A general feeling of regret was expressed when that pioneer of 1850, Urban J. Munson, passed away on January 31, 1898, at the old home place near Atlanta, San Joaquin County, Cal. He was born near Calais, Maine, in 1832, and in the early '50s came with his father, Moses Munson, via the Nicaragua route to California, going direct to Jamestown where they engaged in mining for a livelihood; later, in the early fifties, he and his father acquired large land holdings near Atlanta which they farmed to grain and stock. In those pioneer days, the country was wild and unsettled, there were no fences and their stock ran over the hills and valleys unobstructed. Their first house was built of logs hewn from the virgin forests and constructed with great difficulty. Growing up with the country, he became deeply interested in all matters of growth and improvement along educational, political and social lines; he was a stockholder in the Farmers' Union in Stockton and the Grangers Union and the Grangers Bank in San Francisco.

Mr. Munson's marriage united him with Mrs. Cynthia Davenport Cookson, a native of Worcester, Mass., a daughter of Gary Davenport who was born in Rhode Island, where he married Catherine Pratt. The Davenport and Pratt families are of English descent, dating back to the Puritans. Mrs. Munson's maternal great-grandfather, General Trask, was an officer in the Revolutionary War. Gary Davenport was a machinist. He served in a New Jersey regiment in the Civil War, being mustered out as a sergeant. He and his good wife came to California in 1871, engaging in farming at Atlanta, where they spent their last days. They were the parents of two children: Mrs. Cynthia Munson and Mrs. Evelyn Harrelson. Mr. and Mrs. Munson's union was blessed with the birth of one son, Arthur J., a well-known farmer of the county. He was born on his father's ranch at Atlanta on March 12, 1878, and was educated in the district school located on their home ranch. During 1911 he removed to Stockton where he now resides. Fraternally he is a member of Charity Lodge No. 6, I.O.O.F., and Stockton Parlor No. 7, N.S.G.W.

On the death of her husband, Mrs. Munson sold a quarter section of the home place to the Western Pacific railroad and deeded a quarter section to her son, Arthur J., which he farms to grain, and the remaining one-half section she still retains and leases to her son by her first marriage, Samuel T. Cookson; this home place is improved with a fine residence and farm buildings. Some eleven years ago, she removed to Stockton and invested in lots and erected four residences, which she still owns and which produce a good income.

Mrs. Munson's first marriage occurred in Maine in 1870, uniting her with Capt. Samuel G. Cookson, a native of Belfast, Maine, who followed the sea for a livelihood, working up until he was master of vessels. His first trip to California was made in the early '60s, sailing around Cape Horn and he was so enamored of the beauties of California that he gave up his seafaring life and when he married they came to California via Panama and settled on a farm at Atlanta where he raised grain extensively. He retained his membership in China Lodge, A.F. & A.M., in China, Maine, up to the time of his demise. They were the parents of two children: Samuel T., born on the ranch at Atlanta and now engaged in farming. He married Miss Elsie Ritter, a native Californian and they have one daughter, Norma. The second son, Walter M., was for many years with the Holt Manufacturing Company in Stockton but now is associated with his brother, Samuel T., farming the home place of the Munsons. Mrs. Munson in 1920 built a residence at Pacific Grove, where she spends her summers.

A native son of California and the son of a pioneer of the gold days, Charles A. Murdoch is the successful assistant foreman of construction for the Harris Manufacturing Company. He was born in Clements, San Joaquin County, on February 7, 1882, a son of William C. and Martha (Dimmock) Murdoch, both parents natives of Nova Scotia, Canada. His father came to California on one of the first trains to cross the continent after the completion of the railroad, and arrived in Stockton when it was a struggling city. His father worked on grain ranches throughout the valley, and with W.C. Miller followed sheep raising, driving sheep from Fresno to Carson City, Nev.; later he homesteaded a piece of land near Clements, and then purchased the old Gillies place consisting of 160 acres; later he bought the Bragg place of 160 acres adjoining and has farmed the whole acreage to grain; now in his seventy-seventh year he lives retired on the old home place at Clements, twenty-two miles east of Stockton, and still raises cattle, his specialty being shorthorn Durhams. He was a trustee of the Washington school in the early days and takes a lively interest in the affairs of the county in general. His family consists of five living children: Mrs. Alberta Pearson; Mrs. L.M. Sain; Mrs. Louise Brandt; Charles A., our subject; and Winfield C., all born in San Joaquin County and still living here. The mother passed away July 5, 1920, at the family home in Clements, aged sixty-eight years.

