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JOHN C. TAISEN

Prominent among the successful business men of Stockton is John C. Taisen, who, with his brother, Walter H. Taisen, conducts the Taisen Dyeing and Cleaning Works at 422 North Aurora Street. They are sons of John P. and Margaret (Eisenhauer) Taisen, the former a native of Denmark and the latter of Peoria, Ill. Grandfather Adam Eisenhauer crossed the plains to California in 1860, bringing his family; he was a merchant, and was also in the express business in San Francisco, continuing in business until his death. His daughter Margaret even as a child displayed unusual capability, and when crossing the plains with her parents from Peoria, Ill., she drove a team most of the way, doing her share bravely each day to make their journey a success. Arriving in California, they stopped a short time in Sonoma but soon located in San Francisco where Margaret completed her education in the public schools and there she met and married Captain John P. Taisen, a union that proved a very happy one. She has a remarkable memory and it is indeed interesting to hear her relate the incidents of their trip across the plains as well as their early experiences in California. She now makes her home in Stockton with her children, who tenderly care for her.

Captain Taisen was a picturesque figure in early California history, especially in and around San Francisco Bay and the Stockton district. He sailed around Cape Horn into San Francisco Bay from his native land in the early '60s and became personally acquainted with prominent California pioneers in San Francisco who made history in the development of that city and in the building of railroads. Captain Taisen had followed the sea as a young man and when he arrived at San Francisco he continued in this line. He ran a fleet of scows, schooners and barges up the San Joaquin, Sacramento and Mokelumne rivers loaded with freight. These barges were run up the slough in Stockton, back of where now stands the plant of the Wagner Leather Co.mpany. There was a drawbridge over El Dorado Street in those days through which the barges passed to the unloading place. He also ran sloops and sailboats up the Mokelumne River and the station of Taisen was named for him. Captain Taisen was widely known among the seafaring men of the Bay cities and river districts and owned several racing yachts which took part in regattas on San Francisco Bay. His sons have in their possession an American flag he won with his yacht Dorenda in a race on San Francisco Bay, July 4, 1876. He was a member of the Master Mariner Society of San Francisco, and of the Druids, of San Francisco, organized in 1871, and also belonged to California Lodge No. 1, I.O.O.F., the first lodge of this order organized in the state, September 9, 1849, and helped build the Odd Fellows Building at Woodbridge.

The oldest son of the family, John C. Taisen, was born in San Francisco January 9, 1874, and there he received a good education in the public schools. Entering the employ of the Thomas Dye Works and serving an apprenticeship, he learned the trade of dyer very thoroughly so that he is today one of the leaders in that line in the state. His brother, Walter H. Taisen, had established a dyeing and cleaning works in Stockton and in November, 1904, he joined him and has since had charge of the plant and its operations, while his brother takes care of the business management. He is a director of the California Master Dyers and Cleaners Association, of which his brother is also a member, and they also are members of the National Master Dyers and Cleaners Association.

Mrs. Taisen, who was Miss Alta Little before her marriage, was born at Altaville, a daughter of Harry Little and a granddaughter of George Klinger, a pioneer of '49 who was one of the early ranchers at Linden, where he was also engaged in making saddles and harness, the first American saddles in California being made by him, his shop at that time being in Sacramento. By a former marriage Mr. Taisen has two daughters, Mrs. Mabel Cruze of San Francisco and Mrs. Margaret Zumwalt, of Portland, Ore. Mr. Taisen is a director of the Olympic baths and fraternally is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Loyal Order of Moose, Woodmen of the World. He is deeply interested in civic movements and takes pride in the progress of his adopted city. He served efficiently as park commissioner, taking a decided stand for permanent improvements.

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WALTER H. TAISEN

Belonging to the third generation of California pioneers, Walter H. Taisen of the firm of Taisen Bros., proprietors of the Taisen Dyeing & Cleaning Works, can well take pride in his birth as a native son. He was born at San Francisco March 4, 1876, the son of Capt. John P. and Margaret (Eisenhauer) Taisen, his father being a well-known figure in shipping circles around the Bay in early days, while his maternal grandfather, Adam Eisenhauer, brought his family across the plains in 1860, a detailed sketch of these worthy pioneers being given in the sketch of John C. Taisen on another page of this history.

After completing the course at the grammar schools in San Francisco, Walter H. Taisen entered the employ of the Truman, Hooker Company, agricultural implement dealers, working his way up in the advertising and sales department; later he was with the picture frame establishment of Schussler Bros. for a time, then having a desire for outdoor life he made his way to Nevada and rode the range as a cowboy for two years, enjoying the experience greatly. On returning to San Francisco he was with the Thomas Dye Works when his brother, John C. Taisen, was the dyer. Next he became salesman for the Franklin Watch Company and opened an office for them in Stockton in January, 1904. Becoming acquainted with the city, he decided it would be an excellent place to engage in business on his own account. He purchased the National Renovatory and in June took over the management. He soon determined to enlarge the business so his brother, John C. Taisen, joined him in November of that year and the Taisen Dyeing and Cleaning Works came into being. However, wishing to see more of the West, he disposed of his interest to his brother in 1911 and made a trip into Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, and then went to Alaska, where he pioneered on the government-owned railroad, following merchandising for a year at Anchorage. Returning to Stockton in 1916, he repurchased his half interest in the cleaning works from his brother and has since given his time to the outside and business department, while his brother has charge of the plant. The brothers are stockholders in the Samson Tire Corporation and were the first firm in Stockton to use an auto delivery wagon, now almost universal in the conduct of modern business. They now use two automobiles on their deliveries and sometimes have to press into service their private cars.

Mrs. Walter H. Taisen was Miss Myrtle Little, born at Ione, and she is a sister of Mrs. John C. Taisen. Fraternally Mr. Taisen is a member of the Moose, the Red Men and Foresters of America. The brothers have built up a splendid business through the superior work and their territory is not confined to Stockton but extends to different parts of the state. Public spirited and progressive, they can always be counted upon to aid every worthy cause.

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F.H. TAYLOR

An enterprising addition to Stockton's business circles is F.H. Taylor, manager of the Stockton Milk Company, who in the short space of two years has been instrumental in building up a splendid business. Mr. Taylor was born at Oakland, Cal., February 6, 1898, and after attending the public schools until twelve years old, went to work delivering milk on his bicycle for the Walnut Grove Creamery of Oakland, owned by Burroughs Brothers, now one of the largest creameries of the Bay district, distributing about 5,500 gallons of milk daily. Gaining a thorough knowledge of this line of work while in their employ, Mr. Taylor came to Stockton in 1921 to start a milk business of his own. He solicited for three days before he obtained his first customer, but once established, the business grew rapidly and he is now the manager of the best-equipped pasteurized milk plants in Central California. The Stockton Milk Company was organized in 1921 as the Taylor Milk Company and in 1922 the name was changed to the Stockton Milk Company and incorporated for $100,000. The president is B.R. Burroughs, and F.H. Taylor is manager.

The new cement and brick building occupied by the Stockton Milk Company was erected at the corner of Union and Oak streets at a cost of $10,000 and opened its doors for business on October 28, 1922. The milk inspector on a recent visit pronounced it the best equipped plant in the state. It has an excellent system of ventilation, a complete pasteurizing plant where the milk is heated to 142 degrees and cooled almost instantly, and an automatic filler and capper for the bottles, with an hourly capacity of 1,200 bottles. The company manufactures its own ice, and another special feature is the direct motor shafting, doing away with insanitary belts. Mr. Taylor is deserving of great credit for the rapid establishment of this business and the company now serves more individual customers than any other dairy in the city.

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HOWARD B. TAYLOR

An energetic and highly progressive rancher, who has become a successful orchardist and vineyardist, is Howard B. Taylor, of Youngstown, San Joaquin County. A native of Barron County, Ky., he was born at Glasgow on February 24, 1881, the son of Able Cain Taylor, a native of Tennessee, who had married Miss Nancy Katherine Harper, from Kentucky. A.C. Taylor was a farmer and lived to be seventy years old. He served in the Army of the Cumberland under General Bragg during the Civil War. He was wounded at Perryville, Ky., and received over thirty bullet marks, and was honored as a Confederate veteran. Mrs. Taylor is now living in Crowell, Texas, at the age of seventy-six, the beloved mother of ten children, among whom Howard was the seventh.

Howard B. Taylor received public school training in Kentucky, and when seventeen years old began to make his own way, working for wages on a farm. He left his home at this time and went to Crawfordsville, Ind., and there worked on a farm for two years. From Indiana he returned to Kentucky, where he remained a short time, and then came to Loomis, in Placer County, Cal., arriving February 3, 1900. There he took up orcharding, and stayed until 1905, working long hours at spraying the trees, receiving only $1.25 per day for his labor, and boarding himself. On September 17, 1905, he came to Lodi and was employed with the Producers Fruit Company; and in November of that year he bought the Reese Thompson ranch of forty acres, on the Davis-Terminus Road, for which he paid $100 an acre. In 1906 he developed this ranch by setting it out to grapes, and in June, of the same year, he went to Sacramento and took charge of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company's stockyards, continuing there until 1909, when the yards were discontinued and he was transferred to Sparks, Nev. Here they opened a new stockyard, of which he was in charge until 1911, when he resigned and returned to Sacramento. There he was engaged as a realtor for one year, afterwards going to Reno, Nev., where he took charge of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company's stockyards for one year. In February, 1913, he returned to his ranch at Lodi, which in the meantime had been well cared for under his direction and was then in full bearing. After one year, he leased it for $1,000 a year. He then accepted a position in the shipping department with the Producers Fruit Company, at Loomis, and the Pacific Fruit Exchange, at Lodi, alternating between tree fruit and grapes. In 1915 he engaged with the Earl Fruit Company as a solicitor, where he was employed for four years. Meantime, in 1918, with Mr. E.A. Humphrey, he purchased a forty-acre ranch, a part of the old Fuqua estate adjoining Youngstown, half in peaches and half in vines. They have a pumping plant run by electricity, with a capacity of ninety miner's inches. In 1920 he located on this ranch and has since devoted his time to its cultivation and care. On November 3, 1921, he sold his original forty-acre ranch for $40,000. The same year their residence was destroyed by fire and he immediately built a handsome modern bungalow, and now has an exceedingly attractive place.

Mr. Taylor also owns one-third interest in a ranch of 188 acres near Tudor, Sutter County, which they contemplate developing to cling peaches. He also owns a one-third interest in a sixty-acre vineyard near Loomis, Placer County. He is a stockholder in the National Fruit Products Company, the Citizens National Bank of Lodi, the City Improvement Company of Lodi, and the Raven Oil & Refining Company of Utah.

At Ceres, on February 1, 1917, Mr. Taylor was married to Miss Cora Lucas, the daughter of N.C. and Caroline Lucas. Her father was an orchardist, cultivating figs near Ceres. She was born in Texas, but was reared and educated in New Mexico, where her father was a cattle-raiser. Mrs. Taylor is a cultured and refined woman and presides gracefully over their home. She is a consistent Christian woman. Three children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor: Marvin, Wilma and Virda. In 1920, Mr. Taylor with his family made a visit back to his old home in Kentucky, and also visited other points of interest in the East. After a pleasant trip they returned to their home at Lodi. Mr. Taylor belongs to the Masonic Lodge at Woodbridge, and to the Eastern Star.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/18/2010

HUGH EDWARD TAYLOR

California a half century ago was known only as a mining state, but in more recent years its splendid agricultural and horticultural resources have awakened the attention of the entire world and the products of its orchards and vineyards are sent to all parts of this country and to many foreign lands. Hugh Edward Taylor is among those engaged in the raising of grapes in San Joaquin County, located about a mile east of Lodi, where he has ten acres devoted entirely to the cultivation of the Tokay grape. He was born at New Market, Ontario, Canada, on August 9, 1855, the son of Abraham Lange and Sarah June (Coreyll) Taylor. Abraham Taylor, his father, was a farmer and lumber merchant in the vicinity of New Market, where Hugh Edward received his education in the district schools. After finishing his schooling, he remained at home with his parents, assisting his father in his business and with his farm work until 1877, when he was married, on Christmas eve, at New Market, to Miss Elizabeth Thomson, a native of Hamilton. She is the daughter of George and Sophie Thomson, natives of Scotland and England, respectively, the latter being reared in Scotland, where the father was a shoe merchant. Their daughter was educated in the district school and finished in the high school of Hamilton. After his marriage, Mr. Taylor removed to the territory of Dakota, where he engaged in farming. He filed on a preemption and a tree claim and later took a homestead, becoming owner of 480 acres devoted to grain. The farm was located thirty-five miles northwest of Grand Forks, in the Red River Valley, N.D. He also acquired land by purchase in Saskatchewan, Canada. Removing from North Dakota, in 1906 Mr. Taylor came to California and settled at Lodi, and soon after sold his Dakota farm. His property is located on the extension of East Pine street, about a mile from Lodi, and consists of ten acres in vineyard; Mr. Taylor installed a pumping plant with a four-inch pump and a seven horse-power motor. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are the parents of two children: Austin Lange resides near Spokane, Wash.; and Glen Osborne lives near Medford, Ore. In politics he is a Republican and fraternally a member of the Independent Order of Foresters, and with his family is a member of the Congregational Church.

