Since 1907 Abraham Nasman has been identified with agriculture in San Joaquin County, having owned an orchard and vineyard previous to the purchase of his present well-cultivated vineyard located on the corner of Central Avenue and Kettleman Lane. He was born in Harnosand, Sweden, November 11, 1862, a son of Jonas and Anna Nasman. Jonas Nasman engaged in farming in his younger days and later in life became a carpenter. There were twelve children in the family, seven of whom grew up: Carrie, Peter, Jonas (died in South America of yellow fever), Erick (died in Chicago), Abraham, the subject of this sketch; Isaac (died in Sweden), and Jacob. The father lived to be seventy-two years old, the mother died when Abraham was a lad of five years. When nine years of age he became errand boy for a tailor, and remained in his native country until 1888 when, in company with his brother Erick, he came to the United States and spent the next two years working in Philadelphia, Pa., after which the brothers went to Chicago and Abraham found work in the iron works and then learned the carpenter trade and was employed in Chicago for fourteen years.

In the fall of 1893, in Chicago, Mr. Nasman was first married to Miss Lena Roberg, also a native of Sweden. She passed away in Chicago in 1895, leaving one daughter, Florence, Mrs. Schulte, residing in Lodi. In 1899 Mr. Nasman was married to Miss Augusta Lundaberg, born in Falun, Sweden, who came to Chicago in 1884, and for many years was a nurse at the Battle Creek (Mich.) Sanitarium. For a number of years Mr. Nasman traveled for John S. Metcalf & Company of Chicago. He was a foreman in the installation of grain elevator machinery for this company and spent three years on one job at Portland, Maine; he was also at Newport News, Va., and twice was sent to Montreal, Canada. In 1904 he came to San Francisco, Cal., and engaged in carpenter work and was there at the time of the great earthquake and fire. In 1907 the family removed to San Joaquin County, where he bought an eight-acre orchard three-quarters of a mile west of Woodbridge on the New Hope Road, and here they spent nine years, when he sold out and in 1916 purchased a ranch of ten acres on the Lincoln Highway three miles southwest of Lodi; this latter ranch was in vineyard and in 1920 Mr. Nasman sold it. He then purchased 2.08 acres set to vineyard and trees on the corner of Central Avenue and Kettleman Lane, where he also raises fine chickens. Mr. Nasman is a Republican in politics and with Mrs. Nasman is a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. In 1913 Mr. and Mrs. Nasman adopted an eight-year-old boy, Fritz.

An enterprising, progressive and highly successful vineyardist to whom much credit is due for his contribution to the advancement of husbandry in California, is James Patrick Nolan, living two miles to the northwest of Acampo, and widely and favorably known throughout San Joaquin County. He was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, on January 19, 1871, the son of Edward and Anna (Murray) Nolan, the former a shoemaker by trade, who had to work so hard for a living that our subject was denied the opportunity to attend school in Ireland. In 1885, however, he came out to the United States, for a larger schooling in the New World, and ever since he has made his own way. He migrated west to California, and came early to the vicinity of Acampo, where he has continued to make his home within a short distance from where he first worked. His father never came to America. His grandfather and grandmother were Michael and Bridget (Russell) Nolan; and there were two uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters of his father, who came out to the United States. One of these, James G. Nolan, reached California in 1858, and died near Acampo on October 28, 1903. Michael came to the United States and was last heard from in Pennsylvania. Mary married and became Mrs. Coleman, and she died at Santa Rosa about sixteen years ago. Annie also married, and as Mrs. Crowley lived at Terre Haute, Ind. An uncle, James G. Nolan, came to America and pushed on as far west as St. Louis. There he took charge of a band of cattle, to be driven to Fort Leavenworth, Kans. After that he drove four mules to Salt Lake City. In 1858 he came overland to California and settled at Cucamonga, in San Bernardino County, and there he built the first house occupied by a white man. After working only two months on this house, he started north with John Dunn as a co-partner and fellow-traveler. They reached French Camp, and there dissolved partnership; and when they divided their capital, each took a half of twenty-five dollars. Uncle James then came to Stockton and accepted a job at $25 per month tendered him by John Welch, and this job he kept for two years. In 1862 he purchased 160 acres about two miles northwest of Acampo, and this came to be known as the old Nolan Home Ranch. On November 2, 1862, James G. Nolan married Miss Kate Burns, who had come to America from Ireland in 1854, and had settled for a while in New York, finally reaching California on October 9, 1861. Mr. Nolan was a Democrat, but he cast his first vote, in 1864, for the illustrious Republican, A. Lincoln.

When James P. Nolan came to Acampo, he worked for three years for his uncle, in order to get a good start in farming, and then he rented a grain ranch of 500 acres two miles from his uncle's, where he followed agricultural pursuits for five years. He next bought forty acres of the old Nolan ranch, for which he was required to pay only seventy dollars an acre, and later he added another ten acres. Three years ago, Mr. Nolan refused $13,000 for the ranch. The entire ranch was open land when Mr. Nolan bought it, and since then he has set out all the vineyard and done all the improving himself; and he has just completed an attractive ranch-house at a cost of $9,000. The ranch now consists of fifty acres of bearing vineyard, twenty-eight acres in bearing Tokays and eight acres, in two-year-old Tokays, five acres in Cornichons, and one and one-half acres in Zinfandel grapes. The balance will soon be developed to vineyard.

At Lodi, on September 16, 1894, Mr. Nolan was married to Mary Rebecca Phillipi, a native of Pennsylvania and the daughter of Isaac and Tilly Phillipi. Her father was a millwright, carpenter and farmer, and came to California when she was two years old. He settled in 1873 in Sacramento County, where he cultivated several hundred acres planted to grain. He then removed to Shasta County and farmed for a couple of years, and so it happened that Mrs. Nolan went to the Shasta County schools. The family then made a trip to Oregon and Washington, and returned later to San Joaquin County. Locating at Lodi, he lived there for about five years, associated with Mr. Van Gelder in the nursery business. In 1892, Mr. Phillipi moved to Acampo, and here Mrs. Nolan lived until her marriage. He attained his sixty-second year, survived by his devoted wife, who was seventy-one years old when she died. Mr. Nolan's father, on the other hand, died in Ireland, an he was also sixty-two years old; and his mother also passed away in Ireland, leaving a family of six children, among whom Mr. Nolan was the fourth in the order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Phillipi had twelve children, and of these only three are now living: Mrs. Nolan; Bessie, who has become Mrs. C.W. Thompson of Acampo; and Carrie, who became the wife of Harry Engels of Lockeford. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Nolan. Anna M. died in 1916. Maurice I. Nolan entered the United States service during the World War, on August 28, 1918, and was sent to Camp Lewis, where he was placed in Company L, 75th Infantry, 13th Division, and was made a corporal, and on February 1, 1919, he was honorably discharged from the Presidio at San Francisco, when he returned home and resumed the avocations of peace. James G. was married January 28, 1922, to Miss Nancy M. Baker, a graduate nurse from St. Joseph's Hospital, at Stockton. Carolyn is a graduate nurse from St. Joseph's Hospital at Stockton, and was married, February 4, 1923, to Mr. George L. Chapdelaine, a vineyardist at Lodi and Woodbridge. Frances lives at home. Mr. Nolan is a Democrat. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and is affiliated with the Lodi Lodge.

Fifty-eight years have passed since the family to which Raymond Arthur Northrop belongs became identified with the progress and development of San Joaquin County. A native son of California, he was born at Acampo, November 13, 1898, a son of Charles W. and Ruth (Eddlemon) Northrop, both natives of California. Grandfather Horace Eddlemon was born in Arkansas and came across the plains in pioneer days, locating on a ranch a mile east of the present site of Lodi. Later on he moved to what is now called Christian Colony, where he farmed until he retired. There he and his wife passed away, their demise occurring only a month apart. Grandfather Horace D. Northrop was a native of Vermont, who was left on orphan early in life and worked and earned his living wherever and however he could. When he became of age, he went to Boston and was there engaged in the oyster business for several years. In the year 1850 he started for California, but stopped with a brother in Iowa, who persuaded him to remain there and he purchased a farm in Jackson County. He married Miss Roxana Wilson, a native of New Hampshire, who passed away in 1856; then, in 1862, he married Mrs. Lydia C. Wilson, whose maiden name was Cram, and in 1864 they crossed the plains to California, being accompanied by several other California-bound families. In October, 1864, they settled in San Joaquin County, where he purchased 160 acres of choice farming land; and there their four children were born and reared, Charles W. Northrop, the father of our subject, being the youngest. There were but two children in the family of Charles W. Northrop and his wife. Merle served in Company D, 363rd Infantry, 91st Division, and was sent overseas, taking part in three different battles with that celebrated division. After eleven months service overseas he returned home, and is now ranching on Sargent road. Raymond A. was educated in Houston district school, and assisted his mother on the home farm until his marriage.

On April 18, 1920, Mr. Northrop was married to Miss Donna B. Posey, a daughter of John M. Posey, a pioneer of the county. Mrs. Northrop was born on the Posey ranch west of Lodi, and was educated in the Turner district school and the Lodi high school. Mr. Northrop is in partnership with John M. Posey in running a forty-acre vineyard, twenty acres of which is in full bearing and twenty acres in young vineyard; he is also a partner in a twenty-three acre Tokay vineyard three miles east of Lodi. Three years ago Mr. Northrop built one of the most modern residences in the Lafayette Hall district, on his home ranch, which is under the Woodbridge irrigation system. One child has come to bless their home, and she bears the name of June Noreen. Mr. and Mrs. Northrop are active members in the Congregational Church at Lodi, and he is a well-known and representative citizen of his locality.

In the enumeration of the men of the present generation who have won honor for themselves and at the same time have honored the state to which they belonged, distinct recognition is accorded Hon. Charles Willis Norton, for he was one of the distinguished citizens of California and figured prominently in the affairs of state and county. He was a native son of California and among those who knew him from his youth up, he won the recognition which is only accorded to sterling worth and upright American manhood. He was born on his father's ranch near Lodi, San Joaquin County, July 18, 1861, a son of Oscar O. and Maria Julia (Elliott) Norton, born in New York and New Hampshire, respectively. The American branch of the Norton family was represented by Thomas Norton, who came from Ackley, County Surrey, England, in 1639, and settled at Guilford, Conn. Ebenezer Norton, an ancestor of our subject, was a colonel in the Revolutionary War and was a member of the general assembly of Connecticut, and Medad Norton, a brother of Mr. Norton's paternal great-grandfather, was a soldier and fifer in the Revolutionary War.

