Yolo-Alameda County CA Archives Biographies.....Fenton, Del 1876 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 14, 2006, 4:19 pm

Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

DEL FENTON

    Few departments of business activity affect more deeply the permanent
welfare of a place and none is more vitally associated with the attractiveness
of a town than that of contracting and building. The village that boasts
picturesque cottages and substantial business structures attracts the stranger
who is repelled by a town containing only unsightly houses and public buildings
lacking grace or convenience of design. It has been the task of Mr. Fenton,
during a somewhat brief identification with the citizenship of Woodland, to
erect buildings attractive in exterior appearance, convenient as to interior
arrangements and yet conserving of space as well as of expenditures of money.
The buildings, both private and public, in many instances have been designed by
the builder and the completed structure, symmetrical and harmonious, represents
his intelligent oversight and architectural ability.

    In his native city of Springfield, Ohio, where he was born in 1876 and where
he had received a fair education, Mr. Fenton learned the trade of carpentering
under his father, a practical and experienced builder. Upon starting out for
himself he came to California during 1900 and settled at Davisville, Yolo
county, where he joined an uncle, Eli Snyder, and for three years he worked
faithfully and well on the ranch owned by that relative. Leaving the ranch and
taking up work at his trade, he labored for a time at Goldfield, Nev., and next
went to Medford, Ore., where he followed his chosen occupation. Later going to
Berkeley, Cal., he acted as foreman of the Newton Sanford Construction Company
for fourteen months, and when he resigned that position he returned to Yolo
county. Since August of 1909 he has resided in Woodland, where he owns a
comfortable home at No. 173 West Court street.

    It is significant of the popularity enjoyed by Mr. Fenton in his home city
that, during the two years of his residence here, he has erected over forty
dwellings in or near the city, representing an investment of from $90,000 to
$100,000. While he refuses no contracts except for lack of time, he prefers to
erect modern, elegant residences and for these he draws his own plans. Two of
the best houses in Madison, this county, were erected recently by him, also the
Fillmore district schoolhouse and the country residence of J. C. Clark, besides
the Woodland residences of A. R. Lee, F. V. Stening, H. E. Norton, O. Howard, E.
Snavely, Mrs. Bray, Miss Alice Balls, George Zane, J. J. Keene and John.. Dole,
as well as two houses for W. Woolley and other buildings in or near town. When
he came to Woodland he brought with him his bride, whom he had married in Oregon
in 1909 and who was formerly Miss Josephine Balls. While she had lived in the
northern state during much of her girlhood, she was born in California and is a
member of an old family of the west. With her husband she enjoys the friendship
of the people of Woodland and has made many warm friends during the period of
her residence in the city. Fraternally Mr. Fenton holds membership with the
Junior Order of United American Mechanics and maintains a deep interest in the
activities of this order. As a citizen he heartily supports all movements for
the permanent advancement of Woodland and vies with older settlers in his
devotion to civic progress and in his intelligent advocacy of progressive
movements.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
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
TOM GREGORY
AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS
ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913]


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