San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 1414
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 12/25/2009
MRS. MARTHA ALICE FREDERICK
For more than a half century Mrs. Martha Alice Frederick has been a resident of San Joaquin County and is honored throughout the county for her true worth. She was born at Rising Sun, Polk County, Iowa, on August 19, 1862, the youngest of a family of nine children born to Robert R. and Mary Jane (King) Wilcox, both natives of New York, born February 25, 1819, and January 10, 1823, respectively. Her parents located in Pennsylvania on a homestead in 1828, where Robert R. Wilcox became identified prominently in the lumber and oil business and there amassed a large fortune. He was married at Oil Creek, Pa., to Miss Mary Jane King and nine children were born to them. Eleanor became the wife of James R. Curtiss and settled in western Kansas; she passed away at Summerfield, Kans., April 17, 1922, aged eighty-one, and was survived by five children. James R., a veteran of the Civil War in which he was twice wounded, is a retired farmer and stockman residing with his family of three children at Beattie, Kans. Clarissa Angeline is the widow of Benjamin G. Frederick, who was born July 3, 1844, near South Whitney, Ind., and was reared on a farm. Early in 1870 he and his wife arrived in California and settled in Ripon, where he erected the first building and conducted a boarding house; later Mr. Frederick became a prominent orchardist. He was a veteran of the Civil War, having served in Company I, 18th Volunteer Infantry from Iowa. He was familiarly known as Uncle Benjamin in the vicinity of Ripon and was a prominent member of the Brethren Church; he passed away June 29, 1906. Mrs. Benjamin Frederick divides her time between Stockton and her old home at Ripon. John Gilbert is residing with his wife and six children in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he is engaged in the hardware and implement business; W.R., an inventor and mining expert in Manhattan, Nev., died November 15, 1922; Sarah Jane is deceased; Henry F. is a building contractor in Salida, Colo.; Emory is deceased; Martha Alice is the subject of this sketch. Robert R. Wilcox, the father of our subject, settled in Ripon in 1882 and farmed for a few years near Taylor's Ferry; he passed away at Ripon, November 23, 1904, aged eighty-five years; his wife had passed away May 23, 1865.
Martha Alice Wilcox accompanied her sister, Mrs. Clarissa Frederick, to California in 1870 and grew to young womanhood in Ripon. On August 14, 1881, she was married to Harrison Frederick, born in Indiana, September 20, 1845, a son of Duncan and Lucinda (Beatley) Frederick, natives of Ohio, the father a pioneer farmer of his native state of Ohio. Harrison Frederick accompanied his two brothers, John and Thomas, whose sketches also appear in this history, to California across the plains in 1862, bringing with them considerable stock; they settled on the Stanislaus River near the present site of Ripon where they engaged in farming and stock raising and all three of the brothers became well known and influential citizens. Mr. Frederick built a fine large residence on his ranch where the young married couple began their wedded life. Three children were born to them: Gilbert is married and has two children—Benjamin and Harrison; he is a rancher and merchant; Clara Lillian resides at home with her mother; Nellie B. is the wife of Clyde Wilcox and they have three children: Robert, Wesley and Martha; they reside at Melones, Cal. Mr. Frederick was a liberal contributor to all worthy movements; he gave the land to the county for the San Joaquin school and served as a trustee of that district for many years; fraternally he was a charter member of the Mt. Horeb Lodge, I.O.O.F. When he passed away November 11, 1913, the county lost one of its most worthy pioneers. After her husband's death, Mrs. Frederick and her daughter, Clara Lillian, continued the management of the home place, which became one of the show places of the Ripon section. In 1919 the home place was sold for a large sum and in 1921 the family residence at 601 Tuxedo Park, Stockton, was built. Mrs. Frederick is past matron of the Rebekah Lodge at Ripon and she and her daughter are members of the Iowa Club of Northern California.
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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