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JOSEPH TEIXEIRA

Well known among the popular public officials of San Joaquin County is Joseph Teixeira, the efficient acting city marshal of Tracy. He was born at St. George, in the Azores Islands, April 10, 1886, the son of John and Mary (Machado) Teixeira, pioneer settlers of Santa Clara County. John Teixeira was a tradesman in the employ of the Brick Manufactory at San Jose and Pleasanton; he passed away at San Jose in 1919, and his widow resides with her son near Tracy.

Joseph Teixeira received a good elementary education, first at the district school in Mountain View, and then at the Hamilton school in San Jose; and after that he entered the employ of John Stocks Sons in San Jose, where he learned the plumbing and sheet-metal working trade, remaining in that shop for seven years. For the next five years he was in charge of the installing of Byron Jackson deep-well pumps, representing C.L. Meisterheim, at San Jose, in their work throughout Central California. In 1902 he went to Cherokee, in Butte County, and engaged in hydraulic mining for a large improvement corporation, and was occupied in this venture until 1904.

Six years ago Mr. Teixeira came to Tracy and acquired forty acres of choice land in the Naglee-Burke district, which he developed into a successful dairy and alfalfa ranch, at the same time that he took full charge of the Naglee-Burke Irrigation district pumping plant, which he continued to manage until three years ago; but he sold out his interests, on removing to the ranch south of Tracy, where he formed a partnership with Mr. White, his father-in-law, in buying 160 acres, he keeping 60 acres and Mr. White 100 acres.

In 1919 Mr. Teixeira was appointed deputy city marshal of Tracy, an office he filled to everybody's satisfaction until ten months ago, when he became acting city marshal, and authorized to take entire charge of the peace officer's work. Since then, he has carried out a series of raids on illicit liquor and drug sellers in the environs of the city, and has the hearty support of the county officials for his fearless attacks on any lawbreakers, irrespective of their position and influence. He is also a deputy sheriff of the county.

At Cupertino, in 1909, Mr. Teixeira was married to Miss Mary White, the eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. J.G. White, whose life-story is given elsewhere in this volume, and their fortunate union has been blessed with the birth of four children: Mabel, Edwin, Lucile and Marie. Mr. Teixeira is a Catholic, and a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Druids of San Jose, and also of the S.E.S. of Tracy. He owns considerable real estate and residential property in Tracy, and is a strong advocate of irrigation, serving as a director for the Banta-Carbona district.

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WALTER H. TEMPLETON

Twenty-two years ago Walter H. Templeton came to Stockton and engaged in teaming and contract hauling, which he has followed to the present time; he now owns two trucks and is so dependable that he has all the work he can attend to. He was born in Colfax County, Nebr., April 14, 1872, a son of Charles S. and Anna (De Long) Templeton, both natives of Ohio. The father, Charles S. Templeton, and family came to California in 1880 and located at Watsonville. He is a Civil War veteran and is now at the Soldiers' Home at Sawtelle, Cal. All the education that Walter H. Templeton received was gained in the public schools of Watsonville. While still a young boy he worked with threshing gangs in Salinas Valley. In 1900 he located in Stockton where he began his teaming and hauling.

On March 23, 1898, at Salinas, Cal., Mr. Templeton was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Seiffert, a native of Stockton, a daughter of Lorenz and Lena (Fetter) Seiffert. Two children have been born of this union: Charles S., who married Miss Votz, born in Stockton; and Ruth Augusta. Mr. Templeton is a deputy constable of Stockton and in politics casts his vote for the man best fitted for office regardless of party lines. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World of Stockton. Mr. Templeton and his family reside in their own home at 1303 E. Lindsay Street, Stockton.

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CLARENCE B. TENNYSON, D.D.S.

Activity and energy in business affairs will do more to advance a man in his financial standing than the influence of friends or the assistance that comes through inheritance. In America the man is held in highest esteem who has builded his success upon the foundation of his own energy, capable management and keen discrimination. Such a one is Clarence B. Tennyson, the popular and successful dental surgeon of Lodi, Cal. he was born at Three Rivers, Mich., April 8, 1876, a son of Daniel D. and Lilly (Benham) Tennyson, natives of England and Michigan, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Tennyson are the parents of three children, Dr. H.A. Tennyson, Clarence B. of this sketch, and J.B., in the postal service in San Jose. The father is a Government land attorney in San Jose, where he located when our subject was a young lad.

Clarence B. began his education in the grammar school of San Jose and after his graduation from the San Jose high school he entered the Dental Department of the University of California, remaining a student there for two years. He then entered the office of Thomas Morfield, D.D.S., in San Francisco, where he was employed for one year, and then finished his dental studies at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at San Francisco, from whence he graduated with the degree of D.D.S. with the class of 1899. He remained in San Francisco for a year engaged in the practice of his profession, then in 1900 removed to Lodi where he has steadily built up a fine practice; he has well-appointed offices in the Hale Building on West Pine Street, and he employs the best scientific methods known to dental surgery.

On December 11, 1897, in San Francisco, Dr. Tennyson was married to Miss Jeannette Hamilton, born in San Jose, Cal., a daughter of W.C. Hamilton, an early settler of San Jose, Cal., who was born in the North of Ireland, while the mother was a native of Ohio. Dr. and Mrs. Tennyson are the parents of two children: Vivian Barbara and Alfred H. and they reside at 303 North School Street, Lodi. In politics Dr. Tennyson is a Republican and fraternally is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and with his family is a member of the Congregational Church of Lodi.

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HENRY C. THIESSEN, JR.

Henry C. Thiessen, Jr., was born in Lutgen, Dortmund, Westphalia, Germany, September 1, 1887, a son of Henry and Fredericka (Sprienkemper) Thiessen, both natives of Germany, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Henry C. is the eldest son of their family of twelve children.

Henry C. received a public school education in his native country and was fifteen years old when his parents removed to Taylorville, Ill., where he worked in the coal mines. In 1904 the family came to California, and he has followed farming, being interested with his father in a ranch of 320 acres located north of Woodbridge, as well as 188 acres in the Brack tract.

The marriage of Mr. Thiessen occurred in Oakland on May 26, 1921, which united him with Miss Ethel Tanner, born at Sutter Creek, Cal., a daughter of Charles and Anna (Cosgrove) Tanner, the former a native of McHenry County, Illinois, and the latter of Angels Camp, Cal. Her father, a veteran of the Civil War, after which he came to California, was a teamster in hauling provisions from Angels Camp, Ione and Jackson to the mines. Mrs. Thiessen was reared and educated in Sutter Creek and then taught school there; she also taught in Tulare County schools, and was teaching her second term at the Ray district school in North San Joaquin County when she was married to Mr. Thiessen. Mr. Thiessen has just completed a fine residence on his ranch, where they make their home. In politics he is a Republican. Mrs. Thiessen is a member of the Rebekahs, in which she is a past noble grand, and is a member and past president of the Native Daughters of the Golden West.

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HENRY THIESSEN, SR.

Henry Thiessen, Sr., who came to this county eighteen years ago, where he has since made his home, was born in Elbing, West Prussia, near Danzig, Germany, February 3, 1863, a son of Ephraim and Louise (Mueller) Thiessen, also natives of Germany. When our subject was seven years old, his parents moved to the province of Westphalia, Germany, where the father became a laborer in the coal mines. There were eight children in the family: John, Louise, Ephraim, Henry, our subject, Karl, Martin, William and Anna.

Henry Thiessen grew up and attended the public schools, and at the age of fourteen he began working in the coal mines, working for the following sixteen years, with the exception of two years spent as a member of the infantry in the Imperial German army. At about thirty years of age he went into the hog and horse-trading business at Lutgen, Dortmund, Germany, where he also conducted a butcher shop, continuing there for ten years; then he came to the United States and settled at Taylorville, Ill., where he worked for two years in the coal mines, when in 1904 he came to California. He first located at Galt, Cal., but remained only one month; then he began work on the Thornton ranch at one dollar and twenty-five cents per day and remained six months; then rented 100 acres at Sycamore Slough, where he farmed for a year; then came to San Joaquin County and rented the old John Keller ranch of 160 acres on the Kelly Road, six miles west of Lodi. He operated this ranch and ran a dairy for eight years, when he bought the ranch on which he lives, located four and a half miles northwest of Woodbridge, containing 320 acres. Of this ranch forty-eight acres are in producing vineyard; eighty acres are in alfalfa, and the balance devoted to general farming. He also owns 188 acres on the Brack tract in the tules; he also maintains a dairy of sixty cows; ten head of horses and a forty-five-horse-power Holt tractor are used in the cultivation and development of this ranch and it is irrigated from the Stockton-Mokelumne ditch. Interested with Mr. Thiessen in this ranch and farming operations are his three sons, Henry, William and Martin.

On March 28, 1887, in Westphalia, Germany, Mr. Thiessen was married to Miss Fredericka Sprienkemper, a native of Germany and a daughter of Henry and Fredericka (Kranefeldt) Sprienkemper. Her father was also a miner and there were four children in the family: Henry, Fredericka, Wilhelmina, and Lena. Her father lived to be fifty years old, while the mother passed away at the age of forty-eight. Mr. and Mrs. Thiessen have had twelve children, nine of whom are living: Henry; William; Mrs. Annie Schultz; Martin; Lena, the wife of August Wiggett; Lizzetta, Mrs. William Wiggett; Karl; Minnie, Mrs. Fred Wiggett, and Emma. In politics he is a Republican and he and his family are members of the Lutheran Church.

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CHARLES W. THOMAS

Well known in San Joaquin County, not only for his successful participation in building operations, but also as a prominent Mason, is Charles W. Thomas, who is now the manager of the Sciots Club of Stockton. His birthplace is Clifton Hill, Mo., where he was born August 4, 1868, a son of Wayne and Martha (McDavitt) Thomas, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Missouri. Wayne Thomas was a grower of large quantities of tobacco in the South until 1874, when he arrived in California, settling at once in San Joaquin County, where he rented land which he farmed to grain. The ranch was known as the Brick ranch and is located near Bellota; later he purchased twenty-five acres near Linden, where, with his son, Charles W., our subject, he planted an orchard of peaches, apricots and prunes and at the same time followed his trade of carpenter in the district. Wayne Thomas joined the Masonic order while residing in the East and upon taking up his residence in San Joaquin County he was demitted to the Linden Lodge. He was married three times. There were no children by the first wife and one daughter by the second wife, Mrs. Malinda Rose; there were five children by the third wife: Mrs. Lazetti Matlock; Mrs. Lulu Ilgenfritz; William B.; John J.; and Charles W. Wayne Thomas was a Mason for fifty years and he passed away in 1912; his wife is also deceased. Charles W. was educated in the Linden school and learned the carpenter's trade with his father and followed his trade in Linden and Stockton; he built the Linden Hotel and was proprietor for ten years. Three years ago he located in Stockton and was employed on the construction of the Masonic Temple.

The marriage of Mr. Thomas united him with Miss Clara Bernasconi, a native of Calaveras County, Cal., and three children have been born to them: Martha J.; Viola Lulu; and Charles Clifton. Mr. Thomas has been a Mason for thirty years; he is past master of the Valley Lodge No. 135, of Linden; a 30th degree Mason Scottish Rite, and in January, 1922, he was appointed manager of the Sciots Club in Stockton. Mr. Thomas is energetic, progressive and practical, and is therefore meeting with well deserved success.

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EDWARD THOMAS

A lamented pioneer, highly esteemed in his day, whose beneficient life and work may be traced in more than one department of modern activity, was the late Edward Thomas, who was born in Wales in 1827, and there grew up in that famous mountainous country by the sea which has been the native land of so many men and women of notable character. In 1848, the year so notable for political revolutions in Germany, France and elsewhere, young Thomas left home and crossed the wide Atlantic in a sailing vessel, spending twenty-one days on the ocean, and eventually safely landing in the metropolis of the New World. He did not remain in New York, however, but came on to Pennsylvania, and then to Minnesota; but his restless spirit did not permit him to tarry in even these great commonwealths and he never stayed his foot until, in the year of the Argonauts, he arrived in California.

To reach the Golden State he sailed down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, and there embarked for San Francisco on a vessel bound around Cape Horn; and at the end of some 216 days, when he and his fellow-passengers had shared many a narrow escape on the boisterous waves, he saw for the first time the harbor which meant more than paradise to the founders of this section of our country. San Francisco at that time was so emphatically in the making that Mr. Thomas found no difficulty in securing work at the carpenter's trade; but he soon made his way to the American River, where he also sought gold; then on to Calaveras County, and there he remained digging for several years. He did something more, however, than commit himself to the uncertain search for the shining metal; he joined others, as a stockholder, in forming the Union Water Company, and helped supply the water needed for the miners. These various enterprises proved sufficiently remunerative that he remained in that section for more than twenty-five years, and for nearly two-thirds of that period he was the manager of the water company, and he came to hold valuable interests in neighboring mines.

