Sutter-Yuba County Biographies


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



C. WESLEY REED
 
A self-made man in the full sense of the word, C. Wesley Reed was born at 
Marysville, on November 11, 1897, the eldest son of Howard and Edith (Cooley) 
Reed, whose sketch is given elsewhere in this volume.
C. Wesley Reed was reared on his father�s farm near Marysville.  In 1917, he 
enlisted in the U.S. Marines, and thereafter served until he became very ill 
with a severe case of fever, when he was sent home a convalescent.  After 
attending the Sacramento High School for two years, he entered the University of 
California, where he studied for some time.  He then was employed by Balfour, 
Guthrie & Company, at the breeding establishment on their Contra Costa farm near 
Brentwood, and two months later was made superintendent.  He occupied this 
position for two years, learning thoroughly the entire stock business on this 
very extensive ranch.  In 1920, in partnership with another man, he farmed to 
beans in San Joaquin, but the crop proved a complete loss.  In 1922, he returned 
to Yuba County and made a new start on the Reed ranch.  During the fruit season 
of 1922 he was placed in charge of the Riviera orchard as superintendent for T. 
C. Judkins, attorney, of San Francisco, the present owner.  This property, which 
is located in Sutter and Butte counties, is now being put into a high state of 
cultivation, and is widely known for its choice 160 acres of river-bottom land, 
twelve miles north of Marysville and Yuba City, on the west bank of the Feather 
River.  They raise prunes, French and Imperial, and extra choice canning 
peaches, with a score of other California fruits, the orchard covering about 120 
acres of the quarter-section.  In 1923, he took charge of the clearing of forty 
acres of bottom land, and has employed nine men steadily.  He has started the 
growing of cover crops, and has instituted several other features that have 
proved of benefit to the fruit growers of the community.  He is a member of the 
Farm Bureau, and of the Calpha agriculture fraternity, of Davis, Cal.  
Fraternally, he is a Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge at Gridley, Cal.
Mr. Reed was married in the spring of 1923 to Miss Alma Hansen of Yuba County; 
and they are now residing upon and operating one of his father�s ranches, the 
Howard Reed ranch, in Sutter County, about two miles southeast of Bogue Station. 
 This ranch has eighty-five acres of peaches, prunes, and plums, to which he is 
giving the best care and attention.  Although he could have chosen a life of 
leisure, Mr. Reed preferred to work forward toward a definite goal, and 
therefore took up outside work in order to gain a well-rounded and thorough 
knowledge of business enterprise and ranching in general.  His life has been 
characterized throughout by industry, perseverance and progressiveness; and the 
prosperity which has come to him is well deserved.
 
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 692