California Biographies
Mendocino and Lake Counties, California
 
Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

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

Source:
History of Mendocino and Lake Counties, California
With Biographical Sketches
History by Aurelius O. Carpenter And Percy H. Millberry
Illustrated, Complete In One Volume
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1914


WILLIAM CHESTER BALFOUR.� It is not too extravagant a predic- 
tion to say that William Chester Balfour has a brilliant future in store for 
him, for he is a young man of more than average ability and is endowed with 
an optimistic spirit that will not brook defeat in whatever he undertakes. A 
native son of California, Mr. Balfour was born in Point Arena, Mendocino 
county, April 23, 1885, the son of John and Mary J. (McCallum) Balfour, 
both natives of Canada, the former born in Pictou, Canada, and the latter 
on Prince Edward Island. John Balfour was one of the early settlers of 
Mendocino county, locating at Caspar, where he engaged in hauling lumber, 
and from there he went to Point Arena. His last days, however, were passed 
in Tuolumne county, where he continued in the lumber business as long as 
his activities continued. The mother is now making her home in Vallejo. 

William Chester Balfour was the older of the two children born to his 
parents. His childhood was spent in his birthplace, Point Arena, and from 
his earliest recollections he has been familiar with saw mills, as a child 
playing in the saw dust pile adjacent to the old Garcia mill. After complet- 
ing the course in the grammar school of Point Arena he entered upon a course 
in Heald's Business College in San Francisco and graduated therefrom in 1902. 
Following his graduation he became a teacher of bookkeeping, a position for 
which he was well qualified, but the indoor work proved too confining and 
after six months he was compelled to relinquish his position. It was at this 
juncture that he came to Fort Bragg in 1903 and entered the employ of the 
Union Lumber Company as clerk. From that position he rose steadily, later 
working in the yard, then becoming tallyman, and finally he was made fore- 
man of the sawing floor, having charge of the sawing of all of the lumber 
in the mill. That his employers place every confidence in his ability is evi- 
denced by his rapid promotion and by the responsibility which they have 
placed upon him, notwithstanding the fact that he is still young as years are 
counted. 

In Fort Bragg Mr. Balfour formed domestic ties b)^ his marriage with Miss 
Maude Pauline Cummings, a native of this city and the daughter of John 
Cummings. one of the well known pioneers of Mendocino county. As a mill 
builder Mr. Cummings' reputation is not confined to this county alone, for 
it is stated on good authority that there is no better mill builder on the coast 
than John Cummings. By right of his birth in this state Mr. Balfour is eligible 
to membership in the Native Sons of the Golden West, and he is proud to 
claim membership in Alder Glenn Parlor No. 200, of which he is past president. 

Mr. Balfour is a thorough believer in the old adage that all work and no 
play makes Jack a dull boy, evidence of this being borne out strongly in the 
interest which he evinces in all kinds of healthful sports. All arrangements 
for public amusements and festivities are referred to him to settle, which in- 
dicates better than words the confidence which his fellow citizens repose in 
him in this respect, and he is now manager of the Fort Bragg baseball team. 
Mr. Balfour also possesses considerable histrionic ability, and has not only 
staged more than twenty-five plays, but takes a leading part in most of the 
plays. Possessed of a genial temperament and a pleasing personality it is 
needless to say that Mr. Balfour is popular and numbers his friends by his 
acquaintances.