The father, Oscar O. Norton, was reared in his native county of Schuyler, N.Y., receiving his education in the public schools and at Starkey Academy. In his twenty-third year, he went to Illinois, where he remained until 1859 when he started for California, coming via the Isthmus of Panama and arriving in San Francisco on July 15, and that same year he settled in San Joaquin County, where he followed carpentering until 1864, when he went to farming about ten miles from Stockton. He farmed this place for many years, then the ranch was purchased by our subject and in 1881, the father purchased another ranch, where he made his home until 1903 when he located in Stockton. By his own efforts and able management this ranch was brought to a high state of cultivation and was regarded as one of the best in the country. On October 4, 1860, Oscar O. Norton was married to Miss Maria J. Elliott, who, with her parents crossed the plains to California in 1858 and settled near the ranch later owned by Mr. Norton. They were the parents of three children: Charles Willis, Mrs. Alice E. Hurd, and Arthur L.

Charles Willis Norton grew to manhood on the farm and attended the public schools of the county and was graduated from the Stockton high school; later he took up the study of law in Mr. Minor's office in Stockton, and in 1896 was admitted to the bar. While studying law he was elected public administrator of San Joaquin County. From 1899 to 1902 he was deputy district attorney for the county and from 1906 to 1916 he was district attorney, his most famous case being the trunk murder mystery known as the Le Deux case, and it is the consensus of opinion that Judge Norton was the leading criminal lawyer in the county. Elected Judge of the Superior Court, he served until he resigned on account of ill health. In his twenty-sixth year, Judge Norton planted a vineyard on the home place near Lodi and as the years went by he became one of the leading viticulturists of that section, owning and operating one of the largest vineyards of the district. In partnership with Mr. Angier, under the firm name of Norton & Angier, he conducted a general fruit shipping business.

Near Lodi, on January 1, 1885, Judge Norton was married to Miss Nellie F. Staples, also a native of San Joaquin County, the only child of Capt. John F. and Mary Emma (Simpson) Staples, natives of Maryland and Missouri, respectively, who crossed the plains to California in early days. Captain Staples located at Staples Ferry, established by his brother, D.J. Staples, and there he was married to Miss Mary Emma Simpson. He was a captain in the Civil War and came of Mayflower stock. Some years after Mr. Staples' death, his widow married Dr. J.L. Sargent, a prominent physician, and later a successful cattleman in this county. Dr. Sargent has passed away, but Mrs. Sargent makes her home with Mrs. Norton. Judge and Mrs. Norton were the parents of four children: Oscar Sargent served in the tank corps in France during the World War, now in charge of his mother's ranches; Lillian is Mrs. Eric Brandstad, wife of a successful rancher; Sylvia is the wife of Brace R. Davis of San Francisco; and Willis S. is deceased. Judge Norton gave no small degree of credit for his success to his faithful wife who so bravely encouraged him in his ambition to reach the highest place in his profession, as well as aiding him in his business enterprises by her able co-operation and counsel. Judge Norton rose to the highest office in the gift of the people of the county, that of Judge of the Superior Court, and all of his decisions, while on the bench, were fair and he was faithful to every case committed to his charge. He spent his whole life in San Joaquin County and was well known and highly esteemed throughout the state.

Judge Norton was very prominent in fraternal orders, being a member of Lodi Lodge, No. 250, F. & A.M.; Stockton Chapter, No. 28, R.A.M.; Stockton Commandery No. 8, K.T.; Islam Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., San Francisco; Lodi Chapter No. 150, O.E.S.; Stockton Lodge No. 218, B.P.O.E.; and Stockton Parlor No. 7, N.S.G.W. He was the recipient of many honors in fraternal circles, having served one year as illustrious master of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters and one term as grand high priest of the Grand Chapter, R.A.M., of the state of California. In politics he was a stanch adherent of the Republican party platform and his religious views were that of the Congregational Church. He was the founder of the First National Bank of Lodi and served as a director; he was also a director in the Lodi Investment Company, owners and builders of Hotel Lodi and the Lodi theater building. Judge Norton passed away on July 11, 1918, and since his death, Mrs. Norton has planted more land to grapes, so that there is now 360 acres under cultivation. Well known throughout California, where his entire life was spent, Judge Norton took great pride in the achievements of the state, in its marked and rapid progress, and he was numbered among those who always upheld its professional status.

The remarks of George F. McNoble speaking for the court out of respect to the memory of the late Judge C.W. Norton are as follows: “If the court please, it is with deep regret and genuine sorrow that we are called upon this day to learn of the passing of our late distinguished brother, Judge C.W. Norton. Although his death has been daily expected, his departure is none the less keenly deplored. Few men of his time, in our midst, have been more universally respected, honored and admired than he. High honors and public favors fell to his lot and more than this, was the great personal respect in which he was held by all the people. He won and held the esteem of all classes of men by his probity of character, his even-handed fairness and his uniform courtesy. It was his good fortune not only to be honest in all his dealings with men, but also to have all men believe in his sense of justice and honor. As an advocate and public prosecutor, he showed great poise and absolute fairness and often won by the very faith that men had in him, without waiting to scan too closely the complex details of the case. As a judge, he went on the bench in middle life with a mind ripened and broadened by varied experiences and from the very beginning he won and held the esteem and admiration of the bench, bar and litigants generally, by the calmness and fairness with which he disposed of the business of the court. While not quick to make new acquaintances, or to ingratiate himself into the favor of men, yet he had the quiet faculty of earning the respect of all whom he met and of retaining that respect untarnished throughout his lifetime. In early life he had the practical experience of the field and farm. He served one term as public administrator, one term as an assistant in the district attorney's office, one term as head of that office and the last ten years of his active life were spent on the bench. Scarcely has it fallen the good lot of any man to have gone through as much of combat and of struggle in times of strenuous opposition, both professionally and politically and to have come out of the fight with a character unassailed and a reputation unblemished. His sympathies were many sided. He enjoyed athletics even until late in life and participated in many helpful games. As a traveler, he spent his vacations in tramping through the high Sierras and was very familiar indeed with the beauties of California's mountains and valleys. As a farmer and grape grower he was a success and the products of his vineyard sold with his name on the outside of the boxes without interior inspection, in foreign markets. In a fraternal way, he was unusually honored and if his life had not been cut short, it is clearly within the line of truth to say that no man in the state scarcely would have held more fraternal honors. However, it was a jurist and arbiter of the disputes of men, that he won his most signal honors. It is safe to say that no man within our memory had a better all-round equipment for judging and deciding the disputes of mankind coming into court, more fairly than he. He had the friendship of all the members of the bar and more than that he had the respect based upon the appreciation of his genuine merits.” He was an honored member of the American, State, and San Joaquin County Bar associations.

A native son of California and the only surviving member of his immediate family, A.J. Nourse has resided continuously in San Joaquin County and the Ripon section since 1897, where he is well and favorably known for his cooperation in every movement for the welfare of his locality. He was born at Coulterville, Cal., January 19, 1865, a son of A.J. Nourse, a native of Kentucky and a pioneer of California. A.J. Nourse, Sr., came across the plains to California in 1853 in search of gold and located at Sonora. There were thirty-five people composing the emigrant train and all survived the hardships of the six months' journey, arriving at Hangtown in October, 1853. In 1860 the father removed with his family to Mariposa where he established a business as wheelwright and for five years built the wagons used by the freighters to the mines; then he engaged in the stock business and farming near Keystone, where he preempted Government land and was among the very first to settle in that locality; he was also employed at the Shawmut mines until these were closed by the failure of the San Francisco banks. He continued in the stock business until 1876. There were five children in the family, of whom A.J. Nourse, the subject of this sketch, is one of three survivors. The mother passed away at Shawmut in 1887 and the father in Stockton in 1895. A.J. Nourse, our subject, attended the public schools until the age of fourteen and from that time was associated with his father in mill work and farming until he was twenty-five years old. In 1889 he entered the Stockton Business College for a year's business course and returning to Mariposa County, he entered the employ of G.W. Hobron & Son as superintendent of their mill during the summer months and during the winter he went to Stockton and worked at his trade.

On August 25, 1896, Mr. Nourse was married to Miss Edna May Cady, born on the Cady river ranch located on the Stanislaus River, a daughter of Stoel and Nancy J. (Pringle) Cady, natives of New York and Illinois, respectively. Stoel Cady was a '49er and engaged in mining on the north fork of the American River. He spent a few months in Sacramento, and from there went to Stanislaus County, where he took up land and put in one crop, when he found that the title was not sound; he then removed to Dent township, in San Joaquin County, and bought 1,100 acres which he farmed extensively to grain and stock. In 1853 he returned to Illinois and brought back overland about 1,000 head of cattle; later he discontinued stock raising and devoted his entire attention to general farming. His marriage to Miss Nancy J. Pringle occurred in 1854; she had come to California the previous year with the Ewing Johnson family, who settled at the Blue Tent ranch, twenty-two miles southeast of Stockton, which is the present site of Escalon. Mrs. Cady passed away in Stockton, March 11, 1895, survived by her husband, who passed away in Susanville, Cal., on November 7, 1909. Mrs. Nourse has one brother, Frank P. Cady, proprietor of the Lassen Water Company.

For three years before he bought it in 1900, Mr. Nourse conducted the Cady ranch, which consists of 800 acres, for which he paid twenty-five dollars per acre, the same land now being worth $500 per acre. Mr. Nourse purchased 320 acres four miles north of Ripon, which he subdivided and sold in small acreages, disposing of the last three years ago. Mr. Nourse owned and operated the A.J. Nourse & Company hardware store in Ripon from 1914 to 1919, when he sold out the business to Davis Bros.; he has served three terms as a director of the South San Joaquin irrigation district, was a stockholder in the Ripon Lumber Yard until 1920, is now vice-president of the Bank of Ripon and was one of the founders of this institution in 1910. Since 1913 he has been developing the Ripon Water Works, and he is a member of the Farm Bureau and the Ripon Merchants Association. In politics he is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a past noble grand of Mt. Horeb Lodge, I.O.O.F., at Ripon and Mrs. Nourse is past secretary of Rebekah Lodge No. 229, at Ripon. Both Mr. and Mrs. Nourse were actively identified with the war relief work and Liberty Loan drives in south San Joaquin County. Mr. and Mrs. Nourse are the parents of two children, Ruth Lucille and Ralph C. Mr. Nourse has led a busy and useful life and his readiness and willingness to serve his community have classed him among the public-spirited and substantial citizens of his locality.