Meanwhile, as prosperity more and more smiled upon him, Mr. Thomas was able to return to Europe and his native land, reaching Wales in 1861 and staying there about three years; and when he could no longer resist the lure of California and prepared to come back here again, he chose for his wife and life partner Miss Jeanette A. Powell, marrying her on April 6, 1864, and then sailing with his bride for America. Two children were born of this union: The eldest died in infancy; Mary A. became the wife of James A. Nelson, an agriculturist living on Roberts Island, in San Joaquin County.

Seventeen years after he had returned to America, Mr. Thomas disposed of his holdings in the Southern mines, and removed to French Camp, in San Joaquin County, where he established and for years conducted the popular hostelry known as the French Camp Hotel. He was an ideal host, and on account of his conscientious attention to the wants of the traveling public built up such a paying patronage that when he disposed of it, in July, 1903, he let go a profitable enterprise. Thereafter, he lived to a venerable old age, making his home, as a retired country gentleman, with his daughter, Mrs. Mary A. Nelson, on Roberts Island; and there, on the fourteenth of December, 1906, he passed to the great beyond, and his body was interred in Murphy's Cemetery, beside that of his devoted wife, who had preceded him to the grave many years before, January 13, 1870.

The demise of Mr. Thomas was keenly felt by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in the county, for his strong character and winning personality had endeared him to all who in one way or another knew him or had dealings with him. His mind was virile and enriched, and he loved to recall the great and many changes which had occurred in California during his residence here. At a period when there was a dearth of the conveniences of life, and when a lawless element often held sway, he helped to develop the mineral resources of the country, and to make straight and easy the pathways for those who followed after. His life history, therefore, as it has already been well said by one historical writer, if written in detail, would prove most interesting and entertaining, since it would reflect clearly the stirring picture of those early, eventful days. The name of Edward Thomas, therefore, will always be inscribed high on the roll of California's honored pioneer citizens, for he was long and most honorably identified with the founding of the Pacific State. A staunch Democrat, most of his life, he was nevertheless such a broadminded citizen that he was above mere partisanship, hence his influence as an exponent of civic pride and honor was broader and more lasting, and it is pleasant to think of him as a patriot who still moves in the affairs of men.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/19/2010

WILLIAM J. THOMAYER

A native son of California who for more than thirty-eight years of an active life has participated in the changes through which this great state has passed, is William J. Thomayer, superintendent of the office and shipping of the Pacific Fruit Exchange of the Lodi section. His parents, Matthew and Catherine Thomayer, were both natives of Germany, who came to America in the early '50s and to California via Panama and located in San Joaquin County near Lathrop, where William J. first saw the light of day on April 2, 1863. His father was a miner by occupation. Both parents passed away when William J. was a child of three years and he was reared in the family of Dr. Stephenson, formerly of Woodbridge.

William J. received his schooling in Visalia, Tulare County, Cal., and his first experience in the packing and shipping of fruit was in 1883 with the Woodhead Porter Brothers and Company of Los Angeles, commission merchants and shippers; he then entered the employ of the late E.T. Earl, who was one of the pioneers in that line in California. For nine years he was thus employed, operating in Riverside County in the winter and northern California in the summer. He next took a trip to Salt Lake City, where he engaged in the tea and coffee business for one year, after which he returned to California, where he re-entered the fruit packing industry, engaging with the Porter Brothers' Company at Fillmore, Cal. Upon coming to Lodi in 1899, Mr. Thomayer was first associated with the Producers' Fruit Company, then the Valley Fruit Company and then with the Frank H. Buck Company. For the past few years he has had charge of the office and shipping of the Pacific Fruit Exchange. When he became associated with the fruit industry, thirty-eight years ago, there was only one packing house in Lodi, and now there are many of them. By his long association with this industry, Mr. Thomayer has become one of the best-informed men on fruit packing and shipping in the valley and his reputation for square dealing has proven a great asset to him and his employers. He is also a vineyardist with many years' experience.

Mr. Thomayer's marriage united him with Miss Carrie Baylis Edgerly of Kansas and they have one daughter, Mrs. A.D. Campbell. Mr. Thomayer is a member of the Lodi Parlor of the N.S.G.W., No. 18, and of Lodi Lodge of Masons, and has passed through all the chairs. For four years he was inspector for Masonic district No. 26.

Ref: Page 1039

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/20/2010

GEORGE THOMING

Among those who have contributed largely to the agricultural development in San Joaquin County is George Thoming, who since 1866 has made his home in California and now resides in the New Jerusalem school district, where he owns 520 acres of fine land under a high state of cultivation. He was born in Holstein, Germany, December 28, 1843, a son of Michael and Wiebke (Thode) Thoming, who were also natives of Holstein. In his native country the son was reared and in its public schools received his education.

In 1886 he came to America, taking passage at Hamburg on a steamer for New York, and thence he came via the isthmus route to California. He left Hamburg on June 2 and arrived in San Francisco on July 13, 1866. He remained in the neighborhood of that city for a short time and then removed to Solano County, whence he came to San Joaquin County in 1868, where his older brother, Thias Thoming, had come in 1864 and had taken up land under a Government preemption. In 1870 he took up his abode on the ranch in the New Jerusalem school district, which has since been his home, consisting of 520 acres, all of which is under cultivation and yields him good crops in return for the care and labor which he has bestowed upon the fields. Mr. Thoming received his U.S. citizenship at San Francisco on July 8, 1871.

In 1875 Mr. Thoming was married to Miss Lena Mashoff, a native of Holstein, Germany, and they became the parents of the following children: Jacob is manager of the Thoming ranch; Anna Maria, who is now Mrs. Francis Huck, has three children; Charles conducts a contract farm and power machine business at Stockton. Mrs. Thoming passed away on March 24, 1883, at the family home. In community affairs Mr. Thoming has always been deeply interested and has been the champion of his locality and county. For thirteen years he served as a trustee of the New Jerusalem school district, eleven years of that time serving as clerk of the board. He is unfaltering in his advocacy of the principles of the Republican party and most loyal in his support of everything that tends to advance public progress and elevate society. He belongs to the Lutheran Church and is identified with the Knights of Pythias lodge at Tracy; he is also a member of Sumner Lodge No. 177, I.O.O.F., at Tracy, and of Tracy Encampment, and in his life exemplifies the helpful spirit which is the basic element of that fraternity. Mr. Thoming has made two visits to his native land, one in 1905 and the other in 1913, returning ot California in February, 1914. In 1921 he retired from active business life, after fifty years of activity in the agricultural development of the county and the management is now entrusted to his son, Jacob. Coming to America when twenty-three years of age, Mr. Thoming has never regretted the step then taken, for in this land, with its varied opportunities, he has gained success and has won the confidence and good will of those with whom he has been associated.

Ref: Page 595-596

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/20/2010

ELMER E. THOMPSON

A useful and prosperous citizen of San Joaquin County may be found in Elmer E. Thompson, who has continuously resided in this county for more than thirty-five years. The country, the time and the people have changed wonderfully since he made permanent settlement in this part of the state, and besides being a witness of all these transformations he has also taken no inconsiderable part in all the affairs of his county. He was born near Lawrence, Douglas County, Kan., December 25, 1861, and is the eldest in a family of seven children born to John and Catherine (Shank) Thompson. The former, a native of Pennsylvania, was born in 1838, a son of James and Elizabeth Thompson, natives of the north of Ireland, who early in life emigrated to Canada and subsequently moved to Pennsylvania.

John Thompson was reared and educated in his native county, and at the age of eighteen went to Illinois where he followed farming; he then removed to Kansas, and from that state, in 1874, he came to California and engaged in farming near Lathrop and Linden. He then purchased 160 acres four miles northwest of Woodbridge on which was planted one of the early vineyards, which was one of the most profitable branches of his enterprises. He was married in Illinois in 1859 to Miss Catherine Shank, a native of Ohio, whose parents were both natives of Germany. John Thompson served for a number of years as trustee of the Ray school district and was affiliated with Jefferson Lodge No. 98, I.O.O.F., at Woodbridge, and he and his wife were both members of the Rebekahs at Lodi. Mr. Thompson was a Republican in politics, and in many ways manifested his interest in the affairs of his community. Elmer E. Thompson received his education in the Henderson district schools, now the Ray school, and as he grew to manhood assumed charge of the home place, where he remained until 1905, when he moved to Stockton. Since 1897 he has been engaged in buying, developing and selling country property throughout the county, and also in the produce commission business, buying large quantities of potatoes, onions and beans and shipping them to San Francisco and Sacramento. Three times each week he loaded three river steamers with from 5,000 to 7,000 sacks of potatoes, etc., which were shipped to the markets in San Francisco and Sacramento. He is the owner of a 215-acre ranch near Linden, devoted to alfalfa and grain. Mr. Thompson has also been a successful realty operator in Stockton, where he was engaged in buying vacant property, erecting residences and flats and then selling them. During 1897-8-9 he served as deputy assessor.

On June 2, 1891, Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Carrie M. Fowler, a native of San Joaquin County, the daughter of Joseph M. and Eliza (Bromley) Fowler, pioneer settlers, also represented in this work, and they are the parents of two children: Clarence Ellsworth married Miss Ruby Eaton and they have one daughter, Helen; and Bessie B. Thompson. Mr. Thompson is a Republican in politics and since August, 1896, has been a member of the Jefferson Lodge No. 98, I.O.O.F., of Woodbridge, in which he is past grand; he also served as clerk of the school board of the Ray school district. Mrs. Thompson is a member of the N.D.G.W., the Rebekahs at Lodi, and an honorary member of the Daughters of Pioneers.

Ref: Page 1048

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/21/2010

EMERY A. THOMPSON

A representative of a family who were early settlers of the San Joaquin Valley may be found in Emery A. Thompson, field man for the Earl C. Anthony Company in the Lodi district. He was born in Douglas County, Kan., on October 5, 1866, a son of John and Catherine (Shank) Thompson, the former a native of the state of Pennsylvania. His father worked as a tow-boy on the Erie Canal, and in his young manhood removed to Illinois and was occupied with farming pursuits; and while residing there he met and married his wife. During the year 1864 he drove across the country from Illinois to Kansas with an ox team, and during the Civil War did teaming from Kansas to Missouri. He remained in Kansas for ten years, during which time he engaged in farming, and in the fall of 1874, with his wife and five children, started for California on an immigrant train. The first stopping-place was at Lathrop, where their stay was short, and thence they went to San Jose. He then bought a place near Linden, which he sold within one year and with his family started north to Woodland in a two-horse wagon; but being undecided, they turned back and located at Tyson on the Rees Thompson ranch. Later he rented the John Bennett ranch and farmed there for three years. In the year of 1877 he bought 160 acres situated four miles northwest of Woodbridge. This became the home place, and he farmed it successfully for many years, planting it to grapes. It is now one of the oldest vineyards in the county. He was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge of Woodbridge. There were seven children in the family, and the following are living. Elmer E., living in Stockton; Emery A., of this review; Wilson H., residing in Lodi; Ana Isabel; and Letty.

Emery A. Thompson attended the Linden, Bellota and Ray schools, and later was a student in the old Woodbridge College. At the age of twelve he began work on a header, and by the time he was fourteen could do a man's work in the harvest field. He also hauled grapes to the West winery, a distance of seventeen miles; it was an all-day trip, for when he reached the winery there were from fifty to seventy-five wagons ahead of him waiting to be unloaded. Grapes were selling at that time for $6 per ton and in Stockton at $10 per ton. Since he left the home place, at the age of seventeen, he has followed various lines of work. At one time he was a photographer in Stockton; afterwards he was with the River Express Company of that city; then he went to Tulare County and worked on a farm; and later he worked as a salesman for the Sampson Iron Works of Stockton, selling gas engines. He then became connected with the first fruit-packing establishment in Lodi; and he has also been in the employ of the Frank H. Buck Company and the Pacific Fruit Exchange, as field man, and at the present time serves in that capacity for the Earl C. Anthony Company, for the Lodi section. In various real estate transactions, also, he has bought, developed and sold a number of vineyards throughout the county.

Mr. Thompson's marriage united him with Miss Mattie Christie, a native of Ohio. Fraternally, he is a charter member of the Lodi Lodge, No. 848, Fraternal Order of Eagles, and has passed through all the chairs; and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias.

Ref: Page 1055

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/21/2010

GEORGE FRANCIS THOMPSON

A distinguished Californian to whom the citizens of the Delta district near Stockton owe much for his great work in the development of that important section—a task which would have been impossible except for optimism and courage, and hard, almost heroic work—is George Francis Thompson, the well-known pioneer farmer now residing at 1138 North Center Street, Stockton, in which city he was born on July 24, 1866. He was the son of J.W. and Margaret (Carlin) Thompson, both natives of Ireland and both now deceased. The father crossed the great, untracked plains to reach California in the famous Argonaut year of '49; and after mining for a while, he teamed to Sonora in Tuolumne County, and as a veritable pioneer, did much to open the way for those that came after him. Five children were born to this worthy pioneer couple; Anna, Mrs. Gofield, of Stockton; James, who died at sixty-two years; W.J., of Stockton; Sarah Jane, who died when fifty; and George Francis, of this sketch. The father died about 1870, and Mrs. Thompson afterward married Sol Hurey, a fruit grower on Roberts Island; later they sold out and returned to Stockton, where they both passed away, the mother at the age of sixty-five years.

George Francis Thompson attended the Franklin school at Stockton, and later the Stockton Business College, where he graduated in 1884. As a boy he went to Roberts Island and there learned the rudiments of farming on the ranch of his stepfather. Later, with John O'Brien as a partner, he rented 320 acres on Roberts Island and farmed it to grain, continuing until they were operating 3,000 acres. Later still, the floods ruined their crops, and then Mr. Thompson bought 160 acres on the Island and also worked for Frank Lane, farming a large acreage. In 1898, with Ralph P. Lane as a partner, he farmed 3,000 acres on Union Island, using a steam tractor, and they were among the first to break the soil after the reclamation of this island. They raised grain and vegetables and were very successful until 1906, when the land was again flooded. While farming on the islands Mr. Thompson was through seven different floods, but he persevered and in time made a success, raising grain, cattle and fine Percheron horses. He has gone through the different phases of California agriculture, from the old header to tractors and combined harvesters, and at times has raised crops of as high as 90,000 sacks. When he was twenty-two years old, he spent a year at Huron, Fresno County, as superintendent for Bowles & McNear, in developing water to prove up six sections of land, tapping Big Cantua Creek and bringing the water by ditch to the land.

With Dr. C.L. Six as a partner, Mr. Thompson rented the Gillis ranch, 320 acres of the Woods brothers' tract, and 598 acres of the St. Catherine ranch, all on Roberts Island. They also operated the Jacobs & Flack ranch of 720 acres, raising potatoes there in 1912; but owing to the low prices of that year, they lost heavily. In partnership with Peter Dentoni and J. Campodonico, he at length bought the St. Catherine ranch, and in 1915 he bought out his partners and then sold a half-interest to Mr. Ruess; and now, with Robert T. Melton, present city commissioner of Stockton, as a partner, he owns the other half. He also farms 320 acres on Woodward Island. Mr. Thompson has invested a portion of his profits in Stockton real estate and is now the owner of a fine flat building and two residences besides his own home, on Center and Rose streets. He is one of the best-informed men on land values in the Delta district, for all his life he has farmed there.

On Roberts Island, November 26, 1897, Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Clara Fox, a lady of many accomplishments, a native daughter of Lodi and three children have been born to them, Ralph, George and Ruth. Mrs. Thompson's father, William Morgan Fox, who was born in Clark County, Ohio, served in the Civil War and was a prisoner at Andersonville for nine months. He was married in Canton, Ill., to Miss Mary J. Sproul, and in 1867 they came to California via Panama, settling at Stockton. He was a shoemaker, but followed farming here. He passed away at Manteca, survived by his widow, who makes her home near Oakdale. Of their six children, Mrs. Thompson is next to the youngest. Mr. Thompson is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Native Sons of the Golden West. Always interested in the community's progress, he served as public administrator of San Joaquin County from 1907 to 1911, and he has been on the Democratic County Central Committee.

Ref: Page 1051-1052

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/22/2010

JOHN THOMPSON

Among the respected and successful agriculturists of San Joaquin County, the late John Thompson devoted his energies to farming for over thirty years. He was a man of great individual worth and excellence, who performed his tasks with credit, and who left behind him a family who, themselves an honor to his name, will cherish his memory and works. Since 1900 Mr. Thompson had resided at his pleasant home in Lodi, relaxing in a measure the strenuous activity which characterized and brought success to his younger years, although he continued to be an important factor in the agricultural life of the county up to the time of his demise. His beautiful ranch of 160 acres situated four miles northwest of Woodbridge bore visible evidence of his labors and sagacious management. He was born in Northampton County, Pa., September 22, 1838, a son of James and Elizabeth Thompson, natives of Ireland, who emigrated to Canada in early life and settled near Montreal. Later they removed to Northampton County, Pa., where the father died. The mother passed away in Philadelphia.

John Thompson was reared and educated in his native county, but the school advantages of that day were rather meager, and were limited in his case to attendance for about three months in each year until he was sixteen years old, when he went into the practical school of experience and real life. In 1856 he left his native state and went to Carthage, Ill., where he followed farming for two or three years. About 1861 he removed to Douglas County, Kan., where he pioneered and at the time of the sacking of Lawrence by Quantrell, in 1863, he was one of the men who hurriedly rode to the next town appraising the citizens of Quantrell's approach and advising the men to hide in the woods till his bushwhackers got by. In 1874, he removed from Kansas to California. Before settling on his 160-acre farm in the Woodbridge district, he farmed near Lathrop and Linden.

Mr. Thompson was married in Carthage, Ill., February 24, 1859, to Mrs. Catherine Shank, born on September 3, 1837, a daughter of Christian Shank. Both of her parents were natives of Germany. In infancy she was taken to Lee County, Iowa, where her parents remained until she was eight years old, then removing to Illinois and locating near Carthage, where she grew to womanhood and was married. For a number of years Mr. Thompson served as a trustee of the Ray school district, San Joaquin County, in which he was a former resident. In politics he was a Republican. He was a member of the Jefferson Lodge No. 98, I.O.O.F., at Woodbridge, and he and his wife were members of the Rebekahs at Lodi. Mrs. Thompson, also deceased, was a member of the Ladies' Aid Society of the Congregational Church at Lodi, and also of the Woman's Relief Corps of the same place. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were the parents of seven children, five of whom are still living: Elmer E., represented elsewhere in this work; Emery A., residing in Lodi; Wilson Henry, also residing in Lodi, and represented in this work; Anabel, Mrs. William Lossing; and Letty M., Mrs. William Franklin. Mary Thompson, the third child, is deceased; and the first child died in infancy.

Ref: Page 621-622

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/22/2010

JOHN CHATTEN THOMPSON

Very early in the colonization of America the Thompson family became established among the pioneers of the New World, the first of the name making settlement upon Virginia soil, where he gained notable prosperity. John Thompson, a native of the Old Dominion, grew to manhood on a stock farm, and at an early age acquired a thorough knowledge of the raising of stock. He was given a good education in private schools, and while living in the old home neighborhood he married Mary Adams Williams, a native of Virginia, where for some years they continued to make their home. They were the parents of four children, all of whom were born in Tazewell County, Va. John C., the subject of this review, was the second son. Another son, Hon. Rees B., formerly a member of the legislature of California, died on July 3, 1908. A daughter, Mrs. Eliza Thompson Yerby, died in Los Angeles, and another daughter, Mrs. Sarah L. Thompson Wheeler, made her home at Milton, Calaveras County, Cal., but died in Oakland. Eventually they followed the tide that drifted over the mountains into Kentucky and Missouri, and for six years lived in northwestern Missouri. The discovery of gold called attention to the unknown riches of the Pacific Coast, and John Thompson determined to try his fortune in that country. Having made the necessary preparations and disposed of his possessions in Missouri, during 1852, he and his family crossed the plains and after a fatiguing and eventful journey, during which his wife died in the Big Meadows of the Humboldt Basin, now Nevada, he arrived at his destination.

Seeking a suitable location, John Thompson came to San Joaquin County and selected land near New Hope, where he acquired the title to 500 acres; and here he engaged in raising small grain, and also cattle and horses. After two years he returned to Missouri and married Mrs. Jane Hardesty. He crossed the plains a second time to his California home, bringing again a large drove of cattle. Being a man of tireless energy and wise foresight, he prospered in his undertakings and became one of the leading citizens of his county, where he rendered efficient service as a supervisor and in other ways identified himself with public affairs. Reared a Democrat, and always stanch in his allegiance to that party, he nevertheless favored the Union cause at the time of the Civil War and in 1861, upon being elected to the state legislature, entered the office with the understanding that his support would be given to the Union. During his service he never faltered in his allegiance to the Union, and as a member of various important committees he proved helpful to the welfare of the state and nation. He later was a Douglas Democrat, a believer in states rights, and when the Southern states seceded his sympathies were with them. In no matter, public or private, was his integrity ever questioned. His force of character left its impress upon the early history of the county, where he continued to reside many years. The latter part of his life he spent with his daughter, Mrs. H.C. Yerby, where he died in October, 1886, at the age of eighty-four.

John C. was born in Tazewell County, Va., in January, 1835, and in childhood gained a practical knowledge of the frontier through residence in Missouri, during the pioneer days of that state. It was his good fortune to be the son of an advocate of liberal education, a man who devoted himself to giving his children the best advantages possible to the period. Hence, it was his privilege to receive instruction from a private tutor and later he was a student in Grand River College, Grundy County, Mo. He left school to come to California in 1852, and thereafter devoted his time to work on the home ranch, where he soon gained a thorough knowledge of all kinds of stock. After attaining his majority he began to buy and sell horses and cattle, and prepared cattle for the home markets. In 1861, he formed a partnership with James. P. Folger, under the firm name of Thompson & Folger, which partnership was successfully continued until the death of Mr. Folger in 1885, after which the business was incorporated under the name of Thompson & Folger Company. From time to time the company made investments in land, until eventually it acquired holdings of about 3,000 acres, where stock of fine breeds were to be found, and good improvements in the way of buildings were made, with the various accessories which tend to the success of the rancher or lighten his labors. In addition to his stock interests he developed vineyards.

The marriage of Mr. Thompson took place at Ione, in 1863, and united him with Miss Caroline Rutledge, whose parents, John and Nancy (Fulton) Rutledge, migrated from Virginia to California at an early day and settled in San Joaquin County. They were the parents of four children: Edward R., deceased, at one time city attorney of Stockton, and a well-known member of the San Joaquin County bar; Mrs. Richard C. Minor, of Stockton; John H., president of the Stockton Iron Works, and manager of the Thompson & Folger Co., and the John C. Thompson Estate; and Mrs. Edward F. Haas, of San Francisco. Fraternally, Mr. Thompson was a Master Mason, identified with the Woodbridge Lodge, No. 131, and was also a member of the Stockton Elks, No. 218. He was one of the founders and a trustee of the Woodbridge College. A number of industries received the benefit of his cooperation and counsel in addition to the ranches with which his name was closely associated; he acted as a member of the state board of managers of the state hospital, held the office of director in the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Stockton, and was vice-president and one of the founders of the Bank of Lodi, (now the Lodi National Bank); these various positions indicating his high standing as a man of ability and as a progressive citizen. He passed away on February 20, 1911.

Ref: Page 1589

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/24/2010

JOHN VERNON THOMPSON

Since 1908 John Vernon Thompson has been actively identified with the agricultural interests of San Joaquin County, with the exception of three seasons spent in Alberta. He was born in Exeter, Ontario, December 27, 1868, a son of Smithson and Elizabeth (Wahn) Thompson, natives of Ontario and Germany respectively. The father was in the lumber business in Ontario, where he owned and conducted a sawmill until 1882, when he moved to Barnes County, N.D., where he preempted a stock and timber claim of 480 acres. There were twelve children in the family: Caroline, Mrs. James Howden, deceased; Jennie, Mr. William Howden resides in Tacoma, Wash.; Edward resides in Sanborn, N.D.; Alfred G. resides at Lodi; Anna, Mrs. Benjamin Howden, resides at Cooperstown, N.D.; John Vernon of this sketch; Millie, Mrs. Charles Reichard resides in Lodi; Minnie P., Mrs. Wheeler, resides at Porterville, Cal.; William H. resides at Carpio, N.D.; Clara May, Mrs. William Remick, resides at Lodi; Arthur A. resides at Ontario, Cal.; and James A. in Saskatchewan. Both parents are deceased, the father at the age of seventy-four and the mother at the age of fifty-seven.

John V. Thompson had very little opportunity for an early education as their home was located in the woods and schools were scarce in that section. He was fourteen years old when his parents located in North Dakota and there he attended the grammar school; later he attended three terms at the normal and business college at Dixon, Ill. Returning to his parents' home in North Dakota he was a teacher in the grammar schools of Barnes County for four years. In 1895 he made his first purchase of land, consisting of 160 acres of wheat land in Barnes County, N.D., adding to this from time to time until he owned 700 acres; this he farmed to wheat for thirteen years when he disposed of 320 acres and removed to California, arriving on January 1, 1908. He came direct to San Joaquin County and bought a thirteen-acre ranch on Kettleman Lane south of Lodi; this ranch was in a six year old vineyard and Mr. Thompson stayed there for two years when he sold it and went back to his native country, where he took up 640 acres of script land near Brooks, Alberta; he remained there for three seasons breaking the soil and putting in crops and proved up on a half section of this land. The call of California proved too inviting, however, and in 1913 he returned to Lodi, where he established in Lodi the Variety Bazaar on Oak Street, which he conducted for three years when he disposed of it. He then purchased a business lot on School Street where he erected a store building which is leased by his successors to the Variety Bazaar.

On September 12, 1920, in Lodi, Mr. Thompson was married to Mrs. Myrtie (Green) Shattuck, born at Cambridge, Vt., a daughter of Julius Warner and Emily S. (Raymore) Green, both natives of Vermont. Her father owned a 270 acre farm in Vermont and engaged in general farming until 1908. He first came to Lodi, Cal., and since then has divided his time between his old home and his city. The mother passed away in Lodi in June, 1920. Mrs. Thompson is the eldest of a family of four children and the only daughter; her three brothers are Frank, J.W. Jr., and Pearl. Miss Myrtie Green was first married to Merton C. Shattuck on October 22, 1890, and in January 1907 they removed to California and purchased a vineyard near Lodi, but Mr. Shattuck was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his labors, for he passed away in 1909. In October, 1920 Mr. Thompson purchased forty-five acres one mile north of Acampo, thirty-seven acres of which is in vineyard and eight acres in a cherry orchard, a part of the old Peter Jahant ranch. In politics, Mr. Thompson is a Republican and fraternally he was made a Mason in Sanborn Lodge, No. 14, F. & A.M., and is also a member of the Royal Arch of Valley City, N.D. He is now a member of Lodi Lodge. Mrs. Thompson is a past matron of Harmony Chapter, O.E.S., of East Fairfield, Vt., and is a member of the Lodi Woman's Club.

Ref: Page 382

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/24/2010

REES BOWEN THOMPSON

The life of this early pioneer began in Tazewell County, Va., February 10, 1830, and closed in Oakland, Cal., July 3, 1908. Between these dates were enacted a life of usefulness exerted unselfishly toward the betterment of his adopted home in the west. Leaving his southern home in the year of 1850, Rees Bowen Thompson came to California across the plains, going direct to Hangtown, now Placerville, where he engaged in mining. After he had remained there a year he returned East for his parents, with whom he had moved from Virginia to Missouri. With his parents Mr. Thompson again took up his westward march in 1852, crossing the plains this time as he had done two years previously. Coming direct to San Joaquin County, he settled eighteen miles from Stockton near a place which has since become known as New Hope, where he purchased a large ranch and engaged in the cattle business until the year 1880.

Mr. Thompson's interest in and qualifications for public life led to his election as representative to the Legislature from San Joaquin County in 1880, at which time he was the only member of the Democratic party in the house. He was elected by a large majority, his great popularity with both parties taking many votes from his opponent on the Republican ticket. After his election to the Legislature Mr. Thompson disposed of a portion of his ranch property and the following year, 1881, removed to Oakland, which was his home thereafter until his death, July 3, 1908. While living in New Hope he was united in marriage, July 4, 1865, with Miss Josephine Hardesty, a native of Indiana, who died in 1910 in Oakland. Mr. Thompson was a man of much worth, integrity and earnestness of purpose, and it can truly be said of him that he was representative of the best in American citizenship, living up to a high standard in public and private life.

Ref: Page 1499

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/25/2010

REESE B. THOMPSON

The owner of a splendid ranch of 350 acres, eighty acres of which is in Tokay grapes and eighty acres more ready to set to the same variety, is Reese B. Thompson, the son of an early settler of California. He was born in Sacramento County, six miles east of Galt, near Dry Creek, on June 13, 1891, a son of James Henry and Lavissa (Smith) Thompson, both natives of Virginia, who came to California in 1876. They were the parents of eleven children, namely: Mary, now Mrs. Conner of Wilton, Cal.; Edgar H., of Lodi; C.W., of Acampo; C.R., of Stockton; Reese B., of this sketch; Josephine, Mrs. J.H. Chapdelaine, of Lodi; Florence, Mrs. Galt of Stockton; Walter; and Reba, Bessie and James, the last three deceased.

Reese B. Thompson attended the Alabama district school in Sacramento County and completed his education with a commercial course at Stockton. When sixteen years of age, he started working in a store at Stockton. Then he went to Woodbridge, San Joaquin County, and rented the Huron ranch of seventy acres, which occupied him for three years, after which he purchased the Russell ranch of 350 acres, where he now resides. When Mr. Thompson purchased this ranch it was grain land. He immediately set about to prepare the land for grape cuttings, and now has eighty acres in young vineyard and eighty more acres ready for planting; he also contemplates putting in thirty acres to cherries and twenty acres to prunes. There is a splendid irrigation system on the ranch, consisting of a No. 2 turbine direct-drive Sterling motor-driven pump. He has also constructed two new barns on his ranch.

On Thanksgiving Day, 1916, Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Lucile Chapdelaine, a native of Minnesota, and a daughter of Alex and Antonette Chapdelaine, residents of Woodbridge, San Joaquin County, for the past twenty-five years, where they own a vineyard. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are the parents of three children: Reese, Jr., Cathleen, and John Alexis.

Ref: Page 1546-1547

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/25/2010

WILLIAM HENRY THOMPSON

Among the prosperous and progressive agriculturists and viticulturists of San Joaquin County, is William Henry Thompson, now living retired, but still interested in that most attractive industry, grape culture. He was born on his father's ranch in San Joaquin County about two miles south of Lodi on August 10, 1873, a son of James Edward and Angeline (Pope) Thompson. The father, James E. Thompson, was born in Arkansas in 1839 and when he was twenty-one years old he started across the plains with his parents. They came with an ox-team train consisting of twenty-eight wagons, arriving in California in 1861, and their first stopping place was Woodbridge. The father mined at Copperopolis in the early days; later coming to the Lodi district he bought a ranch three and a half miles from Lodi in the Alpine school district and it was in this school that our subject received his education; he is one of a family of five children, namely, John, Katherine, Mrs. Goodwin of Lodi; William Henry; Amelia, residing in Alameda; Bert died at the age of thirteen. The father acquired 240 acres of land in the Lodi section and set five acres to vineyard and two acres to an almond orchard. Before his death, he sold his entire property and removed to Lodi where he passed away at the age of seventy-seven years; the mother still lives in Lodi at the age of seventy-five years.

William Henry Thompson was occupied assisting his father in the management of the home ranch until he was twenty-eight years old, then he bought fifteen acres on the Lockeford Road two and a half miles east of Lodi; nine acres he set to Zinfandel grapes and five acres to Tokay grapes and he built a comfortable house on the place with good farm buildings. He was married at Stockton on November 11, 1903, to Miss Lulu Beckman, born on the same ranch and in the same house as her husband, a daughter of William and Sophie (Fox) Beckman, born in Germany and Sonora, Cal., respectively. William Beckman came to California when about sixteen years old, locating at Lodi where he married Sophia Fox, a daughter of John and Minnie (Hackie) Fox, pioneers of Sonora, Cal. William Beckman died on his farm and his widow now resides in Lodi. They had six children: Lulu, Mrs. Thompson; Mrs. Emma Tucker of Fresno; Albert of Stockton; Edith resides with her mother; Charles and Eugene of Lodi; the latter served overseas in the 91st Division.

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson lived on their ranch for eight years after their marriage, then sold it and bought a house and lot on Cherokee Lane east of Lodi. About six years ago he purchased a residence in Lodi and moved to town and in 1920 he bought six lots on the corner and has it leased. Mr. Thompson has an eight-year lease on a twenty-five acre Tokay vineyard just north of the corner of Stockton and Almond Avenue one and a half miles south of Lodi. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are the parents of three children: Verda Bernice, William Edward and Vernon Henry, and in politics both are Republicans. Mr. Thompson is a member of the Maccabees of Lodi and Mrs. Thompson is a member of Lodi Parlor, N.D.G.W., and also of the auxiliary to the American Legion and W.R.C., and both are members of the Lodi Methodist Episcopal Church.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/25/2010

WILSON HENRY THOMPSON

It is interesting to chronicle the life history of the successful business man who has risen by his own individual efforts from the bottom rung of the ladder, step by step, until after years of honest endeavor and well-directed energy he has acquired not only an affluence but a rich experience and far-reaching influence, making him a leader both in his own line and in the affairs of his community. Such a man is Wilson Henry Thompson, the genial and popular vice-president and one of the organizers of the Citizens National Bank of Lodi, which has its home in a new $100,000 structure on a site he selected on School and Oak streets.

Mr. Thompson was born near Lawrence, Kans., September 27, 1868, a son of John and Catherine (Shank) Thompson, the former a native of Pennsylvania. The parents brought their family to California in 1874 and were pioneer farmers and fruit growers near Lodi until their passing. Coming to California in his sixth year, Wilson H. Thompson was educated in the public schools of San Joaquin County, and supplemented his secondary schooling with a three-years course in Woodbridge College. His first business experience was gained as a clerk in Bentley's general merchandise store at Woodbridge, where he remained for one year. He then became associated with A.L. Cowell, and together they conducted a general merchandise store and hotel at Woodbridge for the next four years.

Selecting Lodi as his future place of operations, Mr. Thompson came here in 1896 and started a grocery store. In 1899 F.W. Beckman became his partner, and the firm was known as Thompson & Beckman; but shortly afterwards they took in H.E. Welch, their bookkeeper, as a third partner, and on February 24, 1904, were incorporated as Beckman, Welch & Thompson, Inc., and thereafter branched out into the various lines of general merchandising. Mr. Thompson was president of the company, and his years of experience and wide acquaintance enabled him to build up a business second to none in the county in this line. In order to provide larger and more suitable quarters, Mr. Thompson erected a brick business block 70x160 feet on South Sacramento Street. He continued as president until 1918, when he sold his interest. With Mr. Beckman, Mr. Thompson also erected the Beckman & Thompson Building on School Street. In 1910, with others, he established the Pacific Fruit Exchange, with headquarters in Sacramento, and became vice-president of the company and local manager of the Lodi district.

Recently Mr. Thompson disposed of his interest in the First National Bank, in which he had been vice-president and director for some years, and with others organized the Citizens National Bank of Lodi, being elected its vice-president. He saw a splendid location for the new bank and business houses on the corner of Oak and School streets; so he purchased the three corners and turned them over to the City Improvement Company, which was organized for the purpose of building up all the corners with substantial two-story store and office buildings and the bank home. The bank building is a Class A concrete and terra cotta building 50x75, and is devoted entirely to the use of the bank. The City Improvement Company also built the new post-office building on Oak Street. Mr. Thompson's associates are all local men, like himself acknowledged for their integrity and worth, and represent a diversity of interest and wide experience, their influence being of especial value to the institutions with which they are associated. Mr. Thompson is interested in viticulture, his holdings being principally in the vicinity of Lodi. He is a director of the Stockton Home Builders' Association, and the Masonic Temple Association in Stockton; is president of the Lodi Investment Company, which erected the Lodi Hotel and Lodi Theater; is president of the Lodi Public Library Board; and was formerly a member of the Lodi Board of Education.

Mr. Thompson was first married on November 11, 1892, to Miss Mary Eliza Fowler, a native of this county and the daughter of Joseph and Eliza Fowler, pioneer farmers near Lodi. She passed away in February, 1900; and on December 9, 1903, at Crocker Station, he was united in marriage with Miss Celia M. Crocker, a native of that place, the daughter of Henry and May (Hall) Crocker, natives of Massachusetts and pioneers of California. Mr. Crocker came here in 1853 and engaged in mining until he established Crocker Station, on Big Oak Flat road, leading into the Yosemite Valley. There he continued until his passing away. He was survived by his widow. Mrs. Thompson was reared at Crocker Station and received her education at Woodbridge College. They have a son, Henry Allen, a graduate of the Lodi high school, class of 1922.

Fraternally, Mr. Thompson was made a Mason in Lodi Lodge No. 256, F. & A.M., and is a member of Stockton Chapter No. 28, R.A.M., Stockton Council, R.S.M., Stockton Commandery No. 8,, K.T., and Ben Ali Shrine, A.A.O.N.M.S., of Sacramento; and with his wife he is a member of the Eastern Star, of which he is a Past Patron. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, Woodmen of the World, and Elks, and was a charter member of the Lodi Rotary Club. Naturally progressive, Mr. Thompson has engaged in many enterprises looking to the development of the city, regardless of pecuniary benefits to himself.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/26/2010

ARTHUR THORNTON

A worthy and prominent citizen of San Joaquin County, who passed to his reward in 1914, was Arthur Thornton, in whose honor the enterprising town of Thornton, Cal., was named. Service for the government brought him to the Pacific Coast during the early fifties, and thus he became interested in California and it was not long before he decided to take up his permanent residence here. After working for various ranchers for a number of years, he purchased property near New Hope, San Joaquin County, in 1863, and for the balance of his life contentedly followed the peaceful and independent life of the agriculturist. He was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, May 19, 1838, a son of William and Mary (Kennedy) Thornton, both natives of Scotland, who came to America in 1852 and settled in Iowa. The mother passed away in Kansas and the father was buried on the plains in 1854.