Charles A. acquired his education in the Washington school and was graduated from grammar school in 1897. After leaving school he learned the carpenter's trade and worked on the construction of dredges used in gold mining, for the Yuba Construction Company, helping to build the dredges at Jenny Lind and Folsom City. He also operated gold dredgers on the Mokelumne River for this same company; he then engaged in contracting and built many of the houses and blocks in Clements during the time he was contracting. During August of 1918, he entered the employ of the Harris Manufacturing Company of Stockton and now occupies the position of assistant foreman of construction.

Mr. Murdoch's marriage in 1903 united him with Miss Bertha Holman, a native daughter of California, born in Clements, San Joaquin County; her grandfather Holman was a California pioneer. Mr. and Mrs. Murdoch are the parents of two children: Annabelle F. and Marcella E. Mr. Murdoch is a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He is vitally interested in the welfare of his native county and state and gives his hearty support to every excellent measure likely to help upbuild the community in which he lives and prospers.

A California pioneer of whom all native sons and daughters of the Golden State, and especially all patriotic residents of San Joaquin County, are justly proud, is William C. Murdock, who owns three-fourths of a section of excellent ranch land about one mile and a half southeast of Clements. He was born in the province of Nova Scotia, near Halifax, on December 19, 1844, the son of Henry and Mary (Sanford) Murdock; and according to the old story of ancestral migration, three brothers on his father's side came from Scotland to South Carolina. Grandfather Finley Murdock was a great trader, a merchant-marine man, who handled South Carolina products, with his sailing vessels running to foreign ports. Finley's two brothers were planters, owning extensive lands in South Carolina, and cotton plantations. Grandfather Finley came from Inverness, Scotland. During the War of 1812, one of the ancestors on the maternal side was a surgeon. He was Dr. Woolever, a native of Holland, of the old William Penn stock. Henry Murdock's folks migrated to Nova Scotia from South Carolina, and settled at Halifax; and Grandfather Murdock built and kept a public house, free to be used by all, at Windsor, N.S. Henry Murdock took up the wheelwright's trade, and followed it during his lifetime. He died of lung fever at the age of seventy-eight. James is deceased. William C. is the subject of our interesting review. Sarah Jane, who became Mrs. Hamilton and reared a family of four children, is deceased. Mary, now living at Fresno as Mrs. Smith, also brought up a good-sized family; and Katie is Mrs. Lane, of Oakland. The Sanfords originally settled in Massachusetts.

When William Murdock was fourteen years old, having finished his district school studies, he went to sea as a cabin-boy; and at the age of nineteen, with seventy-five men working under his direction, he built a ship, constructing it from the keel to the top rigging on the mast, and launched it in the ocean. Curiously, after that practical experience with the sea, though having long wanted to come to California, he waited until he could come on an emigrant train. The first trans-continental train crossed the wide stretch of hitherto untracked country in May, 1869. Mr. Murdock came in November of that year, and the trip took fourteen days, and was full of adventures. For example, at one time a great herd of buffalo was seen coming towards the track a little way ahead of the train, and the engineer stopped the train to allow the band to pass, the train having to wait for about an hour.

Mr. Murdock landed at Stockton in November, 1869, and came almost directly to Lodi, where, as a partner of Alexander Gordon, he loaded cars and split wood. He was an expert carpenter, and he helped build the hotel on the Copperopolis road, which had been projected because the owners, thinking that the railroad would soon be opened up to the mines, expected to do a good business. But the road did not pass that way and the hotel was finally burned to the ground. There were no railroads for a long time, for problems of construction balked the attempts to open up the country on an economical basis. The road from Stockton to Ione and Jackson passed through such forests of trees that the driver had to pick his way. Mr. Murdock worked at his trade for a while at Lodi, when that place had one blacksmith shop and a store building owned by Mr. Ivory. In Stockton the sidewalks were built on sticks, like stilts, so that on coming into the town one would not need to walk in the mud.

