George Tyler Trowbridge
In its lineage the Trowbridge family claims descent from a long line of English ancestors, and the great-grandfather of George Tyler Trowbridge was for many years a cotton manufacturer in Trowbridge, Worcestershire, England. After his immigration to the United States he settled in Massachusetts, where, at Trowbridge, he founded and carried on the cotton mills with which his name was associated for so many years, and which later his demise were owned and operated by his son. The son of the latter was George O. Trowbridge, who in his earlier years was a manufacturer of iron in the east and who in 1835 went to Wisconsin and established a foundry and machine shop in Sheboygan. Subsequently he engaged in the same business in Fond du Lac, but the panic if 1873 made it necessary for him to discontinue the business. For five years thereafter he continued in the middle west, but in 1878 he determined to come to California, and that same year found him located in Oakland. There he established one of the oldest business enterprises in that city, the Oakland Iron works, which he sold after running it for a few years. From Oakland, he came to Sonoma county, and near Windsor was interested in horticulture throughout the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1905. At his death he left a widow, Louise (Tyler) Trowbridge, a native of Kentucky, and the daughter of John Tyler, a native of Virginia and an early settler of Kentucky, where his daughter was born. John Tyler was a near relative of President Tyler. Mrs. Louise Trowbridge is still living, making her home in Santa Rosa, at the age of seventy-six years.
Five children comprised the family of George O. and Louise (Tyler) Trowbridge of whom three are now living. George Tyler was the eldest of the number and was born while his parents were living in Sheboygan, Wis. His earliest educational training was in the German language, two years being passed in German schools before entering the public schools of Fond du Lac. Upon the completion of his high school training he began his business career at the age of sixteen years by accepting the position of bookkeeper and interpreter in the Savings Bank of Fond du Lac, a position which he filled acceptably for four years. Accompanying the family to California in 1878, he was for a time in the employ of Senator Sharon, subsequently for one year with S. B. Whipple, as bookkeeper, after which he held the same position with the California Boiler works and a year later became a one-third partner in the business. In 1882 he sold his interest and came to Sonoma county, purchasing a ranch at Windsor, which he improved by setting out an orchard of apples, pears, prunes and grapes. Later he subdivided the property and sold it out, one of the purchasers of this property being W. P. Hammond, now a wealthy dredge owner of Butte county. Mr. Trowbridge continued the buying and selling of ranches until 1893, when he became manager of the sale of the Cotati ranch, cutting it up into small tracts and disposing of it, and he takes pride in the fact that this has since become one of the best improved sections of Sonoma county.
After locating in Santa Rosa Mr. Trowbridge became associated with W. D. Reynolds (now president of the Santa Rosa Bank) in land speculation, among the tracts which they purchased and laid out being the Trowbridge and Reynolds subdivision of part of the Rincon Heights addition, and later on he laid out the Trowbridge and Doyle addition to Santa Rosa. Mr. Trowbridge’s operations have not been confined to this immediate locality, but have extended all over the county, and at the present time he is operating a ranch in Rincon valley and two in Sebastopol. In partnership with Alexander B. Hill he owns five thousand acres of land in the Sacramento valley, located between Sacramento and Marysville, all of which is under cultivation to grain and alfalfa. Numerous as are the interests already mentioned they do not cover the activities which have engaged Mr. Trowbridge’s time and thought. Altogether he has build some twenty-five residences in Santa Rosa, secured the location of the National Ice Company’s plant for this place, and since 1906 has erected about thirty residences and business buildings in Oakland, and in which he is still interested to a large extent. Last but not least, he has been much interested in raising full blooded Jersey cattle, and has accumulated a herd that took first prize at fairs all over the state. On his ranch may also be seen fine specimens of standard-bred horses which he has raised.
In Oakland was celebrated the marriage of George T. Trowbridge and Miss Emma Flint, a native of Santa Rosa and the daughter of E. P. Flint of the firm of Peabody &Co., formerly of Boston, Mass., and the oldest merchants in California. Nine children were born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Trowbridge, as follows: Mabel, Mrs. Dohn, of Santa Rosa; Grace, Mrs. McChristian, of Sebastopol; Alice, Mrs. Scott, of Santa Rosa; Lloyd, in the employ of Wells Fargo & Co. at Los Angeles; Harold and Edward George, ranching in Sutter county; Bessie, Florence and Wilbur, the three last mentioned still at home. Fraternally, Mr. Trowbridge is a Mason of the Knight Templar degree, a member of Islam Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco, Elks and Woodmen of the World, besides which he is a member of the Grange, Sonoma County Horticultural Society (of which he was one of the founders) and is an active member of the State Fruit Growers’ Association. For five years he was the Sonoma county representative of the State Board of Trade.
History
of Sonoma County, California
History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891
Los Angeles, Ca. 191
Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood
July 5, 2011 Pages 475-479
Sonoma County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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