A rancher whose thorough understanding of the agricultural conditions in California has enabled him to attain substantial success is John J. Nowak, of Dry Creek, about three and one-half miles northwest of Elliott school. He was born near Galt on January 14, 1889, the son of Adam and Katherine Nowak, his father having come to California when about twenty-one years old. Adam Nowak grew up a farmer, and reared a family of five children; Stanislaus; Anna became Mrs. Joseph Steiner; John J. is the subject of our review; Frank, born October 5, 1890, is next to the youngest; Clara is now Mrs. Albert Schmidt.

The children attended school in the Alabama district, in Sacramento County, enjoying home-life for a while in that section, the recipient of all the affection bestowable by parents who are still living and are honored residents at Lodi. After a while the father removed from the Alabama district to San Joaquin County, where he bought a ranch of 220 acres on Dry Creek, northwest of Elliott. This is the ranch which our subject is today operating, leasing it from his father; and there he has fourteen acres of Zinfandel grapes, while the balance is in alfalfa and pasture and grain land. His father had improved this ranch with all necessary farm buildings, all of which proved a great advantage. John Nowak has a small dairy of ten cows, and is assisted by his brother, Frank, who is working for him.

Besides having something worth while to show for his farm enterprises, Mr. Nowak has a military record of which he may well be proud. On April 28, 1918, he entered the U.S. service in the World War as a member of Company C, 316th Ammunition train, 91st Division, trained for two months at Camp Lewis, and was then sent across to France, where he went through all the drives in which the 91st Division participated. He served as a truck driver, and experienced several narrow escapes. He returned to America safely with his regiment, and on May 13, 1919, was honorably discharged at the San Francisco Presidio. Reaching home, he took up the problems of the ranch, and with increasing success he has been solving them ever since.

More than sixty years have passed, bringing with them wonderful progress and development, since Marion Talmai Noyes took up his residence in San Joaquin County. A native of Indiana, he was born on March 24, 1838, the son of Talmai and Nancy Brimhall (Noyes), both natives of that state. Grandfather Noyes was of English descent, while the maternal grandmother, Lydia Gatteau before her marriege, was descended from French forebears. When Marion Noyes was two and a half years old the family removed to Illinois and settled in McHenry County and there he received his education in the log cabin school and Marengo Collegiate Institute. When he was eighteen years old, he took up his residence at Marengo, Ill.

In 1859 Mr. Noyes came to California, spending the first year in Placer County, then came to San Joaquin County, and for a year worked on the Dodge-Cole place of 1700 acres. In the fall of 1860 he went to the Puget Sound country and was engaged in lumbering; later with Pope & Talbot. Returning to California he became interested in the copper mines at Campo Seco. In 1866 he returned to the Dodge ranch, and in partnership with Mr. Dodge, engaged in the breeding of fine horses. Later Mr. Noyes bought a ranch of ninety-five acres between Waterloo and the Calaveras River, which he farmed to grain; an old house which was built on the place in the '50s is still standing. For many years he made this his home, meeting with good success in his ranching operations.

On December 7, 1870, Mr. Noyes was married to Miss Phoebe C. Willoughby, a native of Connecticut, the family tracing their ancestry back to Lord Willoughby of England. In 1905 Mrs. Noyes passed away and three years later, in 1908, Mr. Noyes was united in marriage with Miss Clara Dodge, the daughter of that honored pioneer, Jonathan Holt Dodge, whose biography appears on another page of this history. Mr. Noyes is a member of the Grange and the Union League Club, and a Republican in politics. He has always worked faithfully for the best interests of the community, and has through the years served as county central committeeman and delegate to county and state conventions. In 1858 he was privileged to hear the great Lincoln-Douglas debate at Freeport, Ill., a never-to-be-forgotten incident, and one that has influenced his whole life.

An experienced dairy rancher, who has been on the Harris ranch, one mile east of Clements, since November 1919, is Manuel T. Nunes, born at St. George, in the Azores, on May 15, 1888, the son of Antone and Mary (Santos) Nunes. The father was a shoemaker by trade, who died at his native home at the age of sixty-six years. There were six children in the family: Joseph, Mary, Carry, Joanna, deceased in 1920, Manuel T., and Antone, the youngest, who was drowned.

After attending the schools in his native district, at the age of sixteen, Manuel T. Nunes came to America. Soon arriving in California, he settled for a while at Sunol, in Alameda County, where he attended school and worked for a living in vacation time. Having finished his studies, he went to San Mateo, and for three years worked for Frank Brewer on a dairy. Then, taking Antone Silva as a partner, he established himself in the dairy business, near San Mateo, and for two years they operated with forty head of milch cows. When they sold their business, Mr. Nunes helped to organize a creamery, and there, near San Mateo, he worked for a year. He then came into San Joaquin County, and together with John Home and Joseph Faleso, leased the Woods ranch of 450 acres on Roberts Island. They had a dairy of 200 cows, and continued together for four years. Then, with Joseph Silva, Mr. Freitas and Mr. Serpa, he purchased 300 acres near Manteca, where they had 300 head of milch cows, but after one year he sold his share to the other partners, and took a mortgage in return. He then went to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, at the Alameda Pier, in Oakland, where he remained for a year. During this time, additional mortgages on the ranch had been incurred, and the dairy farm went to the creditors in such a manner that Mr. Nunes lost $11,000. With a partner, named Caton, Mr. Nunes bought back about 100 head of the cattle, and moved the herd to French Camp, where for a year and a half they leased the E.W. Borges place and conducted a dairy. Then they sold out and Mr. Nunes moved to the Ed Harris ranch, one mile to the east of Clements, and since then he has engaged in dairying in partnership with Ed Harris, of Stockton, who owns the ranch. The ranch consists of 150 acres of fine farm land, ninety acres of which is in alfalfa. They have 150 head of stock, seventy head of which are Holstein milch cows.

Mr. Nunes was married at Oakland, on December 8, 1912, to Miss Mary Freitas, a native of Flores, in the Azores Islands, and the daughter of Antone and Mary Freitas. Four children have blessed their union: Josephine, Zelma, Manuel and Marie. Mrs. Nunes' mother died sixteen years ago in Portugal, but her father is still living. She was one of six children: Antone, Mary, Veseusa, John, Joseph and Theresa, the last three now deceased. Mr. Nunes is a Democrat. He is a member of the two Portuguese lodges; the I.D.E.S., of Stockton, and the U.P.E.C., of Oakland; for the former he has served as secretary.

Occupying a conspicuous place among the leading professional men of the city of Stockton, since the year 1914 Bronson S. Nutter has successfully practiced his profession of dentistry and his clientele is made up of many of the finest families of this thriving city. He is a native son of this city and has reached a high place in the esteem of his fellow citizens, many of whom have known him since he was a child. His birth occurred in Stockton on January 16, 1890, and he is a son of William B. Nutter. To the public schools of his native city Bronson S. Nutter is indebted for the early educational privileges which he received. Completing the grade work he entered the Stockton high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1910; he then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco and was graduated with the class of 1914 with the degree of D.D.S. Immediately after his graduation he opened offices in Stockton, where he has continuously practiced.

The marriage of Dr. Nutter, which occurred in Stockton, united him with Miss Geraldine Confer, a descendant of a pioneer family of San Joaquin County. Dr. Nutter entered the dental section of the Medical Corps during the World War and his service was at the Letterman General Hospital at the Presidio, San Francisco. Dr. Nutter is very popular in fraternal circles, being identified with the B.P.O. Elks, No. 218; the Delta Blue Lodge; the Sciots, and Karl Ross Post American Legion, and Islam Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S. of San Francisco.

An efficient public official of San Joaquin County, Harvey M. Odell, the present public administrator, is a descendant of one of the oldest and most prominent pioneer families in the county, his maternal grandfather, Capt. William S. Moss, a native of Illinois and California pioneer being represented elsewhere in this work.

Harvey M. Odell was born November 24, 1883, at Lathrop, San Joaquin County, the son of Dr. Thomas H. and Mary B. (Moss) Odell. The father, who was a physician, was a native of Alabama and came to Stockton in 1880, and here he practiced his profession until his death in 1887. Mrs. Odell, who was born at Peoria, Ill., came across the plains with her father, Captain William S. Moss. She is still living and makes her home at Stockton. Harvey M. Odell attended the public schools of Stockton and Heald's Business College, and went in for grain farming and stock raising on a large scale and is at present farming between five and six hundred acres. He is also engaged in buying and selling real estate.

Mr. Odell was married at Stockton on December 4, 1907, to Miss Susan S. Southwell, a native of Colorado, and they have a son, Clayton H. A Republican in politics Mr. Odell has always taken an active interest in political affairs and in 1918 was elected to the post of public administrator.

In the Oard Radio Laboratories, Stockton possesses an industry that is decidedly out of the ordinary. Located in a handsome plant at South and Aurora streets, this concern, specializing in the manufacture of radio apparatus of a very high quality, distributes its product across the entire United States.

Paul Oard, the founder of this concern, one of the pioneer radio men of the industry, and an inventor whose devices have contributed materially toward the progress of the radio art, was born in Salem, Ore., October 28, 1894, the son of Sherman and Edith (Pelton) Oard. In a sudden and distressing accident three years later, the father met death while with the Northern Pacific Lumber Company of Portland, leaving Mrs. Oard the breadwinner of the little family. In later years, Mrs. Oard, visiting friends in California, met and married H.R. McCoy of Stockton, now a retired Delta farmer.

Mr. Oard while still in Stockton high school, became fascinated with the possibilities of the radio art, which at this time, 1911, was emerging from the experimental stage into its present commercialized form. In 1912, passing the Government radio examination with flying colors, he entered the services of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company as a ship operator, and while with this concern for the following two years visited the major part of the globe.

