Yuba County
Biographies
PHILIP M. BYERS
Important interests have been intrusted [sic] to the care of Philip M. Byers, an aggressive young business man, who is ably discharging the duties of general freight and passenger agent at Marysville for the Sacramento Northern Railroad Company, with which he has been connected for several years. He was born at Mechanicsburg, Pa., September 3, 1890, and is a son of Solomon and Barbara (Shatto) Byers, the former of whom successfully engaged in business as a contractor in cement, brick and stone work and is now living retired.
Philip M. Byers attended the public schools to the age of fifteen years, when he left home and went to Lincoln, Nebr., where he remained for a year, working for his uncle, a business man of that city. He then became homesick and returned to Pennsylvania, but two years later again yielded to the lure of the West, deciding to seek his fortune in California. Entering the service of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, he was employed on construction work for sixteen months and then acted as warehouse man at Woodland for a half year. For a similar period he was connected with the drayage business, and then accepted a position with the Sacramento Northern, with which he has since been identified, advancing steadily in their service. He was first stationed at Woodland and went from there to Oroville, where he remained for fourteen months, and was then sent back to Woodland. Four months later he was sent to Chico, where he spent seven months, and was then transferred to East Gridley. He was agent at the latter place for two years, and for three years acted as agent at Woodland. In November, 1920, he was promoted to his present office, for which his experience and ability well qualify him. Through his well-directed efforts the road has secured a large increase in the volume of business transacted in this section of the State.
Mr. Byers was made a Mason in Woodland Lodge, No. 156, F.&A.M., and is a member of Marysville Pyramid, No. 23, A.E.O., Sciots, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Marysville Rotary Club. He gives his political support to the Republican party. His hours of recreation are spent in the open, for he is a lover of outdoor life. With a nature that cannot be content with mediocrity, he has put forth every effort toward the attainment of his objective; and business men respect him for those qualities which have made possible his rise to success. His interest in the welfare of his community is deep and sincere, and during the period of his residence in Marysville he has gained many stanch friends.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 763-764
MRS. HARRIET E. DeWAYNE
A member of one of the old pioneer families of California, Mrs. Harriet E. De Wayne has spent her entire life in the Golden State and for the past ten years has been a resident of Hammonton, where she has a large circle of friends. She was born on the Oakley ranch at Wheatland and comes of an old Colonial family. Her parents were Amasa W. and Elizabeth E. (Whiting) Oakley, the former a native of Fort Wayne, N. Y. The father made the dangerous voyage around Cape Horn in 1849, and the vessel was nine months in reaching its destination, being beaten out of its course by violent storms. Mr. Oakley was an architect by profession. In 1851 he located in Grass Valley, where he followed mining for several years, finally trading his claims for a farm at Wheatland, where he established his home about 1860. He was numbered among that hardy band of brave and venturesome men who blazed the trail and prepared the way for the oncoming thousands, and his life was a long, active and useful one. He passed away at the age of seventy and the mother reached the age of sixty-two years.
Their daughter, Harriet E., is one of a family of four children and the public schools of Wheatland and a private school of Grass Valley constituted her educational privileges. She was married November 2, 1892, to William Henry De Wayne, who was born at Camp Far West, Yuba County, Cal., a son of Morris De Lafayette and Elizabeth (Marshall) De Wayne. Morris De Lafayette De Wayne was a native of New York and as a young man enlisted in the United States Army, being stationed at Fort Mackinac, which was established in 1812. His father was also connected with military affairs, Grandfather De Wayne participating in the Mexican, Civil and Indian wars, and in times of peace he followed the trade of a wagon maker. He went to Oregon in 1849 by way of the Horn and aided in quelling the Indian uprising there, afterward coming to California. He first located at Camp Far West and in 1872 removed to Wheatland, where he continued to make his home for many years, there passing away. Great-grandfather Maurice De Wayne was a soldier in the French Army and came to America with General Lafayette to fight for American independence.
William H. De Wayne is one of a family of nine children. For the past twenty-five years he ahs been employed as a mechanic by the Yuba Consolidated Gold Fields and in 1913 he removed with his wife from Wheatland to Hammonton where they have since lived. He is an expert at his trade and through the able discharge of the duties intrusted [sic] to his charge is contributing his share toward the success of the corporation in whose service he is retained.
Mr. and Mrs. De Wayne have become the parents of five children: Beatrice, the wife of Roy Barrie, of Hammonton; William Oakley, a mechanic, who married Miss Alma Allen of Montana, resides at Hammonton, and has one child, Margaret Avada De Wayne; Max W.; Bertram D.; and Ralph H. Mr. De Wayne is affiliated with the Independent Order of Foresters at Wheatland and Mrs. De Wayne has passed through the chairs of that organization. Mrs. De Wayne’s father was a Mason and she is a member of the Eastern Star, having joined the order at Wheatland. She is a devoted wife and mother and possesses those qualities which awaken respect, admiration and esteem.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 764