Sacramento County
Biographies
FRANK B. BATES
FRANK B. BATES.--Popular in social, financial and commercial circles, Frank B. Bates, of Courtland, was born under sunny skies of California. The Bay City, San Francisco, claims his birth, for he first saw the light there on May 28, 1855. His father, Benjamin Bates, was an Englishman who came to the United States when only three years old, accompanying his parents, who were made naturalized Americans in New York; and in 1849 he came out to California, a true Argonaut, by way of Panama, and settled in San Francisco. He later moved to the Sacramento River section, near Courtland, or rather, near the site of this town, for the settlement had not then been thought of; and in 1849 he had sent around the Horn the portable house he was to live in, which became one of the first buildings on the river. When John Hollenbeck, now of Ryer Island, first landed in the vicinity of what is now Courtland, he stayed at this house, which was erected on June 18, 1850.
Benjamin Bates married Miss Jane Patton, a popular belle from New Jersey; and when Frank was a year old, his father came to the Courtland neighborhood, soon going to the mines for a brief trial of luck, and afterward returning to the river again. He bought 128 acres of land where Courtland now stands, farmed this as best he could, and passed away there at the age of eighty. Mrs. Bates lived to be eighty, also, and to do her full share, like her honored husband, in making straight the paths for those coming after. They had five children. Jeanette is deceased; Frank, of this sketch, was the second in order of birth; Mary Emma, now deceased, was Mrs. Peck, of Sutter Island; Anna is Mrs. Congdon, of Sacramento, while Charles is also deceased.
Frank Bates attended the Onisbo district school, and later completed his studies at the University of the Pacific at Santa Clara. After that, he lived on the home farm most of the time, and the dwelling in which he resides was built in 1863. When Benjamin Bates died, some of the ranch was sold to clear an indebtedness, and the balance was inherited by Mrs. Bates. On her death, this was divided, and Frank Bates received fifty-seven acres, adjoining the town. Twenty acres of this tract is devoted to the fruit-orchard purposes, and six to vineyard, while the balance is open land. Recently, he has leased his land to tenants. The lots upon which the new Onisbo chapter of the Masonic Lodge has just erected its new temple were a part of Frank Bates’ estate. Mr. Bates has had many opportunities to enter politics but he has always declined to do so, and he has preferred to vote independently for the best man and the best measure.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Taylor.
Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches,
Pages 526-529. Historic Record Company, Los
Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Jeanne Taylor.