Biography of Frank Ripley Prewitt of Soledad California

A few years before the Mexican war Green Prewitt of Mississippi left his home in that state as a young man, to ascertain what the great west might contain. After spending some time in Texas and the present state of Oklahoma, the war with Mexico came to an end and a large tract of country, including California, came into the possession of the United States by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. That same year found Mr. Prewitt in the new territory. The discovery of gold failed to excite him as it did thousands of others. He was in the Salinas valley at the time and preferred the good wages paid in the lumber camps to the uncertainty of gold seeking. Subsequently he was engaged in business as a ranchman near Paraiso Springs. He was married to Miss Teresa Ripley, a native of Monterey county, whose father was a sea captain in early life, afterward settling in Monterey county, where he held the offices of sheriff and county surveyor.

Frank R. Prewitt was born April 11, 1872, grew to manhood on his father’s ranch and received a grammar school education. About the time he reached his majority he entered the employ of the Spreckles Sugar Company, with which concern he remained until 1900, when he became a carpenter and plumber for the Southern Pacific Railway Company. In 1912 he returned to the Spreckles Sugar Company. With this company he has worked in various capacities and at various places, first as a farm hand near King City, and later as manager of different ranches. In November, 1921, he came to his present position as manager of the company’s No. 2 ranch at Soledad. This ranch embraces one thousand and two hundred acres, upon which from thirty to fifty men are employed, raising sugar beets and beans.

In 1906 Mr. Prewitt was married, in Santa Cruz, to Miss Nellie Gates, a native of Iowa. They are members of the Catholic church and Mr. Prewitt is a republican. He owns property in Soledad.


Source: History of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, California : cradle of California’s history and romance : dating from the planting of the cross of Christendom upon the shores of Monterey Bay by Fr. Junipero Serra, and those intrepid adventurers who accompanied him, down to the present day. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1925.


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