Sacramento County
Biographies
JAMES A. WOODS
JAMES A. WOODS.--Among the many
citizens and native sons of California who
enthusiastically admire the Golden State
and are loyal to its interests must be mentioned James A. Woods, the
vice-president of the California Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Company
of Sacramento. He was born in Sacramento
County, December 11, 1881, a son of
James A. and Vida E. (Williams) Woods.
The father crossed the plains to California in
1849, while the mother came via the Isthmus of Panama in 1850; and they were
married after arriving in California. Mr. Woods was a miner for some years, and
then engaged extensively in stockraising.
Both parents died in Sacramento
County.
James A. Woods
received his schooling in the high school of Elk
Grove, Cal., and was honored by
being chosen president of the class of 1902; he then took a postgraduate course
in the Sacramento high school, was a graduate and president of the class of
1904. He then took private instruction
along electrical and mechanical engineering lines. His first position was with the county
surveyor; then with the light and power company at New Castle power-house; he
was then promoted to the Sacramento station, where he filled the position of
foreman until 1913, when with others he established his present business and
was elected vice-president of the company; this company does electrical and
mechanical engineering contract work all over the Sacramento Valley,
specializing in irrigation work throughout the county. Mr. Woods holds a certificate for teaching
electricity, mechanical drawing and allied subjects and has spent some time as
instructor in the high school and the Y.M.C.A. of Sacramento. Mr. Woods served as president of the old
state Electrical Motor Dealers’ Association of Electrical Contractors and
Dealers for several years; he was a director of the Y.M.C.A. when the new
building was erected.
Mr. Woods’
marriage united him with Miss Ruby Satterlee, of Sacramento,
and they have one son, Robert J., and a daughter, Ruth C. Fraternally, Mr. Woods is a member of the Odd
Fellows and is an active member of the Rotary Club and the Y. M. C. A. of Sacramento. Nominally, he is a Republican in politics,
but prefers to vote for the man best fitted for the office for which he has
been elected.
Transcribed
by Patricia Seabolt.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento County,
California With Biographical Sketches, Pages 529-530. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA.
1923.
© 2007 Patricia Seabolt.