Merced-Los Angeles County CA Archives Biographies.....McCollum, J. C 1874 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 13, 2006, 5:23 am

Author: John Outcalt (1925)

J. C. McCOLLUM

   On the list of Merced County's viticulturists appears the name of J. C.
McCollum who, since January, 1911, has been a resident and property-owner near
Snelling. His property embraces twenty-five acres of highly developed vineyard
one mile north of Snelling, and here he has pioneerd and prospered. He began
operations on his ranch by raising alfalfa and hogs, and has gradually set it to
fruit, including Thompson seedless grapes and a small orchard of almonds. He is
the pioneer in the use of modern methods in this vicinity, and many another
rancher has followed successfully in his footsteps.

   J. C. McCollum was born near Lynnville, Jasper County, Iowa, on April 27,
1874, the fifth in order of birth of six children, of whom five reside in
California, and one in Seattle, His parents were Isaac and Louisa (Ballinger)
McCollum, both born in North Carolina. The father came West to Iowa in 1850 and
took up government land, which is the present townsite of Stewart. The family
moved to California in 1883, locating in Los Angeles, then a city of 8000
inhabitants; soon after they removed to Pasadena, where Mr. McCollum purchased
an acreage in the vicinity of Hill and Allen Avenues, the present site of the
Pasadena High School buildings. J. C. McCollum attended Throop Polytechnic for
two terms and the Pasadena High School. Then he located at the corner of Fair
Oaks Avenue and Colorado Street, now the heart of the business section of that
city. He learned the machinist trade, working at the bench at the Pacific Brass
Works in Los Angeles for four years, and went out as a journeyman, following his
trade for fifteen years. In the meantime he had invested his savings in town
lots in Los Angeles, some of which he still owns, and they are now very valuable.

   At Pasadena Mr. McCollum was married to Miss Mettie King, who was born in
Kansas, the daughter of Jerome and Olive King, of Glendora, Cal.  The King
family came to California from Kansas in 1888. Mr. and Mrs. McCollum have two
children. Walter is a machinist, and the night foreman at the Yosemite Mills in
Merced Falls. He served during the World War with the Port Guard in San
Francisco harbor; he is married and has two children. Irene McCollum married
Leslie Halstad, of Snelling, in 1923. Mr. McCollum is a member and Past Grand of
Snelling Lodge No. 325, I. O. O. F. at Snelling. He is a liberal Republican and
supports any movement for progressive civic development. He came to the Merced
River district with the belief that here is offered much more for the working
dollar than in most new districts of diversified farming in California, and has
never altered his opinion of this garden spot. He is a real booster and works in
cooperation and harmony with the Merced County Farm Bureau, as well as the
California State Agricultural Extension Bureau. While he has put in two seasons
at the bench in the Yosemite Mills, he is an ardent lover of the outdoors, and
accordingly spends much time at home on his well cared for ranch, which is a
portion of the old Grimes Estate.


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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