Kings County Biographies


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



 
NAPOLEON PETER KANAWYER
 
Peter Kanawyer, the first of the name to come to California, brought hither his 
son, Napoleon Peter Kanawyer, when he was a lad of fourteen years. He was born 
in Indiana in December, 1849, and was a small child when the family moved to the 
frontier of Iowa and from that state came to California. The family settled near 
Sacramento and later were pioneers at Grangeville in Kings county, where they 
became well and favorably known. Mr. Kanawyer married Viola Blunt and she bore 
him three children. Napoleon mar ried Cisly Collins and they have seven 
children: Napoleon, Doris, Cyril, Gertrude, Mervin, and twin babies, and they 
reside at Sanger in Fresno county. Thomas is next in order. Frances is the wife 
of Jay Robinson. Mr. Kanawyer died in 1908.
Thomas Kanawyer, the second son, was born in Tulare county, the part now set 
aside as Kings county, on September 26, 1879. He was reared and educated in the 
common schools and with the family moved to Fresno county, settling near Dunlap. 
He married Miss Margaret Main, born in Fresno county February 20, 1882. They are 
the parents of two children, Viola Frances and Margaret Ruth. In 1910 Thomas 
Kanawyer purchased three hundred and ninety-five acres of land which he is 
clearing and developing. One hundred and twenty acres of it is tillable and the 
balance is in timber and pasture. He keeps about one hundred head of stock on 
his place and has about thirty-five hundred cords of marketable wood.
With his mother he is the owner of several jenneys which are used for pack 
animals, and he is otherwise assisting his mother in the care of the family 
homestead. As a farmer he has won a place for himself in his neighborhood and as 
a citizen has proven his worth as helpful to the general interests. He is a 
Republican in politics but has never sought office. Like his father, who was a 
well known citizen, he is giving his attention to the building up of his own 
fortunes and in aiding public movements to the best of his ability.
 
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - 
Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913
pp. 640-641
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler