Fresno County, California Biographies

Source: History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of 
the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with 
its growth and development from the early days to the present (1919)

History By Paul E. Vandor 
Illustrated, Complete In Two Volumes 
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1919
 
Notes: Missing+page1185-1186

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

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


JOHN L. ASHTON. � A successful business man who is associated with 
an important industrial establishment of Selma, and who is one of the repre- 
sentative commercial men of this progressive town, is John L. Ashton, owner 
and manager of Ashton's Bakery, at 1947 High Street. His father was William 
S. Ashton, a native of England, who came to America with his parents when he 
was five years old, and was a teacher of vocal music in Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee, organizing old fashioned singing classes. His mother, whose maiden 
name was- Artelia Early, belonged to a well-known family of Kentucky, in 
which state she was born, and was always proud of the fact that her 
mother. Mrs. Mary Early, liberated all of her slaves at the outbreak of the 
Civil War. 

Born at Lamasco, Lyon County, Ky., on June 24, 1879, the fifth in a 
family of six children, John attended the schools of his native section and 
grew up on his father's farm. He learned to turn a furrow, raise corn and 
tobacco, and to attend to live stock. He took up some of the more useful 
branches of study, such as commercial arithmetic, algebra and geometry, and 
made such progress that he was ready, when twenty-one years of age, to 
make his own way in the world. 

On attaining his majority, Mr. Ashton came to the Pacific Coast and, 
liking California, and Fresno in particular, he stopped for three years to learn 
the bakery trade at the Home Bakery. Next he went to Hanford and took 
charge of the City Bakery, and in the latter town he remained about a year. 

Returning to Fresno, Mr. Ashton established the Model Bakery, which 
is still being conducted there. He built a larger Model Bakery in Kern Street 
when the premises became too small, and there, by introducing the latest 
machinery, appliances and methods, soon took rank as one of the best of 
Fresno's bakers. Such was the encouraging response of the public that at 
one time he baked 10,000 loaves of bread a day. 

Disposing of this bakery in 1911 to its present owner, he went to Bakers- 
field and there organized the Ashton Baking Company. At the end of a 
year and a half, however, he sold out his proprietary interest, and then, for 
another year and a half, he managed the establishment for the purchaser. 

In September, 1915. he came to Selma, and purchased the Route Bakery; 
and on February 5, 1917, he bought the Home Bakery, at 1947 High Street, 
where he is now located. Determined to give Selma the very best establish- 
ment he could devise, he spent $3,000 in remodelling the place, and has since 
installed new machinery, including mixers, moulders and ovens, so that now, 
without doubt, he has one of the most sanitary and best-equipped bakeries in 
the Valley. He owns and is always improving his residence property at 2024 
Grant Street, Selma, where he dwells very happily with his family. He has 
also bought the building on High Street where the Ashton Bakery is located. 
The products of this favorite bakery are retailed not only at the bakeshop, but 
in all the groceries of the town and vicinity. 

At Fresno, Mr. Ashton was married to Miss Ellen Kalquest, a native of 
Boston, Mass., a talented and charming woman, and both husband and wife 
make and retain many friends. Their home, always hospitable, is a center of 
attraction for music-lovers. They have two children, Leland and Margaret. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ashton are members of the Baptist Church at Selma, where 
Mr. Ashton sings tenor in the choir. Mr. Ashton is a member of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. 

In addition to his residence and business properties already mentioned, he 
owns four lots at Fresno, one of which already contains a residence, and 
eight lots at Richmond. He is a hard worker, and ascribes his success to his 
ceaseless endeavor to please and to serve, and the invaluable cooperation of 
his faithful wife. October 5, 1918, he started the California Bakery in 
Tulare, Tulare County, Cal. He is now on the point of buying a one-half 
interest in the Lark Bakery and Confectioner}' at Fresno. 

He is of that quality of manhood which Fresno County loves to welcome 
and his example clearly demonstrates what a young man of brain and brawn, 
with application, can do in a few years in this locality.