In his youth, Mr. Murdock was a member of the Christian Church; and upon his attending church here, he met W.C. Miller, who was both a great church worker and a man of wealth. Soon afterward, Mr. Miller proposed that they form a partnership, and embark in the sheep business. Mr. Murdock had no money at that time, but Miller introduced him to his banker in Stockton, and left instructions for the bank to allow him to draw all he needed for the business, in which he was then a half-partner. He accordingly went into the country east of Lockeford, and ranged his sheep from a point about one mile east of the present location of Clements, on eastward into Calaveras County and as far south as Tulare County. This herd grew to contain several thousand head.

Since 1870, Mr. Murdock has called the country east of Lockeford his home. He took up a government claim of a quarter-section of land, and received the patent to the land with James A. Garfield's signature to it; and he still holds this quarter-section. Mr. Murdock also bought a half-section, and now, all in all, three-fourths of a section minus the forty-acre strip of land given to each of his daughters, on which they and their families reside today. The quarter-section of government land lay three miles to the east of his home.

At Sacramento, on November 5, 1870, Mr. Murdock was married to Miss Martha Dimock, who was born in the province of Nova Scotia, the daughter of Asa and Amy (Northover) Dimock, of English descent, who came to California and to Sacramento, bringing her when she was seventeen years old. He built a fine, two-story home on his ranch, in 1902, about one and a half miles south of Clements; but in 1917 it burned to the ground, a total loss, due to lack of insurance. He then built a new home, where he and his son Winfield and his wife live together today. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Murdock, five of whom are now living, and there are ten grandchildren. Arthur passed away in 1915; Carrie died in 1893; Katie lived to be only ten days old; Alberta has become Mrs. Pierson, and resides on forty acres of the old home place; Ethel is Mrs. Sain, and also lives on part of the old home ranch; Charles is in Stockton; Lena is Mrs. L.L. Brandt; and Winfield is at home. Alberta Pierson is the mother of Ross, Madaline, Stanley and John. Ethel Sain has a daughter, Lucile. Charles is the father of Ann Bell and Marcel. Lena Brandt's children are named Harold, Marietta, Eugene, and Louis. Well, and still enthusiastic enough to ride about his ranch and give orders as to important details, Mr. Murdock is essentially a home man. He takes a live interest in politics, and endeavors to support the best men and measures.

An experienced, progressive and very successful rancher, fortunate in the aid of his equally ambitious and enterprising sons, is James P. Murphy, well-known in patriotic circles as a stand-pat Jeffersonian Democrat. He was born in Sonora, Tuolumne County, on November 8, 1870, the son of John and Mary Margaret (Vizzard) Murphy, both of whom were natives of Ireland. Our subject was afforded the best common-school advantages, and in 1886 rounded out his studies, with honors, at Atlanta, in this county. The following year he took up ranching on the homestead, not far away, cultivating a portion of his father's ranch; and in this initial venture he was very successful. About 1904, he removed to another ranch, near Lodi, where he followed grain-farming for about eleven years. He painstakingly availed himself of the last word of science in modern agricultural methods, studying conditions and prospects in the California field in particular, and he used only the most up-to-date appliances, as a result of which he not only advanced to the forefront, but he was able also to point the way where others might follow.

