Merced-Los Angeles-San Joaquin County CA Archives Biographies.....Eschelman, Alvin A. 1872 - 
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Author: John Outcalt (1925)

ALVIN A. ESHELMAN

   The position as a member of the board of trustees of the Livingston grammar
schools shows the high esteem in which Alvin A. Eshelman is held in his home
community by his fellow citizens. He was born in Mt. Morris, Ill., on October 3,
1872, the fifth of seven children in the family of M. M. Eshelman, who was born
in Pennsylvania and reared on a farm there. After his preliminary education was
finished he began teaching school to pave the way for his future work. Leaving
the school room he became the editor of the Brethren at Work, a religious paper
printed under the auspices of the Dunkard denomination, at Lanark, Ill.; when it
was moved to Mt. Morris he continued as editor until 1882, when he went to
Jewell County, Kans., and lived about five years, then removed to Republic
County, that State, where he was instrumental in founding a Dunkard college. He
next came to Lordsburg, Cal., and became immigration agent for the Santa Fe
Railway and was the means of bringing many families into California, especially
the southern section. He died in Los Angeles County at the age of seventy-six
years, after completing a life full of work and promise. He was the father of
seven children, viz.: Olive M., married J. W. Keefer and lives at Covina, Cal.;
Vinnie, wife of O. W. Lehmer, residing at Alhambra, Cal.; Harvey H., a rancher
at Sawtelle, Cal.; Clara I., widow of J. E. Kindig, lives in Los Angeles, Cal.;
Alvin A., the subject of this sketch; Amy A., wife of C. C. Langfeld of
Brookings, Ore.; and Herbert N., of Spokane, Wash.

   A. A. Eshelman's early life was spent in Illinois and he attended the schools
in Lanark and Mt. Morris, and the high school in Mcpherson, Kans. At an early
age he found employment on farms, and he came to Southern California with the
family in 1890. He was asked to come to Merced County by his brother-in-law, O.
W. Lehmer, who was the general manager for the Yosemite Valley Railroad Company,
to improve some land he owned near Livingston in the Number Two subdivision of
the Livingston Land Colony. This colony had been settled by many railroad men
and our subject began to improve and plant orchards and vineyards for them,
finally becoming the owner of the property where he now lives and has a
comfortable home and valuable ranch land.

   Mr. Eshelman was married on March 23, 1903, in San Joaquin County, Cal., to
Miss Minnie E. Isbell, born at Lathrop, the daughter of C. E. Isbell. He was
born in Stockton when the old Eagle Hotel and two other buildings were the only
wooden structures in that city. He married Florence Hunsucker, who was born in a
tent where French Camp now stands, at that time nothing more than a range. Her
father, Adolphus Hunsucker, and her mother, were born in the South, crossed the
plains in 1851 and were among the pioneers of San Joaquin County, where they
were farmers. Grandfather Isbell and his wife were natives of the South and were
Forty-niners in California. C. E. Isbell and his wife had three children: Minnie
E., Mrs. Eshelman; James L., a rancher near Tracy; and Lloyd, who died at
sixteen. Mrs. Eshelman attended the Lathrop school and had one year in Doane's
Business College in Stockton. She then worked two years as a stenographer for
Rev. H. R. Holsinger in the preparation of his history of the Brethren Church,
taking in the German Baptists and the two branches of the Dunkard churches. Four
children have come to bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Eshelman, viz.: Vinnie M.,
wife of C. W. Nobbe, a rancher of the Livingston district. Mr. Nobbe served as a
stenographer at the Base Hospital at Newport News, Va., and was honorably
discharged after fifteen months of service during the World War. They have one
son, Harold C. Alvin M. graduated from the Merced High school, class of 1923,
and assists his father with the home ranch; Mildred B., a junior in the
Livingston Union High school; and Wilbur, a grammar school pupil. Mr. Eshelman
is a member of the board of trustees of the Livingston Grammar School and
evinces a live interest in the cause of education. He belongs to the Livingston
Center of the Merced County Farm Bureau. He was reared in the Dunkard faith, but
there being no church of that denomination in Livingston he affiliates with the
Methodist Church. Mrs. Eshelman was reared in that church and is active in the
work of the church. They are both highly esteemed in their circle of friends.


Additional Comments:
From:

HISTORY OF
MERCED COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
WITH A
Biographical Review
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been
Identified with Its Growth and Development
from the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
JOHN OUTCALT

ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1925


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