Butte County
Biographies
MRS. JOSEPHINE LANGWITH
MRS.
JOSEPHINE LANGWITH.--The descendant of an honored pioneer family of the Golden
State, Mrs. Josephine Langwith is a native
daughter and was born at Quincy, Plumas
County. Her father, William Myers,
was born in Ohio, and when he was ten years old his
parents came west to California,
bringing their son with them. After a few years spent here the boy was sent
back to Ohio to finish his
education, and after he had reached young manhood he once more came to this
state. In 1863 he was united in marriage at Quincy,
with Miss Sarah Howard and they became the parents of two children, Josephine
and Willis. The latter is interested in the oil business and resides in Santa
Barbara County.
After his marriage, Mr. Myers continued his ranching pursuits in Plumas
County, then removed to Butte
County where he still carried on
farming. About 1898 he moved to Magalia and engaged in the hotel and livery
business, and where he is at this writing engaged as a government mail-carrier,
as he has been for the past twenty years. Although
past seventy-five, he is hale and
hearty, and one of the best known men of his section of Butte
County. His estimable wife shares
with him the good will and esteem of a large circle of friends.
Josephine
Myers was reared amidst the environments that confronted the pioneer settlers
of this state and attended the schools in Butte
County in pursuit of her education.
In May, 1897, at Oroville, she was united in marriage with W. L. Langwith, a
native of New York State.
When he was a lad of fourteen he went into Michigan
and was engaged in lumbering. In 1887, hearing the call of the West, he
migrated to California and for a time worked at Lovelock, later moving to
Magalia, where he was engaged in the hotel and livery business for twenty
years. In April, 1906, having saved his earnings, he decided he would retire
from active pursuits and, with his wife, moved to Chico.
He purchased property at the corner of Third Avenue and Esplanade, where they
made their home, and where he died on April 5, 1917, when about seventy years
of age. He invested in other properties in and about Chico
and gave them his personal time and attention. He was a man of much public
spirit and believed in progress in every avenue of affairs, and he made and
kept his friends. He was of a jovial disposition, always looking on the bright
side of life and being ready at all times to lend a helping hand to worthy
people in order to give them a start in life. He was a home-loving man and
never so happy as when by his own fireside.
Since
the death of her husband, Mrs. Langwith continues to make her home at her
comfortable residence in Chico Vecino, where she has a wide circle of friends.
She is a member of the Fourth Street Methodist Episcopal Church, the Chico
Chapter of the Red Cross, and of the Women of Woodcraft. She is interested in
the public questions of the day and in the preservation of the historic relics
of the past.
Transcribed by Sande Beach.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 941-942, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
©
2008 Sande
Beach.
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