Merced-Fresno County CA Archives Biographies.....Willett, E. S. 1866 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 8, 2006, 11:34 pm Author: John Outcalt (1925) E. S. WILLETT One of the earliest settlers in the Atwater District, Mr. Willett is one of the few who went through every vicissitude of this pioneer region, and has made good in the face of seemingly unsurmountable obstacles. And in this work he has helped greatly in the development of the country surrounding, showing by concrete example what can be done, if the doer brings to the task the right spirit of industry and integrity of purpose. A native of Manchester, Ohio, Mr. Willett was born September 14, 1866, the second of four sons born to W. M. and Mary Malisse (Brownfield) Willett, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter of Ohio. In 1870 the family moved out to Kansas, settling near Elmdale, Chase County, and crossing the Santa Fe trail ahead of the track-layer crew on the construction of the A. T. & S. F. Railway. They went through the grasshopper raids and all the hardships incident to the early settling of Kansas during the early seventies. In 1876 they went back to Ohio, where the wife and mother died in 1877, aged thirty-three years. The father married again, in Ohio. Thus it will be seen that the family experienced life on the frontier and this fact has been indelibly stamped on the mind of our subject. Educated in the public schools of Ohio and Kansas, E. S. Willett supplemented his early schooling by attending Hazeldell Academy at Newton, Iowa, but due to eye trouble he had to leave the academy and go into the country and he grew up on the farm in the intervals. He left home at the age of nineteen and worked for wages, receiving eighteen dollars a month driving a creamery wagon. He later moved to Lake Charles, La., where he homesteaded 160 acres in 1890, and this property he owns today, situated in the heart of the rice-growing region; recent developments indicate that it may become an oil field. For seven years Mr. Willett taught school in Louisiana, receiving forty dollars per month, the greater portion of the population of the region being descendants of the exiles of Arcadia, immortalized by Longfellow in his poem, "Evangeline." His next move was to Mena, Ark., where he became agent for the Walter Pearce Oil Company, and from there he moved to Fresno, Cal., and May 4, 1909, came with his family to Atwater, in July of that year purchasing twenty-four acres at Yam Station on the Santa Fe Railway. At the time of his arrival this region was sparsely settled, used mostly by holding companies as grain fields and stock pasture, there being less than a half dozen settlers at that time, where now reside in the same section some forty families; and it may be even now said to be just beginning to grow, for the tide has turned toward the rapid settling up of all California lands which can show the soil and water conditions of Atwater and surrounding country. But fifteen or more years ago things were not so easy, and the settler then had to be both a hustler and a rustler to make good. Mr. Willett's first efforts in planting and caring for such fruits as peaches and grapes were put to the test, but he "stuck," and has proven both the fertility of the district and his own indomitable spirit, for which much credit is due him. He is one of the charter members of the Atwater Fruit Exchange, and his early efforts included the selling of fruits from Merced Falls to Los Banos. He now is the owner of a twenty-four-acre ranch, devoted to a highly developed orchard and vineyard, this constituting his home place; and he also owns eleven acres of open land two and one-half miles north of there. Mr. Willett established the R. F. D. route out of Winton in the earlier days of the district's development, conducting it himself for two months during the earlier part of the year 1913. The marriage of Mr. Willett united him with Miss Anna R. Wright, born in Texas, a daughter of the late Dr. Wright and his wife, who has since become Mrs. W. R. Davis. Four children have come to Mr. and Mrs. Willett: Ezra J., a student in the Armstrong School of Foreign Trade; Maudine, a student at the University of California, Class of 1927; Cleone Monett, attending Merced Union High School, Class 1925; and Nona M., attending Arundel School. The family attend the Winton Presbyterian Church. Mr. Willett was formerly active in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Mena, Ark. Active fraternally, he joined Anchor Lodge, I. O. O. F., in Lake Charles, and the Rebekah Lodge at Mena, Ark., being a Past Grand of the Lake Charles Lodge, and Past District Deputy. He is a Republican in politics, and a worker for all civic betterment. He is a member of the Winton Farm Bureau and was secretary for the organization for two years. He is now a director of the Merced County Farm Bureau and is a member of the California Peach & Fig Growers Association. 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 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/merced/bios/willett207gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 5.7 Kb