Sutter
County
Biographies
JOHN A. WISE
The
history of East Nicolaus and the business record of John A. Wise are largely
synonymous, for to his initiative and enterprise is due the growth of the town,
which is located on the line of the Sacramento Northern Electric Railway,
twenty miles southeast of Yuba City, and the splendid measure of success which
has crowned his efforts is well merited.
Mr. Wise was born on the 1st of April, 1878, at Wilcomir, near Kovno, Lithuania,
and is a son of Nathan and Diana (Ritblatt) Wise, of
whose three children he is the youngest.
His father was a tanner by trade and operated an extensive business for
many years.
Though
his educational facilities were limited to the public schools of his native
country, John A. Wise is familiar with three languages, German, Russian and
English. Early in life he began to make
his own way in the world, obtaining his first regular position in a wholesale
mercantile house, where he was employed, at a very small wage, until twenty-two
years of age. He then resolved to go to
South Africa, to see his mother, but by the time he reached London the Boer War
was on and he remained in England for fourteen months. Embarking for Canada, on his arrival at Port
Halifax he was employed by the British government as an interpreter for a short
time. He then came to the United States,
locating in Chicago, where he joined his brother, Leon Wise, a painting and
decorating contractor. There he was
employed for two months by Swift & Company, after which he went into the
country and found employment as a farm laborer.
Later he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was employed as a night
watchman at the World’s Fair until it closed.
He also visited the Lewis & Clark Exposition at Portland, Oregon.
In
1905 Mr. Wise came to California and soon obtained employment in the fruit
harvest of Yolo County. Later he was
foreman for the Abbott Orchard Company at Tudor. At about that time Mr. Wise purchased ten
acres of land near Tudor, which he planted to peaches and apples. He later sold that property and bought land
at East Nicolaus, at that time a new town, containing only a railroad station
and a lumberyard operated by the Diamond Match Company. He had a vision of the future growth of this
place and he proceeded to erect a store building in 1914, the first in the
town. In 1919 he built another and
better store building and in 1921 erected the Wise Hotel, so that he is the
builder and owner of the principal business block in East Nicolaus. The Wise Hotel is well furnished and the
dining tables are well served, so that this has become a very popular stopping
place. When the Odd Fellows building was
completed in 1924, Mr. Wise, in association with his nephew, Nathan D. Wise,
opened the East Nicolaus Market and Grocery, in that building, which they
conducted successfully for three years, when they sold out to the present
owner, Elwood W. Danforth. Mr. Wise is
now conducting his general store, carrying a well selected stock of dry goods,
hats, caps, drugs, boots, shoes, household hardware and sundry electrical
supplies. He is a man of reliable
business judgment and through his success has contributed to the general
welfare of his community. He also
erected three attractive modern residences, one of which was recently destroyed
by fire.
Through
the efforts of Mr. Wise a post office of the fourth class was established in
East Nicolaus in 1915, Mrs. Evelyn S. Smith being appointed as the first
postmistress. She has rendered very
satisfactory service and is still the incumbent of the office. She is also the manager of the Wise Hotel,
and is a clerk in Mr. Wise’s store, in which the post office is located. Mrs. Smith, who is a native of Maine, is the
wife of George F. Smith, who owns a forty-acre farm near East Nicolaus. She is the vice president of the board of
trustees of the Sutter high school district and takes a deep interest in the
progress and welfare of the splendid high school at East Nicolaus, which is
accredited to the University of California.
Mr.
Wise is a Democrat in his political view and fraternally is a member of the Odd
Fellows Lodge at East Nicolaus and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Marysville. He deserves great credit for what he has
accomplished since coming to this country and throughout the community in which
he is so prominent a factor is held in the highest regard, for all recognize
his sterling character and progressive and enterprising methods, which he has
exemplified at every state of his career.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 72-74. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Sutter County
Biographies