Butte
County
Biographies
J. E. FRAZIER
J.
E. Frazier, one of the most active men in the affairs of Butte County, is the
representative of the Ford Motor Company at Gridley, a rancher of prominence,
and is widely known in Republican circles, having served as mayor and
councilman of Gridley, and was elected state assemblyman to represent the
district composed of Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties. Mr. Frazier is, in fact, in contact with all
affairs of merit in the community in which he resides, and in social and
fraternal circles occupies a most favorable position. His birth occurred in Siskiyou County, May
24, 1881, his parents being Joseph and Marian Frazier. The father was a mining man and farmer, who
came to California by the water route around the Horn in 1850. He was a native Virginian, and when the Civil
War broke out in 1861 he returned to fight for the Confederacy. He later returned to Siskiyou County, and
here passed the remainder of his life in farming. His wife also passed away in this county.
J.
E. Frazier attended the common schools of Siskiyou County, and completed a high
school course at Oakland, California, in 1900.
He then engaged in mechanical work for several years, and in the grocery
business for a time, but sold out and operated a machine shop until 1914, when
he became superintendent of the Ford Motor Company plant at San Francisco,
there remaining until 1920, at which time he came to Gridley as the
representative of the Ford Corporation, dealing in their entire line of
products. He also has the largest garage
in Gridley. In addition to his
automobile business, Mr. Frazier operates a farm of four hundred and seventy
acres near Gridley, on which he raises peaches, grain, alfalfa, and rice.
Mr.
Frazier is a staunch Republican, and most active in his party. He was mayor of Gridley for two years, and
has been on the city council for nine years, now in his third term. He is at this writing a candidate for the
state assembly for the district comprising Yuba, Butte and Sutter
counties. His interest in civic matters
is indicated by his work for the Rotary Club, for which organization he served
as the first secretary. He has attained
high rank in Masonry, originally belonged to the blue lodge at Oakland, but
transferred to Gridley, and belongs to the chapter at Oakland, and the
commandery at Oroville. Mr. Frazier was
first a member of Island Temple of the Mystic Shrine at San Francisco, but
demitted to Ben Ali Temple at Sacramento.
He belongs to Oroville Lodge, No. 1484, Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks, and the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at
Gridley. He is a loyal member of Oakland
Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West, and holds a high place on the local
farm board.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 2 Pages 434-435. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies