Yuba County
Biographies
MANUEL
R. GARCIA
M. R. GARCIA. For the past thirty years Prof. M. R.
Garcia has been a teacher of dancing in the city of Marysville and surrounding
country, teaching the dances as laid down by the
American Dancing Masters’ Association, besides fancy dancing and physical
culture. His classes in Hopkins Hall are
held twice a week, and he gives a social at Turner Hall every Saturday night,
which is popular and instructive.
Professor Garcia is a native son of
Marysville, and was born August 28, 1851.
His father, Pedro, and his mother, Magdelina
(Ramirez) Garcia, were born in Buena Vista, Sonora, Mexico, and came to
California in historic ’49. Pedro Garcia
settled on a ranch in Stanislaus county, where he
engaged in stock-raising for a few years, his death occurring in Stockton,
Cal. His wife died in Marysville,
September 28, 1901, at the age of seventy-six years, her grandmother having
attained to the remarkable age of one hundred and twenty-five years. M. R. Garcia, the only child of his parents,
was educated in the public schools of Marysville, and at an early age began his
self-supporting career. In 1868 he
applied himself to learning the painter’s trade, practicing the same until
taking up the art of dancing in 1872. He
has an artistic temperament and a keen appreciation of the grace of motion,
tact in demonstrating his theories, and a thorough knowledge of the amenities
and obligations incurred in polite society.
Next to his own success in life
Professor Garcia prizes the remarkable talents of his children, Harold Arthur,
Eva May and Herbert Ely, the oldest being a skilled violinist, while the
daughter is already far advanced as a pianist.
Emanuel E., the first born, died in early childhood. Professor Garcia married in Sutter county, Ella L. Ely, daughter of Griswold S. Ely, a pioneer
of California, who came by way of Cape Horn in a sailing vessel, arriving in
San Francisco in June, 1849. He engaged
in mining on the Feather and Yuba rivers for some
time, then turned his attention to farming in Sutter county, which he continued
until his death, May 23, 1896. He
married Martha Friend in Marysville, Cal., and her death occurred September 23,
1894. They had five children: Ella L.,
wife of M. R. Garcia; Calvin L., of Sutter county;
Lottie M.; Esther M., deceased; and Ora E.
The Ely family trace their ancestry back to
Revolutionary stock, one bearing the name, Aaron Ely, being killed in an
engagement with the British. Mr. Garcia
has built a residence at No. 317 A street, where he
dispenses hospitality, and encourages happiness, culture and grace. He is a Republican in politics, and is a
member of the Catholic Church.
Fraternally he is associated with the Woodmen of the World, the Knights
of the Maccabees and the Fraternal Brotherhood.
Transcribed by
Doralisa Palomares.
Source:
“History of the State of California and
Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley, California” by J.
M. Guinn. Pages
601-602. Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1906.
© 2017 Doralisa Palomares.
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Library's Yuba County Biographies