In 1914, barely out of his teens, Mr. Oard resigned from the Marconi Company, and returning to Stockton, opened his first place of business. Shortly afterwards he put his first radio patent through the Patent Office. The business prospered in a modest way until the United States entered the World War, and all privately owned radio stations were closed by Government order. In view of Mr. Oard's thorough knowledge of the radio art he was appointed radio instructor by the Government and by the state of California for Stockton high school, and in this capacity took active part in the training of operators for the Government service. As a result of his untiring services, Stockton furnished a larger proportionate number of radio operators than any other city in the state of California.

With the close of hostilities and the resumption of radio activity Mr. Oard plunged actively into the manufacture of radio apparatus again. It was at this time that the Oard Radio Laboratories came into existence, with Mr. Oard's stepfather, H.R. McCoy, as the silent partner. Shortly after the organizing of the concern, possession was gained of what is now conceded to be one of the most valuable of wireless patent licenses, the famous Armstrong Regenerative circuit, which gave the Oard Radio Laboratories a commanding position in the radio world.

In 1921, George A. Turner, prominent capitalist of Stockton, and also an inventor, became interested in Mr. Oard's work, and incorporated the Portable Wireless Telephone Company for the express purpose of acting as distributors of the Oard radio apparatus. Under his able and capable direction a strong organization was launched which in a short while was distributing through the medium of several hundreds of dealers across the United States. Prominent among the radio devices is the now famous Phantom Radio Receptor, one of Mr. Oard's inventions which possesses the property of being able to receive radio messages over distances of several thousands of miles without the use of outside aerial wires or connections.

Although the bulk of business done comes from east of the Rocky Mountains, and although several flattering offers have been received relative to establishing the manufacturing plant on the Atlantic Seaboard, Mr. Oard prefers to keep the industry in Stockton. At this writing, the books of the company show that over one thousand dealers and jobbers are handling the Oard products, the concern not handling any retail trade. A national advertising policy is also followed.

The marriage of Mr. Oard united him with Miss Lucial Garrow, a daughter of Alexander Garrow, whose life history is to be found in these pages. Mr. and Mrs. Oard are the parents of one daughter, Ruth Lucial. In politics, Mr. Oard is a Republican and is a member of Truth Lodge, I.O.O.F., of Stockton.

A representative California rancher, Nicolaus Obad resides on his fine farming estate of twenty-six acres in the Banta district of San Joaquin County, fifteen miles southwest of Stockton on the Lincoln highway. He is progressive, enterprising and thoroughly systematic in his farming activities, and for the success he has won through his own hard labor and conscientious industry he quite deserves the respect and esteem which his fellow-citizens accord him. He was born near Dubovinich, Dalmatia, August 29, 1883, a son of Peter and Mary Obad, who were both natives of the same province in Dalmatia. Paul Obad, a brother of our subject came to California and the San Joaquin Valley in 1887, but has since returned to his native country and there passed away in May, 1910. He had become an American citizens before he returned to Dalmatia. Both parents are living in Dalmatia and are prosperous olive and grain farmers of that country.

Nicolaus Obad received a good grammar school education in the schools of his native province and was reared on his father's farm until he was nineteen years old, when he decided to try his fortune in a new country. He embarked at Havre, France, and fourteen days later arrived in New York. Of a party of ten young men who came to California, Mr. Obad is the only one residing in this county. Being a practical farmer, he soon obtained employment on a ranch, and in 1908 he purchased his present ranch of twenty-six acres, which is devoted to the raising of fruit and alfalfa, and he also conducts a dairy. Recently he erected a fine residence on his ranch where he resides with his family.

The marriage of Mr. Obad occurred on March 22, 1910, and united him with Miss Ellen Durango, and they are the parents of two children, Peter and Mary. In 1907 Mr. Obad received his U.S. citizenship papers and he has never failed to cast his vote for Republican candidates. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias of Tracy. Coming to America when nineteen years of age, he has never regretted the step then taken, for he has worked his way upward, winning success and gaining for himself the confidence and good will of his associates.

Occupying a position of distinction as a representative of the dental profession in Stockton, Dr. Jerry O'Brien's capability is evidenced by the large patronage which is accorded him. His equipment for the profession was unusually good and this he has continually extended through keeping in touch with the marked advancement that has been made in this profession in the last quarter of a century. One of California's native sons, Dr. O'Brien was born at Colusa, on July 6, 1874, a son of Dennis and Mary E. (Spillane) O'Brien, both natives of Ireland. The mother and father were married in New York City and came to California via Panama in the early '50s, being carried across the Isthmus on the backs of natives. The father was a shoemaker by trade, and upon arrival in San Francisco opened a shop on Market street where the Palace Hotel now stands; later he removed to Colusa and the Gold Hill mine, but finally returned to Colusa, where the family resided for a time; then removed to Modoc County. There were nine children in the family and both parents are deceased; the father, who passed away in Alturas in 1921 at the age of ninety-two years, had been an Odd Fellow for many years. The mother passed away in 1887.

Jerry attended the grammar school in Colusa until he was ten years old, then when his family removed to Modoc County he attended school at Alturas. Being one of a large family of children, he was obliged to look out for himself after finishing the grammar grades, so he learned the printer's trade on the Alturas New Era, and then went to Marysville and there continued on the Appeal and later the Democrat; later he worked in the state printing office at Sacramento. Then, with his brother, W.S. O'Brien, he purchased the Sutter Independent, a weekly newspaper at Yuba City, and together they ran same for three years, when he removed to Stockton and entered the Stockton Business College, from which he graduated in 1898. He then returned to Sacramento and again worked in the state printing office; then he went to Marysville, where he became cashier for the general merchandise store of Weinlander & Hexter. In 1900 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at San Francisco, studying dentistry and medicine, this course covering a period of two years, when he entered the University of California, from which he was graduated in 1903 with the degree of D.D.S. For the next ten years he practiced his profession in Central America, principally in Guatemala City, and while there he was graduated from the College of Medicine and Pharmacy with the degree of C.D. and is a member of the faculty of the above college. On returning to California in 1916, he began practice in Stockton and also took charge of the dental clinic at the Emergency Hospital. In 1918 he volunteered his services to the dental department of the American Red Cross and was commissioned a first lieutenant and sent to Siberia, where he was in charge of the dental department of the Red Cross Hospital at Omsk, an institution with 1,100 beds, and while there he was commissioned a captain. Later he was transferred to Tomsk, where he was in charge of the refugee department, distributing supplies. After sixteen months in Siberia he returned home on the transport Thomas via Manila to San Francisco. He opened new offices in the Elks building at Stockton, resuming his practice, and was again in charge of the dental clinic a year. Later, however, he resigned to devote all of his time to his practice.

Dr. O'Brien was married in Guatemala City to Miss Mary Esther Penzotti, a native of Chile, who was educated at the Newton, Mass., high school and Boston Conservatory of Music. They have two children: Francis Joseph, born in Marysville, Cal.; Mary Esther, born in Guatemala. Dr. O'Brien was the founder of the Beta Delta Chapter of the Psi Omega Dental Fraternity at the University of California. They own their own fraternity house near the Affiliated Colleges in San Francisco, and he was first grand master. He is president of the Central California District Dental Society and is also a member of the American and State Dental Associations. He is a member of the Stockton Advertising Club. He is a member of Delta Lodge No. 47, F. & A.M., and also all the Scottish Rite bodies in Stockton as well as the Sciots, and with his wife is a member of the O.E.S. He is also a member of Stockton Parlor No. 7, N.S.G.W., Stockton Lodge 218, B.P.O.E., and the Loyal Order of Moose, and is an honorary member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and was one of the founders of the Siberian Veterans' Association.

Numbered among the successful almond growers of the county, M.J. O'Connell has a beautiful and valuable ten-acre orchard three miles northwest of Ripon, which has yielded large profits for a number of years. He is a native son, born at Stockton, November 3, 1876, the only surviving member of his immediate family; he is the son of John and Bridget (O'Neil) O'Connell, both natives of Ireland. John O'Connell left Ireland and came to the United States during the Civil War and was employed as a carpenter on the Union boats in the Boston harbor. While living there his brother William came from Ireland and joined him and in 1867 the two brothers came West and located in Stockton and the O'Connell home was maintained in Stockton until 1917. John O'Connell was killed in a street car accident in Stockton, July 3, 1896, and was survived by his widow and two children. In 1901 the mother passed away, and on July 3, 1902, the only sister of our subject died. M.J. O'Connell received a good education in the Stockton schools and when his school days were over he entered the harness shop of C. Rodder, where he learned the trade of harness-maker and conducted the shop for twenty years; then for five years, until 1917, he was employed by the city of Stockton; then he purchased his present home consisting of ten acres, which he has improved to an almond orchard.

The marriage of Mr. O'Connell united him with Miss Bertha Meyers, a native of Ohio, who came to California with her parents at the age of thirteen. Mr. and Mrs. O'Connell are the parents of two children: Floyd is a rancher, and Gertrude is a student in the Calla district school. Mr. O'Connell is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters and the Almond Growers Association. He is not only an advocate of irrigation but of material progress in general, and as a man of self-attainment wields important influence in his community.

“If you knew him well as a man you caught the full meaning of the truth that human nature is made in the image and likeness of God. If you knew him as a priest you caught the full meaning of the truth that ministers of God are anointed from on high with a touch of divinity itself. As a man and as a priest he was all that heaven and earth desire.” Such a man was Father William Bernard O'Connor, who for forty-three years served in the Master's vineyard, and forty of those years were spent in Stockton and San Joaquin County, laboring in an humble field and working in silence, making no noise, no pretentions. The governing spirit of his life can be summed up in one simple statement that he never had a selfish thought and that his work was never done.

