YUBA COUNTY
Biographies
JOHN A. McKINNEY
During the period of his residence in Marysville, John A. McKinney has been closely and prominently identified with its upbuilding and improvement through his operations as a cement contractor. He was born near Carlinville, Macoupin County, Ill., June 6, 1865, a son of John A. and Mary (Monroe) McKinney, natives of Indiana and Illinois, respectively. The father served in an Illinois regiment in the Civil War and died in the summer of 1865, soon after the close of the war, from a wound received in battle.
John A. McKinney, Jr., was reared on a farm, attending the district school and early becoming familiar with agricultural pursuits. He followed farming for a time in the Middle West and when a young man of nineteen started for California, arriving in Kern County in 1884. There he purchased a farm, which he operated for a few years, and then went to Tulare, where he learned the trade of a cement and concrete worker, aiding in the construction of hotels, bank buildings and other edifices there. His next removal was to Jamestown, Tuolumne County, where he engaged in quartz mining; and from there he made his way to Nevada City, Cal., establishing himself in the concrete construction business. Since 1911 he has engaged in business in Marysville as a cement contractor; and his expert ability has brought him a large patronage. He has laid many miles of sidewalk in Marysville, and also the foundations for residences and business blocks; and his reputation extends beyond the boundaries of his city. He was awarded the contract for the cement work on the bank building in Live Oak, has done considerable business in Gridley and Yuba City, and has also worked for ranchers in Yuba, Sutter and Butte Counties. He has built his success upon honorable, straightforward dealing, and scrupulously adheres to the spirit as well as the letter of an agreement.
Mr. McKinney was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Turner, a native of Camptonville and a member of one of the pioneer families of Yuba County. Her parents, Charles and Susie Turner, are now among the oldest residents of Camptonville. Mrs. McKinney is a cultured and refined woman, who presides completely and gracefully over her husband’s home, giving him encouragement and assisting him in every way she can to gain his ambition. Mr. McKinney’s work has been of a constructive nature, contributing to public progress and improvement as well as to individual aggrandizement; and his life record is one in which the results of marked business ability and the recognition and utilization of opportunity are well exemplified.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 361-362
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