SAMUEL N. BOYLES

Butte County

Biographies

SAMUEL N. BOYLES

SAMUEL N. BOYLES.--The interests with which Samuel N. Boyles is connected are of a varied nature and indicate his adaptability to different enterprises and the resourcefulness of his mind. A native son of California, he was born at Gridley, Butte County, March 28, 1868, a son of John and Charlotte (Evans) Boyles, who were born in Ohio and Illinois respectively, and who were married in Marysville, Cal. John Boyles came from Ohio to California, in 1852, and was employed in a livery and feed stable

at Marysville for a time, after which he drifted into teaming and hauling freight to and from the mining section, Downieville, Sierra Valley and other nearby camps. He was successful and saved his money, and in partnership with the late John Allison Evans,

under the firm name of Boyles and Evans, farmed large tracts of land to grain, and conducted large warehouses at Gridley. For a time they were the largest wheat-raisers in Butte County. The big flood of 1880-1881 proved disastrous to them, as it undermined

their large warehouse until it tipped over and, with its contents (it was filled with wheat), fell into the river and was destroyed. After the dissolution of the partnership, Mr. Boyles moved into Chico where he lived until his death in 1911, at the age of seventy-three years. Mrs. Boyles is living with a sister in Woodland. She bore her husband eight children: John Franklin; Mrs. Dillon; Samuel N.; Virginia, now Mrs. Payne; Olive, deceased; and C. M., also deceased; E. A., and Hazel, Mrs. Ralph White.

S. N. Boyles attended the West Liberty school at Gridley and was reared at home, doing what he could to assist his father in the conduct of his various lines of business. At the age of twenty-one he began construction work on the public roads; in 1904 he started to work on grading for the railroad, and the following year became a contractor, doing all kinds of grading, excavating and construction work. He graded the roadbed and right of way for the Northern Electric Railway from Durham to Rio Bonita; then filled a contract south of Bear River, where he put in eleven miles. In 1907 he began working on the construction of the Western Pacific, doing some 286,000 cubic yards in the neighborhood of Bear River in four months. Early in 1908 he rented his work-mules to James Mallon of Princeton, who was preparing land for the cultivation of rice, and who continued to use the stock until 1913. That year he rented three hundred thirty-six mules to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. He now owns two hundred head of mules, all good working stock; one hundred stock cattle; and one thousand graded Shropshire sheep.

As success has come to Mr. Boyles he has invested his money in farm lands and in 1908 bought a section of land, his present home place, to which he added by purchase, in 1913, three hundred sixty acres, and in 1918 added eight hundred eighty acres, all good farming land. He has erected a commodious and up-to-date country residence, with adequate barns and outbuildings to cover the needs of a progressive ranchman. He has thirty-five acres of five-year-old almond trees, and fifty acres of two-year-old trees. In 1917 he had five hundred fifty acres in wheat, barley, hay and pasture. His place is known as the "Aguas Frias Rancho," it having been a part of an old Spanish grant, and is located about three and one half miles southwest from Durham. The land is in a high state of cultivation and produces large crops each year. He is painstaking in his work about his ranch, gives his personal attention to its management, and is just and considerate of those in his employ, and in return is highly respected by them.

Mr. Boyles was united in marriage at Biggs, with Miss Birdie Keith, a native of Butte County, and they have had four children: Samuel Keith, who died at the age of six years; Wilma, a graduate of the Chico Normal; Leita, attending the high school; and Jack Morgan, a grammar school student. Mr. Boyles is a Knight Templar Mason; belongs to the Elks Lodge; the Woodmen of the World; and, with Mrs. Boyles, is a member of the Eastern Star. He was one of the organizers of the Commercial Bank of Durham and is a stockholder in the same. He is public spirited in all things and willingly contributes of his time and means to further all projects that he deems worthy, and which will help to build up his county. He is a self-made man, all that he has in worldly goods having been acquired by his own personal efforts, and his standing in the community as a leader is due to his strict integrity and high sense of personal honor.

Transcribed by Sande Beach.

Source: "History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 551-552, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.

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