Butte County
Biographies
JOHN BEAN
JOHN BEAN.—Butte County, so wonderfully rich in scenic beauty and fertility of soil, has also demonstrated the rich returns that may be realized from grazing cattle in the fertile valleys and sweeping plains. Men of discernment have appreciated this, as is manifest by the many successful men engaged in that business in Butte County. Among the men of this class, John Bean, who resides on his one-hundred-sixty-acre ranch, seven miles southeast of Oroville, in Wyandotte precinct, is a worthy example of what may be accomplished by one who thoroughly understands the business of stock-raising. Conservative in his methods, frugal in his habits, he handles the situation as only one who has been brought up from early boyhood in the business and taught all about handling cattle can understand it and handle it. He was born in Wyandotte, July 16, 1866. His father, Palmer Bean, was one of the pioneers of Butte County, and was born in Hancock County, Ill., where he married a native daughter of that state and county before coming to California. In common with others from various Eastern states, in the days of the early history of California, they were induced by the wonderful tales of the riches of the Western country to try their fortunes also in the Golden West, and came to California in 1854, settling in Wyandotte, Butte County. They were the parents of seven children, four of whom are living; Frank, Henry, John and George, all of them residents of Butte County. The mother died while still a young woman.
John Bean, brought up on his father’s ranch, is “to the manor born” in the requisites demanded in the cattle business. He married Miss Alice C. Frasier, and they have three children, namely: Hazel, wife of Elmer Fry, who resides in Oroville; Carl E., in the United States Army, Quartermaster’s Department; and Gladys Helen, at home with her parents.
In addition to his ranch, Mr. Bean rents an additional two thousand acres upon which he grazes cattle. He owns three hundred fifty head of cattle; he is also the owner of a gold mine in Plumas County, where he works a small force of miners during every rainy season when there is enough water for placer mining. He owns his home place of one hundred sixty acres and one hundred sixty acres in Plumas County. Mr. Bean is a fine man, of cheerful disposition, respected in the neighborhood, where he and his good wife have many friends. He is a member of Oroville Parlor, No. 8, N. S. G. W.; Mrs. Bean belongs to the Women of Woodcraft.
Transcribed
by Sharon Walford Yost.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1188-1189, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Sharon
Walford Yost.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies