Sweezey, E. B.

E. B. Sweezy was born in Peconic, Suffolk County, Long Island, on October 11, 1853, to parents Samuel Sweezy and Mary Maria Haynes. He grew up on his father farm, clerked in a store, and later moved to Edgar, Clay County, Nebraska, where he married Cora E. Cline of Rochester, New York. In 1884, he relocated with his wife and two young children to Selma, California, where he began developing local agricultural lands and managed the Tremper and Sesnon vineyards for many years.

In addition to his work near Selma, Mr. Sweezy operated a 1,500-acre wheat ranch near Reedley and managed an 8,000-acre estate in Monterey County, where he introduced thoroughbred Hereford cattle. He and his wife raised four children—H. C., F. E., Eva Alberta, and Shirley—before retiring to a comfortable home at 2946 Grant Avenue in Fresno in July 1919. A member of the Woodmen of the World and the Republican party, he remained an active community member who invested his savings to help other local ranchers succeed.