William Bernard O'Connor was born in the parish of Ballyhea, Charleville, County Cork, Ireland, in October, 1841, the son of John and Mary (Rea) O'Connor, who were farmers and were able to give their children the advantage of having a private teacher in their own home. At an early age William B. was sent to Mount Mellory, a famous educational institution in Ireland, conducted by the Trappist Fathers. Here he finished his courses at the age of twenty-one, then felt called to the priesthood and soon made up his mind that God called him to labor in his vineyard. In 1863, he entered All Hallows College, where he read Philosophy and Theology and received his ecclesiastical training. On June 24, 1868, he was ordained and at once was assigned to the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

With twenty-one other priests young Father O'Connor left Ireland on the ship City of Boston for New York—this vessel, by the way, was lost with all on board on its next return trip from Ireland. After a voyage of eleven days the vessel landed in New York on August 17; here he spent a short time and then went to Earlville, Ill., whither his brothers and sisters had located upon their arrival in America a few years previous, and after spending a month visiting he continued his journey to San Francisco by way of Cape Horn. Immediately reporting to Archbishop Alemany, Father O'Connor was made assistant to Father Grey in St. Patrick's parish in San Francisco; later he was transferred to St. Joseph's Church in that city. So well did he discharge the duties imposed upon him that the young curate made a deep impression with the archbishop and he sent him to Stockton to take charge of St. Mary's parish, which included the outlying country and districts tributary to Stockton. He celebrated his first mass in Stockton on March 19, 1872, and from that day until he died he toiled unceasingly for his church, his people and humanity, whatever their creed. Entering upon his new labors with vigor and quiet determination he toiled unremittingly for the salvation of the souls of his people. He always found time to listen to their troubles and to counsel with them; often his disinterested judgment was sought by others than Catholics, upon matters pertaining to their business and family affairs. He gave advice and encouragement to all who came to him and locked forever in his breast the confidences thus reposed in him.

Father O'Connor soon began to plan improvements here, in fact he was always planning to better conditions and to carry forward the work of his Master. In 1875 he made application to establish a convent under the management of the Sisters of the Order of St. Dominic. Arrangements were made to conform to his request and with the generous assistance of Captain C.M. Weber, who furnished a site and financial aid, also aid from other sources, St. Agnes Academy was completed and dedicated on March 17, 1876. A few years later he built St. Joseph's School for the accomodation of the small children unable to attend the convent. The Sisters from the Academy were put in charge. The consummation of this wish only gave impetus to his next desire—the establishment of a parochial school for boys. Father O'Connor made arrangements to have the boys receive instructions from the Sisters and classes were formed in a frame building at the northwest corner of San Joaquin and Washington streets. Upon the recommendation of Cardinal Gibbons, Father O'Connor made up his mind that he would do everything possible to induce the Brothers of Mary, whose parent house is in Dayton, Ohio, to come to Stockton. His labors bore fruit and in August, 1884, they took charge of the school. This was the first advent of the Brothers of Mary in the West; now the Brothers are teaching in many cities in California.

Always looking ahead, Father O' Connor saw the necessity of having a larger plot of ground for their cemetery than the one block of ground already in use. Taking the matter to Captain Weber, he again showed his generosity by a free gift of land now embraced in the San Joaquin Cemetery to be consecrated as God's acre. In 1893, this tireless worker began making arrangements in and about the church. This task was completed on June 24, the twenty-fifth anniversary of his advent in Stockton and he was given a large reception on this, his silver jubilee, Father O'Connor was presented with a purse of $1,000 on condition that he use the money for himself. But he stated he accepted the gift without conditions, and later applied the entire amount to the church. Another building, which is the result of his endeavors is the modern parsonage, erected in keeping with the dignity of the parish and a comfortable home for the priests. It was furnished under his personal direction, and it was only several years later that some of his friends discovered that he had no rug and slept on an old bed-lounge. It was characteristic of the man, as there was no necessity for this. He was then in poor health and when it was suggested that he put away the old furnishings and have more modern equipment he replied, “There are many that have worse.” A little conspiracy was formed, and when the good man was out of the city for a day, a carpet was put down and a comfortable bed put in place of the old lounge. Upon his return he noted the changes, conformed to them, remarking in his kindly way, “Somebody has been pretty busy during my absence.”

The greatest achievement of Father O'Connor was the founding of St. Joseph's Home, which was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies on March 19, 1899. The good priest well knew that the saddest condition of human life is desolate old age without a home. He saw the need of such a home and conceived the plan for relief. The project seemed so visionary at the time that only the stoutest heart could work out its solution. It needed much money for building and equipment and what money he had was needed in the parish work. He told his plans to J.D. Peters, who immediately gave Father O'Connor $10,000. Miss Julia Weber and others also gave generously and the building was completed in good time. For the following fifteen years he saw old age ministered to as it had never been before and he lived to see the Home take a commanding position among the benevolent institutions of the state. It was here that he passed his last days, cared for by loving hands and enjoying the taste of peace and joy he had so wisely provided for others. The Home, with hospital annex, is provided with all conveniences and comforts and presided over by the Sisters of St. Dominic.

Father O'Connor was a consistent advocate of temperance and organized temperance societies among his people. From his early manhood until his death he never used intoxicating liquors. After a life filled with good deeds and unceasing toil that others might be benefited. Father O'Connor passed away on December 26, 1911. His physical strength was not equal to the task imposed upon it by his indomitable spirit and he retired to St. Joseph's Home, which name he had given the haven of refuge built under his personal supervision. He is sadly missed for he was everywhere that human need was. The sick, the sinning, the sorrowing, the struggling, the unfortunate, the dying—these were his daily schedule. Distress in any form could call him at any hour of the day or night, and he always brought a cheerful heart. He spent himself for others, he never looked for recognition, but screened his good works behind a modesty, real, inherent, simple and true. He was no ordinary man and was respected by men of all creeds.

In reviewing a life like that, which never knew a selfish thought, which abounded in heroism that sounded the last depths of unselfiish devotion, as was shown during the scourge of smallpox that once visited Stockton, we need not mind the circumstance that he achieved in an humble and restricted sphere when we venture to award him a place among the great; for we can say of him as was said of another, “Prime ministers and princes are private citizens beside a man like that.” But his work is done. He brought his life work to a full completion. He was a saint on earth. In commemoration of his life work a statue was erected and unveiled in the grounds of St. Joseph's Home and Hospital on June 7, 1914.

Thirty years ago William E. O'Connor became a permanent citizen and business man of Stockton. He is the proprietor of a wholesale cracker and candy business, an enterprise he directs with most gratifying results. He is the exclusive agent in northern San Joaquin Valley and southern Sacramento Valley for the products of the American Biscuit Company and the Pacific Coast Candy Company. He was born in the Wild Horse Valley, Solano County, Cal., November 19, 1868, a son of James and Mary (Bray) O'Connor. James O'Connor was an early pioneer of California. He mined at Indian Creek, Calaveras County, and as early as 1852 was in Stockton and shot ducks where the courthouse now stands. Later he settled in Wild Horse Valley, where he followed farming and stockraising. In 1883 he sold out and located near Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo County, and there followed farming until his death. Wild Horse Valley was famous in the early history of Solano County, and received its name from a band of wild horses that roamed the valley, led by a beautiful stallion so fleet of foot that he eluded capture for a long time. In a very early day a cavalcade of 100 horsemen formed in Wild Horse Valley, at the spot where Mr. O'Connor was born, for the purpose of lassoing this beautiful wild stallion. They formed a cordon across Wild Horse Valley and came down the ridge in a circle, thus closing in and driving the band of wild horses before them, down through Green Valley Falls to a point on the bay opposite what is now Mare Island. While they were attempting to lasso the stallion, a mare about fourteen years old raced wildly up and down, and finally plunged into the bay and swam across to the island, and she was for several years the only living thing known to be on the island; it was named “Mare Island” and is so chronicled in the original deed passing title to the first American owner.

William E. O'Connor attended the Harmony school and afterwards the Central public school in Napa until the family removed to San Luis Obispo County. He assisted his father in the ranch work on the home place near Pismo Beach, and later was employed in driving an eight-mule team between San Luis Obispo and Shandon over what was known as the Rocky Canyon road, over Cresto mountain and across the San Juan River to the southeastern part of the county, hauling grain, lumber, etc. In the harvest season he worked with threshing outfits and engaged in farming. In 1890, wishing to enlarge his knowledge, he attended Heald's Business College in San Francisco, where he was graduated in 1891. In January, 1892, he located in Stockton, where he worked for C.V. Thompson, a produce shipper, for two years; then he clerked in a general store and was agent for the Shasta mineral water in Stockton. In 1895 he became associated with E.E. Rowe as agent for the Shasta water and the American Biscuit Company. Two years later he bought his partner's interest, and has continued the business alone. He is now representing the American Biscuit Company and the Pacific Coast Candy Company, his territory extending from Galt on the north to Merced on the south.

The marriage of Mr. O'Connor united him with Mrs. Ellis Viola (Lyman) Brown, a native of Columbus, Ohio. In 1898 Mr. O'Connor was elected city assessor of Stockton on the Democratic ticket, serving two years. He has been a very active member of Stockton Parlor No. 7, N.S.G.W., is past president and has frequently been a delegate to the Grand Parlor. Mr. O'Connor was grand marshal of the Native Sons' parade at Stockton on Admission Day of 1912, said to be the most interesting and memorable parade of Native Sons ever held in California. He is past exalted ruler of Stockton Lodge No. 218, Elks, and was delegate from the local lodge to the grand lodge convention held in Boston in 1917, and is a member of the Woodmen of the World, and of the Stockton Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and the United Commercial Travelers. Mr. O'Connor has always been greatly interested in athletics, particularly horsemanship, in which he excels, and naturally has been frequently selected as marshal of parades and big days in Stockton. Politically, he is a Democrat, and has been a member of the county committee, as well as a delegate to county and state conventions. His life has been an active, useful and honorable one, and has been crowned by successful accomplishments.

An experienced contractor well known to Stockton and vicinity as an expert builder of bungalows, who made Stanislaus County the scene of his operations for a period of two years, but who returned to Lodi in the summer of 1921, is Wesley A. Morris. He was born near Independence, Jackson County, Mo., on February 14, 1855, the son of John Morrow Morris, a Kentuckian who hailed from Greenville and came into Missouri in early days. He farmed there, and also worked as a mechanic capable of building all kinds of wagons. He married Miss Lucinda Maze, and she died when our subject was four and one-half years old. Grandfather Jesse Morrow Morris and his wife, who was Polly Ann Johnson, were reared at Louisville, Ky., but came to Missouri in the early days. An uncle of Wesley Morris, William Maze, left Missouri and came to California some years before the Civil War. During the Civil War John M. Morris moved his family to Leavenworth County, Kansas, and in 1861 purchased a farm about seven miles to the southeast of Leavenworth; and shortly after that, he died there. He had married a second time and his wife, who survives him, makes her home at Independence, Missouri.

