Sutter-Yuba County Biographies


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



BENJAMIN F. LABADIE
 
            The nature of the activities to which Benjamin F. Labadie has 
devoted his life has made him an important factor in the upbuilding of Yuba 
County; and his intelligently directed labors have resulted in the development 
of a valuable ranch near Dobbins, while he also has made judicious investments 
in mining property in Yuba County.  He is one of California�s native sons, and 
was born on the Camptonville road, sixteen miles northeast of Marysville, July 
2, 1858.  His father, Peter Labadie, was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1822, and 
in 1852, when a young man of thirty, started for California, making the journey 
with ox teams and wagons.  The party was aided by friendly Indians, who 
furnished them with pontoons on which to cross the streams, and the redskins 
were liberally rewarded for their services.  Of the fourteen children in the 
family of Mr. and Mrs. Labadie, nine are still living.  A brother, Thomas, had 
come to California in 1849, and returning East, they all came out together in 
1852.  The mother, Margaret (Meilot) Labadie, was born in Lorraine, France, and 
emigrated with her parents to Canada, in which country her marriage occurred.  
In the fifties, Mr. Labadie engaged in general merchandising at Indiana Ranch, 
and after selling out to a Mr. Newman he entered a homestead on Maple Spring 
Ranch.  He prepared the soil for the planting of crops, and through arduous 
labor became the owner of 160 acres of arable land, on which he erected a 
comfortable home for his family.  In 1870 he became interested in the lumber 
industry, building the Maple Spring sawmill, and was very successful in that 
venture, employing fifty men during the busy season.  He also was largely 
instrumental in securing the fine school building at Indiana Ranch and was 
numbered among the most progressive and public-spirited men of his community.  
He passed away on the Maple Spring Ranch in August, 1884, at the age of 
sixty-two, and the mother�s demise occurred in 1906, when she had reached the 
ripe old age of eighty years.
            Benjamin F. Labadie was the seventh child in their family, and early 
became familiar with agricultural pursuits through assisting his father with the 
farm work.  During his boyhood he often visited the Digger Indians, who lived 
near his father�s ranch, deriving much valuable knowledge concerning the customs 
and habits of that tribe, and has lived to witness its decline.  As a young man 
he followed the trades of blacksmithing and carpentering, in addition to many 
other lines of activity, and spent several years in the sawmills of Nevada, 
Butte and Sierra Counties, rising to the position of sawyer.  He has also worked 
as a miner, and for three years ran the Seber Ranch at Browns Valley.  He now 
owns and operates a tract of 160 acres adjoining the Maple Spring Ranch, and 
finds stock-raising a profitable source of income.  His well-tilled fields also 
yield abundant harvests.  He has never been afraid of hard work, and believes in 
scientific methods of agriculture, keeping abreast of the time in every way.
            Mr. Labadie married Miss Henrietta Klenzendorf, a native of Dobbins 
and a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Klenzendorf, who settled here in 1862.  Of 
this union the following children have been born:  Peter, who died in infancy; 
Nora, who married Ross Mawer, of Lassen County; Mamie, wife of William Josselyn, 
of Indiana Ranch; Rose, the wife of G. Monyier, of Sacramento; Mrs. Laura 
Helman, who resides in Lassen County; Emma, who married L. Glidden, of 
Sacramento; and Agnes, who is yet at home.  There are also nine grandchildren in 
the family.  Mr. Labadie is an active worker for the good of his community, and 
rendered important public service as road overseer.  For fifteen years he acted 
as school trustee, and during his incumbency in that office the new school 
building at Indiana Ranch was erected.  The spirit of progress has animated him 
throughout his entire life, manifesting itself in his business career as well as 
in his connection with public affairs; and Yuba County is proud to claim him as 
one of her native sons.
 
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 522-525