YUBA COUNTY Biographies

AARON PERRY

An experienced and thoroughly enterprising broker in real estate and insurance, whose admirable foresight enabled him to anticipate and to meet one of the new wants of this motoring age, is Aaron Perry, of Live Oak, a native of Highland County, Ohio. He was born on a farm in 1855, on New Year’s Day, when he entered the family of W. H. and Sarah (Thompson) Perry. Mr. Perry farmed all his life, thereby rendering his country a real service, through which many others besides himself and family profited. When it became evident that war could not be averted between the North and the South, he responded to the call for defense of the Union, enlisting as early as 1861; and he fought throughout the rest of the war. When he died, in 1909, he had for many years enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him.

Aaron Perry went to the public schools in Iowa, and then helped his father until he was twenty-five years old, when for a couple of years he farmed for himself. Then he migrated to Kansas, and settled in Republic County; and there he followed agricultural pursuits until he came out to the Coast and California, in 1907. Like many others, he was fortunate to locate at Live Oak in the beginning; and having bought a prune ranch, he commenced to devote himself to horticulture, in which he has continued until the present time. He also engaged in the handling of real estate and insurance; and in the nine years in which he has been operating, he has turned over a large amount of property. Perceiving the needs of the tourists traveling by motor, Mr. Perry opened his popular Auto Camp; and his son, Stanley, operates the service station adjoining.

In 1882, Mr. Perry was married to Miss Laura Mendenhall, who died, in January, 1923, the mother of two children and the grandmother of six. Alta is married, and has become Mrs. Biggs; and the younger is a son, J. Stanley Perry. Mr. Perry is public-spirited, and deeply interested in the past, the present and the future of the locality in which he lives and prospers.

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

p 1096

JOHN TARESH

Since starting out in life on his own account, John Taresh has made steady advancement, through industry and diligence, and his life record shows what may be accomplished through individual effort. As engineer and secretary of State Reclamation District No. 1001, Mr. Taresh has accomplished a vast amount of work, which has proved of great value in advancing the prosperity of Sutter County. In 1911 he commenced his work in Sutter County as field engineer of construction of levees of the district; and in 1915 this work was completed with a total of fifty-two miles of levees. Besides this, as superintendent of district No. 1001 Mr. Taresh has done much reenforcement work on the levees and a system of deep drainage canals has been constructed and a pumping plant installed at the lower end of the district.

John Taresh was born at Sauk Center, Stearns County, Minn., May 15, 1876, the youngest of seven children born to Joseph and Catherine (Janes) Taresh, both natives of Bohemia, who located in Steel County, Minn., in 1865 and later moved to a farm at Sauk Center. Both parents are now deceased. John Taresh began his education in the grammar school, and in 1894 was graduated from the Sauk Center High School. Then he entered the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, and in 1898 was graduated with the B.S. degree. He immediately entered the School of Mines of the same university, and in 1901 the degree of Engineer of Mines was conferred on him. Following his graduation from the University of Minnesota, he removed to Butte, Mont., where he became assistant engineer on construction work in connection with the city water works in Butte. In June, 1902, Mr. Taresh came to Oroville, Cal., to make a preliminary survey up the Feather River Canyon for the Butte & Plumas Railroad; the route as surveyed by him was later used by the Western Pacific Railroad. Mr. Taresh then removed to Martinez, where he surveyed and carried through to completion the construction of the Mountain Copper Company’s smelting plant, doing much of the drafting work himself. In March of 1906, he was called to Gray’s Flat on construction work for the Western Pacific Railroad through the Feather River Canyon, where he remained until 1909. Going then to Grant’s Pass, Ore., he there made a survey for the Western Oregon Irrigation Project and also the survey for the present electric road running from Salem to Eugene, Ore.

In Sacramento, December 25, 1910, occurred the marriage of Mr. Taresh, uniting him with Miss Vera Mary Fraser, a native of Vermont. Mrs. Taresh is a school teacher by profession, and taught in the schools of Illinois before she came to California, in 1910. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Taresh: Vera Mary, James, Catherine, and Richard. In 1918, Mr. Taresh received his commission as captain of engineers in the United States Army while in training at Camp Humphreys, Va. He is a member of the American Engineers’ Association and the Society of American Military Engineers; and fraternally he belongs to Sincerity Lodge No. 132, F. & A.M., of Greenville, Plumas County, and also to Chico Lodge of Elks. In national politics he is a Republican. He is a charter member of the Rio Oso Center of the Sutter County Farm Bureau, and was active in its organization. Since 1919 he has been developing a twenty-acre orchard to cling peaches. Besides his home place, he owns 321 acres in the Indian Valley, Plumas County.

Mr. Taresh is a man of fine physique and of military bearing, and possesses a pleasing personality, which makes him friends wherever he goes, and, coupled with his experience and knowledge of engineering, qualifies him especially well for the position he holds.

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