Butte County
Biographies
EDMUND WILSON FOGG
EDMUND WILSON FOGG.--When the history
of the orange and olive industry in Northern California is written, and
particularly those chapters dealing with the development of that industry on a
commercial basis, a decidedly high place of honor will be given to E. W. Fogg, a prominent citizen, and for many years a banker and
horticulturist of Oroville, who came to this city in December, 1857, having
been born in Thomaston, Maine, June 25, 1849. He is a son of Timothy Fogg, who was born in
The
second youngest child and the only one now living, Edmund Wilson Fogg, came with his sister to California in 1857, traveling
from New York to Aspinwall on the Northern Light, and
proceeding north along the coast from the Isthmus on the steamer John L.
Stephens, finally completing the journey by boat to Sacramento, thence by stage
to Oroville, where he arrived on the last day of the year. He was educated in
the public schools and from a lad assisted his father in the latter's boot and
shoe store. For a time he was employed on the Oroville Democrat as
"printer's devil"; later he accepted employment in a drug store, of
which Louis Glass, now of
Leaving this position with the intention of once more taking up his studies, Mr. Fogg, however, a few days later was advised by his father that James Nelson, cashier and manager of the Rideout, Smith and Company bank, wanted him for his assistant, and in January, 1868, he entered the bank's employ. It was the only bank here at that time and he endeavored to perform the duties conscientiously; that he must have succeeded and proven satisfactory to Mr. Nelson is shown by the fact that he was retained at a satisfactory salary. In 1872, Mr. Nelson died and Mr. Fogg was made cashier and manager of the Bank of Rideout, Smith and Company, now the Rideout-Smith National Bank. When Mr. Fogg entered the employ of the bank, aside from making loans, the larger part of its business was the buying of gold dust, and there were also a few open accounts, most of the patrons taking certificates of deposit. Interest was then at the rate of two and one half per cent. per month. After he had assumed the position to which he had been elevated, Mr. Fogg introduced new methods and the accounts grew in number and amounts. When the farmers of the valley took steps to close down the mines, and succeeded in doing so, Oroville lost its main support and a great different was made in its business interests. The first mine enjoined by the state anti-debris law was the Miocene, located opposite Oroville, which had been purchased by eastern capitalists who located water rights and built a canal, spending in all about two hundred seventy-five thousand dollars. Their preparations had just been completed when the order came to close down to conform to the new law. They applied for two weeks' time in which to make their clean-up, and this was granted them, and the result was some fifteen thousand dollars for a two weeks' run, thereby showing that they had a valuable and paying property. When the mine closed down the employees received their pay and began to drift to other places and the effect was felt among the business men of the town.
It
was at this time that Mr. Fogg suggested to Major
McLaughlin, then manager of the mine, that he and A. F. Jones and Mr. Fogg get together and colonize this section of the county
on the north side of the river, and in so doing use the water from the Miocene
Mining Company's canal. Mr. Fogg's idea was to build
up an industry to take the place of what had been lost through the closing of
the mines, and in this move he showed just that business sagacity and foresight
so important and valuable to the future commercial interests of the district.
In
Mr.
Fogg's associates said that the business men could
not be interested, but he had faith in the people of Oroville. The company was
organized under the direction of Mr. Fogg, on
February 26, 1886, and was called the Oroville Citrus Association; in three
days he had all the capital subscribed by the following citizens: John J.
Smith, W. M. Bowers, L. H. Mead, Brock and Taber, H. C. Bell and Company, M. Reyman, Perkins and Company, P. R. Persons, G. W. Harney,
C. F. Lott, G. A. Gates, E. W. Fogg, Jenkin Morgan, Louis Glass, A. F. Jones, D. N. Friesleben, Ed Harkness, Samuel Ostroski, R. M. Green, and L. D. Freer. This was the first
orange grove planted for commercial purposes in
After thirty years in the bank, twenty-six of which he was manager, Mr. Fogg resigned his position, to devote his entire time and energies to horticulture, principally the Fogg Olive Grove, until recently, when it was sold to the Ehmann Olive Company, after having been brought up to a high state of perfection. This is the grove from which the above company gained their reputation for a superior pack.
Mr. Fogg has been active in Republican councils, at one time being a member of the Republican State Central Committee, and in 1912 he was particularly active in the cause of the Progressives. He is now serving his second term as City Trustee. During his first term Mr. Fogg suggested the securing of a Carnegie Library appropriation for Oroville. With the assistance of his wife, who was a member of the first board of library trustees, and at this time a member thereof, and particularly with the influence of Oroville's friend, United States Senator George C. Perkins (then in Washington, D. C.), it was accomplished, and the result was the erection of the present Carnegie Library building, which is a credit to the city of Oroville.
Mr. Fogg, in 1873, took the leading part in the organization of the Oroville Fire Department, and was prominent in raising funds for the purchase of the present home of the department. The fire-fighting apparatus consisted at that time of a Babcock hook and ladder truck, with eight Babcock fire extinguishers. He also served as foreman of the Fire Department for ten years, and was treasurer for many years, and today, as a City Trustee, he is advocating the bonding of the city for funds to purchase modern fire apparatus. For years Mr. Fogg has been a member of the Chamber of Commerce.
Mr.
Fogg was married, in
Transcribed by Sande Beach.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 683-687, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Sande Beach.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies