San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 939-940
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 1/8/2010
JAMES STEVEN GERARD, JR.
Among the younger generation of horticulturists in the San Joaquin Valley, few names are more prominently associated with the agricultural development of the county than that of James Steven Gerard, Jr., the owner of 170 acres of orchard and vineyard one and a half miles west of Lodi on the Sacramento Highway. His fields and vineyards are indicative of his careful supervision and progressive methods, and thus he is numbered among the leading agriculturists and fruit-raisers of San Joaquin County. A native son of California, he was born in San Francisco on September 24, 1893, a son of James Steven and Annie C. (Penny) Gerard, natives of California and Boston, Mass., respectively, and a grandson of John H. and Caroline (Sterling) Gerard, natives of England, who were pioneers of San Joaquin County, and are represented elsewhere in this work.
James S. Gerard, Jr., began his education in the old Mission grammar school in San Francisco and then entered the Wilmerding School of Mechanical Arts. Then he took up the study of law at the St. Ignatius Law School and in the offices of Morrison, Dunne & Brobeck of San Francisco, but not being very much enthused over that study, gave it up. When he was seventeen years old the family returned to Lodi and settled on the old Gerard home place. Upon the death of Grandmother Gerard, our subject inherited 104 acres, a portion of the Gerard ranch. Twenty-five acres of this ranch was in vineyard and the balance has been developed into an orchard of cherries, pears and almonds. The entire ranch is piped for irrigation with concrete pipe, the water being supplied by two pumps, one a six-inch pump and the other a four-inch pump, driven by a fifteen horsepower and seven horsepower motors. He has sold thirty-four acres, retaining seventy acres.
In 1915, Mr. Gerard built a comfortable bungalow home on this ranch, and on June 4 of the same year was married to Miss Mildred Levisa Stannard, a native of Lodi, Cal., and daughter of H.B. and May (Carleton) Stannard. Her parents came to California some thirty years ago from La Crosse, Wis., where her father was a merchant. The father passed away in Lodi, but the mother still resides there. Mrs. Gerard received her education in the Lodi public schools of her native town of Lodi. They are the parents of one daughter, Janet May. Within the last year, Mr. Gerard has purchased 100 acres in the Merced irrigation district, which has been set to orchard and vineyard. Mr. Gerard is a Republican in politics, and fraternally, is a member of Woodbridge Lodge No. 131, F. & A.M., of which he is a past master. He is also a member of Stockton Chapter No. 28, R.A.M., Stockton Council Royal and Select Masters, and Stockton Commandery No. 8, K.T., as well as Ben Ali Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in Sacramento; and with his wife is a member of Woodbridge Chapter, Order of Eastern Star. Mr. Gerard is past president of Lodi Parlor No. 18, N.S.G.W., and is a member of the Lions Club, Mokelumne Club of Lodi, and the Woodbridge Gun Club.
Mr. Gerard entered the service of his country, enlisting in the Navy in August of 1918, and was sent to Goat Island, where he trained as an apprentice seaman for six months. Then he was sent to Harvard Radio School, Cambridge, Mass., and attended three months. He was then stationed at the Fire Island radio station, N.Y., as an electrician's mate, radio second class, remaining there until he was returned to California and discharged at Goat Island in May, 1919. He is a member of Lodi Post No. 22, American Legion.
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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