Wesley was sent to the rural district school near Independence, and when only fourteen years of age, he started to earn his own living, and left the home of his sister, Mary, the wife of John G. Smiley, a sergeant in the Civil War. He worked for wages on various farms until he was seventeen years old, and then he studied the mechanism of the Singer sewing machine, and became one of the company's adjusters at Kansas City, remaining there until in 1877, when he went to Independence and was in the employ of G.M. Nichol & Bro., until 1880, when he came out to California.

He intended to continue in the employ of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, but after thirty days with the Stockton agency, he took up carpentering and building with D.M. Chapell, and did so well in the new field that he was very active in Stockton as a carpenter until 1897. Then he went back to the vicinity of his birthplace, and after spending a year in the Middle West, in 1898 he returned to Stockton, but soon went to Lodi, and there worked as a contractor until 1909, when he went to Florida. At Orlando and Jacksonville he again followed building, but in 1919 returned to California. He stayed a short time at Lodi, and then, in June, 1919, moved to Modesto, where he once more took up contracting and building.

Mr. Morris has been twice married. At Kansas City on April 22, 1877, he was united to Miss Josephine E. Pierce, a native of Jackson County, Mo., and the daughter of John and Mary A. Pierce. Her parents came from Knoxville, Tenn., and were early settlers and farmers in Missouri. Again, at Orlando, Fla., on March 13, 1911, Mr. Morris chose a wife, the lady being Mrs. Mary (Temperence) Houston, a daughter of an Alabama planter. She died on January 30, 1916, near Orlando, Fla. Of Mr. Morris' three children, two are still living. Orie Bliss was well known at Lodi up to 1918 as a poultryman, but he is at present engaged in real estate transactions in Los Angeles. He married Miss Irene Genevieve Woods and they have four children, Mary Effie, the second child born, has become Mrs. Harry Lansing Boswell of Los Angeles; Mabel Gertrude died at the age of eleven months. Mr. Morris's grandchildren are Gladys Genevieve, Eunice Erma, Nadine Naomi, and Raymond Russell, the offspring of Mr. and Mrs. Orie Bliss Morris; and Harry Lansing, Jr., the child of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lansing Boswell. A great-grandchild is Erma Stella Pearson, the daughter of Roosevelt R. and Gladys Genevieve (Morris) Pearson. Mr. Morris is a member of the Seventh Day Adventists, having been a member of that congregation since 1897. In politics he is strictly non-partisan, voting for the best men and measures regardless of party affiliation.

Among the more recent agriculturists of the Lodi section of San Joaquin County is William Mortenson, who permanently settled in that portion of the county in 1912 and there purchased twelve acres, which is devoted to the cultivation of grapes and berries. A native of Wisconsin, he was born in Racine County on August 1, 1865, a son of James and Karen (Olsen) Mortenson, both parents natives of Denmark, and they were the parents of twelve children: Mary, Hans, Anna and William, Julius, Ella, Lena, John, Charles, Tilly, Henry and Ferdinand. When William was four years old his parents removed to Minnesota, forty miles west of Mankato, and here the father bought a quarter-section of land on the Sioux Indian reservation. He passed away at the age of eighty-four and the mother at the age of seventy-six.

William Mortenson remained at home with the family until he was of age, then took up the carpenter's trade. Later he went to Mount Angel, Ore., where he established a sawmill which had a capacity of 10,000 feet of lumber per day. He conducted this mill from 1889 until 1912, when he sold out and came to Lodi where he purchased his present twelve-acre ranch, about one mile south of Lodi on South Stockton Street. Six acres of this ranch is in vineyard and the balance is devoted to the growing of the Cory thornless blackberry; Mr. Mortenson has also built a fine residence on this ranch as well as fine farm buildings.

The marriage of Mr. Mortenson occurred at Oregon City, Ore., on February 19, 1894, and united him with Miss Margaret Jensen, a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, a daughter of Lars P. and Mary Jensen. Her father came to the United States when she was two years old, and settled in Freeborn County, Minn., and there the daughter received her education in the public schools. There were five children in the family: George, Mrs. Margaret Mortenson, Hazel, Emma, and James. Mr. and Mrs. Mortenson are the parents of three children: Alberta, the wife of James R. Voris, of Los Angeles, and the mother of three sons; Raymond and Florence. The family are members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Lodi.

Liberal and kindly, a woman who is much interested in charitable and civic organizations is Mrs. Kittie L. Munford, who is a native daughter of the Golden West, born in Stockton. She was in maidenhood Kittie Crofton, a daughter of John and Margaret Crofton, who were born in Ireland and came to Cincinnati, Ohio, in their youth and there they were reared and educated. In the fall of 1852 Mr. Crofton came to California, crossing the plains with ox-team and wagon. His wife joined him eighteen months later, coming via the Isthmus of Panama. Mr. Crofton and family were pioneer settlers in Stockton and Mr. Crofton took an active part in the affairs of the growing city. He served as constable of the city and was an able conscientious and efficient officer; he died in 1873, aged forty-six years. He was a member of Charity Lodge of Odd Fellows. His widow survived him until 1881.

This worthy pioneer couple had six children, as follows: Mrs. Elizabeth R. Lillis of San Francisco; Margaret, Mrs. McDougald passed away in Oakland; Mrs. Kittie Munford, the subject of this review; Ella C., Mrs. Harrell, died in Palo Alto; John died in San Francisco; Mrs. Laura Stanford resides in San Jose. Kittie Crofton attended Dr. Hunt's Seminary for several years, then the public schools until she graduated.

She was first married to Brooke C. Crawford, who was a successful merchant of the firm of Rosenbaum and Crawford and passed away March 22, 1895. Her second marriage in 1900 united her with Philip Barry Fraser. He was a prominent banker and influential man of affairs in Stockton until his death in 1910. In July, 1919, she married Edward S. Munford of Washington, D.C., now living retired in Stockton.

Mrs. Munford has always taken an active part in civic and social circles in Stockton. She is a member of the Philomathean Club and is one of the seven women who organized it. She was very prominent in the founding of the Stockton Day Nursery, being one of three women who started it, October 1, 1918, being president of its board of directors, and her efforts of those early days stand out prominently in the history of the organization.

For the past nineteen years Charles Metzler has made his home in San Joaquin County on his fine orchard and farm one and one half miles north of Linden. All of the improvements on his ranch have been made by Mr. Metzler, and it is now one of the most desirable and profitable orchards in the valley. Forty acres are devoted to peaches, six acres to almonds and twenty acres to French prunes, the balance of the ranch being devoted to diversified crops. He was born near Mergentheim, Wurtemberg, Germany, June 28, 1849, a son of Martin and Catherine (Ohm) Metzler, both natives of that country. His mother passed away the same year he was born and later his father was married to Miss Mary Beckstein, who proved a kind stepmother to the motherless boy. His father passed away in 1856.

From his earliest recollections, Charles Metzler had a desire to locate in America. He received a good education in the excellent schools of his native land and in August, 1872 he arrived in New York City, where he worked for three years in a tannery for nine dollars per week; however, he saved enough money in three years to pay his way to California, arriving in San Francisco in the fall of 1875. He first located at Redwood City, where he conducted a bakery, but later suffered the loss of his property by fire; he then removed to San Jose, where he engaged in farming near Los Gatos for five years. During this time his first wife, Anna C. (Meyers) Metzler passed away, leaving three children: Carl of Arroyo Grande; Fred of Paso Robles, and Mrs. Annie Wilson of San Leandro. He was married the second time in San Francisco, December 6, 1884, to Miss Helena Martens. She was born in Oldenburg, Germany, a daughter of John J. and Helena C. (Von Aschwege) Martens, and the mother and the daughters came to California in 1882. John J. Martens, who was an expert miller, died in 1868, survived by his wife who passed away in Linden, December 24, 1906, mourned by three sons and three daughters.

Mr. and Mrs. Metzler are the parents of five children: Emma, the wife of Adolph Dauth, has three children and they reside in San Francisco; Henry W. represented in this history; Elise married George D. Gill, they have three sons and reside in Bellota; Helena, the wife of John S. Platt, has two children and they reside in Linden; Albert is a rancher. Mr. Metzler completed his U.S. citizenship in 1882 at San Jose. From 1885 to 1903 he was occupied in general farming in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties and while residing there was a school trustee for the Monterey and Jolon districts, serving for three terms. Mrs. Metzler's sister, Mrs. Frank L. Meier, came to the Linden section in 1876, where Mr. Meier has become a prominent prune grower and is an authority on horticulture in this district. Mrs. Metzler is a stanch member of the Methodist Church in Linden, and the family enjoy the respect and esteem of many friends in San Joaquin County.

One of the most successful grape growers in Central California, William G. Micke is a native of Missouri, where he was born on April 25, 1874, and reared on a farm until he was twenty-one years of age. In 1895 he removed to Nebraska where he engaged in farming for two years; then he came to California, settling at Florin, Sacramento County, with a capital of three dollars, but plenty of grit and determination. He worked as a ranch hand for a year, then rented the place and ran it for four years, and here he received his first knowledge of grape culture. In 1902 he removed to Lodi and one year was occupied by ranch work and in 1903, in partnership with John Merrill, he purchased the old race track ranch on Cherokee Lane and Lodi Avenue consisting of fifty-six acres, planting his half to Tokay grapes, while Mr. Merrill planted his to peaches. While his vines were growing he bought small crops of fruit and grapes and shipped them through the local packing house. In 1908 he purchased the interest of Mr. Merrill and erected a packing and shipping shed; in 1918 he bought twenty-five acres more adjoining on the south and in 1919 twenty-four acres adjoining on the north, making a total of 105 acres. He ships his products under the “Race Track Brand,” which has become a very popular brand in the eastern markets; he also buys Tokays in the open market, and in 1920 shipped 100 carloads from his packing house, receiving $1,000 per acre for his grapes. Recently Mr. Micke purchased the Simpson grain ranch two and a half miles south of Lodi, consisting of 465 acres, 400 acres of which is now planted to grapes; the purchase price of the property was $140,000.

