Butte County
Biographies
OTHER T. SHIRLEY
Since 1907, Other
T. Shirley has been a resident of the Gridley section of Butte
County, and during that period he
has developed a fine ranch from raw grain land and is making a success of his
operations. He was born at Carnesville,
Franklin County, Ga., April 1, 1871, a son of Benjamin and Cora (Holbrook)
Shirley, natives of South Carolina and Georgia
respectively. They were farmers in Franklin
and later in Hart County, Ga.,
where the father died. The mother, with
her family, removed to Rexburg, Idaho,
in 1903, and there she died. The father
served for two years in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
Other T. Shirley
was the eldest of ten children and was reared and educated in Hart
County, Ga. He was inured to the labors of farming and in
1902 went to Rexburg, Idaho, with his family, and followed carpentering near Rexburg, on Snake
River, where he helped build the sugar factory. He came to California
in 1907 and purchased a ranch of ten acres in Colony Four, near Gridley, the
land having been an oat field. The first
year he lived in a tent until he was able to build a house and suitable
outbuildings for the comfortable conduct of his property. He added seven acres to his first purchase,
now owning seventeen acres.
Starting with
limited capital, he worked as a carpenter throughout Butte
County the first year, also worked
on the construction of the irrigating canal.
He did the work on the ranch with one horse for the first three years,
then added another animal to his possessions, and is now able to point with
pride to his well improved ranch. On the
place are three walnut trees, eight years old, which produced more than one
hundred pounds of nuts in 1916. He finds
the soil and climate well adapted to the growing of walnuts and is steadily
putting out more trees. Five acres are
in peaches from which he derives satisfactory profit. He raises garden truck of all kinds, also
some fine strawberries. He has a small
dairy of Holstein cows which adds to his income.
Mr. Shirley was
married in Hart County, Ga.,
January 27, 1894, to Miss Agnes Fore, a native of Spring Place, Murray
County, and a daughter of William
and Amanda (Branham) Fore. Her father
was a minister in the Baptist Church
and died in Hart County;
Mrs. Fore makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Shirley near Gridley. They have eight children to make the home
circle cheerful: Peyton, who is in
Company I, One Hundred Forty-second United States Infantry, with the
Expeditionary Forces in France; Adrian, a graduate of Gridley High School, is
the wife of Glenn E. Gee, who is with the United States Expeditionary Forces in
France; Lottie, who married H. Leslie Kimball, also in the United States
service; Vera and Benjamin are attending the Gridley High School; Other T.,
Jr., Lillis and Mavis.
Mr. Shirley is a pioneer in Colony Four,
and with his wife and eldest son is a member of the Yeoman lodge. He is a member and one of the founders of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in which he is an elder. He is a self-made man, and the success he has
attained is the result own efforts, and shows what can be accomplished on the
rich soil with plenty of water for irrigation, coupled with energy and
perseverance properly applied.
Transcribed
by Roseann Kerby.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1033-1034, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Roseann Kerby.
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Butte County Biographies
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