Mrs. Helen L. Waldrop
By no means can it be said that all of the prosperity now visible in Sonoma county is traceable to the energy of the masculine citizens alone, and undoubtedly far too little credit reaches the deserving women who have done their part in bringing about the splendid conditions which have made Sonoma county an agricultural center without a peer in the state. Among this noble class of women mention belongs to Mrs. Waldrop, who for over a quarter of a century has lived upon and managed the ranch which is her home today, five miles northeast of Healdsburg. All of the vines in the vineyard and the trees in the orchard were set out under her immediate supervision, and their growth and development have been watched with a keen and practiced eye. Here may be seen the largest and most thrifty prune orchard in the county, seventy-five acres being in bearing condition, and when the thirty acres reset out to prunes come into bearing, Mrs. Waldrop may unquestionably be called the prune queen of Sonoma county.
A native of Missouri, Helen L. Schell, as she was known in maidenhood, was born in Elk Mills, McDonald county, in 1858. During her early childhood her parents removed to Texas, and in that southern state she was reared and educated. After the death of her parents in Texas she went to White Sulphur Springs, Ark., with an uncle, making her home with this relative until her marriage in 1876, in Maysville, Ark., with B. M. Jones, who was a merchant in Indian territory. Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Jones returned to Indian territory with the intention of making it their permanent home. However, after several years Mr. Jones sold out his business and in 1881 he and his wife came to California. Coming to Sonoma county at that time, they settled on property near Healdsburg, but after remaining here one year they decided to return east and accordingly gave up their holdings. Although their experience in California had not met their expectations, neither did their experience of three years in the east, and it was at the end of this period that they determined to return to the west and resume their labors in Sonoma county. Hither they returned in the year 1884, and four miles from Healdsburg they purchased two hundred acres of farming land and at once began its development. Al of the trees in the prune orchard were set out by Mr. Jones, but he did not live to see results from his work, for his death occurred soon after the orchard was set o out. The responsibility and care of the ranch fell suddenly upon the shoulders of Mrs. Jones, who up to this time had had no practical experience in this line. However, she had been her husband’s constant companion and co-laborer in years past and as a consequence she was better prepared for the task than would otherwise have been the case, and the success with which she has since met has proved beyond a question of unusual adaptability for and interest in the work in which she is engaged. In addition to the one hundred and five acres in prunes, she has one hundred acres in pasture. The raising of prunes, however, is the chief industry of the ranch, in connection with which there is also an up-to-date drier. From seventy-five to eighty tons of dried fruit is an average output for the season, the income from which amounts to $10,000.
Three daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones, Edith, Helen and Beulah. The eldest, Edith, is the wife of R. R. Cunningham, of McAlester, Okla., and they have three children, Robert Elton, Helen and Averill. The other daughters, Helen and Beulah Jones, are still with their mother, in a beautiful residence which she has recently erected on Center street, Healdsburg. In Healdsburg, in 1897, Mrs. Jones became the wife of Joe Waldrop. No one is more actively interested in the development of Healdsburg than is Mrs. Waldrop, as her work and enthusiasm as a member of the Ladies Improvement Club will show, and she is also interested in the furtherance of the beneficial measures as president of the Ladies aid society of the Christian Church, of which she is a member.
History
of Sonoma County, California
History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891
Los Angeles, Ca. 1911
Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood
July 21, 2011 Pages 695-696
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