Arthur Thornton was a lad of fourteen when his parents came to the United States. Although he had received a fair education in the schools of Ayrshire, he also attended school for a couple of years in Iowa, during this time also working on his father's farm as much as his school duties would permit. The spirit of adventure took him to Santa Fe, N.M., about this time, and there he joined the government service as a civilian under Colonel Steptow. The winter of 1854-1855 was spent in Salt Lake City, and in the spring, May 5, 1855, the company took up the march for California. Before reaching their destination, however, they were ordered to Oregon instead, and finally, on July 2, reached Port Lane, on Rogue River, having in the meantime camped two nights in Surprise Valley. Considering their meager equipment, it was quite remarkable that they reached their destination as quickly and as safely as they did, with nothing but a compass to guide them. After resting a week they again took up the march, going first to Cow Creek and from there to Red Bluff, Cal., where they took a steamer for Sacramento, and from there, on a larger steamer, they were taken to Benicia. After receiving his pay, Mr. Thornton entered the employ of the Pacific Steamship Company and went to Panama on the old “Oregon”, the return trip being made on the steamer “Golden Gate” to San Francisco. A short experience in the mines proved to him that he could not make a success along that line, and he soon afterward gave it up and removed to Stockton. In May, 1858, he came to New Hope, where he worked as a vaquero until 1861, and afterward followed various lines of employment for two years, when he purchased the ranch at New Hope. There he spent the remainder of his life. During his residence in the town he saw it grow from a mere hamlet, and made every effort to bring about better conditions. In 1877 New Hope was made a post-office, and for thirty years Mr. Thornton served efficiently as postmaster. For eight years he was a director of the State Hospital at Stockton, and for four years was vice-president of the board.

On January 31, 1870, at Woodbridge, Mr. Thornton was married to Miss Emma Greives, a native of Steubenville, Ohio, and their marriage resulted in the birth of six children: Mary Alvernia, Mrs. W.J. Bates; Clara B., Mrs. Lawton of Thornton; Maggie Florence, who died at the age of twenty-three; Georgia M., who died at the age of two and a half years; Jessie C., residing at Thornton; and Alice L., Mrs. William H. Koontz of Thornton. Mrs. Thornton came from old Plymouth, Mass., ancestry, one of a family of thirteen children. She came to California via the Isthmus of Panama in 1868. Three of her brothers served in the Civil War, one dying in a Southern prison; and her other two brothers came to California. Her brother Charles met an accidental death at Lodi; and the other brother, Edward, died at the Soldiers' Home at Sawtelle, Cal.

Mr. Thornton first acquired a quarter-section of land in the New Hope district, subsequently adding to his holdings until he had 1,000 acres in this section. In 1888 he planted small pine trees in front of his house, and also a border around the field, and today they are mammoth trees. At the time of Mr. Thornton's death, about 1,000 acres made up his estate, fourteen acres of which was set to various kinds of fruit trees and vines, and it is now one of the finest producing ranches in San Joaquin County. Orchards of from fifteen to twenty acres each are devoted to peaches, plums, apricots, almonds and pears, and twenty-five acres is in Zinfandel grapes, with six acres in alfalfa; and the orchards are outlined with a row of walnut trees. When the Western Pacific Railroad was built through his section, Mr. Thornton gave the right-of-way through his ranch free of charge and the station was named Thornton. Some years ago the post office was also changed to the name of Thornton. Fraternally, Mr. Thornton was a charter member of Stockton Lodge, No. 218, B.P.O. Elks, and a charter member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge of Lodi. He was a very liberal and kind-hearted man and all of his charities were given in an unostentatious manner. He was a highly esteemed citizen of the community which his energy and optimism had helped to build. He was a friend to education and progress, and his sojourn in San Joaquin County, and especially in his home district, tended to the widening of its prosperity and the developing of its opportunities. He loved truth and justice, and represented a high type of our American manhood.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/26/2010

FRANK SUMNER THORNTON

One of the esteemed and helpful citizens of San Joaquin County is Frank Sumner Thornton, who occupies the position of assessor and collector in the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, having been elected to this office in February, 1919. To his effective work as promoter may be attributed the rapid growth of the business and he has proved his exceptional qualifications for the duties imposed. He was born on his grandfather's ranch near Sebastopol, Cal., October 18, 1883, a son of John Milan and Laura (Peatross) Thornton, natives of Iowa and California, respectively, whose sketch will be found elsewhere in this history.

Frank Sumner Thornton was reared on a farm and began his education in the district school known as the Lone Tree district, San Joaquin County. In 1905 he was graduated from the San Francisco Business College. He then found work as a stenographer and bookkeeper in the Bay City for a short time, when he went to Folsom, where he found employment with the Folsom Development Company, which occupied him for eighteen months; he then removed to Los Angeles to take charge of the Southern California branch of the California Moline Plow Company, and in 1907 was transferred to Stockton in the employ of the same company. On account of impaired health he gave up his position within three months after arriving in Stockton and went to ranching on his father's place near Escalon. The following year he returned to the business college in San Francisco, where he took review work, then went to Siskiyou County, and there worked for six months for the Northern California Lumber Company; then he received an offer from the Natomas Consolidated Company at Folsom as billing and shipping clerk, and while in their employ billed out the rock and gravel used on many highways in Central California, the shipments reaching thirty car loads per day. Returning to Escalon, Mr. Thornton again took up the realty business until 1911, when he purchased the Escalon Tribune. This he successfully operated for some four years, when he sold his interest to Mr. Morgenson. Mr. Thornton has also successfully engaged in the real estate and insurance business in Escalon.

On August 16, 1911, Mr. Thornton was united in marriage with Miss Edna E. Early, born near Stockton, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M. Early, ranchers and pioneers of the Weber district, six miles southeast of Stockton. Mr. and Mrs. Thornton are the parents of three children: Lucille, Evelyn E., and Mildred Marie. Mr. Thornton is secretary of the Escalon Water & Light Company and is now a stockholder and director of the company; he was the vice-president of the Escalon Commercial Club and chairman of the board of trustees of the Escalon grammar school, who have just completed a new $18,000 building. Fraternally, he is a past noble grand of the I.O.O.F., at Manteca and Mrs. Thornton is active in the Parent-Teachers Association of San Joaquin County, the Home Department of the Farm Bureau, the Woman's Improvement Club and the Ladies' Guild of the Presbyterian Church in Escalon. Both Mr. and Mrs. Thornton are enthusiasts of the outdoor life and a portion of each season is spent in the high Sierras or at the seashore with their family.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/26/2010

JOHN MILAN THORNTON

For more than a half century John Milan Thornton has been a successful agriculturist in San Joaquin County, his ranching activities being in the locality of Escalon. He has been an eyewitness of the growth and development of this portion of the county and in no small measure has aided in its advancement. He was born in Van Buren County, Iowa, January 9, 1850, and is the youngest son of a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters. His father, Calvin S. Thornton, was a native of New York, who migrated to Iowa with his wife in 1840 with wagons drawn by ox teams. In 1861, Calvin S. Thornton with his wife and family started West; their mules and horses were commandeered by the rebel forces and the party was delayed in Missouri for some weeks and when they were ready to resume their journey, their wagons were drawn by oxen. Captain Brown was in charge of the train of 100 wagons. Six months were spent on the way, and they narrowly escaped the Mountain Meadow massacre. Of the 100 wagons that started from Missouri only about twelve completed the journey to California, the others remaining in Oregon. The Thornton family took up their residence on the John Pollock ranch near Bellota and experienced the great flood of 1862, but remained there until 1864; then they farmed near Waterloo until 1866, when they settled in the Lone Tree district. The original purchase was 160 acres of government land, which was mostly farmed to wheat; the first schoolhouse was built on a portion of this ranch and there the Thornton children attended school. Since John Milan Thornton was fifteen years old he has been interested in farming. He was associated with his father, and on his father's death, February 2, 1894, he continued to farm the home place for his mother until she passed away ten years later. In 1878, Mr. Thornton bought eighty acres in the Elliott district of San Joaquin County and this he farmed in conjunction with his father's place.

On January 4, 1886 in Modesto, Mr. Thornton was married to Miss Laura Peatross, a native of California, born near Bodega, July 26, 1863, a daughter of William W. and Hester (Phelps) Peatross, the father a native of Virginia and the mother of Illinois; and the father was a California forty-niner. They are the parents of four children: Frank Sumner, also represented in this volume; Ethel H.; Elmer P.; Merle E., resides in Utah. Mr. Thornton has served as trustee on the school board and also on the board of trustees of the Methodist Church at Escalon. He owns a choice ranch of ninety acres near Escalon and owns a fine residence in town where he makes his home; he also owns other valuable real estate. His labors have been effective in promoting the educational, social and material advancement of his community, and he endorses every measure which tends to advance the general welfare.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/26/2010

JAMES E. THORP

A native Californian who has added to the wealth of the Golden State by his intelligent and successful breeding of pure-bred Jersey cattle and Duroc hogs, is James E. Thorp, a rancher and stockraiser of San Joaquin County. He was born in Santa Rosa on March 1, 1879, a son of John Bailey and Jennie (Zimmerman) Thorp. In young manhood John Bailey Thorp came to California with an ox team from Texas and located near the town of Wallace, Calaveras County. While living there, he enlisted, when only nineteen years old, for service in the Civil War. His service consisted wholly in quelling Indian outbreaks. He became an extensive stock and sheep breeder and for many years was the dairy superintendent at the state asylum at Stockton. There are four children in his family: Mrs. M.J. Beck; Mrs. Josephine Cheesewright; James E., of this sketch; and Charles, who was in the employ of the United States government in the transportation paymaster's office in the Philippines at the time of his death. The father and mother reside about three miles from Stockton on the Waterloo road.

James E. Thorp attended the Stockton grammar schools and completed his schooling with a commercial course in the Stockton high school. At the age of sixteen, having been reared in the environment of farming and dairying, he took up ranch work and became especially interested in creamery work. In 1900 he took a dairy course at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and while there determined to become a stock-breeder. Upon finishing his course and returning to California, he purchased a couple of Jerseys, and as the years have passed he has developed his own herd, mostly of the “Raleigh” and “St. Lambert” strains of Jersey cattle, although he has some of the “Financial King” breed, and now has about fifty pure-bred Jersey cattle. He also has some twenty Duroc brood sows. Mr. Thorp has had the good fortune to breed prize-winners, and possesses one cow, now twelve years old, that is a champion. This cow he has exhibited for the past ten years at various fairs in California and Oregon, and she has been grand champion at the State Fair several times. In 1921 he took this cow to the Portland fair, and there she took second place against a strong competitive field. Other cattle, as well as Duroc hogs, were exhibited with much success. He was the first Jersey breeder from California to enter the competitive lists at the Pacific international exhibit at Portland. In March, 1922, in partnership with L.K. Marshall, Mr. Thorp bought the famous Locke estate, consisting of 370 acres, located just north of Lockeford, which is being developed to a fruit and stock ranch.

Mr. Thorp's marriage occurred on August 15, 1906, and united him with Miss Theresa Locke, a daughter of Dr. Dean J. and Delia Locke, whose life history appears in this work. Mrs. Thorp was born in Lockeford and attended the grammar and high schools of Stockton; later entering the Woman's Hospital, San Francisco, from which she was graduated. They are the parents of two children: John Willard and Delia Marcella. Politically, Mr. Thorp is a Republican. He is an active member of the California Jersey Breeders' Association and the California Duroc Hog Breeders' Association. He is also a member of the Milk Producers' Association, with headquarters at Modesto, and has served as president of the board of directors for two years. He is a charter member of the Lodi Lions Club. Mr. Thorp's foresight and industry have been potent factors in the growth and improvement of dairy stock in the San Joaquin Valley, for which the central portion of California has become famous; his optimism and belief in the future of San Joaquin County have enabled him to win success both for himself and for the entire county.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/28/2010

WILLIAM H. THRUSH

A California agriculturist who well has merited, by his progressive, scientific industry and his practical results of value to others as well as himself, all the prosperity which has finally crowned his efforts up to the present day, is William H. Thrush, whose splendid ranch on the Waterloo Road has become as fine a demonstration as would be possible of the productivity of San Joaquin County soil. A native son, he was born in the Harmony Grove district of this county, one mile west of the Harmony Grove schoolhouse, on March 14, 1864, the only son of George and Dora Elizabeth (Ebeling) Thrush, both now deceased.

George Thrush was born in Pennsylvania and when a small boy he was taken to Ohio by his parents, where they lived a short time and then removed to Missouri, where he grew to manhood and lived until he came west in 1862. He had married in Missouri and settled down to farm-pursuits until the news of the discovery of gold induced him to come to California. Leaving his wife and daughters—all then small children—he started overland with a mule and an ox team and a companion, in the '50s, and in due time arrived at his destination. Some time after locating in this state he and his friend took the smallpox and his friend died; and as soon as he had recovered from the disease he went back East to join his family and at the same time determined to make a permanent location in the Golden State. Settling his affairs he outfitted and with Mrs. Thrush and daughters made the long overland trip, driving an ox-team, while his wife drove a mule-team, taking the Salt Lake route to California. He was accompanied by Henry Ebeling, the youngest brother of his wife, and he later died in this state. Upon arrival here Mr. Thrush hauled supplies to the mines and later engaged in ranching in the Harmony Grove district, where he settled upon his arrival. He sold out his holdings in that locality and bought 640 acres near Modesto and raised grain there until 1871, when he concluded he would try farming back in Missouri once more. Renting his land and equipment, with his family he returned to Missouri, bought and stocked a good farm, but only lived there six months, when he turned again to California. He lived for a time in San Jose and Santa Clara, then came to San Joaquin County in 1874, bought 320 acres of land on the Waterloo Road, eight miles from Stockton, and from that date this section remained his home until his death, September 8, 1907, at the age of seventy-eight years. Mrs. Thrush died at the age of sixty-three.

