Merced County Biographies

JOE A. RODGERS

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

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

 
        A man who is rapidly advancing to a competency by his keen perception 
and the improvement of opportunities, Joe A. Rodgers deserves the credit of all 
who have witnessed his progress. The third of eight children, he was born near 
Sonora, Tuolumne County, on July 31, 1891. His parents, Antone A. and Anna ( 
Jacobs) Rodgers, were both natives of Flores, in the Azores; the father came to 
America a poor boy and worked in the mines of Tuolumne County, saved his wages 
and bought land and stock and accumulated considerable wealth before he died in 
Merced on August 3, 1920. The mother still lives at Atwater, where they settled 
in 1892.
        Joe went to the Franklin school and grew up on the farm, taking up the 
dairy business and alfalfa growing at Buhach. Near Chowchilla he was also 
associated with his parents in ranching on an extensive scale until the death of 
his father. With his share of the property left by his father he engaged in 
fruit raising and did a thriving business with watermelons and sweet potatoes. 
In 1919 he succeeded F. Valadon in a retail meat business on Front Street, 
Atwater, beginning in a small way, and by putting every effort into the 
business, he has made rapid strides and built up an excellent trade. In October, 
1923, he opened a first-class shop on Broadway in Atwater. He owns the lot and 
building, 150 ft. by 25 ft. with fixtures, modern and complete as any retail 
shop in the Valley. He is joint owner of 113 acres, and a dairy and forty-five 
head of dairy cattle. Mr. Rodgers has accumulated his holdings by a judicious 
use of the money left him by his father and by his own efforts.
        Mr. Rodgers was married in Atwater to Mary Furtado, a native of El Nido, 
Merced County. Her parents have been farmers in Merced County since 1876. Mr. 
and Mrs. Rodgers have four children: Edna, Gilbert, Merle and Mary. The three 
oldest are pupils in the Atwater Grammar School.
        He is a member of the Great Republic Life Insurance Co. since 1919. He 
is a Republican in politics and belongs to the Woodmen of the World and to the 
Atwater Pentacost Club Association, both in Atwater.
 
History of Merced County, California � Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 846-847