California Biographies, San Joaquin Valley

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 the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


GEORGE S. BLOSS, Sr. Among the liberal and public-spirited men of Merced county, George S. Bloss; 
Sr., occupies a prominent place. He was born in Bethlehem, Conn., November 26, 1847, a son of 
George T. and Emily (Brown) Bloss, both natives of the same city, the former being of French and the 
latter of Scotch ancestry. The paternal ancestors of Mr. Bloss settled in Killings worth, Conn., upon 
their removal from France, and in that state George T. Bloss followed farming for a livelihood, 
remaining so occupied until his death at the age of forty-one years. George S. Bloss spent his boyhood 
days on the home farm, attending the local schools of his section, while at the same time he received 
the practical training of a farmer's son. In manhood he engaged in farming pursuits, remaining a 
resident of his native state until he was thirty-six years old. 

Deciding to locate in the west, Mr. Bloss came to California in 1884 and purchased land in the vicinity of 
Atwater, Merced county, where he engaged in the raising of stock and grain, having had broad 
experience in this line in his New England home. He has prospered in his efforts and is to-day the 
owner of two sections of land in Merced county, one section at Atwater, comprising the home place, 
of which one hundred and seventy-five acres is devoted to alfalfa and the balance to grain ; while the 
other section is ten miles distant and is given over entirely to the cultivation of grain and the raising of 
cattle. In addition to his agricultural pursuits he has taken an active interest in a corporation known as 
the Fin-de-Siecle Investment Company, which was organized in 1899, with Mr. Bloss as president. This 
company purchased the estate of John W. Mitchell, who died November 26, 1893, at which time Mr. 
Bloss took up the duties of administrator, to which office he had been appointed, and gave his 
undivided attention to this work until 1899. The careful manner -in which he executed the trust 
reposed in him has won the approval of all connected with the vast estate. This estate formerly 
contained one hundred and seventeen thousand acres, but is now reduced to ninety thousand and 
comprises land in Stanislaus, Merced, Madera and Fresno counties, devoted to stock and grain raising. 
The Fin-de-Siecle Investment Company held this property intact until August, 1904, when they sold 
their interests as follows : one-third to the Bloss Land and Cattie Company; one-third to Crane 
Brothers Company; and one-third to the Geer-Dallas Investment Company. Mr. Bloss has shown 
business ability, shrewd judgment, and a practical knowledge in his management of the affairs 
intrusted to him, and has ably demonstrated the fact that conservative methods may yet be 
progressive ones. 

Mr. Bloss has been married twice, his first union having take place in 1873, when Ella Stone, formerly 
of Woodbury, Conn., and niece of the late John W. Mitchell, became his wife. She died in 1893, leaving 
two children, of whom Edna is the wife of Julian Thorne, of San Francisco, and George S., Jr., is a 
prominent stockman in Merced county and director of the Commercial Bank of Merced. February 2, 
1904, Mr. Bloss was again married, being united with Mrs. Edna (Thompson) Hull, whom he had known 
from early childhood, her birthplace having also been Bethlehem, Conn. In addition to his varied 
business interests Mr. Bloss is a director of the Security Bank of Merced, and exercises a broad 
influence in the matter of progress and reform throughout the county. He is a man of public spirit and 
is held in the highest esteem by all with whom he has come in business or social contact.