ANDREW CORBLY BLOOM

Sacramento County

Biographies

ANDREW CORBLY BLOOM

ANDREW CORBLY BLOOM.--A native son proud of his association with the Golden State and greatly interested in preserving its pioneer history and interesting landmarks, is Andrew Corbly Bloom, who was born on February 25, 1877, near Franklin, Sacramento County, on the ranch which he now owns and operates. His father, Andrew Corbly Bloom, Sr., was born November 13, 1849, near Bonaparte, Iowa, his parents being William Henry Harrison and Delila D. (Dye) Bloom. The great grandparents were Christopher and Elizabeth Bloom, their children being Lewis, Anna, Emma, William H. H., and Samuel. William H. H., or Harrison, as he was called, was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, February 25, 1815, and was married at Windsor, Ind., April 29, 1839, to Miss Delila D. Dye, born in Miami County, Ind., August 27, 1823. Harrison Bloom with his family, left Bonaparte, Iowa, March 31, 1850, and arrived at Diamond Spring, Cal., September 12, the same year, where they remained about eighteen months. Mr. Bloom built the second house erected at that place and there kept a hotel and bakery. In the spring of 1852 he bought a claim of 480 acres on the Hubbs ranch on the Cosumnes; but the title proved worthless, and in 1854 he returned to Diamond Spring, where he resumed his old business with the addition of a dairy, hay-yard, and general store. On March 25, 1855, he sold out and moved to the Pioneer House on Lower Jackson Road, nine miles east of Sacramento. Here he bought a half-interest in the hotel and 320 acres of the Norris grant, only to lose both when the land came to be surveyed a few months later. He then rented the Keystone House, seven miles from Sacramento, for two months. On October 25, 1855, Mr. Bloom bought 480 acres, since known by his name, about two and one-half miles southwest of Franklin.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Bloom who reached their majority are as follows: Hetty, married Joseph Morrow and is deceased; Arsinve M. is Mrs. Thomas P. Taylor, of Sacramento; Adaline is Mrs. Solomon Runyon, of Sacramento; Andrew C. is deceased; Sierra Nevada is Mrs. William Lockhart; Pacific Ellen married James Riley and Eliza Oceana was Mrs. A. M. Cain, both now deceased. Harrison Bloom died on March 10, 1881, at his home. He had served as constable of the township for many years and was deputy sheriff at the time of his death.

Andrew C. Bloom, Sr., was married April 15, 1872, to Miss Sarah Ellen Van Natta, a native of Grant County, Wis., where she was born on June 23, 1853, the daughter of George Philip and Mary Elizabeth (McCormack) Van Natta. Her father came to California in 1857 and settled at Placerville. He was born on January 8, 1825, and the mother was born on January 29, 1833; and they were married on September 20, 1852. The mother died in 1865. Grandfather Henry Van Natta was a farmer in Wisconsin and died in 1884, at an advanced age. Grandfather McCormack came to California with the Van Natta family and passed away at Placerville, aged about sixty-five years. Andrew C. Bloom, Sr., engaged in dairying and stock-raising on the old Bloom ranch until his death in 1917, his wife having preceded him in 1912. Their three children are as follows: Harrison, who resides near Placerville; Andrew Corbly, the subject of our interesting review; and Clarence L., also residing on a part of the old Bloom ranch.

Andrew C. Bloom was educated in the public schools in the Franklin and Richland districts. He was reared on the home farm, and so from a boy learned ranching as done in the Sacramento Valley; and he naturally turned to that occupation for his life work. He was married in Sacramento on October 28, 1902, to Miss Ethel Hollenbeck, who was born in Stockton, a daughter of Theron Hollenbeck. Her father, a native of Pennsylvania, learned the blacksmith trade when twenty years of age, and coming to California followed his trade in the mining region among the Southern mines. He was married at old Fort Miller, or Millerton, to Susan May Van Natta, born at Placerville on May 12, 1864. They now live at Warrenton, Ore., and are the parents of ten children: Mrs. Ethel Bloom; Edward, who died of influenza in 1919, leaving two children; Nella, Mrs. Garner of Los Angeles; Esther, Mrs. Wingarder, living in Melbourne, Australia; Emily, the wife of John Sprock of Franklin; Howard, a chiropractic physician in Stockton; Mary, the wife of Frank Sprock of Franklin; and Eldridge, Albert, and Robert who live in Oregon.

After his marriage, Mr. Bloom removed to San Benito County, where he was in the stock business at Paicines for a period of five years, after which he returned to Sacramento County. He here became the owner of 140 acres of the old home ranch, which he has improved with a comfortable residence and suitable farm buildings. He has installed two pumping plants and is engaged in raising beans, corn, and alfalfa, and has a diary of twenty cows. He also has a vineyard of White Malaga grapes, and is gradually setting more of the ranch to vines. The ranch is well watered, for Bloom Lake is located upon it. Bloom Lake abounds in fish, and during the season there is an abundance of wild ducks and geese, making it a hunters and fisherman's paradise. Politically, Mr. Bloom is an independent Republican, and fraternally he is a member of Franklin Lodge No. 7281, M. W. of A.

Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 841. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.