San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CHARLES A. STEELY
A ranchman of varied experience, and
who has so well succeeded that he is among the large grain growers of San
Joaquin County, is Charles A. Steely, at present operating about 2,000 acres in
the Elliott section of the county. He
was born on the old Steely ranch north of Clements, San Joaquin County, on
January 17, 1888, a son of George W. and Jessie (Niman)
Steely. George W. Steely was born near
Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, on March 15, 1862, a son of Joseph and Rachel
Steely, both natives of Ohio. When
George Steely was a youth his parents moved to Kansas and farmed in Case
County, about twenty-five miles from Kansas City, and George Steely attended school
there. In 1884 he came to California and
settled in San Joaquin County, where he purchased a 240-acre ranch, which he
successfully farmed for a number of years.
About 1910 he bought 160 acres, three miles north of Clements, and has
improved it with a good set of buildings.
At Stockton, George Steely married Miss Jessie Niman,
born near Council Bluffs, Iowa. Her
father was a stone-cutter by trade, owning and operating a granite and marble
monument business. When she was twelve
years old the family settled in California near Stockton, and Mrs. Steely
received her education in the grammar schools of that city. Her father passed away when she was five
years old, and nine years later her mother married Jesse Weaver, a farmer. Mr. Weaver passed away at the age of
seventy-four, but her mother is living in Lodi at the age of seventy-five
years. Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Steely were
the parents of six children: Joseph,
residing at Clements; Charles A., the subject of this review; Ray; May, who
married W. E. Prouty, and died in May, 1921, leaving to children, Gladys and
Ellsworth; Irene, Mrs. James Baker of Lodi; and Myrtle.
Charles A. Steely received his
education in San Joaquin County, spending two years at Dry Creek, four years at
the Justice school, and two years at the Clements
school, and attending the Lodi high school for a short time. He is in partnership with his father in
farming and stockraising, at the present time having about 1000 acres in grain
and 1000 acres in stock range and hay land.
The marriage of Mr. Steely occurred
at Stockton on August 1, 1910, and united him with Miss Marty Josephine Satori, a native of California, born at San Francisco, a
daughter of Louis and Mary Ellen (Hart) Satori,
natives of Canton Ticino, Switzerland, and California, respectively. When Mary Josephine was a young girl, her
parents removed to Nashville, El Dorado County, California, where she received
most of her education; her father being in the merchandise business in
Nashville and also postmaster of the town.
He passed away in 1900, and later her mother married Marcus A. Steely,
an uncle of our subject. Mrs. and Mrs.
Steely are the parents of two children, Rose Ellen and Stanley Charles, and the
family resides on the Hans Smith ranch northeast of Lockeford. In politics, Mr. Steely is liberal in his
views, supporting the candidate best fitted for office, rather than adhering to
strict party lines. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of
America, of Clements.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
560. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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