The marriage of Mr. Micke united him with Miss Julia Harrison, a daughter of Bruce Harrison, one of the early mayors of Stockton. It is not an usual thing for a man arriving in a new county with such limited capital to make such a pronounced financial success as has Mr. Micke, but his financial independence is not his only success, for he has been able, by his thorough and expert knowledge of viticulture, to lead many growers to a fuller understanding of grape culture, thereby becoming a most potent factor in the development of the Lodi section.

During his lifetime numbered among the leading business men and manufacturers of Central California, the career of William Payson Miller records an instance of a rise from the bottom of the ladder to a place of prestige and prosperity, due alone to his indomitable perseverance and integrity. A native of Maine, Mr. Miller was born at Windsor, October 8, 1825, his parents being Thomas and Jane (Pratt) Miller, born at Little Cambridge and Vassalboro, Maine, respectively. His maternal great-grandfather, John Taber, was said to be the first banker of Portland, Maine; Mrs. Jane (Pratt) Miller's parents were Nathan and Mary (Taber) Pratt, the former born at Little Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the latter at Vassalboro, Maine.

When William P. Miller was three years old his parents removed to Vassalboro and later to Palmyra, then to Augusta. William attended school only during the winter terms, working out in summer on the neighboring farms, for there were six children in the family to support and all that could had to lend a helping hand. When he was sixteen years old he went to work for an uncle, Thomas Partridge, learning to make wheels and the woodwork for farm wagons, and later he engaged in business for himself at North Vassalboro, running his shop for about two years. There, in 1847, he was married to Miss Phoebe Roberts, who died September 17, 1849, leaving a son Edward, who came to California when he was twenty-one and made his home in Stockton for many years. The following year Mr. Miller decided to come to California, and leaving New York on the old ship Clarendon in the fall of 1850 he spent 196 days on the trip, reaching San Francisco April 6, 1851. Unable to find work in his trade of wheelwright, he finally secured a place as a carpenter on a little church being erected, his wages to be paid when the job was completed. Many were the hardships of those days and for some time his only food was a loaf of bread and water, for which he paid ten cents a pail. Through a chance meeting with John R. Corey, a carriage maker for whom he had once worked in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Mr. Miller later came to Stockton and secured employment at the wagon shop of J.W. Smith of Channel Street, at seven dollars a day. In the spring of 1852 he established a woodworking shop of his own, and working in conjunction with two blacksmiths from New Bedford, Massachusetts, named Skiff and Tucker, he began turning out wagons, one of the first being a freight wagon which was sold to Sam Foreman for $900. During the first summer the shop had no doors nor a floor; a few boards were laid overhead and there he slept. However, this humble beginning was the foundation of the splendid carriage building establishment which he built up at Stockton, a model factory at that time, with a reputation for superior workmanship second to none on the Pacific Coast.

In June, 1855, he was married to Miss Pamelia Tilton, a native of Easton, N.Y., who came to California in 1853. They adopted a daughter, Millie Louisa Franklin, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Miller passed away August 17, 1891, and on November 10, 1892, Mr. Miller was married to Mrs. N. Jane Neill, whose death occurred November 20, 1894, Mr. Miller surviving her until May 8, 1897, his passing away removing from the ranks of Stockton's early settlers one of her most honored and trusted citizens, whose life was one of the highest integrity. A firm supporter of the Republican party from its earliest days, he was an abolitionist by principle and took an active interest in all movements for the putting away of slavery. He was a friend of temperance and liberally donated funds for temperance work, never using either liquor or tobacco in his entire life, and after the organization of the Prohibition party he became an active worker in its councils. He was a member of Weber Engine Company No. 1 and took an active part as an exempt fireman in later years. In 1854 he was a member of the city council. He was a director of the Stockton Savings & Loan Bank for many years.

Since coming here in 1914, Charles H. Miller has done his full share in the upbuilding of Stockton in his high-grade work as a brick contractor, thereby contributing to the permanency of the city's development. Mr. Miller is a native or North Carolina, born in Davidson County, April 14, 1883. He learned the trade of brickmason in his home neighborhood and followed it in his native state, then in Tennessee and Missouri. In 1913 he came to Los Angeles, Cal., and for a year was with the F.O. Eckstrom Company, contractors, coming to Stockton in the fall of 1914, where he entered the employ of Cowell & Son, brick contractors. While with them he worked on the brick work of many of the large buildings of Stockton, including the Belding Building, the new Weber school, the Lincoln school and many others.

In 1917 Mr. Miller started in business for himself as a brick contractor and among the buildings on which he has done the brick work are the following: Elmwood school, Greenwood school, Everett school, Georges Building, Hobbs-Parsons Building, Deneen Block, French Laundry Building, Davis Iron Works, Superior Manufacturing Company's Building at Lodi; ten tile houses in Modesto, the Noble Block on North Hunter Street, Stockton, Parisian Cleaning and Dyeing plant, Black Package Company Block on East Weber, C.G. Call Block, Clay Street Methodist Church, Armanino apartment house, an addition to the Smith Building in Tracy, Pennant Cleaners on South El Dorado, and a cottage for Gardella on Sierra Nevada. In Sonora he did the brick work on a store building and apartment house, and he has made a specialty of artistic mantels and fireplaces, installing them in many of the fine homes of Stockton, his work being of the highest order.

Mr. Miller was married on October 12, 1905, at Lexington, N.C., to Miss Ellen E. Yarbrough, also a native of North Carolina, and they are the parents of four children: Hubert D., Viola Veigh, W. Franklin and Charles H., Jr. In fraternal life Mr. Miller is a Modern Woodman and since settling in Stockton he has taken an active interest in all movements for the city's improvement.

A successful land owner and substantial horticulturist, in the enjoyment of a handsome competence, David Wiley Miller has resided in San Joaquin County for the past twenty-seven years and enjoys the esteem of all who know him. His valuable ranch of 130 acres, known as the “Calaveras River Orchards,” is located two miles north of Linden on the old Waterloo road, fifteen miles east of Stockton. When Mr. Miller located in the county in 1896 there were no commercial orchards in the Linden section. Now there are over 3,000 acres devoted to the raising of Walnuts, almonds, peaches, plums, prunes, and apricots. In 1904 Mr. Miller began to raise English walnuts, and each year more acreage is being planted with these trees. Two and a half miles from Mr. Miller's ranch a walnut orchard of 540 acres is being developed.

David Wiley Miller was born in Northampton, Mass., December 14, 1850, the youngest child of David and Martha (Graves) Miller, both natives of Massachusetts. David Wiley received a good education in the schools of his native state, and at twenty-five years of age left home for California, traveling via Panama. He worked on the construction of the road to Mount Hamilton; then entered the employ of the San Jose Argus, a daily published in that city, where he remained for a short time; and then went into the office of the San Jose Herald as business manager, which occupied him for the next seven years. Indoor employment proved detrimental to his health, and consequently he resigned his position with the Herald and became a deputy county assessor under L.A. Spitzer, where he remained for fourteen years. This position afforded Mr. Miller a splendid opportunity to become conversant with horticulture in the Santa Clara Valley. He purchased five acres near Cupertino, which he developed to orchard and later sold to good advantage. He then reinvested in San Jose and Saratoga property, each time selling at a good profit. When he located in San Joaquin County, in 1896, he purchased the old Cogswell place of 175 acres, in partnership with Joseph H. Hunt, of Hunt Bros., canners. He cleared the land of the heavy timber and set out an orchard, and as the years went by he set more and more acres to fruit. Mr. Miller sold his interest in this ranch to the Hunt brothers in 1910, when he located on his present home place, which he had purchased and improved. This is the pioneer orchard in the Linden section, named “Calaveras River Orchard.” He also owns 400 acres of land north of Linden.

Mr. Miller's marriage occurred in San Jose in 1892, when he was married to Miss Jennie G. Pound, a native of Iowa. She and her mother, Frances (Bates) Pound, were prominent educators in San Jose, where they conducted Mrs. Pound's Private School on William Street for many years. Mrs. Miller is a graduate of San Jose State Normal, class of 1887. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller. Raymond W. is a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School, and saw service during the World War; he is married and has one daughter, Ruth Genevieve. He has an eighty-acre orchard at Linden. Margaret Frances, also a graduate of San Jose Normal, is a teacher at Linden; and David William is a student in Linden Union High School.

Three years ago a local group of men met and organized a Linden Walnut Growers' Association, now affiliated with the California Walnut Growers' Association, Mr. Miller serving as vice-president of the local organization. Mr. Miller was a prime mover in securing electricity and telephone service for Linden, and is a director in the local telephone company. He has been active in the good-roads movement, a director of the Farm Bureau, president of the Linden High School, and president of the building committee for the new church at Linden. Mr. Miller was elected a member of the assembly of the State Legislature for the 19th district in 1918. In the session of 1919 he stood for the enforcement of the 18th Amendment, and was a member of the committee on education, public morals, and constitutional amendments. Mrs. Miller is a member of the W.C.T.U. and the Linden Methodist Episcopal Church, and is prominent in social and civic affairs. Mr. Miller is an active Rotarian, a member of the Rotary Club, Stockton. In politics he is a Democrat.

Early in the year 1898 Edmund Miller, a native of Ogle County, Illinois, came to Stockton to visit his brother, S.M.D. Miller, a machinist employed in local shops for a number of years. He worked in a machine shop for two years in Stockton, then was recommended to Mrs. J.R. Cory by an intimate friend in whose home he roomed, as being trustworthy and familiar with farm work and in 1900 was employed on the Cory farm. Shortly before Mrs. Cory's death she requested that he remain on the place and assist her daughter and he has since continued in the management of the property.

As he was accustomed to stock raising, after a time it was arranged that Miss Cory and himself would increase the stock and operate the farm on shares. They then engaged in dairying for several years, in the meantime purchasing a number of black Percheron mares. From these Mr. Miller raised many fine colts, some of which were sold at good prices. Among them were several excellent stallions, and he was largely instrumental in improving the quality of the work stock in this vicinity. Mr. Miller exhibited at the State Fair at Sacramento two years, winning each time on all of his entries either first or second prizes. He also had driving stock, among them a stallion that he bought as a small colt, which was both speedy and handsome, winning the first prize at the State Fair. He was called Stam Boy, being a son of Stam B. and grandson of old Stamboul and on his dam's side a great-grandson of Electioneer. The horse business becoming dull and the care made difficult on account of floods Mr. Miller finally disposed of the pure-bred stock. Owing to the numerous overflows from the diverting canal the land is now unsuitable for purposes to which he would otherwise devote it and the management of the property is beset with great difficulties at the present time.

