Butte County
Biographies
MRS. MATA WOOLEVER
MRS. MATA WOOLEVER.--The most
successful milliner in this part of California, and a business woman of rare
capabilities who views her success with a feeling of pride in the commercial
activity and advancement of her native state, is Mrs. Mata Woolever, the
daughter of Jacob and Mary (Ernst) Sturmer, natives of Germany
and Wisconsin respectively. The
father was educated for and ordained to the priesthood. Coming to America,
however, he met the lady who became his wife, and gave up the priesthood. He
first came to California in 1848, having crossed the
prairies, and it was when he returned to Wisconsin
that he met and married Miss Mary Ernst, a native of that state. He then
brought his bride across the plains to the Pacific, and in 1849 located to Butte
County. He mined in Cherokee, and
continued in mining operations until 1906, when he retired on account of old
age. He resided in Oroville, where he died on July 6, 1916. At one time he was
a Mason, and later was an Odd Fellow. Mrs. Sturmer is now living at the fine
old age of seventy-six, the mother of five children, all of whom are living.
The
second eldest child in the family, Mrs. Woolever, was born in Cherokee, where
she attended the public school; and in Cherokee she was married to S.
Woolever a native of the east, of French and German descent. He
came to California, and was a prominent horseman at Oroville, and owned some of
the finest standard-bred horses in this county. He engaged in the livery business,
and had his well-known stable on Huntoon Street,
at the corner of Montgomery, where
the Gardella Block now stands, and there he was in business until he died, on
July 9, 1915. His body reposes in a granite Mausoleum erected by Mrs. Woolever
in Chico Cemetery.
In
the meantime, in July, 1887, Mrs. Woolever started in business on her own account;
borrowing the first twenty-five dollars necessary to pay for her first month’s
rent. She opened a millinery business on Myers Street,
opposite the Union Hotel, and from a very humble beginning she has built up her
present notable establishment located at 608 Bird
Street. There she has the largest and the finest
display in Oroville, and enjoys a patronage that is evidence in itself of the
fullest appreciation by the artistic public. Once a month she makes a trip to San
Francisco to keep herself in touch with the latest styles
and she is thus able to place before the ladies of Oroville, for their
inspection, the most up-to-date conceits in metropolitan fashion.
Not
only is Mrs. Woolever fond of travel, but she also believes in making her
environment so charming that she may find the highest delight in staying at
home. To this end she gratifies her love for flowers, and has the largest
collection of ferns in Northern California, a collection
containing over two hundred varieties. She resides in her own home, which is
located at 516 Lincoln Avenue.
Mrs.
Woolever has one son, Frank S. Woolever, a graduate
of Heald’s Business College at San Francisco, and
also of the Commercial High School in that city. He holds, besides, a diploma
from the Lick School
at San Francisco, He is a member of National Parlor, N. S. G. W., San
Francisco, and was assistant manager of the Pacific States Telephone and
Telegraph Company in San Francisco, where his conscientious attention to duty
was highly appreciated until he resigned, August 19, 1917, to enlist in the
Quartermaster’s Reserve, United States Army, now serving in France.
A
Native Daughter of the Golden West, Mrs. Woolever is an esteemed member of the
Golden Ophir Parlor, and is quite generally a social favorite.
Transcribed
by Kim Buck.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1104-1105, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Kim
Buck.
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