At Modesto, Mr. Murphy was married to Miss Helen Ida Johnson, the ceremony taking place on June 16, 1890, and the lady being a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herman and Magdalena Johnson, pioneers in San Joaquin County. Both of these esteemed parents are now deceased; but a brother of Mrs. Murphy, Fred Johnson, is still living, the popular chief deputy county clerk in San Joaquin County. Nine children have blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Murphy: William J. resides with his wife and five children on a ranch near Vernalis; Thomas F., who is also married, is a merchant in San Francisco; James P. Murphy, Jr., saw valiant service in the U.S. Army and is now chief business clerk of the Ford Garage at Tracy, his popularity having been increased by his candidacy for the office of city trustee in Tracy, on April 10, 1922; Ed. P., a rancher, also served in the U.S. Army; Cecilia Anne is the wife of Harold Strother, and resides at Gridley, Colusa County, and they have one daughter; Mary M. is the wife of Fred Hilken, of Tracy; Delia E. is a nurse at the St. Joseph Home, in Stockton; Miss Agnes lives at home; and Joseph A. is still a student. In 1915, Mr. Murphy and his sons acquired the William Mecklenberg rancho near Vernalis; and there they have since very successfully engaged in grain farming.

A record of public service to be proud of is that of Martin D. Murphy, chief of the Stockton Fire Department, who has for twenty-three years been connected with this efficient organization. He is a native of Cheyenne, Wyo., born there June 15, 1877, and four years later was brought by his parents to Calaveras County, Cal., where they located on a sheep ranch. In 1886 they came to San Joaquin County, living at Newhope and Roberts Island, where he received his public school education.

Mr. Murphy's mother passed away during his youth and the home was broken up so that he early started out to make his own way. When fourteen years old our subject was taken into the home of the late John Barrett, one of Stockton's prominent undertakers. For a few years he worked with the Barrett undertaking firm in Stockton and then was a clerk with the H.C. Shaw Company, dealers in implements and hardware. On June 1, 1899, he joined the Stockton Fire Department as a call man and he has been connected with the department ever since. In 1905 he became a permanent member of the department and worked his way up through different posts, until November 1, 1907, he was made assistant chief. On June 1, 1912 he was appointed fire chief, a position he now holds. He is a very efficient officer and his record stands for itself. Stockton has one of the best fire departments in the state and much of the credit for its status is due Chief Murphy. He has been through all its evolution, from horse-drawn apparatus to motor equipment; when he joined the department it consisted of only ten paid men and volunteers. Now there are seventy paid men and eight engine companies, all motor equipped but the ladder truck. There are four combination chemical and hose wagons, six combination pumps and engines, with hose bodies, and the truck has a seventy-five foot ladder, besides smaller ones.

Mr. Murphy's marriage united him with Miss Gertrude Simpson and they have one daughter, Gertrude. Mr. Murphy is prominent in fraternal circles and belongs to the Eagles, Elks, Foresters of America, Moose, Knights of Columbus, and Woodmen of the World. Brave and fearless, he has shown himself to be an organizer of unusual capability, and the citizens of Stockton can well congratulate themselves that the safety of their life and property is guarded by one so competent.

After ten years of efficient service as city inspector in the electrical department of the city of Stockton, wherein he became widely known throughout the city, William A. Murphy resigned his post to engage in business for himself, organizing the Bright Spot Electric Company on January 1, 1918, opening up headquarters at 235 East Market Street, Stockton, and winning success from the start. A native Californian, Mr. Murphy was born in Calaveras County, July 9, 1876, the son of Patrick and Margaret (Fitzgerald) Murphy; both were natives of Boston, Mass., and there they were married, crossing the plains in an ox-team train in 1849 with their two children. The father was one of the pioneer miners and farmers of San Andreas, Calaveras County, where he resided until 1896, when he retired and removed to Stockton, where he died in April, 1900, aged seventy-three. Mrs. Murphy passed away in September, 1914, aged eighty-four.

Ten children were born to this worthy pioneer couple: Mrs. William Webb, deceased, the mother of eleven children; James, a rancher in San Joaquin County, is married and has one child; Thomas passed away leaving a widow and two children, and one of them, R.W. Murphy, is the Pacific Coast manager for the Westinghouse Lamp Company, with headquarters in San Francisco; Mrs. Nellie Williams lives at Oakdale, Cal.; Mrs. Margaret Thompson of Angels Camp, Calaveras County, has six children; Mrs. Mary Von Dulm is deceased; Mrs. Robert O'Brien of Oakland has two daughters; Frank J. of Stockton; Eliza, deceased; and the youngest, William A. Murphy, of this sketch. He was educated in the public schools of Calaveras County and came to Stockton when a young man and learned the blacksmith trade with the Holt Manufacturing Company, finishing with the Hammond Car Works of San Francisco.

