YUBA COUNTY Biographies

CHARLES JOHNSON

The hope of winning success by removal to the West has found fulfillment during the years that Charles Johnson has resided in Sutter County. His birth occurred in Lonsboda, Skane, Sweden, October 14, 1882, and he is a son of John Swenson and Hannah (Johnson) Johnson. John Swenson Johnson was a cabinet maker by trade and also farmed on a small scale in his native land; he still resides in Sweden, aged seventy years, and his wife is also alive, neither having ever left their native shores. Three children were born to them: Charles, our subject; Sigrid, now Mrs. E. B. Brown, residing in Yuba City; and Sigfrid, residing in Sweden.

Charles Johnson received his education in the public schools of Sweden, and at nineteen years of age came to America and directly to California, where he settled at Tudor and for two and a half years worked as a ranch hand. Then, in partnership with France Salmonson, he rented 1400 acres of land in the Tudor section, on which they raised grain successfully for eight years. Thereafter, also in partnership with Mr. Salmonson, he purchased eighty acres of land some two miles southeast of Tudor, a portion of the Wilson ranch; and this ranch they have developed to peaches and prunes as well as a vineyard. Later a division was made of the property, each partner taking forty acres, on which were erected fine homes. He also owns a ten-acre peach orchard on the Feather River, one mile away.

At Marysville, on October 14, 1908, Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Amanda Olson, born on the Per Olson home ranch, fifteen miles southwest of Yuba City, a daughter of Per and Mary (Carlson) Olson, whose sketch appears in this history. Six daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson: Helen Margaret, Nellie Evelyn, Florence Maybelle, Stella Marie, Phyllis Lorraine, and Frances Eleanor. Mr. Johnson is a Republican in national politics. He is a member of the Wilson Center of the Sutter County Farm Bureau, the Sun Maid Raisin Growers’ Association, the California Prune and Apricot Association, and the Virden Canning Company. Mrs. Johnson is a member of the Wilson Woman’s Club.

History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924

p 1220

PETER A. DARRACH

Many of Sutter County’s most thrifty and esteemed citizens are of foreign birth, and have brought to their new home those habits of industry and frugality that stand for success. Well known among this number is Peter A. Darrach, an extensive grain rancher and stock raiser. He owns a ranch of 320 acres twenty-two miles south of Yuba City and another ranch of 301 acres six miles east of the former place, across the line in Placer County. His birth occurred near Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, November 18, 1865, the youngest in a family of nine children born to Neal and Catherine (Ferguson) Darrach, both natives of the same place as himself. The ancestors of our subject were of Scotch origin. Grandfather Duncan Darrach, a schoolmaster and merchant in his native city of Glasgow, emigrated to Prince Edward Island in 1802, with his wife and two children. Neal Darrach was a farmer and lived and died in his native land.

Peter A. Darrach attended public school and from an early age worked on his father’s farm. He soon determined to seek a different country in which to make his permanent home and in 1885 left the parental roof and in May of the same year arrived in California. He soon found work on a ranch in Solano County, receiving one dollar per day, and out of this he was able to save a little; he next came to Sutter County and worked one year as a ranch hand. The following season he rented 320 acres and, with a single plow and three horses, he put in 160 acres of grain; when the harvest time came he was liberally rewarded for his hard labor; and he thus continued until 1895, when he bought his first land in Sutter County. As early as 1892, Mr. Darrach invested in a Price Combined harvester drawn by thirty head of stock, and he operated as a contractor for twenty-four seasons in Sutter and Placer Counties; recently he purchased a Harris Giant Harvester, which he uses in his extensive ranching business. Aside from his own holdings he rents land and operates 2600 acres, using a sixty-horsepower Best Tractor for plowing and harvesting.

Mr. Darrach’s marriage united him with Miss Sophia M. Howsley, born at Pleasant Grove, Cal., a daughter of George and Ruth (White) Howsley, both natives of England. George Howsley was a lad in years when brought by his parents to the United States. He remained in the Eastern States until 1864, when he crossed the plains to California and settled on the ranch now owned by his son, Thomas Howsley. Here he followed ranching until his death, on January 3, 1900, at the age of fifty-eight years. He married the widow of his brother, formerly Miss Ruth White, who was only two years old when she was brought to the United States by her parents. In Wisconsin, where she grew up, in 1863 she was married to William Howsley, and shortly afterward they came to California via Panama. They later went to Nevada, where Mr. Howsley engaged in mining until his accidental death, in 1868. His widow then came to Sutter County to make her home. On November 23, 1869, she married George Howsley, and they were the parents of two sons and three daughters. Both the parents of Mrs. Darrach are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Darrach have four children: Neal, a rancher on the home place; Flora, wife of Elvin E. Davis, a rancher in Sacramento County; Catherine, a graduate of Heald’s Business College of Sacramento, now in the general office of the Southern California Railroad Company; Sophie Mabel also a graduate of Heald’s Business College of Sacramento, who is with the Capital Cracker and Candy Company there. In politics Mr. Darrach is a Republican. He is a member of the W.O.W. at Pleasant Grove and is an Ancient Odd Fellow.

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