. He served as city clerk and assessor of Marysville from 1888 to 1902, and from 1902 to 1921 was with the Rideout Bank of that city. Always interested in music, Mr. Smith was for years the manager of the Marysville Theater Orchestra and of the Marysville Band, and he still is cornetist in the latter. He was the first man in Marysville to engage in the motion-picture theater business. He formerly ran the Lyric Theater, and is now proprietor of the Liberty Theater. For twenty-four years he has been identified with theatrical and musical work in Marysville.
Prominent in fraternal circles, Mr. Smith is an Odd Fellow of long standing and has been through all chairs in all branches of that order, and also has attended the Grand Lodge meetings and the Grand Encampment. In the Grand Encampment he is a member of the committee on mileage, and was formerly a member of the committee on legislation. He belongs to the Foresters of America; Marysville Parlor, No. 6, N.S.G.W.; Marysville Lodge, No. 783, B.P.O.E.; the Woodmen of the World; and the Fraternal Brotherhood. Equally prominent in civic affairs, for six years he has been a member of the city council. He has always, since his youth, been interested in the local fire department; and he was the means of having the first motor appliances and motor-driven apparatus installed in the department.
The marriage of Mr. Smith occurred on July 22, 1884, in Napa City, and united him with Miss Clara Sheldon, a native of San Francisco. Three daughters have blessed their union: Mrs. Ray Manwell, of Marysville; Mrs. Winona Lininger, of Dunsmuir; and Mrs. Francis E. Benham, of Fresno.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 497