Butte County
Biographies
JASPER A. YOAKAM,
JR.
JASPER A. YOAKAM, JR.—A pioneer rancher
who not only has reason to look with satisfaction upon his well-appointed farm
which he has brought to a high standard of cultivation, but who may be proud of
the associations of his family with the stirring chapters in the history of the
Northwest, is J. A. Yoakam, Jr., whose grandfather,
John Yoakam, fought intrepidly in the Indian War in
Oregon, and whose grandmother was the first white woman in Coos County, that
state. This grandfather was born in Pennsylvania
and later settled in Ohio and then in Illinois;
and he brought his family across the plains when J. A. Yoakam,
Sr., the father of our subject, was five years old. This was in 1851, and the hardy emigrants
passed through Northern California to Jackson County,
Ore. At first he engaged in mining, and
then he moved to Coquille Valley,
Coos County,
where he farmed and raised stock. After
that, he shifted to Coos River,
and there, at what became the old Yoakam homestead,
he died. Jasper A. Yoakam,
Sr., was also a farmer and a stockman, and owned several different farms. Later, he operated extensively as a
lumberman, and was superintendent of the mills at Porter Mill in Coos
Bay. About 1897, the father first came to California
to live, and in Pleasant Valley,
Fresno County,
leased a stock-farm of fourteen thousand acres, where
he had great herds of cattle, sheep and horses, and engaged in the raising of
hogs on a large scale. He next moved to Lassen
County and bought the San Francisco Ranch, on
Willow Creek, and having devoted it to stock for three years, he sold out and
bought the Kirk place on Feather River. This was in Butte county, and comprised four hundred forty acres of the finest
land, such as Butte County
is noted for. He had an up-to-date dairy
and raised alfalfa, and in many ways improved the farm; and this he still owns,
although he leases it out to others. Mr.
Yoakam’s next responsibility was that of
superintendent of the American Rice and Alfalfa Company’s ranch in Butte
County; and during the years that
he was in charge there he also bought and sold ranches. He now lives retired as a landowner, at 275
Fairmount Avenue, Oakland. The mother of J. A. Yoakam,
Jr., was Marion Rogers before her marriage; she was born in Vermont. She was able to trace back her family for
thirteen generations, to John Rogers, in England,
a Quaker who was burned at the stake; and she still adheres to all that is
peculiar and edifying among the Quakers, and is loyal to their faith. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Yoakam, two of whom are still living. Besides the subject of this interesting
sketch, there is the daughter, Lydia,
now the wife of Dr. William Horsfall, of Marshfield,
Ore.
The youngest
child in the family, Jasper A. Yoakam, Jr., was born
at Sumner, Coos County, Ore., on
August 29, 1878, and in that county was reared, attending public grammar and
the Marshfield High
School until he was seventeen, and graduating
from the last-named institution. He also
studied at the Oregon Agricultural
College at Corvallis,
after which he followed farming. Circumstances led him to learn the carpenter’s
trade, however, and for some time he busied himself in that field.
In 1903, he
engaged in a general contracting business in Oregon,
and not only built mills and factories, but he erected some of the finest
residences of that time and place. He
had previously completed with honors certain courses in the International
Correspondence Schools, and so he was enabled to do his own architectural
work. He worked as a contractor near the
Coast, from
Seattle to San Francisco,
and so became very familiar with what the northern part of California
had to offer. The more he traveled, the
more he was attracted to Gridley, until in 1912 he embarked in farming here.
At first he
tilled his father’s farm, but in 1913 he bought his present place of eight
hundred fifty acres, four miles southwest of Gridley. This he devoted to stock-raising and the
growing of alfalfa and rice; and he has a finely-appointed dairy of forty
cows. For operating his ranch he has a
65-horse-power Holt caterpillar engine, and another of seventy-five, and he
runs two threshers; and when not busy for himself with this outfit, he
cheerfully assists his neighbors to operate their ranches.
At Coquille,
Ore., Mr. Yoakam was married to Miss Irma Lukens, a
daughter of Illinois and a most charming woman, who has proven a valuable
helpmate; and by her he has had three children: Marjorie, Lydia Roberta, and
Miriam; and each adds to the attractiveness of this hospitable home. Mr. Yoakam is a
loyal American and a member of the Odd Fellows.
Transcribed 4-15-08
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 883-884, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
©
2008 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
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