Andrews, S. M.

S. M. Andrews, born in Farmington on August 30, 1874, was a hard-working, self-made rancher who became a foundational figure in the organization and development of Parlier, California. The son of G. W. Andrews, a well-known farmer in San Joaquin County, he attended local schools and learned to rely on his own abilities during a period of rapid state growth. At the age of sixteen in 1890, he arrived in Parlier and began buying, planting, improving, and selling various tracts of land at a profit. His early success in cultivating twenty-acre and forty-acre plots demonstrated the good judgment and square methods that defined his early career.

He eventually established his home ranch on thirty acres of the former Preacher Miller property, where he erected an attractive bungalow residence that became a notable ornament of the fast-growing district. In 1910, he married Nellie Tremper, a native of Lower Lake, California, who joined him in supporting all movements aimed at the general betterment of the community. Beyond his agricultural pursuits, he helped bring the First National Bank of Parlier into existence and invested as a stockholder in the California Associated Raisin Company. As a loyal American and active Republican, he worked to elevate national politics and vigorously supported the administration in all of its war work.