Butte County

Biographies


 

 

 

EDWARD LAWLER

 

 

      EDWARD LAWLER.One of the thrifty and successful horticulturists in Butte County is Edward Lawler. The care and improvement of his property denote not only enterprise but progress. “Ed” Lawler, as he is familiarly called, was born near Kingston, Ontario, May 15, 1861. The father, Patrick Lawler, was born in Ireland and settled on a farm in Ontario, where he lived until his death, at the age of eighty. The mother’s maiden name was Mary Whalen; she lived to be eighty-one years old. There were ten children in the family, five of whom are living. The oldest boy, John Lawler, came to Humboldt County, Cal., in 1875, and was accidentally killed in 1913, while in the employ of the Bayside Lumber Company.

      Ed.  Lawler received his education in the public schools and spent his spare time at work on the farm. In 1881, at the age of twenty, he was engaged in lumbering at Macosta, Mich. On April 7, 1882, he came to Humboldt County in the employ of the California Redwood Company on Freshwater, and the following summer engaged in rafting lumber down the Eel River. In 1884 he worked one season for Thomas Clooney, a logging contractor then on Freshwater, then for the Union Lumber Company run by Harpst, Spring and Gannon, for nearly four years. In 1890 Mr. Lawler came to Butte County and was employed by Barney Cussick in his lumber camps, until 1895, when he was placed in charge of a camp for the Sierra Lumber Company. While foreman for that Company at Smoky Creek, in June, 1901, he was caught between the trail of logs in a shute, with six horses hooked on, crushing his left leg and being severely injured.

      Mr. Lawler was taken to the Lane Hospital, San Francisco, and after a period of nine months he was able to return to Chico on crutches, and in another year he returned to the old company, then managed by F. M. Thatcher. Still using his crutches, Mr. Lawler was assigned to the work of firing a stationary engine, and remained in that position until the fall of 1906, when the company was sold to the Diamond Match Company. Mr. Lawler then purchased the Lowe store on Second Street in Chico and carried on the business in stationery, cigars, and confections for nine months, when he decided to devote his time to horticulture.

      In 1900 Mr. Lawler had purchased twenty acres of the Bidwell tract from Barney Cussick and set out ten acres of Muirs, five acres of Tuscan cling, and five acres of Phillip cling peaches. The soil on his ranch is unsurpassed and Mr. Lawler’s excellent care of his trees is demonstrated in the fine returns they yield. The ranch is extensively equipped with trays, dry yards, fruit sheds and house. Besides his own place he leases a twenty-acre prune orchard and cures the product in his own dry yards. Mr. Lawler believes in the sanitary method of curing and caring for fruit. Each spring he washes and cleans his trays and thereby secures a better grade of fruit that is put on the market in A No. 1 shape, thus giving to the consumer a fruit that is wholesome. He manages and superintends the place himself and is an authority on horticultural production. He believes in cooperation and has always advocated that the only way to make a success of the fruit business is to sell through the association. He belongs to the California Peach Growers’ Association, and has the satisfaction of being the second one on the list of members in Chico. In fraternal matters he was formerly an active member of the Odd Fellows. Mr. Lawler is highly esteemed in his community, and is making a splendid success of his undertakings as a fruit-producer.

 

 

Transcribed by Marie Hassard 22 October 2008.

Source: "History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1058-1059, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.


© 2008 Marie Hassard.

 

 

 

 

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