San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 943-944
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 10/31/2009
MRS. CHARLOTTE BABSON WHEELER CLOWES
Among the well-known pioneers of San Joaquin County is Mrs. Charlotte Babson Wheeler Clowes, the owner of Cooper Oaks, an excellent ranch of 354 acres, 60 acres of which is in alfalfa and the intention is to plant more land to alfalfa. She is a good business manager, and since her husband's death has most creditably borne the obligations and duties laid upon her. She is a native daughter of California, having been born in Stockton, June 8, 1863, a daughter of Roscoe and Helen Mar (Babson) Wheeler, both natives of Gloucester, Mass. At the age of seventeen Roscoe Wheeler left his native state and came to California via Panama, starting in 1849, and arriving early in 1850, and here he married Miss Babson, who came hither in the fall of 1860. Mrs. Clowes is the eldest in a family of five children, the others being Helen M., deceased; Roscoe Wheeler, who resides in Berkeley, Cal.; Susannah and Charles are both deceased. Roscoe Wheeler followed the freighting business on the San Francisco Bay and San Joaquin River and at the time of his death owned a tug and several vessels for freighting. In 1872-73 the family made their home in Gloucester, Mass., and in 1875 they took up their residence in Oakland, Cal., and while residing there the father passed away at the age of seventy, the mother living until she was seventy-eight.
Charlotte B. Wheeler received her education in the Gloucester and Stockton grammar schools and the Oakland high school, from which she was graduated, and on June 11, 1889, in Fruitvale, Cal., she was married to Edward Cooper Clowes, also a native of Stockton, born June 9, 1859, a son of Benjamin S. and Mary Lester (Cooper) Clowes, natives of New York and Hempstead, Long Island, respectively. The maternal grandfather, Thomas Cooper, was a brother of Peter Cooper, the great American philanthropist. Benjamin S. Clowes was killed by an explosion in Stockton, while the mother lived to be eighty-two years old. Edward Cooper Clowes was one of a family of ten children and received his education in the Stockton grammar and high schools, then spent two years in the University of California. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Clowes lived on the Cooper ranch on the north bank of the Calaveras River on Cooper Lane. This ranch was originally owned by J.B.L. Cooper and upon his death passed to the eastern heirs. Mr. Clowes was a nurseryman by trade and was engaged in that line while living on the Cooper place, but found that the heavy black soil of that ranch was not so suitable for his nursery business, so moved it to Woodbridge. He passed away on the home place on March 28, 1902, after which Mrs. Clowes assumed the management of the ranch, and by her able management has paid off the mortgages and now the fine ranch of 354 acres is clear of incumbrance. There were three children in the family: Helen, a graduate of the University of California, with the M.A. degree, ably assists her mother in the management of the home place; Edward Cooper died at the age of seven years; and Roscoe Wheeler is a member of the senior class of the University of California. Mrs. Clowes conducts a dairy of 150 head of stock all tuberculin tested and high-grade Holstein cows, and the milk supplies customers in Stockton, from eight to twelve men being employed in the handling of the cows and milk. On the ranch is a fine, up-to-date dairy barn, equipped with the most modern and sanitary machinery for handling milk. Mrs. Clowes is a Republican in politics and a member of the Pioneer Auxiliary Society of Stockton.
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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