Читать книгу History of Fresno County, Vol. 3 - Paul E. Vandor - Страница 31

A place among the women who have left their impress on the development of Fresno County should be accorded Mrs. Myra Shimmins, a native daughter of California, born in Yorktown, Tuolumne County, and a resident of Fresno for the past twenty-eight years. She is a descendant of pioneers of the state from both sides of the family. Her father, Samuel Piatt, a native of Maine, came to California in early days, and was a miner in Tuolumne County, having discovered one of the successful and productive mines there, known as the Piatt and Gilson Mine. He lived all his time in Tuolumne County, and died there. Mrs. Shimmins' maternal grandfather was Fred Klein; he came around the Horn to California in '49, and arrived in San Francisco when it was a city of tents, with all the excitement and lawlessness of a new frontier town. He went to Tuolumne County, established a store at Yorktown, planted a vineyard and orchard, and died there.

After the death of Samuel Piatt, his widow moved the family to a ranch in the county. Later the family removed to the Livermore Valley, and there Myra Piatt married William F. Shimmins, a native of Wisconsin, who had come to California in 1885, and located in Livermore Valley. He was a railroad man, and later was baggage man in the Southern Pacific depot, at Los Angeles. In 1890 Mr. and Mrs. Shimmins moved to Fresno, and here Mr. Shimmins was in the employ of the San Joaquin Light and Power Company for many years. His death occurred in February, 1915. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Shimmins: William F., a sergeant in the United States Army; Mrs. Ida A. Perry, of Chicago; Mrs. Hazel R. Paul, of Hanford; and Olen L., who has charge of his mother's florist shop in Fresno.

Always fond of flowers, and a great lover of the beauties of nature, Mrs. Shimmins decided to put this talent to practical use, and in 1902 started a florist shop in a small way, locating at 1145 I Street. With a natural incentive for the work from the beginning, she soon built up a fine business, and now occupies one of the stores in the Griffith-McKenzie Building, on T Street. In 1900 Mrs. Shimmins bought two and one-half acres in the Sierra Park tract, on Belmont Avenue, near Van Ness. This property she let remain idle for a few years, then subdivided the land, and it is now all built up with fine homes. She was a pioneer in that district and the first to build a home there, the land being originally in orchards and vineyard.

Mrs. Shimmins recalls her early days in Fresno, when irrigating ditches ran through the heart of the city and all the important corners in the business district were occupied by blacksmith shops. The courthouse park was as popular then as now, and the mothers took their children to the park in summer to enjoy the shade and flowers. Mrs. Shimmins has cheerfully done her share in building up the city to its present prosperous condition, has shown much business acumen and public spirit, and withal has been an excellent mother, giving her children a good education and fitting them for the battle of life.