The following children were born to this worthy couple: Ellen married Russell Kincaide of Long Beach, and died in 1922, leaving two boys and four girls; Louise is the widow of D.L. Hancock and makes her home with her only daughter, Mrs. Ed Branstead, near Stockton; Marine became the wife of William Bonham and has two sons and one daughter; Edith is the widow of Henry Leffler and the mother of three boys; Fanny is the widow of Nicholas Bacon of Stockton and has one boy and two girls; Alice is Mrs. Wilkes Foreman of Oakland; the seventh in order of birth is William H., our subject; Dora married Thomas Brierly of Oakland and they have one daughter. The last two children were born in California.

William H. Thrush remained at home with his father until he was twenty-one and then started to farm for himself. He leased 160 acres near Linden and raised grain for three years, then came back to the old Thrush ranch on the Calaveras River and in 1892 bought eighty acres of the home estate; later he added ninety-five acres adjoining, part of the Martin property, and this he farms to grain with the exception of about four acres that he has planted to alfalfa. In 1914 he bought fifty acres of bare land near Linden that he has leased for a period of years and which will be set to fruit trees and vines. Mr. Thrush also owns considerable real estate in Stockton, which makes it more natural that, as a public-spirited citizen and loyal Republican that he should favor any legislation encouraging and protecting agricultural and industrial development. He has made his own way since leaving home and his success is the result of his own efforts.

At Stockton, August 26, 1885, Mr. Thrush was married to Miss Allie Anderson, a native of Carson City, Nevada, and the daughter of William H. and Jane (McBride) Anderson. Her father was born in Hamilton County, Ind., August 22, 1838, and now makes his home with Mr. and Mrs. Thrush. When a child he was taken to Van Buren County, Iowa, by his parents and there reared and educated. He came across the plains to Nevada in 1864, mined and freighted for two years. In 1866 he came to San Joaquin County and until 1886 farmed leased land in the vicinity of Waterloo, then he spent fifteen years in Mendocino County lumbering and since then has lived retired. He is of Scotch ancestry, his paternal grandfather having served in the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Anderson was born in Ohio of Irish parents and she died at the age of thirty-six, leaving two children, H.G. Anderson, an employe of the General Petroleum Company in the Coalinga oil field and Mrs. Thrush.

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GEORGE M. THURMAN

One of the industrious, progressive and influential ranchers of the Lockeford district is George M. Thurman, who, in 1919 became the owner of 240 acres two and one-half miles southeast of Lockeford and who is keenly interested in the cultivation and development of his property. He was born at Salinas, Monterey County, April 26, 1871, the son of John and Mary (Womick) Thurman, natives of Kentucky and Missouri respectively. The father, a carpenter by trade, came to California in 1850, the year of his marriage, and the young people first settled in San Joaquin County, but only remained for a short time when they removed to Monterey County where John Thurman plied his trade. When our subject, George M. was a small boy, his parents removed to Los Nietos, now Orange County, where they remained for a number of years; then settled in Keyes Canyon, San Diego County, and were pioneers of that section. There were four children in the family, Sanford, John W., George M. our subject, and Mary.

George M. Thurman remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age, then went to Arizona where he homesteaded a quarter-section of land in the Yuma Valley, which he proved up on and lived there for twenty-three years, with the exception of two years that he spent in the Imperial Valley of California near Heber.

On July 26, 1892 at Valley Center, San Diego County, occurred the marriage of Mr. Thurman and Miss Mary Huckaby, born in Santa Ana, Cal., a daughter of David and Adelissa Huckaby. The Huckaby family were pioneers in California who came from Arkansas in the early days and stopped for a few years in Santa Ana, then moved to Bear Valley, San Diego County, and Mrs. Thurman received her education in the schools of Valley Center. Mr. Thurman's Arizona ranch was bottom land along the Colorado River and was entirely devoted to the raising of stock and bees; of late years cotton is being raised to advantage on it. Mr. Thurman still owns eighty acres of this ranch. In 1917, he left the Yuma Valley and settled at Buena Park, Orange County, where he farmed for two years, then purchased a twenty-five-acre ranch at Buena Park and a six-acre place near there. Two years later, or in 1919, he traded his Orange County property for 240 acres southeast of Lockeford where he has since resided with his family. Besides general farming, Mr. Thurman is equipped to do leveling and grading of land throughout the county. He has recently installed an eight-inch Byron-Jackson deep well turbine pump with a twenty-five horse-power engine, which will furnish sufficient water for irrigation purposes.

Mr. Thurman's family consists of his wife and six children: Agnes is Mrs. Horn of Buena Park and they have three children, Paul, Leona, and Harold; Mrs. Ethel Moss of Somerton, Ariz., has one son, Eugene; Ralph is married and has three children, Alta, Eva, and Dorothy; Clyde is married and has one child, Mae; Harold and Ernest are the youngest of the family. While residing in Yuma Valley, Mr. Thurman served as judge of the justice court and was also deputy sheriff for many years. He is a Democrat, and he and his family are members of the Congregational Church of Lockeford, where Mr. Thurman serves as one of the trustees of the church.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/28/2010

GEORGE H. TINKHAM

“I am what I am; what I might have been I know not,” said Mr. Tinkham to the writer when asked for a short sketch of his life. “My ancestors on my father's side were Scotch-English, and on my mother's side were Dutch. The Tinkhams were leading actors in the Revolutionary War and in the War of 1812. My mother and her parents were born in Boston, Mass., and there I was born, within sight of the Charleston bridge, in March, 1849.” Mr. Tinkham says many a time has he played on Bunker Hill, and listened to the chimes of the historic Tremont Street Church. His father emigrated to California in May, 1849, and four years later, his wife, Mrs. Frances Baxter Tinkham, with her two children, Francis Isadore and George H., joined him at Stockton, having come via Panama.

George H. attended the Stockton schools, A.H. Randall the teacher, until he was seventeen; there were no high schools at that time, and he later attended the San Jose State Normal for one term. He worked for his father in the City Market on Main Street, where now stands the Wonder. After some years spent in the market he says, “My brother Edgar took my place and I went roaming. During the intervening years, up to a certain date I engaged in various occupations, among them ranching, sheepherding, clerking in a grocery and a drug store, drove a street car, water sprinkling wagon, was editor of the Weekly Record, and occasionally a news-item writer for the Stockton Independent.” While working in the butcher shop Mr. Tinkham says he became a member of the brass band, thirteen in number, he playing third E-flat tenor. It was the only brass band in the county and he declares he “had the time of his life playing at theatres, picnics, political meetings, serenades, celebrations, etc.” While a member of the band and only eighteen years old, he voted for U.S. Grant for president, the Republican party let no votes get by then. He sang baritone from time to time in the Presbyterian, Congregational and Baptist churches. In November, 1876, he joined Charity Lodge, No. 6, I.O.O.F., of which his father was a charter member; fortunately he has never drawn a dollar in sick benefits; he joined Rainbow Lodge, No. 97, Daughters of Rebekah, in November, 1895; and in 1915 was made a member of Stockton Lodge No. 391, Loyal Order of Moose. He was a member of the Stockton Guard, Capt. L.E. Lyon, and honorably discharged; was a member of the volunteer fire department, Eureka No. 2, until the arrival of the steam engine.

In giving his book-canvassing experience which led to his becoming a writer, Mr. Tinkham said, “In 1878 I was canvassing for a book, the 'Life of Bismarck,' entering a saloon one day, Barney Killion, a rollicking young Irishman who had known me since boyhood, was standing at the bar, lightly tapping me on the back, he exclaimed, 'Say, Tinkham, why don't you write the history of Stockton?' Like a streak of fire the same question flashed in my brain and after fourteen years of roaming I had found my occupation. I wrote the history and enjoyed every hour of its compilation, but it was a labor of love without any remuneration. In getting subscribers enough to pay the printer I obtained a paying position; this was the janitorship of the Weber School building. I had read one morning in the news items in the paper of the sudden death, by heart disease, of George Lemon, the janitor. Letting no grass grow under my feet I went to John Yardley, the grocer, on Weber Avenue, and one of the school trustees and said 'I see that Mr. Lemon died last night and I would like the job.' 'Well, George, I guess you can have it.' Going upstairs to Mr. Lemon's bedroom, where that departed soul lay upon the bed, Mr. Lemon took the schoolhouse keys from his pocket, and as usual, at nine o'clock that morning the schoolbell rang out. During the leisure hours of my school work and at various times later I compiled the book, 'California Men and Events.'

“In 1907, while cleaning books in the public library, dressed in overalls and a checkered blouse, a prepossessing young gentleman approached me and asked: 'Are you George Tinkham?' 'That's what they call me,” I replied. 'I have been told that you would be a good person to write the history of San Joaquin County for our company.'” Mr. Tinkham answered with a good deal of hesitancy, and, making numerous excuses, tried to decline. Nevertheless he took on the job and completed a very satisfactory edition. In his own words, “I wrote that history; it was easy, as I had written historical sketches off and on for years for the Mail and Record. For the Record, daily for the past six years I have been writing, 'Twenty Years Ago Today' stuff. Since 1907, that same gentleman, H.A. Preston, has returned at various times and requested me to compile several histories for his company. During the many years I have worked at these tasks I have enjoyed my work; it not only has been a pleasure to me but to thousands who read my articles.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/28/2010

HENRY TINKHAM

“I believe that all things are for the best.” “Do unto others as you would be done by.” This was the philosophy and the life axiom of Henry Tinkham, who was born in 1820, in the old Green Mountain State, of a Scotch father and an English mother. The family can be traced back to the great-grandfather, who in 1776 served as a captain in the Revolutionary war; and his grandfather was a private in the war of 1812.

Young Henry, like all of the New England boys of that day, worked hard all summer on the little rock fenced farm, where, as he declared, “It took all summer to raise enough to live on through the winter.” He had but two suits of clothing a year, the cloth being woven and made up by his mother; Henry, with the other children in the family, walked to church, barefoot through the snow, carrying his shoes under his arm, so that he might wear them bright and shining in the meeting-house.

During the winter months he attended the district school, the teacher being such as Goldsmith describes, “A man severe he was and stern to view. I knew him well, and every truant knew.” On one occasion the teacher gave Henry a whipping for misbehavior, sometimes, however, the pupils gave the teacher the whipping, but in this instance Henry got the birch rod, the teacher always keeping a supply on hand, as the birch trees grew near by. On going home he received no consolation from his father, the latter quietly remarking, “Now, Henry, if you get another whipping at school, I'll give you one when you come home.” His father, Daniel Tinkham, was a man beloved alike by his family and the community in which he lived, for his sterling qualities of heart and mind, but severe in discipline and unwavering in his ideas of right and wrong, he believed in upholding parental, educational, civil and religious authority.

At the age of eighteen Henry Tinkham obtained a position as a clerk in the Woodstock dry goods store, but not liking the work, for he was a strong, active, ambitious young man, he later took passage on a stage for Boston, and asked for work in a hardware store. The proprietor said to him, “All right, come around in a few days.” The stage journey had taken all of his money, and the applicant replied: “Well, I am out of money and I want work now.” The employer immediately put him to work; he remained about a year, then became an apprentice meat cutter in one of the markets of old Faneuil hall, historic as the birthplace of American liberty. He was employed in the meat cutting business three years and during this time, in the words of the Yankee song, he went “sparking Sunday night” and during a part of the time he was one of the quartette in the Park Street Unitarian Church. The result of his “sparking” was his marriage to Frances Baxter, the family being one of the oldest in Boston. The fruits of this marriage were four sons and four daughters, viz.: George Henry, Frances Isadore, Etawah (Etta) Elmer, Lillian, now Mrs. Thomas Shaw of San Diego; Edgar, Marian, Mrs. E.L. Gnekow of Stockton, and Alfred, who passed away in 1922. The father died in 1896, the oldest daughter in 1901, and the wife and mother in 1905.

Between the marriage and death of Mr. Tinkham there lies fifty years of an industrious, honorable life in business, home building, protecting and sustaining; the home was his life, the business an auxiliary, as

“His home the spot of earth supremely blest,

A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest.”

To build the home, when the cry of gold resounded throughout the east, with a company of one hundred and sixteen young men he started for California, expecting to make his fortune in a few months and return. Chartering the bark Lenark, they loaded her with provisions sufficient to last two years, and after a long voyage of six months, September 12, 1848, they anchored in the harbor of San Francisco. The company parted, some going to the mines, Mr. Tinkham being of this number. They sailed up the San Joaquin river seven days, during which time it rained heavily, and they were compelled to sleep in their wet blankets on the open deck. As a result Mr. Tinkham was taken sick with fever. The party he was with purchased a two-wheeled ox cart and oxen to carry their supplies to the mines, and after placing Mr. Tinkham on top of the load they started to the Sierras. The hot sun's rays beat upon the open cart as it jolted over the rough road and added to the already intense sufferings of the sick man. Although the teachings of his youth helped him to bear patiently the ills of life, yet one day, when very hungry and thirsty, he resolved, if die he must, to die with a full stomach. The party had gone on a bear hunt, leaving him alone, and crawling from the cart, he found some crackers and cheese and the water canteen. He ate and drank all he desired, the result of which was surprising, for two days later he had recovered from his sickness.