Not seeing any future in this trade, Mr. Murphy returned to Stockton and opened a cigar store on Main Street, which he conducted for two years, when he sold out to William Hickman. He then decided to learn the electrical business, and this he has now followed for twenty-three years. He started with the American River Electrical Company, which was installing a transmission line from Placerville to Stockton, working for only a dollar a day at first, and was with this company for four years. He then engaged in the electrical business for himself for a year, selling out to Harry Spencer, and remaining with Mr. Spencer for a year and a half as foreman. He then became foreman and manager for the Powell Electrical Company on construction work, and installed the electrical system in many of the older buildings, among them the Clark & Henery Building, the old St. Joseph's Home and the Clark Sanitarium, also installing much work in Turlock.

In 1907 Mr. Murphy was appointed city electrician of Stockton under Mayor R.R. Reibenstein, the first man to hold this office, which he filled faithfully and efficiently for ten years. During this time many of Stockton's large, modern buildings were erected—Hotel Stockton, Hotel Clark, Hotel Lincoln, Farmers and Merchants Bank, Commercial Bank, City Bank, and he passed on the electrical installation in all of them. Resigning from this post, he opened his business, the Bright Spot Electric Company, in 1918, and today he has one of the most representative establishments in this line in the county, enjoying a patronage extending into the rich Delta, as well as in the towns and communities around Stockton in other directions. Houses are wired, industrial and commercial lighting plants are installed complete, and motor and pumping plants are installed for irrigation and general ranch use, irrigation machinery being a specialty of Mr. Murphy. He was the successful bidder for the installation work and lighting equipment for the Antioch $60,000 city hall, and this work was so satisfactory that it called forth much praise.

At Reno, Nev., in December, 1898, Mr. Murphy was married to Miss Ida B. Fischer, a native of Switzerland, and they make their home at 735 North California Street. One of Stockton's enterprising business men, Mr. Murphy is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Progressive Business Club, the Stockton Advertising Club, the California Electrical Contractors and Dealers Association, and the Jovians, a national order of the electrical industry, and fraternally he is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, Woodmen of the World, Red Men, and a charter member of the local Eagles.

An honored pioneer physician of Tracy, Dr. James Grant Murrell located here during 1891, when a few cottages constituted the town. His first office was in a small shack on Eighth Street, and during an epidemic of diphtheria, in the handling of thirty severe cases, Dr. Murrell lost but one patient. Dr. Murrell served as city health officer, and city physician, and when it was decided to make two offices, he was retained as city physician. He was born in Georgetown, S.C., on March 11, 1843, and while a young lad was thrown on his own resources. Leaving home with five dollars in his pocket, he made the trip to Charleston in three days. There he found employment in an office. Near the close of the Civil War he reached New York City, where he found a friend who worked for the U.S. Government, and there Dr. Murrell secured a job at five dollars per day making coffins for the burial of the soldiers, later removing to Boston, Mass., where he remained for the next thirteen years. After attending the centennial of the Battle of Bunker Hill held in Boston in 1875, he removed to the Pacific Coast and located in San Francisco and three years later entered the Eclectic Medical College in Oakland, Cal. and completed his three year course in 1881. He opened his first office at Lincoln, Placer County, Cal., and remained there for one year, when he removed to Kern County, active in the practice of his profession there until 1891.

