Butte County
Biographies
CHARLES LAWRENCE FALCK
CHARLES LAWRENCE FALCK.—Into the history of the Falck
family is interwoven the romance of the early days in California, when the gold
excitement was at its height and stage-robbers infested the mountain trails,
ready to ply their trade upon the unwary travelers and take from them the gold
won by hard labor at the mines. John C. Falck, the
father of Charles Lawrence, was born in Sweden, and went to sea when a lad,
sailing to foreign ports, and finally becoming mate. He came around Cape Horn
to San Francisco when the discovery of gold was heralded to the world, and
there he left the vessel and rushed to the mines. A few years later he returned
to his native land and there married Sophia Hedstrum,
and came back to California with his bride. He became part owner in the Buckeye
Mine and was superintendent of it for many years, until the mine was sold to a
New York company. In 1876 he moved to what is now Woodleaf,
Yuba County, then called Woodville, and there he engaged in the hotel business,
and ranching. The hotel building had been built in 1857 by a Mr. Wood, brick
which were burned in that section being used for its
construction. It was then finished and furnished with mahogany, with velvet
hangings, the most gorgeous in the state. It is located on the stage road from
Marysville to Oroville, and also on the Quincy road. It has always been the
stage station where the stage stops over night. In early days from ten to
twenty teams would stop over night, and the hotel was a popular stopping-place
for big mining men, as well as stockmen and travelers, many notables having
visited there, among them Lotta Crabtree, the
actress, the idol of San Francisco in those days and the namesake of Lotta’s Fountain in that city. She was a friend of Mrs.
John C. Falck, and enjoyed the beauties of the spot while
visiting her friend. The hotel is built on a point, with a magnificent view.
The waters on the south side flow into the Yuba River and on the north side,
into the Feather River. The altitude is twenty-nine hundred fifty feet, and
water is obtained from a big mountain spring one mile above the hotel, from
which water is piped to the buildings. It has a pressure of one hundred twenty
feet and is left running all the time. Mr. and Mrs. John C. Falck
made this their home until they died, the former in
1908, and the latter in 1912. They were the parents of three children.
The first child born to his parents and
the only one now living, Charles Lawrence Falck, was born near Gibsonville, Plumas County, August 14, 1868.
He was reared in Plumas County until 1876, when his parents removed to Woodleaf, Yuba County. After completing the public schools
of the district, he entered Sackett’s Academy, at
Oakland, and on graduating from that institution, he took a course at the old
Pacific Business College in San Francisco, finishing there in 1886. He then
returned home and assisted his father in the hotel business. In 1897, he opened
a store and engaged in the general merchandise business at Woodleaf,
and at the same time secured the post office at that point. Up to this time the
place had been called Woodville, but the name was made Woodleaf
by the postoffice department, and Mr. Falck also changed the name of their inn to Hotel Woodleaf. He built a large social hall with oak floor made
from native oak lumber, and built a residence for himself,
also big barns and blacksmith shops. The ranch is located on the county line;
the Butte-Yuba county line originally ran through the center of the hotel. One
hundred eighty-two acres are in grain, and the balance of the property is used
in stock-raising, a portion being reserved for the raising of vegetables,
irrigating from the Forbestown Ditch. During pioneer
days, Black Bart, the noted bandit, was a guest of the hotel at one time, and
the day after stopping there he robbed the La Porte stage, left his
P. O. 8 in the express box and made his escape. Mr. Falck has among his historical treasures some old pictures
of the hotel, taken in 1857.
The marriage of Mr. Falck,
which occurred April 5, 1899, in San Francisco, united him with Miss Agnes
Riker, who was born in Oakdale, Stanislaus County, a daughter of Daniel and
Alpha (Hardin) Riker. The father was born in Indiana and raised in Missouri,
coming when a young man to California, crossing the plains in the sixties. The
mother was born in Missouri and crossed the plains with her parents. They were
pioneers of Oroville after their marriage, where Mr. Riker was a contractor and
builder and helped build the town. His death occurred thirty years ago. The
mother is still living and resides in Sacramento. Five children were born to
this pioneer couple, three girls and two boys, Mrs. Falck
being the second oldest in the family. She received her education in the public
schools and on graduating from the high school entered the Chico State Normal,
graduating with the class of 1898, and engaged in teaching, at Woodleaf, until her marriage.
Mr. and Mrs. Falck
have had four children born to them, as follows: Bernice, a graduate of the
Oroville high school and now attending the Chico State Normal, class of 1919;
Helen, attending high school; Lawrence; and Wilbert. From 1915 to 1917, the
family resided in Oroville, in order to educate the children, and in 1917
located in Chico. With her sister, Mrs. Compton, Mrs. Falck
owns the old family home at Oroville. Mr. Falck was
trustee of Empire Hill school district and clerk of the board for many years,
and has always taken an active interest in the educational advancement of the
county. Fraternally, he is a member of Brownsville Lodge, Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, and Mrs. Falck is a member of Orange
Grove Lodge of Rebekahs, at Oroville. Mr. Falck is a Republican.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
01 July 2009.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1196-1197, Historic Record Co, Los
Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's
Butte County Biographies