Butte County
Biographies
MRS. KATHRINA LETCHER
MRS. KATHRINA LETCHER.—A pioneer woman of Butte County
who has taken her place in the business world, and is highly esteemed for her
fine personality and public spirit, Mrs. Kathrina
Letcher was born near Offenburg, Baden,
Germany, September 20,
1846. Her father was Isaac Snider, who was born, reared and married in Baden;
his wife was Christine Rinkle, and she was also born
in that same locality. In 1849, Mr. Snider came to the United
States. In 1852 he crossed the plains
with ox teams to California, and upon his arrival here
engaged in mining in Gibsonville, Amador
County. He liked the country
very much and was much impressed with the people; so he decided he would make
this his future home, and homesteaded one hundred sixty acres of land on Mud
Creek, Butte County,
which he improved. In 1869, he was joined by his family, they having come
from Germany. He
farmed his land and made a comfortable home, and was active
up to the time of his death. His wife died in Oakland.
Of the five
children in the family, Kathrina was the third in
order of birth. She was reared in Baden and was educated in the public
school, and in 1869 came, with her mother and the other children, to join her
father in California. They
embarked from Havre, France,
and on arriving in New York,
crossed the continent on one of the first continental trains running from coast
to coast, the trip taking seventeen days. She remained under her father’s
roof until her marriage, in 1870, to John Stokes. He was born in
Schleswig, at Dusseldorf, and came to America
in young manhood, and in an early day came across the plains to California
with an ox team. The newly married couple took up farming two miles east of Cana,
where they improved a fine ranch of one hundred sixty acres. Mr. Stokes
died in 1872, aged forty-nine. They had one son, Isaac Stokes, who is now
the owner of the original Stokes home ranch, given him by his mother. This
he farms, besides running a blacksmith shop in Chico Vecino. He
is married and has one son, Gene, who is a machinist, but is now in the
aviation section of the signal corps, United States Army. After the death
of her husband, Mrs. Stokes continued to run the ranch, and as she succeeded
she added to the original place three hundred twenty acres adjoining. She
raised grain and stock, and met with more than the ordinary success.
For her second husband, Mrs. Stokes married George Pfeiffer,
who was a native of Prussia. He
was a blacksmith by trade, and ran a shop on the ranch. He died in 1879, leaving
a son, Fred Pfeiffer, who is a grain buyer, and makes his home with his
mother. Mrs. Pfeiffer again married, her third husband being Valentine
Letcher, a native of Switzerland.
In
1908 Mrs. Letcher moved from her ranch of three hundred twenty acres, which she
had moved upon and improved, to Chico,
where she purchased a comfortable residence in Chico Vecino,
and where she now lives in the quiet enjoyment of a well-earned rest. She
believes in being progressive, and to show her faith in Chico
she erected business buildings, including a store building, a garage and a
blacksmith shop, in Esplanade, between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets. Mrs.
Letcher is a liberal supporter of all projects that have for their aim the upbuilding of Butte
County. She is a member of the
Lutheran Church,
and in politics is a Republican.
Transcribed 2-4-08
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 693-694, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
©
2008 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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