San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 701
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 1/31/2010
CAPTAIN JOHN HARKINS
San Joaquin County may boast of many intrepid pioneers such as Captain John Harkins, the early commander of river craft, whose work of developing the resources of the country justly entitles him to lasting record and the esteem and good will of all who come after them. John Harkins was born in Ireland in 1838, and when only fourteen years of age came on to America. He attended school at Dedham, Mass., and at the age of nineteen, commenced to follow the sea on sailing vessels. He was thus exceptionally well equipped to leave the more civilized East and try his fortune in the half-primeval, unsettled West.
In 1859, impressed with the greater prospects in California, Mr. Harris crossed the Isthmus of Panama, made his way to San Francisco, traveled inland to Stockton, and for a time worked on a ranch east of that town, owned by William Overhiser. In 1860, however, he followed his natural bent and took up homesteading on the river; and from that time until he retired, 1910, he was one of the most familiar figues on inland California waters, and was particularly well-known in the Delta district. He held the record, in fact, for the longest term of river-boat service in the Delta district boasted by any man, and he was also about as long in river service as any other man living at that time in the Golden State.
He first worked as a deck-hand upon the steamer “Christiana,” which made a few trips each spring, when the water was high, from Stockton to Fresno Landing, near Fresno, towing a barge loaded with grain and freight, and taking from two to three weeks to make the trip. Later, he and his brother Daniel owned a steamer of their own, and made trips to San Francisco and Sacramento. For a time, John Harkins retired from the river-work and engaged in the wholesale and retail handling of wood in Stockton, maintaining an office in a small building at the corner of California and Sonora streets. This was about thirty-four years ago, and that old office structure now stands in Captain Harkins' back-yard, a relic of pioneer days. The wood sold was cut in the mountains, and hauled to Stockton. Mr. Harkins also did teaming and general hauling in earlier days, and was kept so busy that he operated as many as eight teams.
Resuming activity on the river, for which he was so well qualified, Captain Harkins was for many years pilot and captain on freight and passenger boats between Stockton and San Francisco. He was with the old Independent Line owned by T.C. Walker, and later he was pilot on the steamer “T.C. Walker” of the California Navigation and Improvement Company. Today, in his well-earned retirement, he enjoys the pleasant associations of membership in the Master Pilots Association of San Francisco.
At Stockton, on June 3, 1872, Captain Harkins was married to Miss Mary Ann McCarthy, a native of Ireland, by whom he had eight children, five of whom are still living. James P. Harkins, is the well-known railroad man whose story is given in detail elsewhere in this volume; and his brothers are Harry and Ed. A. Harkins. One daughter, Francisca, is Sister Superior of St. Agnes Academy, Stockton; and the other daughter, Alice Frances, has become Mrs. A.J. Higgins, of Vallejo.
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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