YUBA COUNTY Biographies
CHARLES WILLIAM MEYER
A rancher whose success and prosperity have reflected in a very interesting manner the possibilities of agricultural pursuits in his highly-favored and fast-developing County, is Charles William Meyer, whom everybody knows as Billy Meyer. He was born at Nashville, Ill., on June 24, 1885, the son of Louis and Mary (Hesselmann) Meyer, the former of whom became a prosperous farmer in Illinois and died at Farmington, Mo., in September, 1923, sixty-two years old. They were sturdy pioneers, did their day’s work, and were esteemed by all who had the good fortune to know them. When Billy Meyer was a small boy, his parents removed to St. Louis, where he attended the public schools. At the age of seventeen he left home to strike out in the world for himself; and he came out to California and settled at Meridian, in Sutter County, where he worked for wages, first for a Mr. Tompkins, then for seventeen years for M. E. Phillips in Colusa County. In 1923 he leased a ranch of seventy-two acres, three miles north of Meridian, and he is still running this place. Since making his home here Mr. Meyer has extended his acquaintance and increased his friends and he enjoys an enviable influence among his fellow citizens such as many a man would give much to command. He is a stand-pat Republican, but broad enough to support local movements for the bettering of the community without party bias.
At Marysville, in November, 1920, Mr. Meyer was married to Mrs. Clarence Hopkins, who was Miss Florence Aileen Tompkins, and was born at Sycamore, Colusa County, the daughter of Edwin and Emma S. (Dunlap) Tompkins. The former was born in Boston, September 13, 1860, the son of Benjamin and Jane Tompkins, natives of England, who married in London and later migrated to Boston. Benjamin Tompkins came around the Horn to California in 1849, and was later followed by his wife and children. He was a cooper by trade, and for thirteen years was one of the most expert and dependable artisans in his field in San Francisco. At the age of thirteen Edwin Tompkins started out for himself, finding work at Duttons Landing, in Solano County. He came to Colusa County forty years ago, and at Sycamore married, on April 4, 1886, Miss Emma Susan Dunlap, who was born at Hannibal, Mo., on March 114, 1868, the daughter of Lemuel Stevens and Cynthia Ann (Zumwalt) Dunlap, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter a native of Missouri, who had married at Hannibal. Grandfather Dunlap came out to California at the time of the gold rush, and for a while mined, returning then to Missouri; and a second time he came out to California across the plains. On the third trip, in 1869, when he traveled by rail, he brought his family with him, and they settled at the Grand Island Mill, in Colusa County, and as a contractor, he built the first house at Sycamore. The early settlers wished to call the town Dunlap, following a suggestion of Mr. Davis, who owned all the surrounding country; but Mr. Dunlap said, “No – we will call it Sycamore,” and Sycamore it has been ever since. L. S. Dunlap died at the age of seventy-three, and the death of his good wife, in her sixty-fifth year, was equally lamented. Mrs. Meyer’s mother is the youngest in a family of five children; and she was educated at Sycamore. After Edwin Tompkins married, he lived in Sycamore until he and his family moved to Tulare; and there they ran a first-class dairy. From Tulare they came back to Sycamore, and Mr. Tompkins worked on ranches until 1899, when he removed to Meridian and settled on the E. F. Thornborough place, which he leased for fourteen years. He then bought twenty acres one mile north of Meridian, and there showed his exceptional ability as a farmer. Mrs. Meyer’s mother was a charter member of the Rebekah Lodge in Meridian, and served as the first Noble Grand. She also has the honor of having christened the Meridian Rebekahs the “Lilac Lodge.” Mrs. Meyer’s father is both an Odd Fellow and a Rebekah. At the time that our subject was married, Florence Aileen was a widow, and was known as Mrs. Clarence Hopkins, with a family of two children, namely Bennie Roland and Daryl Lamar. Charles W. Meyer is a member of the Odd Fellows, and both Mr. and Mrs. Meyer are Rebekahs.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 1264-1265
CLARENCE W. BURNS
With efficiency as his watchword, Clarence W. Burns has steadily progressed toward the goal of his ambition until, as head of the Marysville Radiator Works, he is controlling a prosperous business. He was born in Nampa, Idaho, on September 23, 1892, a son of William and Fannie (Morrison) Burns. The mother died during his boyhood, and the father came to California with his family of six children, locating at Red Bluff, where they resided for three years. In 1913 they removed to Marysville.
Clarence W. Burns received a public-school education, and as a young man engaged in the radiator business, with which he has since been connected. He purchased his present business in 1920, and is the only one in Marysville specializing in this line. He has a thoroughly modern plant and handles all kinds of radiators. He combines an expert knowledge of the business with executive ability, and keeps in close touch with all new developments in his field of activity. His trade has already reached large proportions, necessitating the aid of an assistant in his work.
Mr. Burns married Miss Addie P. Roberts, of Illinois, and they now have two daughters, Elva and Barbara. Mr. Burns is independent in his political views, placing the qualifications of a candidate above all other considerations. His fraternal connections are with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. He is a typical young business man of the present age, optimistic, energetic and wide-awake, and has already achieved a notable measure of success for one of his years, while his genuine personal worth has established him high in public regard.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 1265-1266
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