Yuba
County
Biographies
JAMES A. THOMAS
One
of the leading restaurants in the Sacramento Valley is the Palace Lunch at
Marysville, which is owned by Dell J. and James A. Thomas, who were born near
Woodward, Woodward county, Oklahoma, in 1895, and
August 15, 1897, respectively. Their
parents were W. N. and Retta (Green) Thomas, the former now deceased. They had two sons and two daughters. The father was one of the early settlers of
Oklahoma, but is now engaged in farming in the Sacramento valley, owning and
operating a ranch of forty acres near Marysville, on the Hammonton road. He is a successful farmer and from his ranch
comes the milk and cream which are used in the Palace Lunch.
James
A. Thomas received a public school education and when fifteen years of age
started out to make his own way in the world.
Going to Chicago, he obtained work in a restaurant and, with the
exception of the period of his army service, has been engaged in that line of
business continuously since. That he
devoted his energies closely to his work was evidenced by that fact that at the
time of America’s entrance into the war he had been promoted to the managership
of the restaurant which was owned by W. E. Anderson, at 543 West Madison
Street, Chicago, and employed thirty-five people. On being called to military service, Mr.
Thomas was assigned to the ammunition train of the Fourteenth Division and was
in training at Camp Jackson, in South Carolina, and Camp Custer, at Battle
Creek, Michigan. He was not ordered
overseas and soon after the close of the war was honorably discharged. He returned to Chicago and was in the
restaurant business there until 1921, when he came to California, to which
state the father had brought his family at the close of the war, locating on a ranch
three miles from Marysville. Soon after
coming here James A. Thomas engaged in the restaurant business in Marysville,
starting in a modest way, with but six stools.
His business grew rapidly and he secured another place, with fourteen
stools, which also in the course of a short time was inadequate, and he then
fitted up his present place with fifty stools.
At that time, 1925, he was joined by his brother Dell J., who is still
identified with the business. Their
restaurant is open night and day, their force of three cooks and thirteen other
persons working in three shifts. Close
personal attention is given to every detail, only the best and most wholesome
food being served, while neatness and cleanliness characterize the place. Experienced and courteous waiters afford
exceptional service and the Place Lunch is deservedly popular with
discriminating eaters, its patronage showing a constant and steady increase, with
usually a waiting line at noontime.
In
1919, in Chicago, Mr. Thomas was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Conover, of
Rockford, Illinois. He is a member of
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the American Legion at Marysville
and is personally popular among his associates, while throughout the community
he is greatly respected for his business ability and his sterling qualities.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3 Pages 248-249. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Yuba County Biographies