San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 1399-1400
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 4/20/2010
LEON E. McCLUNG
An early settler of Lodi is represented by Leon E. McClung, who for the past thirty-one years has been an important factor in the remarkable development of the Lodi section. His parents were farmers near Niles, the county seat of Berrien County, Mich., and he was born on his father's farm on December 31, 1864. His paternal grandparents were pioneers of Michigan, settling there when it was a vast wilderness, where they reared their family.
Leon E. received his schooling in the district schools in his native county and twenty-six years of his life were spent on the farm, years of toil, but none the less valuable in after life. During the year of 1890 he left home for the Pacific Coast and located in Spokane, Wash., where he remained for one year, coming to Lodi in 1891. He formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Ed. F. Van Vlear, in the building business and they were the pioneers in that line, the partnership continuing for four years, during which time many residences were erected throughout the county and city. Besides his building operations Mr. McClung bought acreage property, which he cut up into small tracts, erecting houses on same and selling them. He purchased four acres in the Barnhart tract and erected four houses, each house surrounded by an acre of land; thus his work has meant the upbuilding of the community adjacent to Lodi, and its permanence and stability. He has specialized in contracts with ranchers to take bare land, erect residences and outbuildings, complete in every respect, and has made a great success in this line, employing as high as twenty men in his building operations. His experience and connection with viticulture have been quite extensive in buying, developing and selling the improved vineyards. He was among the very first growers to irrigate vineyards, contrary to the advice of many other growers, but by actual demonstration he found that the irrigated vineyard produced more and better grapes than the unirrigated one. At one time he owned a twenty-acre vineyard in the Dougherty tract, one of the best producers in the county; this he later sold at a good profit.
Mr. McClung has been twice married, his first wife being Miss Lizzie Van Vlear, a native of Michigan, who passed away in 1916. Two children were born of this union: Myrtle is Mrs. Henry Daley, and they reside at Burlingame and have two children; Earl is married and has two children, residing in Sacramento; he is associated with an automobile company. The second marriage of Mr. McClung united him with Mrs. Elizabeth (Riggs) Howe, a native of Missouri. She owns a fifteen-acre vineyard in the Lodi section. Mr. McClung has demonstrated his ability to advance steadily toward the goal of prosperity and at the same time to give his aid to matters destined for the progress and development of his locality.
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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