San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 1192
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 9/29/2009
JAMES H. AUSTIN
Counted among the substantial citizens of the Summer Home district of San Joaquin County, James H. Austin was born at Irondale, Mo., April 7, 1860, a son of Rufus H. Austin, a native of Ohio. An uncle, Horace Austin, as a mere lad, served in the Seminole War in 1835; then in the war with Mexico he was captain in the U.S. Regulars, and in the Civil War served as captain in the 108th Illinois Volunteer Regiment from 1861 to 1865.
In 1878 James H. Austin was graduated from the Waterman, Ill. high school; two years later he entered the college at Dubuque, Iowa, in the department of civil engineering, having earned his tuition as clerk in the employ of the C.B. & Q.R.R. He spent three years there, then became identified with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in the operating department at San Francisco in 1882, where he worked for five years; then he was transferred to Santa Barbara, where he became station agent for the same company, this being the opening of the road; here he remained until 1894. He then became assistant to William Hood, chief engineer for the Southern Pacific, and for the following ten years was very active in this work. After the coast line from Santa Margarita to Santa Barbara was completed in 1901, Mr. Austin was sent to Ogden, Utah, where he was put in full charge of the east end of the thirty-mile trestle across Salt Lake out of Ogden, which was completed in May, 1902. From Ogden, Utah, he went to Sparks, Nev., and while here he decided to leave the service of the railroad. In 1900 he had purchased twenty acres of the Peter Clapp homestead in San Joaquin County at twenty-five dollars per acre, and desiring to locate on it and improve it, he gave up engineering work; later he purchased ten more acres, which he set to an orchard of almonds, peaches and apricots and a fine vineyard, all in full bearing now and highly productive.
Mr. Austin was married in December, 1904, to Miss Mabel Temple, a native of Scotland, who had resided in California since 1896, and they have one son, Neil T. Mrs. Austin is secretary of the Farm Bureau of the Summer Home local and is prominent in Eastern Star circles. Mr. Austin is a prominent Mason, being past master of the Santa Barbara and Manteca lodges, and the initial master of the Manteca lodge; he is a past high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, a member of the Commandery, both of Santa Barbara, and for the past twenty years has been a member of the Islam Temple of San Francisco. In politics he is a stanch Republican.
History of
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
With A
Biographical Review
of
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been
Identified with Its Growth and Development
from the Early Days to the Present
HISTORY BY
George H. Tinkham
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1923
San Joaquin County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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