Butte County
Biographies
CRAIG BROTHERS
JAMES & ROBERT K. CRAIG
CRAIG BROTHERS.--The firm of Craig
Brothers, composed of James and Robert K. Craig, doing business two miles south
of Gridley, is one of the recognized factors in agricultural affairs in the
Gridley district, Butte County. James Craig was born near Belfast, Ireland,
April 20, 1853; and Robert K. Craig first saw the light of day in the
same place, on May 22, 1857. Ever since that time the brothers have lived along
the same lines; and they have been associated in business ventures together. In
1864 they accompanied their parents to America, and with them settled in Perry
County, Ill., where they attended the district schools and grew to young
manhood on their father’s farm. In 1879, with the true pioneer spirit, the
brothers went to the frontier in Kansas, and, locating two miles from Garden
City, Finney County, began the development of a farm. The land was virgin soil,
and they broke the prairie and built up a good home; and for twenty-eight years
they contributed by their industry to the upbuilding
of that state. They were pioneer irrigating-ditch and road builders, and became
owners of a large tract of land, having some five hundred acres on which they
grew alfalfa. They plowed the first land for ditches in their county, and
watched with interest the steady growth of Garden City from a hamlet of a few
houses to a city of more than five thousand souls.
After having succeeded with their work in
Kansas, the brothers decided to come to California, and in the fall of 1906
they arrived at Gridley with the fortune they had made in Kansas. They
purchased two hundred ninety-four acres of the Krusick
ranch, two miles south of Gridley, and in their new home location have achieved
the same degree of success that they enjoyed in the Middle West. When they took
the land, it was part of a large grain field. By applying the methods that made
their work a success in their former location, they have wrought a wonderful
change in the property, and brought the ranch to a high state of
productiveness. They have set out an orchard of prunes and a sixty-acre
vineyard. At first they had two hundred acres in alfalfa; but later this was
plowed up and sown to grain, the greater part of the land being devoted to
wheat, barley and oats. Their yield for 1917 was three thousand sacks of oats;
and in 1918 they harvested sixteen hundred sacks of wheat. They are building up
a fine poultry business, also, with White Leghorn chickens, this branch of
their business alone netting them one hundred twenty-five dollars per month.
They have from one thousand to fifteen hundred laying hens, and all the
buildings for the poultry are modern and sanitary. The property is further
improved by two fine country homes that the brothers have erected for their
respective families.
James Craig married Miss Annie J. Flynn, a
native of Connecticut; and they have five children: James R., an employe in the Rideout Bank of
Gridley; Clinton F., who conducts the Butte Garage in Gridley; Catherine M., a
graduate of Chico State Normal, and a teacher in Gridley; Lloyd D., in the
Ninth Aviation Corps, U. S. A.; and Isabelle, attending Stanford
University. James Craig is a firm friend of education. He has served as a
trustee of the Gridley school, and in 1917 was
chairman of the board; during these years the new and modern Wilson Grammar
School building was erected, and the McKinley School building was rebuilt.
Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. In national
matters he is a Socialist, but in local affairs he supports men rather than
party. He is a hard worker; and by his industry and public spirit he has won a
host of friends in his adopted home place.
Robert K. Craig was united in marriage
with Miss Cora B. Bowzer, a native of Iowa; and they
have two daughters: Iona G., a student at the Chico State Normal, and Martha
M., attending the Gridley High School. Mr. Craig is a member of the Yeoman.
Politically a Socialist, he nevertheless reserves the right to vote for the men
best qualified for office, regardless of party lines. With his family he enjoys
a wide circle of friends in Butte County.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
16 October 2008.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages
1065-1066, Historic
Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's
Butte County Biographies