Butte County
Biographies
JOHN RETSON
JOHN RETSON.--The identification of
the Retson family with the Golden State dates back to
those exciting times in the early fifties when the eyes of the world were
turned toward the Eldorado of the Pacific Coast.
Charles Retson, the Argonaut, the father of our
subject, was born in Germany. He followed the sea; and as a first mate of a
sailing vessel he came to San Francisco by the way of Cape Horn, after having
made several trips to Chili [sic], South America. In the early fifties he
arrived at Bidwell’s Bar, Butte County, and was among
the early placer gold miners of that section. He was very successful at mining,
and later became a prosperous stockman and an extensive landowner. Charles Retson,
associated with C. K. Chapman and Will Slater, built the first
sawmill above Bidwell’s Bar. Mr. Retson married a widow, Mrs. Charles William Johnson,
whose maiden name was Constant Peasley, a native of
Ireland. She came to New York, where she married Charles Johnson; and they emigrated to California in the early fifties to engage in
gold mining at Bidwell’s Bar. Mr. Johnson died,
leaving three children: Charles, now deceased; Eliza, who became Mrs. Cole,
also deceased; and Richard, who resides at Oregon City, Butte County. Mr. and
Mrs. Retson were the parents of four children: William,
who died at the age of thirty-three; and Thomas, Alice, and John. John Retson, the subject of this sketch, was born on May 4,
1868.
After his marriage, Charles Retson located at Thompson’s Flat. This was in the early
fifties; and his first employment was that of placer mining. Later he became
the first successful stock-raiser on Thompson’s Flat. He died in 1893, being
then seventy-three years old; and the mother passed away in 1896, having
attained the same number of years as her husband. At the time of the father’s
death, he owned the range at Stirling, consisting of
six hundred forty acres; the Boxall range, in
Potter’s Ravine, containing eleven hundred sixty acres; and the Retson home place of nine hundred sixty acres. The heirs of
Charles Retson, who are all single, have formed a
partnership consisting of John, Alice and Thomas, and are harmoniously working
together for the best interests of their large cattle ranch, near Thermalito. There is an old abandoned gold mine on the
ranch, which no doubt will some day, when operated by up-to-date methods, yield
a rich supply of the precious metal. The Retsons have
a very comfortable farm home on the place, and the soil and climate are
favorable for the growing of olives, peaches, figs and oranges, if properly
cared for. These worthy descendants of honored pioneers are highly respected in
the community where they live.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
23 October 2008.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Page 1050, Historic Record Co, Los
Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's
Butte County Biographies