San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 424-429
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 1/22/2010
MANSFIELD F. GREGORY
The opportunities afforded by the West to men of energy and determination are exemplified in the success of Mansfield F. Gregory, one of the leading citizens of San Joaquin Valley, whose prosperity is the result of wise investments and industrious application since he came to this valley some fifty-four years ago. His valuable fruit and grain ranch of 640 acres is located twenty-six miles east of Stockton, where he settled in 1870 and has continuously resided ever since. He was born near Bingham, England, July 4, 1841, and he traces his lineage back to the time when his grandfather Mansfield Gregory was mayor of Leicester, England. Wellington Gregory, the father of our subject, was the proprietor of a hotel in London and Mansfield F. was sent to the Academy at Derbyshire for his preliminary education; later he entered the College of Plymouth and completed his education with a course at the College of Pas de Calais, France. About 1852 the father of our subject had removed to America and located on a homestead twelve miles from St. Paul, Minn., at that time an outfitting post.
At eighteen years of age, Mansfield F. Gregory left home determined to reach America, coming via a sailing vessel, and six weeks were consumed in making the voyage and in September, 1859, he arrived at St. Paul. He was not, at that time, in robust health and the Minnesota winters proved very trying to him, and in 1868 he sought a milder climate and spent a season in Florida; then concluded to try the California climate. Accompanied by his wife, he went to New York and there took passage on the S.S. Arizona bound for Colon. Arriving in Colon they crossed the Isthmus of Panama and boarded the S.S. Colorado for San Francisco, arriving in the Bay City on Christmas Day, 1868. At that time a severe smallpox epidemic was prevalent in San Francisco so Mr. Gregory came to Stockton. He soon invested in land, buying 160 acres eight miles southeast of Stockton, where he remained long enough to harvest one crop, selling out in 1870 when he removed to his present location twenty-six miles from Stockton and purchased the Boyd and Gorham ranch, on which, in 1849, was located a sheep camp. Mr. Gregory has added to his ranch from time to time until he now owns 640 acres, which he has developed to orchards of peaches, apricots, prunes and walnuts, besides raising large quantities of wheat and barley and since the beginning of his agricultural activities has owned considerable choice livestock. In 1920 his prune orchard yielded enough fruit to make fifty tons of dried prunes. Mr. Gregory also owns valuable farming land in San Joaquin County and real estate and securities in the city of Stockton.
On Christmas Day, 1862, at Cylon, Wis., Mr. Gregory was married to Miss Anna Gibson, born in Pittsburgh, Pa., March 2, 1844, a daughter of John and Anna (Cassidy) Gibson, both natives of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Gregory removed with her parents in 1851 to Dane County, Wis., locating near Madison, but two years later they removed to Hudson, Wis., and there she grew to womanhood, receiving a good education in the public schools.
She is a refined and cultured woman and their union has been a very happy one and has been blessed with eight children, three of them born in Wisconsin and five in California: Ford Gibson, Clara Victoria and Anne Belle are deceased; Stockton Mansfield is married and has four sons and is associated with his father in their ranching enterprise; Wellington Russell is married, has four sons and makes his home in Stockton; Froane Livington lives in Los Angeles, is married and has a son; Ann Inez is the wife of Ed Gall and they have two children and reside near Milton, Cal.; Frisbee Roy is also associated with his father in farming, is married and has a son.
There are seven granchildren and three great grandchildren and the reunions on the old home place are the most enjoyable of times and are anticipated with the keenest delight by all. Mr. Gregory received his U.S. citizenship at San Andreas in 1875; he is past master of the Grange at Jenny Lind and for the past twenty-five years has represented the Firemans Fund of San Francisco and is also the agent for the Home Insurance Company of New York City; always a friend to the cause of education Mr. Gregory was for many years trustee of Chaparral school district. The Gregory residence is built on a sightly eminence amid large oak trees, and the view of the surrounding country is a delight to the occupants of this home, where old time Californian hospitality is dispensed and where peace and comfort prevail.
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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