Contra Costa County Biography

EUGENE BLYTHE ANDERSON

Transcribed by Sally Kaleta, December, 2006.

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
Eugene Blythe Anderson has for a number of years been connected with educational 
work in Contra Costa County. He was born on January 25, 1857, at Petaluma, 
California. His parents were William L. and Emma R. (Ferguson) Anderson, the 
former a native of Tennessee, and the later of Kentucky. After pursuing his 
studies in the public schools Mr. Anderson attended and graduated from 
Christian's College of Santa Rosa. At an early age he began to teach school, and 
followed this vocation for over seventeen years in Sacramento, Contra Costa, and 
Lake Counties. He became one of the eminent educational authorities in this 
county, and for many years served in the county educational board. In 1898 Mr. 
Anderson engaged in fruit-growing extensively and owns ninety acres of fruit 
adjoining the town of Walnut Creek, which he has brought up to a high state of 
cultivation. He specializes in prunes and pears, and handles five hundred tons 
of dried fruits annually. He has two drying plants and uses ten thousand drying 
trays in order to dry his fruit. He is a large realty dealer in Richmond, having 
$50,000 invested in real estate. He is proprietor of the Anderson Hotel, located 
at Point Richmond, and is recognized in business circles as a resourceful and 
discriminating man, whose integrity is beyond question. Politically, Mr. 
Anderson is a Democrat, but he has never been active along party lines, and has 
never aspired to any political office. He represented Contra Costa County for 
fifteen years on the California Development Board, which was an honorary 
position. On June 14, 1888, he was united in marriage to Lena C. Jones, a native 
of Contra Costa County, and daughter of John M. Jones of Alamo. Their one 
adopted daughter, Rosalie, was born in 1900. Mrs. Anderson, previous to her 
marriage, was connected with educational work in this county. She taught school 
in Walnut Creek district for twenty years; she served on the board of education 
for some years after her resignation. Mr. Anderson is identified with the 
Masonic fraternity, being a member of Alamo Lodge No. 122. Mrs. Anderson is a 
member of the Eastern Star, and has held the office of worthy matron of her 
lodge. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are held in high esteem in the community by all who 
know them.
 
Source: "The History of Contra Costa County, California", Elms Publ. Co., 1917, 
pp. 506-507.