YUBA COUNTY
Biographies
EARL E. MONSON
An experienced, energetically enterprising, and eminently progressive and successful business man is Earl E. Monson, vice-president of the Hampton Hardware Company of Marysville. He was born at Shelbina, Mo., on April 26, 1878, the son of B. F. and Margaret (Thomas) Monson, who came to California and to Placer County in 1881, and moved into Yuba County three years later. Mrs. Monson adapted herself nobly to pioneer conditions in a new and growing country, and left a memory of helpfulness to others that is cherished by many. Mr. Monson, who was a contractor and builder, is still living, and enjoys the esteem of all who know him.
Earl Monson attended the public schools of Yuba County, and first worked on the farms and on a hop ranch near by. Then, when only sixteen, he began to clerk in the grocery store; and at nineteen he entered the hardware field, to learn that line of trade, commencing at $25 per month. In 1908 he came to the company with which he is now associated; and in 1918 he assumed the duties of the office he has since held to the satisfaction of all having dealings with the firm. To him, as much as to anyone, perhaps, is due the success of this establishment in winning the confidence of the public and in attracting and holding patronage by a desire to render willing as well as dependable service. What the Hampton Hardware Company cannot supply, in goods and service, is hardly worth trying to obtain elsewhere; and when prices are found to be lower than theirs, something has happened elsewhere that is worth inquiring into.
In 1904, at Wheatland, Cal., Mr. Monson was married to Miss Charlotte Niemeyer, who shares her husband’s popularity in the circles of the Modern Woodman of America, the Odd Fellows, and the Elks. Politically, Mr. Monson is a Democrat; and at the same time he is a non-partisan supporter of the best men and the best measures for the locality in which he lives.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 780-783
LOUIS D. BAUN
Distinguished as a native-born citizen of Yuba County, and honored as an educator of prominence and influence, Louis D. Baun is numbered among the foremost residents of the Oswald section of Sutter County, where he has resided since the fall of 1905, and where he has developed twenty acres to cling peaches and has a fine residence and other farm buildings on his property. He was born at Wheatland, Cal., July 13, 1873, the eldest of six children of John Frederick and Elizabeth (Pinner) Baun, natives of Germany and England, respectively. John Frederick Baun remained in his native country until he was seventeen years old, when he immigrated to the United States and worked at the blacksmith’s trade for a few months; in 1858 he came west to California via Panama, and was employed in the government shops at Benicia, shoeing government pack mules. Later he located in Marysville and opened a shop, remaining for a short time, and then moved his shop to Colusa. Still later he opened his shop on the main traveled road to Spenceville, out of Wheatland to Grass Valley, and the Sierra mines, and was there during the Civil War. He was a member of the Unionist group at Pilot Ridge who raised the Stars and Stripes on July 4, 1863. In 1871 he married Miss Elizabeth Pinner, a native of England who came via Panama to California to the home of her uncle, Daniel Frazier, in 1869. The Baun home at Wheatland was built in the early seventies, and John Frederick Baun opened his business there, conducting successfully a blacksmith and wagon shop for many years. He was a prominent Republican, and took an active part in the political affairs of the county and State; and he also served his community as a school trustee. On the anniversary of his fiftieth year as a Mason, he was accorded a reception; he was also a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge for fifty years, and had served as an officer of both orders. He helped to establish the Farmers Bank at Wheatland, and for many years served as secretary. He passed away at his home, May 21, 1920, mourned by a large circle of friends, for he was a valued citizen of his community.
Brought up in Wheatland, Cal., Louis D. Baun obtained a good training in the elementary studies, finishing the courses in 1889. Next he entered California College, in Oakland, a Baptist institution, and was graduated in 1893; and then he entered the University of California, graduating with the degree of A.B. He taught school in the Virginia district of Yuba County for two years, was afterwards principal of the Wheatland school, and during 1901 served as principal of the Gridley school; and in this capacity his executive ability and good management of school affairs were recognized and highly appreciated.
The marriage of Mr. Baun occurred at Ostrom Station, Yuba County, on June 20, 1900, uniting him with Miss Winifred Etta Morrison, a daughter of John H. and Henrietta (Scott) Morrison, pioneers of this section of California, both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Baun are the parents of three children. Ruth is a graduate of the Marysville High School, class of 1919. On June 20, 1923, she received her A.B. degree from the College of the Pacific, and is now doing graduate work at Wellesley. Rose is at home. Lewis F., familiarly called Ted, is a graduate of the Marysville High School, class of 1923, and is now attending the College of the Pacific, class of 1927. Mr. and Mrs. Baun were selected by the government Bureau of Education to teach the natives in the Philippines. They made the voyage thither, remaining in Tarlac Province from 1901 to 1903. They spent a short time in China and Japan, en route on their return trip to San Francisco. On their return to California, Mr. Baun taught two terms in the Benicia High School, and then retired from the profession of teaching and bought his present home place, four miles south of Yuba City, where he has met with good success as an orchardist. Mr. Baun has served as trustee of the Barry school district for five terms; and he holds the office of secretary of the Barry Center of the Sutter County Farm Bureau, of which he was one of the organizers. During the late war, he served on committees in the bond drives and Red Cross work. Mr. Baun serves as superintendent and instructor in the Methodist Episcopal Sunday School in the Barry district, and is an officer of the Bi-County Sunday School Association.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 784-785
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