How much a young man may accomplish of what is worth while, if only he directs his energies and expends his time in the proper way, is admirably illustrated in the case of Frank Lee Miller, a viticulturist of Youngstown, San Joaquin County, Cal. He was born in Tulare County, Cal., near Porterville, on October 7, 1893, the son of R.B. and Della Mae (Groves) Miller. The father, who was born in Tennessee, passed away when Frank Miller was a small lad.

Frank Lee Miller began his education in the public schools of Porterville, and when his mother located in Woodbridge, San Joaquin County, he attended the Lodi schools and then finished his education with a commercial course at Heald's Business College, at Stockton. His mother, who was born at Farmington, San Joaquin County, Cal., still lives at Woodbridge and owns forty-eight acres of old vines.

The marriage of Mr. Miller occurred in Stockton on January 26, 1917, and united him with Miss Edith Hester Buck, a daughter of Charles Buck, whose biography appears in this work. She received her education in the Houston school. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of one daughter, Edith. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Miller purchased a thirty-five acre vineyard in the vicinity of Youngstown, thirty acres of which is in Tokay, and the balance in Zinfandel and Burgess grapes. Mr. Miller has improved his property with a fine irrigating system, having piped the water to every part of the vineyard. Besides looking after his vineyard and matters pertaining to it, he is an independent fruit buyer, selling through the Pacific Fruit Exchange and the Woodbridge Fruit Company; and his efforts in obtaining good prices for the producer are appreciated by the farmers of the locality.

John M. Miller was born in the province of Würtemberg, Germany, near Tūbingen, on June 13, 1861, a son of John and Judith (Foell) Miller. His father, John Miller, was an expert locksmith who lived and died in his native country of Germany. The mother also died there. Of their fourteen children John M. was the seventh. He received a good education in the schools of Germany, and when he was fourteen years old learned the baker's trade in the town of Moessingen. He followed his trade for two years in his home city. In February, 1879, he came to Hoboken, N.J., but soon made his way to Albany, N.Y., where he was employed at the butcher trade until 1881, when he came to California. He was employed on the Dos Palos ranch of Miller & Lux, beginning as a general farm laborer; later, for nearly ten years, he was a sub-foreman on the large ranch. He then went to San Francisco for a short time, and then to Madera, Madera County, Cal., where he bought and conducted a bakery business. At the end of one year he disposed of his business and went to Brazil, South America, in 1893, where he spent the next two years. In 1896 he returned to California and leased a ranch near Bellota, engaging in dairying and farming. In 1904 he purchased his ranch of eighty-seven acres, four and one-half miles east of Lodi, which he improved in part to vineyard and orchard. In April, 1922, he sold the ranch and located in Lodi, where he resides with his family. He also owns a ten-acre vineyard near Woodbridge which he cares for and operates.

On June 15, 1898, at The Dalles, Oregon, Mr. Miller was married to Miss Emma Mack, also a native of Germany, born near Heilbronn, Würtemberg, a daughter of Theodore and Lena (Klooz) Mack. Her father, Theodore Mack, died when she was a small girl, and her mother married again, and Mrs. Miller was reared by her grandparents. She came to America and to The Dalles, Ore., when she was sixteen years old, and lived there for seven years, or until she was married. There were five children in her family, of whom she is the oldest, the others being Anna, Josephine, Bertha and Otto. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of three children. Lena is a graduate nurse from St. Joseph's Hospital at Stockton; Grace, a graduate of Heald's Business College, is a stenographer and resides in Stockton; Otto is at home. Since their marriage they have resided continuously in San Joaquin County. Improvements made by Mr. Miller include a fine irrigating system, pumping the water from a small lake on his ranch to irrigate his vineyard. As soon as possible, after arriving in California, Mr. Miller took out his citizenship papers in Fresno County, and his loyalty as an American citizen has never been questioned. In national politics he is a Republican. He was trustee of Victor School District, and with his wife is a member of St. Peter's German Lutheran Church in Lodi.

Among the real builders of a community are those who erect substantial and permanent buildings and one who has won for himself a prominent place in the city of Lodi is Newlen J. Miller, who has operated in many parts of the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He was born in Christian County, Mo., on August 15, 1873, a son of a farmer, and his life was spent on the home farm until he was twenty-one years of age. His schooling was somewhat meager, but when the opportunity came to learn mining engineering under his uncle, George W. Miller, the famous mining engineer of Denver, Colo., he grasped the opportunity and joined his uncle in Cripple Creek, Colo., where he remained for two years. His uncle is one of the best known and foremost mining engineers of the country; in 1910 he wrote and published a book on the subject of mining and our subject drew the plans for the maps illustrating the work.

Mr. Miller later became the mining engineer for the Amdson Zinc Manufacturing Company of Joplin, Mo.; he also erected mills at the mines and made a thorough study of zinc mining and became an expert on the subject. He then removed to Denver, Colo., and engaged in brick contracting and erected many of the finest business blocks in the city; he also built several buildings in Colorado Springs; he then removed to San Francisco in 1904 and took up the plasterer's trade and at the time of the great earthquake and fire in 1906 was most active in the rebuilding of the city, constructing many business blocks and fine residences around the Bay. The following year, 1907, we find him in Reno, Nev., where he remained for a time working at his trade; then to Fresno, Cal., for a time; he then engaged in magnesite mining at Ingomar during the years of 1916 and 1917, after which, for a short time, he engaged in placer mining at Mokelumne Hill in Placer County. During the month of January, 1919, he settled in Lodi where he has followed contracting in brick and plastering; among the outstanding contracts being the brick block for Mr. Guggolz, the tile residence for Dan W. Bird, the V. Kyle residence at Thornton, Dr. Bollinger's residence at Lodi, the Ed Spiekerman residence, the Strange residence on his ranch, the German Baptist Church, an addition to the Lafayette school building; he also plastered a $250,000 school building in San Jose and a number of churches, the Sanguinetti Hotel, the Women's Club Building, the Ferdun residence and many others in Lodi.

The marriage of Mr. Miller united him with Miss Mertice Thrasher, a native of Massachusetts, a direct descendant on her father's side of Gov. Bradford of Massachusetts, while on the mother's side she is descended from Lady Huntington of England. She is a graduate of Smith College at Northhampton, Mass., and for ten years after her graduation taught in the high schools of Massachusetts. They are the parents of two children, Carol and Reinette. Fraternally Mr. Miller is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the D.O.K.K. His skilled workmanship has brought him a fine patronage, and he is a loyal supporter of every measure that is constructive.

A well-known citizen and successful merchant of Lathrop, W.H. Miller has advanced step by step until he has built up a successful and lucrative business, and he may be called a self-made man in the best sense of that term. He was born at Eureka, Kans., January 17, 1871, a son of Eli and Mary M. (Gray) Miller. The father was born December 19, 1823, in Indiana, and at the outbreak of the Civil War migrated to Kansas and there became an extensive landowner and farmed to grain and stock. He married Mary M. Gray, born May 2, 1845, in New York, who removed to Illinois in 1860. On July 3, 1873, Eli Miller was killed by lightning while going from his home to the village of Eureka. On October 12, 1876, the mother was married again, to Jacob Curtis at Eureka, Kans., and she is now a resident of Truro, Iowa.

W.H. Miller had but little chance for an education for he was thrown on his own resources at the age of fourteen years. Being particularly fond of athletics he specialized in foot racing and for two years, 1891 and 1892, as a professional sprinter was second only to his chum, Jesse Russell, who held the Central States championship and in consequence toured the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas, attending fairs and celebrations and meeting all contestants and they succeeded in winning nearly every race. Another boyhood chum, Louis Ball, was the owner of two fast running horses, “Burnt Foot” and “Grasshopper.” The three boys traveled from place to place, and they made much money and also spent it just as freely. Mr. Miller recalls two races, one at Winfield, Kans., and the other at Gray Horse, Indian Territory, both state fair celebrations, where they won in the foot races and the horse races. In 1893, Mr. Miller gave up his profession for a trip to San Francisco to attend the Midwinter Fair and on his way stopped off to visit his sister, Mrs. H.F. Wilcox. His finances being at a low ebb, he concluded to find employment on a ranch, and soon went to work for J.C. Gerlach, where he continued for one season, then he worked on the Hughes ranch, near Ripon, and the season of 1894 sowed grain on the lands where now stands the town of Ripon.

The marriage of Mr. Miller occurred May 7, 1895, and united him with Miss Wilma Clara Wilcox, a native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, born March 28, 1879, a daughter of Robert Riley and Julia Ann (Summers) Wilcox, who came to California in 1886 and located near Ripon. Her father passed away November 25, 1904, and her mother at Lathrop in 1915. In 1895 Mr. and Mrs. Miller moved to Ridgway, Colo., where he followed brick and stone mason work for a few months and in January, 1896, they returned to Kansas, locating at Eureka, where for two years he engaged in farming; then in 1898 they returned to Lathrop, Cal., which has been their home ever since. Mr. Miller purchased twenty acres of the H.W. Cowell subdivision and was the first rancher to develop a portion of this subdivision. Four years were spent on this place, when he had a good opportunity to sell, receiving a good profit for his hard work; he then went to work on the Goodwin ranch. The following year he purchased 140 acres, which he developed and then sold, making a good profit. Fourteen years ago Mr. Miller purchased the general merchandise business of J.A. Bell at Lathrop. Through the years the business has steadily grown until he now does $30,000 worth of business each year. In 1919 he erected his present building, two stories with store below and apartments above; he also has other desirable income property in Lathrop. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of five children: Hiram E., deceased; Velma; Byrl W.; Ivan Donald; Floyd Loyal. For two years Mr. Miller was the president of the Chamber of Commerce at Lathrop and Mrs. Miller is active in the affairs of the W.C.T.U. In politics Mr. Miller is a Democrat and fraternally is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America. In his work in California he has prospered and has accumulated a fine property, owing to his own well directed efforts and the assistance of his devoted wife, who has indeed been a faithful helpmate and counselor to him.