Locating at Hawkins' Bar the party began mining, and after several days sluicing they obtained about $3,000 in gold dust. One night it rained heavily and the following morning when the party arose everything was gone. Money and tools had been swept away in the flood that came rolling down the canyon. Mr. Tinkham then came to the conclusion that he had had all the mining he wanted.

Returning to Stockton he hired out to Harry Morton, a butcher, for $300 a month. The following morning his employer said: “Can you dress a beef?” “Yes, I guess so,” Tinkham replied. “Well, go out and shoot one of those steers and bring it in.” The cattle were running loose where now stands the courthouse. Never in his life had he dressed a bullock, but he was an unerring rifle shot, and in the “green hills” of Vermont, many a time he had gone bear or woodchuck shooting. Taking a rifle he singled out an animal and shot it through the brain, and somehow caused it to bleed profusely. Fortunately a butcher was dressing a beef nearby and he finally gave the amateur butcher a lesson in the business, and from that time on he had no trouble. Two years later Mr. Tinkham opened a meat market at the corner of Main and Sutter streets, and in 1854 he opened the City Market opposite the Yosemite hotel, and for more than fifty years he was engaged in the business.

He made and lost several fortunes; thousands of dollars were lost in bad debts, for he would not become involved in lawsuits nor engage in any transaction that would involve the good name which he so highly prized, or cause any suffering to a poor debtor or his family. Very sympathetic in his nature and generous and charitable even beyond sound judgment he believed that the getting of money could never be justified in doing a wrong act.

He was for many years an Odd Fellow and a member of Charity Lodge No. 6 and Parker Encampment No. 3 and during the four years of his patient, uncomplaining sickness they faithfully fulfilled their obligation. He was also a volunteer fireman, being a member of Eureka No. 2, and was a member of the San Joaquin County Pioneers. In politics he was a Republican, and at one election, at the “solicitation of friends” his name was placed before the convention for sheriff. They promised to support him, but this they failed to do, and it so disgusted him he never again would consent to run for office, for a lie to him was a lie, whether in business or politics.

A man of fine sensibilities and tastes, he despised vulgar language or stories, and had no regard for unclean men or actions. In his family he was the head, his word was law, yet he was never rude or harsh in tone or action, but gentle, kind and considered generous and unselfish, and ever thoughtful of those he loved. His family all present, he passed from earth as quietly as a sleeping child, his life an open book without a stain.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 09/29/2010

LEVI M. TOAL

Among the enterprising and public-spirited citizens of San Joaquin County is Levi M. Toal, who is serving as justice of the peace of O'Neal township since 1902 and who is also connected with agricultural interests, being accounted one of the active and successful business men of Stockton. He was born in Kansas in November, 1872 and was a small child of two years when he accompanied his parents to California. His father, David Toal, was born in Scotland in 1831, and in 1844 came to America and settled in the forests of Northern Wisconsin, where he remained until the early '50s when he removed to Kansas and homesteaded a tract of land near Fort Scott. David Toal served the Government at Fort Scott for two years as a blacksmith and for his services he received no remuneration. He married Miss Jane Pitman, a native of Ohio, and they were the parents of six children, three of whom now survive, Levi M., Jennie J., and Cora.

David Toal brought his family to California in search of a milder climate and located at Stockton in 1874, where he was employed with John Rock at Main and Market Streets in a blacksmith shop; later on he was employed in the Phil Davis boat yard, following his trade until 1886, when he removed to Stanislaus County and there became foreman for Dr. Tynan, owner of the Empire ranch, where he continued for two years. He then returned to San Joaquin County and farmed the Delta ranch, raising large quantities of grain for several years; in 1892 he put the first plow into the soil on newly reclaimed land in the Capt. Moss tract and the Boggs tract adjoining Stockton. Meantime, he had purchased twenty acres of land on South American Street, Stockton, where he built a residence and where his family resided while he carried on his grain farming. David Toal reached the advanced age of nearly ninety years, passing away at the family home in Stockton in December, 1920, his wife having preceded him in 1918.

Levi M. Toal was reared and educated in Stockton and from an early age was associated with his father in ranch work. In 1902 he was elected justice of the peace of O'Neal township when there were 405 registered votes and in 1922 there were 5,868, an indication of the growth and development of this locality. In connection with his official duties, Mr. Toal was in the contract business for nine years, during which time he did much of the paving of the streets of Stockton. The twenty-acre ranch purchased by his father many years ago is fast becoming very valuable as a choice residential section of South Stockton. This locality has made a remarkable growth and Mr. Toal has had much to do with its advancement. Where farming and stock raising was once carried on, now stand school buildings and residences. He is a member of Charity Lodge No. 6, I.O.O.F., is a past grand and has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge many times. Elected in 1902, he is now serving his sixth term as justice of the peace and has made a fine record.

Ref: Page 1499-1500

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 10/02/2010

TODA BROTHERS

Prominent among the business men of Farmington are the Toda brothers, proprietors of Toda Bros.' Store. The safe policy which they inaugurated in their business career has secured for them a patronage which makes the volume of business transacted of considerable magnitude. L.A. Toda, the senior partner of the firm, was born at Farmington, June 13, 1883, while his brother, J.D. Toda, was born on April 26, 1890, at the same place. Both boys were educated at the Shady Grove school, L.A. Toda completing his education in 1899 and J.D. Toda in 1906. The parents, Mr. and Mrs. Julius Toda, are still living at Fosteria, Calaveras County. The father was an active business man, farmer, stockman and butcher in Farmington from 1875 to 1907, when he removed to Calaveras County. He was born in Denmark and came to San Francisco in 1859, being first-mate on a sailing vessel around the Horn. He was married at Mokelumne Hill, Calaveras County, to Miss Nellie Schrock, born in Texas, who came with her parents across the Isthmus in 1853. Her father, Lewis Schrock, was born in Pennsylvania, and her mother was Susan Holman, born in Texas, and there married to Lewis Schrock, one of California's earliest gold miners. He made his first trip to California in 1847, and served two terms in the California Legislature in its early days. Mrs. Julius Toda as a child, was in the early fifties the only white child between Mokelumne Hill and Stockton.

In 1902 L.A. Toda entered the retail butcher shop of his father, Julius Toda, pioneer butcher of Farmington, and was associated with him until 1911. In 1907, J.D. Toda began clerking in the store of R.M. Buckman, where he remained until 1911, when the two brothers decided to go into business for themselves. They purchased the Buckman store in 1911, which is now known as the Toda Bros.' Store, and they have been so successful that they are supplying farmers ten miles in each direction from Farmington. They carry a full line of staple and fancy groceries, dry goods, hardware, automobile supplies, and both young men are popular in business circles, the duties and responsibilities of the management being equally divided, J.D. Toda having complete charge of the inside management while his brother, L.A. Toda, attends to the outside work and represents the firm in an official capacity in other ways.

The marriage of L.A. Toda on March 31, 1913, united him with Miss Lois A. Tarr of Lodi, daughter of John and Claudia (Kelley) Tarr, pioneer farmers and both now deceased. One child has been born of this union, Robert. Mrs. Toda is a member of the Rebekah Lodge at Farmington.

On June 9, 1912, J.D. Toda was married to Miss Pauline Summers, daughter of George R. and Elizabeth (Holden) Summers, pioneers of California, now ranchers near Valley Home, in San Joaquin County. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Toda: Jack S. and Betty Ellen. Mrs. J.D. Toda is also active in the Farmington Lodge of Rebekahs. The firm of Toda Bros. are members of the Retail Grocers' Association of California, and fraternally both are members of Valley Lodge, No. 135, F. & A.M., of Linden, and of Farmington Lodge, No. 296, I.O.O.F., J.D. Toda having served as noble grand, and also as deputy registration clerk of his district since 1912. In matters of citizenship both brothers are progressive and take a helpful part in promoting the prosperity of the county and especially the Farmington district which has been their home all their lives and where they are numbered among the representative citizens.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 10/02/2010

WILLIAM J. TODA

An enterprising business man, as well as a native son, of Farmington, is William J. Toda, who is the proprietor of the Farmington Meat Market, sanitary and modern in every particular. In 1920, at a cost of $5,000, Mr. Toda installed an up-to-date refrigerating system with a capacity of three tons per day. He was born at Farmington, March 4, 1882, the eldest son of Julius and Nellie (Schrock) Toda, natives of Germany and Texas, respectively. William J. Toda began his education in the Shady Grove district school for two years; then while living with his maternal grandparents he attended the Paloma district school near Fosteria, Calaveras County, until his seventeenth year. He then became interested in mining in Calaveras County and spent the following twelve years prospecting and placer mining, with considerable success; meantime his father had been carrying on the stock business and meat market at Farmington. In 1910 William J. and his brother, L.A. Toda, entered into a partnership to carry on a retail meat business, which was conducted for two years, when the business was closed out on account of the illness of the latter. William J. Toda then returned to the mines, where he spent six months, then returned to Farmington and in 1914 he opened the meat market on his own account, and in 1920 improved his business with modern equipment run by electricity. Mr. Toda owns the property where his slaughter house is located on the Sonora Road and many improvements are under way for the betterment of this branch of the business. Mr. Toda formerly ran a meat route covering a territory of fifty miles, but this has recently been discontinued.

Mr. Toda's marriage occurred in Farmington, which united him with Miss Zana Gwin, a native of Kansas, a daughter of John and Jennie Gwin, now residing in Berkeley, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. Toda are the parents of one son, Gwin Toda, a pupil at the Shady Grove district school. The family reside in Farmington in their comfortable residence and Mr. Toda is a member of the local Farm Bureau.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 10/02/2010

HARRY S. TODMAN

An experienced, influential man of public affairs, whose family have had an interesting association with the history of the Golden State, is Harry S. Todman, the owner of one of the finest peach orchards at Clements. He was born at Oakland, Cal., in December, 1866, the son of John H. and Viola A. (Pomeroy) Todman, his father being a native of England who came out to America when a young man and settled at Victoria, in Prince Edward Island. While still a young man John Todman entered the United States and came West to Nevada, and in 1854 he came on to California. In Nevada he had mined with the Comstock Company; and on reaching California he settled for a while at Oakland, and then took up mining in various parts of the Western States. While prospecting on the Colorado River, near Yuma, Ariz., he was drowned in 1886. Mrs. Todman then removed to Stockton; and there she died, about twenty years ago, at the age of fifty years.

Harry Todman profited by the public school advantages of San Francisco, and for three years attended Valencia grammar school; and when fourteen years of age he started out for himself. In San Francisco he learned the paint and wall-paper trade, and after that he worked as a journeyman in San Francisco. In 1889 he came to Stockton and engaged in his trade on Market, near Sutter Street, where he maintained also a supply shop for painters and paper-hangers. His place of business was in the Union Block.

Ten years ago he sold out and purchased thirty acres of the old Athearn ranch, about one mile northeast of Clements, on the Mokelumne River, where he has a fine orchard devoted to peach-culture, known as El Nido Ranch. There is a first-class pumping plant in the orchard, pumping direct from the Mokelumne River, and from this supply the land is irrigated. He has a twelve-inch stream, and a gas engine of fifteen-horsepower.

At Stockton, on July 28, 1889, Mr. Todman was married to Miss Cora Hitchcock, a native of Canton, Miss., and the daughter of Charles N. and Sarah Elizabeth (Tatum) Hitchcock, in whose family were four children: Florence, now Mrs. Hamsher, of Acampo; William and Joseph, who died young; and Cora, now the devoted wife of Mr. Todman. Mr. and Mrs. Todman have the distinction of being the first couple to have been married by the Rev. Mr. Sink in Stockton. Mrs. Todman's father, Charles N. Hitchcock, was a machinist, who brought her to Oakland when she was three years old. Later, he removed to Stockton, where in 1919 he died at the age of eighty-two; his devoted wife had died three years before, aged seventy-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock removed to Stockton when Cora was ten years old, and there she attended the grammar and the high school. Her father was a native of New York State, who had moved to Wisconsin prior to the Civil War. He joined the Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and was a first lieutenant; and he served in the Army of the Mississippi and sustained several severe wounds. After the war was over, he went to Mississippi to claim for his bride a lady he had met while fighting in the South; her parents were plantation owners, and of course were allied with the Confederacy. Two children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Todman; Jessie, now Mrs. E.P. Kayser, of Oakland; and Edna, Mrs. E.W. Drury, of Stockton. Mr. Todman is a Democrat, and served as an aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor George H. Stoneman. His only sister, Josephine M. Todman, an attorney-at-law, was executive secretary for fifteen years in the office of Governor Budd. Broad-minded, of many-sided interests, Mr. Todman has served on the Board of Directors of the Humane Society at Stockton. He is a member of Stockton Lodge No. 218, Elks, and belongs to several other orders.