Fond of social life and popular with all classes, Mr. Jorgensen is a member of the Odd Fellows' lodge at Riverdale, where he is a Past Grand and Past District Deputy Grand Master.
JUAN MIGUEL URRUTIA.
A rancher and stockman of wide experience and unerring judgment and foresight is J. M. Urrutia, an extensive sheep-grower, landowner and farmer, who first saw the light at Mezquiriz, Navarra, Spain, on February 26, 1883. He is the son of Antonio Urrutia, an agriculturist and stockman, who owned a large farm when he died, in 1893, while Juan was ten years of age. His wife was Manuella Yrigoyen, before her marriage, and she became the mother of eight children, among whom Juan was the fourth oldest. She was even a larger landowner, and she is still living.
Juan, who is the only one of the family now in California, was brought up on a farm in Spain, where he enjoyed but very limited educational advantages, and from his tenth year he worked assisting and helping his mother. After he came to California, he saw the need of education; and so he studied evenings, and gradually learned to read and to speak English. He was only seventeen when he determined to say farewell to his native land. Arriving in Fresno, January 2, 1901, three days later he found employment with a sheep-grower on the West Side, and with him he continued for fourteen months. Having somewhat mastered English, he moved to Coalinga, where he was engaged by Matias Erro, and six months thereafter, he shifted again, this time to Tehachapi, where he was busy in the same line for three months.
A fourteen months' contract to chop wood for the Union Lime Company followed, and after that, he went to the mines, for a short time, in Piute, Kern County, but he did not like the experience, and so accepted a position as engineer at the lime-kiln at Tehachapi, from which place he went to Bakersfield. He was again in the employ of a sheep-raiser for a year, and this led him to get a flock of his own, which after six months on the range, he sold in Mono County. When he returned to Fresno, he bought another bunch of sheep, and for some years devoted himself to sheep-raising.
Mr. Urrutia next bought a ranch at Huron, on the West Side, and set to work energetically to make improvements. He sunk a well and erected the necessary buildings; and he raised grain while continuing in the sheep business. After selling his flock he found that he had made a good clean-up, so he concluded to continue in the business, and determined to enlarge his operations and branch out; but he soon found that his lack of the necessary capital was a hindrance. He then went to San Francisco and arranged with Messrs. George C. Alferetz & Co., establishing a credit with them; and as the years rolled by and his business grew to very large proportions, he drew heavily on them. He was careful, however, in all of his operations, never to abuse his credit, nor was their confidence in him misplaced. He continued to use their credit until they closed their business house and retired from business in 1916.
Since Mr. Urrutia started raising grain in 1909, he has never farmed less than 2,000 acres a year, and some years he has had 3,000 acres in grain. For this purpose, he originally used horses and mules; but later he bought a seventy-five-horse-power C. L. Best Caterpillar for plowing and putting in the crops, as well as pulling the combined harvester.
While living on this ranch, Mr. Urrutia was married at San Francisco on November 10, 1913, when he took for his wife Miss Fermina Erro, a native of the same place from which Mr. Urrutia came, who settled in Fresno in 1910. Two children have blessed their union — Joseph and Beatrice.
Mr. Urrutia has met with unusual success in both farming and sheep-growing. By 1913 he had 15.000 head of sheep, although during the winter, 1913-14, he sold off 7,000 head in the market, and then by natural increase as well as purchase, he enlarged the number in his flocks so that in 1915 he sold 6.000 sheep in the market, and in 1916 he sold off another bunch of 9,000 head. He also sold his West Side ranch and all his holdings there, and moved to Herndon, where he purchased a ranch of fifty acres, all in alfalfa. There he resided with his family and made many improvements, putting in a pumping plant, run by a gas engine, and thus greatly enhancing the value of the property. He started a dairy there, while he continued his investment in sheep, and he still has 8,000 head. He runs them in four bands, leasing lands in both Madera and Fresno Counties. Mr. Urrutia raises grain in partnership with others, and devotes about 2,400 acres to wheat, barley and rye. Besides this, he also owns forty acres in Madera County, three and a half miles south of Madera, which he has set out and improved to vines, and a ranch of 160 acres near the San Joaquin River in Madera County, which he devotes to grain. He also owns 220 acres six miles south of Hanford, Kings County, devoted to grain and alfalfa and a twenty-five-acre full bearing peach orchard between McKinley and Shields Avenues five miles northwest of Fresno.
In 1917 Mr. Urrutia purchased his residence at 810 S Street, Fresno, where he resides with his wife and two children, Joseph and Beatrice. He also owns other valuable property in Fresno, namely, a residence on R Street, and three lots on the corner of N and Fresno Streets, two business lots on Van Ness Avenue, close in; and twelve large lots in the State Normal Addition, two lots, numbers 28 and 29 on J Street, between Inyo and Ventura. In partnership with G. B. Frencheboy, he owns the Reedley Garage, which they run under the firm name of Urrutia & Frencheboy, and he and his partner act as agents for various high-class cars. With the same partner, in 1916, he purchased 173 acres of vineyard and orchard, seven miles northeast of Reedley, 120 acres is devoted to malaga, muscat and Thompson seedless vines, while the balance is in figs. The same firm also own twenty-two and a half acres of vineyard, three and a half miles northeast of Reedley. Seeing great possibilities in Lower California, Mr. Urrutia with others was one of the organizers of, and a large stockholder in the Chinn-Gribel Company, that purchased a large tract in that country. They have built a canal, taking water from the Colorado River, and already placed a large portion of their extensive holding under irrigation, and are planning to put water over the entire tract.
Mr. Urrutia has had many other interests, among them that of a stockholder in the First National Bank of Lemoore and is an original stockholder in the Growers National Bank of Fresno. He and his family are members of St. John's Catholic Church, and he is a popular member of the Eagles. He is a member and a stockholder of both the California Associated Raisin Company and the California Peach Growers, Inc., as well as of the old Danish Creamery Association, and he belongs to the California Wool-growers Association. He is a stand-pat Republican. Mr. Urrutia has shown his patriotism in many ways, not only by enlarging his grain area, when the country wanted grain, but in liberally supporting all the bond and war drives.
MRS. NELLIE LEWIS.
A Kansas girl who has developed into a California woman of splendid attainments, influential both in the social and the commercial world, is Mrs. Nellie Lewis, widow of the late William A. Lewis, member of the erstwhile real estate firm of Lewis & Wells.
She was born at Colony, Anderson County, Kans., the daughter and oldest child of Joseph H. and Laura (Matthews) McDowell, who are now living at Selma, the parents of six children — Nellie; Carl, who served in the cavalry service in France, and Nina. Gladys, Velma and Chester, who are at home. She attended the grammar schools of Kansas, and in 1914 came to Selma with her parents. Here, in December, 1915, she was married to William Andrew Lewis, a native of Missouri. They were members of the Christian Church at Selma, and also active in War Work; and among the last efforts for others made by Mr. Lewis was to take a hand in the United War Work Drive.
W. A. Lewis died at the Emergency Hospital in Selma aged thirty-five years, and is survived by his wife and his mother. The funeral was in charge of the Selma Lodge of Odd Fellows, of which he was a member in high standing. Because of the health regulations it was necessary to hold the funeral in the open air. Among the floral offerings was one piece presented by the real estate firms of Selma, who took this opportunity of expressing their appreciation of him when one of their colleague. Mr. Lewis was a member of the First Christian Church of this city, and was numbered among the most progressive and wide-awake business men, and in his death, Selma suffered a distinct loss.
Besides being an active church and war worker, and