Butte County
Biographies
JAMES LUTHER WYCKOFF
JAMES LUTHER WYCKOFF.--A pleasing story
of one man's confidence in the integrity and business ability of another, and
how the person benefited kept his word and made good and is now the prosperous
proprietor of the Wyckoff Transfer Company, is set forth in the career of James
Luther Wyckoff, who was born at Madison, Dane County, Wis., July 4, 1855, the
son of Daniel Wyckoff, a native of New Jersey, who farmed at
Madison and died
there in 1861.His wife had been Elizabeth Heffler,
and she died three months after her husband passed away. By a former marriage
Daniel Wyckoff had two children, a boy and a girl; and the son, Charles A.
Wyckoff, of Oroville, whose interesting sketch may be found in another part of
this volume, is still living.
Orphaned
when six years of age, and kicked and cuffed around by those in whose care he
was for a while brought up, James L. Wyckoff early began to earn his own
living, as a consequence of which he enjoyed but very limited educational advantages.
He worked on farms and did general teaming, and not until November 11, 1875,
did he arrive for the first time in Oroville, having made his way west under
difficulties. He went to work for Dan Friesleben on
the Charley Ranch; but when, at the end of three months, the men were to be cut
down he quit, although Mr. Friesleben requested him
to stay. For some time he toiled as a sheep-herder, and then he accepted
employment at the saw mills at Mountain House for Nick Turner. After that he
worked for the Lumpkin Mill Company, and then for the Merrimac Mill Company,
logging, sticking to that hard labor for three years.
When he
had a chance to better himself, Mr. Wyckoff took up teaming between Oroville
and the mills and Quincy, in Plumas
County, and with a partner, George
Ambrose, he kept five teams busy on the road, and employed from twelve to
fourteen horses in the woods. When he shifted again it was once more to take up
logging for a year for Coggin Brothers; but when the
twelve months had passed he sold his outfit and returned to Oroville, where he
resumed teaming for a year. He entered the employ of H. P. Stow, of the Gold
Bank Company, and drove a team for that concern for six years and four months,
or until he was taken sick; whereupon Mr. Stow came to him and said, "Jim,
you have to quit teaming." "O. K., if you don't want me."
"No," said Mr. Stow, "but do you wish to own the Hurleton Ranch?" He turned down the opportunity, and
in a few days George Carr offered to sell his business. Mr. Wyckoff then
happened upon Mr. Johnson, the assistant to Mr. Stow, whom he told of the
offer, and added that if he had the money he would buy Carr out, and Mr. Stow,
learning of the situation, told Mr. Wyckoff to come with him to the bank. He
also advised Wyckoff to hunt up
Carr and get his lowest price. When Harry P. Stow found that the sum required
was two thousand four hundred dollars, he put up the money and did not even ask
for a scratch of the pen in return. Thereupon Mr. Wyckoff took over the draying
business from Mr. Carr, further encouraged by the fact that Mr. Stow told the
cashier to let him have what money he needed.
This
was the beginning, in 1900, of the Wyckoff City Express and Dray business,
which was conducted with such success from the start that within sixteen months
after he became proprietor, James Wyckoff repaid Mr. Stow with interest. He put
on a four-ton Moreland motor truck, and soon after put on another
one-and-a-half-ton truck. He also has three big drays and large wagon, and does
the largest draying business in the vicinity.
Mr.
Wyckoff owns a handsome residence at 1408 Montgomery
Street, while he has his barns and stables at the
corner of Pine and Stafford Streets and a large warehouse on Broderick
Street. His wife is among the truly charming women
of the city. She was Miss Mary Tobin before her first marriage, which occurred
at Marysville in 1895. She was born at Enterprise, in Butte
County, the daughter of Francis and Margaret
(Burke) Tobin, pioneers of California,
her father having come to the state in 1855. He was a blacksmith who followed
mining for a while, and later set up his forge in mining towns. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Tobin died at Enterprise, the
parents of six children, among whom Mrs. Wyckoff is the eldest. Prior to her
marriage to Mr. Wyckoff, she was the wife of Wesson Jones, a native of New
York State, who early settled
in California and busied himself
with teaming and mining. He was accidentally killed by the falling of a log,
and Mrs. Jones was left with three small boys, two of whom are still living:
Theodore Jones is in Idaho, and
Frank Jones assists Mr. Wyckoff in the business. After Mr. Jones' death his
widow resided in the county until she married Mr. Wyckoff. They have had one child,
Ruth Wyckoff, who is a graduate of the Oroville
High School and the San Jose State
Normal, Class of 1916, and who is now teaching school.
Mr.
Wyckoff was made a Mason in Oroville Lodge, No. 103, F. & A. M.; belongs to
the Eagles, and to Chico Lodge, No. 423, B. P. O. Elks. In politics he is a Republican.
Mrs. Wyckoff is a member of the Rebekahs, of the
Eastern Star, and of the Women of Woodcraft.
Transcribed by Sande Beach.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 619-620, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2007 Sande Beach.
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