The marriage of Dr. Murrell united him with Mrs. Alice (Minter) Wilkes, a daughter of Monroe and Louisa (Arnold) Minter. Her father was a sturdy pioneer of Kern County, who crossed the plains with ox teams from Shelbina, Mo., when he was seventeen years of age; he spent several years in the mines and then located in Kern County where he ranched near Glennville. Her mother came to California across the plains with her parents in 1854, coming by way of Los Angeles, then to Kern and Mariposa counties. Both of Mrs. Murrell's parents lived to a fine old age, and are well remembered by the old residents of Bakersfield, as the father conducted a general merchandise store there for several years. By her first marriage Mrs. Murrell had three children. Ida, now Mrs. B.E. Grady of Stockton, has two children, Jack and Bobbie; Charles R. is married and resides in Bakersfield and is chief deputy county clerk of Kern County; Mrs. Clytelle Hewitt resides in Stockton and has two children, Leslie and Nadine. Mrs. Murrell is past officer and an active member of the Tracy N.D.G.W. and a member of the Tracy Rebekahs, and has just received the degree of Chivalry of that fraternity. During the recent war she was active in the canteen work and in the local Red Cross chapter. Both Dr. and Mrs. Murrell have been liberal with their time and means and have assisted in building churches and other local institutions. Dr. Murrell volunteered his services during the late war, and on November 9, 1918, he was enrolled by the Secretary of War, Newton D. Baker, as a member of the Volunteer Medical Service Corps, having been authorized by the Council of National Defense.

Numbered among Stockton's early residents, having come here nearly forty years ago, Charles Muthel has taken a prominent part in the reclamation of the Delta district, contributing heavily of his time and energy in bringing this rich soil into productivity. Mr. Muthel is a native of Hamburg, Germany, born June 20, 1865, and remained in his native land until 1883, when he came to America, locating first in San Francisco, where he worked in a winery. In the fall of that year he came to Stockton and went to work as a clerk in China Hall, a crockery store on El Dorado Street owned by Charles Behrens. Next he was employed at the San Joaquin Hotel, and then went to sea for a time, going from San Francisco in a sailing vessel around Cape Horn to Liverpool, and return. Returning to Stockton, he worked on a dredge for the Glasgow-California Land Company in the Delta district, later becoming captain of the dredger, which was working on the lower division of Roberts Island. For twelve years he was engaged in this work, and took an active and important part in reclaiming this valuable land. Next he was in the machine shop of the Shippee Harvester Works at Stockton, but returned to reclamation work in charge of the dredger for Richard Smith, and also in district No. 17 on Roberts Island. For the next seven years he was engineer for the San Joaquin Brick Company, and then bought and ran the Columbia Hotel on North San Joaquin Street, opposite the county jail, one of Stockton's landmarks, the lumber for the building having been brought around the Horn in early days. Subsequently Mr. Muthel owned a bicycle shop in the Masonic Temple Building on North El Dorado Street, and then bought land at Lodi and planted three vineyards of twenty acres each, which he disposed of at a profit. In partnership with John Grant he again engaged in dredger work on the island, and they bought 350 acres of land which they named the Grant tract, and this they reclaimed and sold.

Mr. Muthel's marriage united him with Miss Clara Brandt, the daughter of Frederick and Margaret Brandt. The father was a pioneer settler of California, coming here in 1857 from Minnesota. Mr. Muthel has long been a member of the Stockton Lodge of Odd Fellows and also of Fidelity Lodge. He is now retired from active business life, and has recently returned from a seven-months tour of Europe, during which he visited his mother and many old friends in his native city and attended the Passion Play at Oberammergau, returning to California by way of the Panama Canal.

