Читать книгу History of Fresno County, Vol. 4 - Paul E. Vandor - Страница 40

One of the most prominent and successful ranchers in the vicinity of Tranquility, Fresno County, is Charles F. Goodrich, the son of a California pioneer and himself a native son, born May 26, 1867, in San Juan, San Benito County. His father, Charles Henry Goodrich, was a native of Maine, who in 1852, came to San Francisco via Cape Horn. At first he was engaged by Flint & Bixby, large landed proprietors in San Benito County, and being very industrious and thrifty he saved his money until he had sufficient capital to engage in the sheep-raising business on his own account. He purchased land and ranged his sheep in Pleasant Valley, near what is now the Coalinga oil district, Fresno County. In 1879, he located at Riverdale, and at one time owned a ranch south of Selma where he followed farming and stock-raising. He died in 1893, while on a trip to the mountains in the Kings River district, and at his passing the county lost a public-spirited citizen. The mother of C. F. Goodrich was Maggie McCarthy, in maidenhood, a native of Ireland who came with her parents to San Francisco when she was a child, and it was in the city by the Golden Gate that she grew to young womanhood, afterwards she going to San Juan, San Benito County, where she married Mr. Goodrich. She passed away in 1877, the mother of five children.

Charles F. Goodrich was the oldest of the five children and was reared in San Benito County until 1879, when he accompanied his father to Fresno County where he attended school in Central Colony, afterwards attending school at Lemoore. At the early age of fifteen years he was obliged to make his own living and at first he was employed at teaming, to and from the mountains, for Mr. Jacobs. Being very ambitious to get a start in business for himself, he saved his money and by the time he was twenty-two he had accumulated enough cash to purchase an outfit and, with his younger brother Edward, leased land at Caruthers where they raised grain and here they continued to farm until the unusually dry year of 1898, when they were obliged to abandon their enterprise and dissolved partnership. After this Charles F. leased swamp lands of Jeff James, above San Joaquin, and here he operated 1,000 acres, used four big teams and had a combined harvester to cut and thresh his crops. After he had disposed of this lease he purchased his present ranch of eighty acres in 1910, and later bought forty acres located one mile farther east. He improved these ranches by leveling and checking, and engaged in raising alfalfa. On one of his ranches he sunk an artesian well, going down 1,100 feet, and to conserve the water for irrigation purposes he constructed a reservoir. His land is especially good for raising grain and alfalfa. In addition to operating his own ranches, Mr. Goodrich leases other land and altogether operates about 900 acres, 200 being devoted to alfalfa and 700 to grain. He helped to build the old Joaquin Ditch and reclaimed about 700 acres of swamp land for Jeff James, the land being known as the old Goodrich Ranch, on the San Joaquin River. He did this work while leasing the land and raising grain. In 1916, C. F. Goodrich, accompanied by his brother and others, went to Lower California, where they engaged in reclamation work of about 62,000 acres below Calexico. They seeded 8,000 acres to wheat and installed two steam pumps for irrigating the land. This concern was composed of ranchers and sheep-men of Tulare, Kings and Fresno Counties, and was known as the Chinn Gravell Company. They remained there one season and it is now leased as fast as water can be supplied.

In 1891, C. F. Goodrich was united in marriage with Miss Mary Elizabeth Forsyth, a native of Scotland, who came to California when a girl, with her parents. The ceremony was solemnized at Caruthers, Fresno County and this happy union was blessed with five children: Naomi, who is a graduate of the San Benito high school, lives with her parents; Ralph, who served in the Seventieth Balloon Company, Aviation Department, U. S. Army: Charles, who also served his country as a member of Company A One Hundred First Engineers, Twenty-sixth Division, and was stationed in France for one year, and saw service through all the battles, going over the top twelve times; Fred, a student at the Caruthers high school and assisting his father on the ranch; Ellsworth, a graduate of the Easton high school, also attended the University of Southern California, and who is now employed by the Standard Oil Company at San Joaquin.

Mr. Goodrich is a very progressive and public-spirited citizen and is especially interested in the advancement of the educational interests of his community, being a trustee of Tranquility School District, as well as a member of the board of trustees of Tranquility Union High School. He is also a director of the Tranquility Irrigation District which embraces over 11,000 acres of land. In national politics he supports the Republican ticket and in early days served as a member of the county central committee. He is one of the directors of the First National Bank of Tranquility.