Nevada
County
Biographies
JOHN T. RODDA
One of the most extensive and
successful fruit growers of northern California is J. T. Rodda, who has been
actively identified with the welfare and development of Nevada County since
1855. His efforts have been very
effective in promoting the horticultural interests of this section of the
state, and in thus establishing an industry which has become an important
source of revenue to the people of the community. His marked business and executive ability,
his careful management and his sound judgment have given him rank among the
substantial residents of his locality, and no history of this section of the
state would be complete without the record of this honored pioneer, who for forty-five
years has made his home here.
A native of England, J. T. Rodda was
born in 1832, the third in a family of eight children, whose parents were John
and Nancy Rodda, both natives of the same land.
The father died in 1870 and the mother passed away in 1880. Their son, whose name heads this review, was
reared and educated in the land of his birth and during his minority, devoted
much of his time and attention to agricultural pursuits. When about twenty years of age he bade adieu
to home and friends and came to America, first locating in Pennsylvania. Subsequently he went to the Lake Superior
mining region and for some time was engaged in taking minerals from the mines
of that locality. Subsequently he
returned to England, where he continued for a year, and in 1855 came to
California, making a location at Grass Valley, where he has resided
continuously since. For five years he
has actively connected with the mining interests of this section, and for two
years he followed farming.
He then spent thirteen years as a
market gardener, and on the expiration of that period established his present
nursery, on Auburn Street, where he has large and well selected grounds,
tastefully laid out with a view of producing the best results. He owns considerable land and is now
extensively engaged in the cultivation of fruit, making a specialty of Bartlett
pears. He is one of the largest growers
of this fruit in the county, having about one hundred acres planted with pear
trees. His grounds are equipped with
suitable out-houses for the care of his fruit and also hot-houses for the early
development of plants. He not only
raises fruit but also gives considerable attention to the cultivation of
flowers, shrubs and ornamental plants, and has worked up a good trade along
that line. In his business career he has
met with creditable success, and his efforts have been so discerningly directed
along well defined lines of labor that no one will claim that his prosperity is
not well merited.
Mr. Rodda was married in 1882 to
Miss L. C. Klinestine, and now has three sons: Albert, John and William.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 352-353. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Nevada County Biographies