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.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte
County Biographies