Butte County
Biographies
BYRON
MOORE FALES
BYRON
MOORE FALES.--Ranking among the progressive and successful business men of
Chico, Byron Moore Fales, or "Dick" Fales, as he is familiarly
called, has found Butte County a hospitable place for men of his caliber, who are
not afraid to work at anything in order to get a start, and after once getting
a foothold, can progress with their growing environment. Born in Hutsburg, Geauga County, Ohio, April
3, 1868, he is a descendant of old settlers in that state. Grandfather Lewis Fales was a farmer there,
and his son, Willard E., father of Byron, was born there. Willard E. Fales was a carriage-maker by trade, and after enlisting in the Civil
War and being rejected, he followed that occupation in Ohio. In 1884 he removed to Nebraska and located at
Palmyra, where he established a business and remained three years, then went to
Franklin County, and bought school land and improved a ranch. Later removing to Waynoka, Okla, he took up a
homestead and engaged in his business of carpenter and cabinetmaker. His death occurred in 1911, aged eighty-three
years. His wife, Harriet E. (Miller)
Fales, was born in Ohio, and died in Franklin County, Nebr. They were the parents of eight children, five
boys and three girls, four of whom are now living, three sons and one daughter.
The third child born to his parents, Byron
Moore Fales was reared in Ohio until sixteen years of age, and there received
his education in the public schools. He
went to Palmyra, Nebr., with his parents and followed farming there and also in
Franklin County. In 1888 he went to
Lincoln, that state, and engaged in the restaurant business, being then twenty
years of age, and continued the business in that city until 1902, when he
removed to Rawlins, Wyo., and engaged in ranching for six months. From there he went to Dillon, Mont., on a
stock ranch and rode the range for one year, after which he went to Denver,
Colo., and engaged in the dairy business, at Edgewater, for three years, with a
retail milk business in Denver. In 1907,
Mr. Fales went to Reno, Nev., and prospected in the mining district north of
Reno, but not finding any claims of value, did not waste much tie in that
vicinity.
After these various business ventures, Mr.
Fales decided to come to California and try his fortunes in the Golden
State. Arriving in Chico, in October,
1908, he found himself without a dime in his pockets, and went to work at
anything he could get to do. He soon
found employment in a restaurant, and eighteen months later bought out the
Waffle House, in 1910. He remodeled the
place to some extent, and increased the patronage of the establishment
considerably. In 1911 he took in his
lifetime friend, S. R. Quigley, as a partner, the business becoming Fales and
Quigley, a partnership which has continued in most amicable relationship since
that date. In 1915, the partners bought
out the Federal Cafe, and have since operated both establishments in a first
class manner, catering to the trade of the rapidly growing city. They have also been jointly interested in
horticulture for the past six years, owning two orchards, one an eight-acre
prune orchard on Chico Creek road, and the other a twenty-five-acre almond
orchard at Durham.
Mr. Fales was united in marriage, in
Oroville, October 26, 1914, to Mrs. Susan (Molter) Shermaster, born near Chico,
a daughter of John and Margaret (Edwards) Molter, natives of Ohio and Missouri,
respectively. The father, when nineteen,
came to California via Panama, in 1863, and was one of the pioneer farmers of
Butte County; his death occurred here, in 1909.
The mother was even an earlier pioneer of the state, having crossed the
plains in 1853, and here their marriage occurred; she also died here. Five children were born to this worthy
couple, Mrs. Fales being the youngest in the family. She was first married to Mr. Shermaster, a
native of Tennessee, and by this union had one child, John Byron.
Transcribed by
Rhonda Ruick O'Brien.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1304-1305, Historic Record Co, Los
Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Rhonda Ruick O'Brien.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County
Biographies