Sacramento County
Biographies
WILLIAM A. KESNER
WILLIAM A. KESNER.–For thirty-two
years this sterling citizen, William A. Kesner, has
been a resident of Ryde,
Cal., where he owns valuable real
estate. At Ryde, on Grand
Island, is located his ranch of 150 acres, which is
devoted to orchard, and to the raising of asparagus and beans. He was born
at Keyesport, Clinton County,
Ill., October 30, 1850, and received his
education in the local public schools. At twenty-five years of age he left
home and came to California on one of the early trains,
arriving in 1875, and settled on the Sacramento River, where he worked for five
years; then he removed to Colorado
with his family and spent five years there.
On
December 17, 1871, at Keyesport, Mr. Kesner was married to Miss Mary Clark, also a native of Illinois. Mr.
And Mrs. Kesner are the parents of one son, Wilfred
C., who was born in Keyesport, Ill. Wilfred
Kesner received his education at the Isleton and Rio
Vista district schools, and supplemented his public-school training with a
course at E. C. Atkinson’s Business College
in Sacramento. On October 5,
1905, he was married to Miss Patricia McAlister, a native of Illinois
and a daughter of John and Mary McAlister. John McAlister passed away in
1917, aged seventy-five years; his widow still survives him. Wilfred C. Kesner has one son, Roy C.
Wilfred
C. Kesner, with his father, owns 250 acres four miles
west of Ryde which is devoted to the growing of
asparagus. He is a Republican in politics; and fraternally he belongs to
Franklin Lodge No. 143, F. & A. M., Courtland, and is a thirty-second
degree Scottish Rite Mason, belonging to the consistory in Sacramento; formerly
he was a member of Islam Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in San Francisco,
until he demitted to become a charter member of Ben Ali Temple in
Sacramento. He belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star and Sacramento
Lodge No. 6, B. P. O. E. Wilfred C. Kesner has
served as a trustee of Reclamation District No. 3 of Grand
Island, and at the present time is clerk of the board
of trustees of the Beaver union school district.
Mr.
And Mrs. Willaim A. Kesner
returned to California after their five years’ residence
in Colorado and settled for three months in Fresno
County; then they returned to Sacramento
County and Mr. Kesner
conducted a butcher shop at Isleton for five years. In 1891 he located on
Grand Island, about four miles below Walnut Grove, and that same year a
post-office was located in that part of the county, which was called Ryde. Mr. Kesner’s first
land purchase was a tract of forty acres. He built a house and developed
the land to orchard; and he has added to his holdings until he now owns some
150 acres. Mr. Kesner erected a store and hotel
at Ryde and also a modern garage building; and he
owns and conducts a six-apartment building. Mr. Kesner
is a Republican in politics. Fraternally, he is a member of the odd
Fellows at Isleton and the Elks, No. 6, of Sacramento;
and for a number of years, both Mr. and Mrs. Kesner
were members of the Rebekah Lodge. Mrs. Kesner was also a member of the Eastern Star. She
passed away on November 21, 1922, at the age of seventy years. For many
years Mr. Kesner served as a trustee of Reclamation
District No. 3 of Grand Island; for
many years, also, he served as school trustee of the good Hope school district,
and of the Beaver union school district.
Transcribed 3-9-07
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento County,
California With Biographical Sketches, Pages 494-499. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Marilyn R. Pankey.