Among the most successful business men of Stockton is A. Pietro Muzio, whose steady advancement toward an independent fortune was made step by step. He was born on a farm in the province of Genoa, Italy, on March 8, 1869, and among other branches of his education learned the baker's trade. During 1888 he came to America, and locating in Stockton he secured work at his trade in the French and Italian Bakery on South Hunter Street, where he worked for two years; then to San Francisco where he worked for two years; then to San Francisco where he worked for the Ligurio Bakery, where he remained until 1893, when he took a trip back to his native land, and while there married Miss Anestasia Gianelli, a sister of Joe Gianelli of Stockton. Returning to Stockton he was for the next five years employed as a clerk in the grocery store of his brother-in-law, Joe Gianelli. In 1898 Mr. Muzio purchased the French and Italian Bakery on South Hunter Street, where he had first found employment upon his arrival in Stockton. For the following fourteen years he conducted his business there with success, when he moved his bakery to his new block, which he had erected at 317 East Market Street, conducting it with increasing patronage for the next six years, when he sold out and is now living retired from business cares. The real estate holdings of Mr. Muzio are so extensive that his time is well taken up in looking after them; he has erected two business blocks in Stockton; in 1910 he erected a three-story brick block 75 by 100 feet on East Market Street, adjoining the Joe Gianelli building; in 1912 he purchased the lot at 317 East Market Street, 41 by 103 feet, and upon this site he erected a modern three-story brick block, known as the Muzio Block, the first floor occupied by stores and the two upper stories devoted to the Hotel Glenn. During 1921 Mr. Muzio made another trip to Italy to visit his mother. He is a member of the Stockton Italian Club and the Druids; he has also been a member of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce for a number of years and has done his share assisting all movements for the betterment and advancement of Stockton. Mr. and Mrs. Muzio are the parents of three children: John J. is married and conducts a bakery business in Sonora, Antoinette and Antonio are students at St. Mary's College in Oakland.

The enterprising proprietor of the Muzio orchard and market gardens, located five miles east of Stockton, is John A. Muzio, whose birth occurred at Stockton, Cal., August 4, 1896, the eldest son of Felix and Maria (Pinasco) Muzio, both natives of Genoa, Italy. Felix Muzio was reared on a little Italian farm, the home of his parents, and remained at home until 1894, when he came to California; later his wife and their daughter, Jenny, came to Stockton. Felix Muzio was a hard worker and had succeeded in establishing a home on ten acres of land east of Stockton, but was not permitted to enjoy it long, for he passed away on December 30, 1901, survived by his widow and five children: Adelle is the wife of Stephen Pinasco; John A., our subject; Eugene is a rancher; Ernest R. is a bookkeeper; and Jenny, who died at the age of nine years. After her husband's death, Mrs. Muzio kept the family together and managed the ranch and in 1903 she married Joseph Frugone, born in Genoa, Italy, November 17, 1877; he arrived in Stockton in December, 1900, and engaged in fruit and market gardening. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Frugone: Julia, Louisa, and Jenny.

Felix Muzio purchased ten acres of the home place in 1894 and since that time an additional thirty-five acres has been bought, twenty acres of which is now in vineyard, while the balance is devoted to raising fruit and vegetables for the markets of Stockton. Mr. Muzio has experienced disastrous floods, one in 1907 and another in 1911, when the greater portion of their ranch was under water for a number of weeks at a time. Mr. Muzio, Mr. Frugone, his stepfather, and his two brothers, Eugene and Ernest R., carry on a fine market business, it having grown to such proportions that they have purchased a Moreland truck to haul their products to market.

Mr. Muzio married Miss Loretta Calosso, born near Stockton, a daughter of Frederick Calosso, prominent cherry grower residing near Stockton. They have two children, Frances and Norma. Mr. Muzio votes the Republican ticket and with his brother Eugene is a member of the Red Men.

Perseverance and industry have ever been the characteristics of Edris B. Myers, Jr., and these qualities, combined with his native ability, have been responsible for his rise to the important post of chief engineer of the three mills of the Sperry Flour Mills at Stockton. Mr. Myers is a native of Illinois and was born at Peoria on January 7, 1875, the son of Edris B. and Margaret (Fyfe) Myers, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Pontiac, Illinois.

In March, 1886, the family removed to Stockton, Cal., and here Edris B. attended the Lafayette school until he was fifteen, when he started out to earn his own living. He followed various occupations as a boy, first as a messenger boy for the Western Union Telegraph Company, and then with Charles W. Dohrmann, the insurance man. In 1893 he took up the machinist's trade with Straight & Cadle, the proprietors of the Globe Iron Works, and was with them until 1895, when he entered the employ of the Sperry Flour Mills Company, working as a fireman for two years. From 1897 to 1898 he was with the Stockton Gas & Electric Company, and then went back to the Sperrys for two years. Receiving an appointment as assistant engineer at the State Asylum at Stockton under H.G. Balkwill, Mr. Myers was there from 1900 to 1905, and being ambitious to progress more rapidly, during this time he took a course in engineering with the International Correspondence Schools. Returning to the Sperry Company as assistant engineer, he was made chief engineer of the Union Mill in 1905, of the Capital Mill in 1912, and the Crown Mill in 1915, all owned by this company, these promotions giving concrete evidence of the appreciation of his capability and faithful service, and he now has fifteen men working under him.

