Butte County
Biographies
CHARLES G. THUNEN
CHARLES G. THUNEN.—An energetic,
enterprising native son who applies the most up-to-date methods in his work,
and while standing as a successful man of affairs he is also the representative
of a fine old family, is Charles G. Thunen, who was
born in Flea Valley, Butte County, thirty miles north of Oroville, May 4,
1865. His father was William Thunen, a native of
Germany, who came to the United
States and settled in Iowa,
where he worked at his trade as a blacksmith. In 1862 or 1863, the family
crossed the Isthmus of Panama. On their arrival in California,
they settled in Butte County,
in Flea Valley,
and later removed to Cherokee. There he worked as a blacksmith in the
mine, and there he died in his fifty-ninth year.
Mrs.
William Thunen was Johanna Tebbe,
a native of Germany, who came to Iowa,
where she was married. When the Indians bothered them, her husband taught
her how to shoot; and this stood her in good stead, for they were here when the
Lewis children were massacred by the Indians. Now she makes her home with
her children, the proud mother of ten sons and daughters. Lizzie, Mrs.
Salisbury, died at Oroville; Fred, who resides in the same town, is an
electrician; Mary died at Cherokee in her fourth year; Gerhard and Henry both
died here; William is a photographer at Hamilton; John and
Edward are electricians in Oakland; Frank is an attorney
in San Francisco; and Charles G. is
the subject of this sketch.
Brought
up in Cherokee, Charles G. Thunen attended the public
schools there, and early showed his handiness with tools. He was a clever
iron-worker, but concluded to follow in the field of the electrician, and after
some years in Cherokee, in the mines, he settled, in 1889, in Oroville. As
an electrician and machinist he had charge of the power house for the Banner, Golden
Gate and Golden Feather mines, on the river at this
point. The plant furnished the power for these mines, and in that service
Mr. Thunen continued for five years. He then was
dredge-master for two different companies in Oroville, for three
years. Then he went to Siskiyou, for the Siskiyou Consolidated Gold
Dredging Company, occupying for two years the position of dredge-master.
On
his return to Oroville, Mr. Thunen opened a
motorcycle and bicycle store and went in for both the sale of sporting goods
and the doing of light machine work. His place was on Montgomery
Street, and it is still called the Thunen Cyclery. This he ran
for six or seven years, when he sold out, and entered the employ of the Feather
River Garage as a first-class machinist, continuing this until his son Howard
enlisted, when he again became proprietor of the Thunen
Cyclery.
Mr.
Thunen was married at Oroville to Miss Kate Knecht, who was born in San Francisco,
the daughter of George Knecht, a native of Germany,
who came to California as a
pioneer butcher, and located in Cherokee, later removing to Oroville, where he
followed his trade. Four children blessed this union: George, a graduate
of the University of California, is an electrical and mechanical engineer, and
is now engaged as such in Missouri; Louis, a graduate of Heald’s
Business College, now in United States service; Howard, who was in the cyclery business in Oroville, now in Marine Aviation
service, United States Navy; and Catherine, a graduate of the Oroville high
school.
Mr.
Thunen is a Democrat. He has served for several
terms as school trustee, and was a member of the school board when the new
grammar school was constructed. He is an Odd Fellow, connected with the
Lodge at Cherokee, has been Noble Grand twice, and is an ex-representative of
the Grand Lodge, and a member of the Encampment of the
Odd Fellows here; and he also belongs to the Red Men. Mrs. Thunen is a member of the Rebekahs
and the Neighbors of Woodcraft.
Transcribed 2-18-08 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: "History
of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 743-744, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
©
2008 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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