Mr. Myers' marriage, which took place in 1912, united him with Miss Frances Gillis, a native daughter of Stockton, whose father, James Gillis, was one of the city's honored pioneer residents. Mr. Myers has been a member of the Odd Fellows since 1906, being affiliated with Charity Lodge No. 6 of Stockton.

Born in Warren County, Ind., on December 27, 1872, Howard A. Myers is a son of Montgomery Myers, an Indiana farmer who lived to be eighty-five years of age. The mother, whose maiden name was Ellen McDade, passed away at the age of forty-six. Howard Myers was one of a large family, as follows: Alice, now in Idaho; George; Belle, now in Montana; Adeline, deceased; William, who is also in California; Martha; Perry, in Washington; Howard A. of this review; Emma; and Walter, also in Washington.

Howard A. Myers attended the Prairie Chapel district school in Warren County, and remained at home until he was of age. On March 7, 1894, he was married, at Boswell, Ind., to Miss Lily M. Felix, a native of that same vicinity, and the daughter of William and Emma Felix. There were five children in her parents' family: Mary, Joseph, Bell, Lily, and Charles.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Myers removed to White County, Ind., where with his brother Perry, Mr. Myers bought a quarter-section of land, which they farmed jointly for six years and then sold. Next the two brothers went to Oklahoma, and there bought a quarter-section of land, which they also sold after farming it for three years. Perry Myers then went to Washington; but Howard Myers came to California, settling for a while in Kern County, where he rented twenty acres of alfalfa, in the “Weed Patch” close to Bakersfield. Next he removed to Stockton, and entered the business field as a distributor of oil burners. He had a shop for two years on Market Street, and was also located on California Street.

In 1906 he removed to the northeastern section of San Joaquin County and traded his Stockton property for a quarter-section of land in the Brandt school district, about six miles southeast of Clements; and in 1919 he added to this ranch 640 acres of fine grain land, so that today he owns a section and a quarter. He has about eighty head of stock, and raises wheat, barley and oats. He also raises about 150 turkeys each season. In addition to the ranch which he owns, he also leases land, farming in all about 2,200 acres. He leases the Connelly and Jahant ranches north of Woodbridge, and also the Thompson Folger ranch of about 900 acres, and he has about 400 acres three miles to the south of his home. He uses two Yuba tractors, and has a full modern equipment of grain-farming machinery for operation on an extensive scale.

Seven children were granted to Mr. and Mrs. Myers: Minnie, Mrs. Kepple, who died at the age of twenty-two years, together with her infant child; Charles, who is at home, farming with his father; Perry, ranching for himself; Elwood, also at home, associated with his father; Mary, now Mrs. Peterson; and Elsie and Richard, still at home. Politically, Mr. Myers is a Republican.

Stockton has greatly benefited through the activities of its real estate operators and among those who figure conspicuously in this connection is Albert G. Myran, who is well known in business circles of the city as sales manager for the Adolph Johnson Realty Company. He was born at Ada, Minn., March 29, 1878. His father was Hon. O.H. Myran, ex-member of the state senate in Minnesota. A native of Nummedal, Norway, he migrated to northern Illinois but soon afterwards removed to Ada, Minn., where he became one of the most prominent and influential men in the Red River Valley. He was a successful agricultural implement dealer and hardware merchant, a man widely and favorably known. A very prominent Republican he was known as the Mark Hanna of the Red River Valley during the McKinley administration. He took a leading part in making Knut Nelson governor of Minnesota and later United States senator. He married Miss Maria Haugen and they are now both deceased. They had three children, of whom Albert G. is the eldest. After completing his public school course, Albert Myran graduated from Carleton College, Northfield, Minn. He enlisted for service in the Spanish-American War, joining Company B, Twelfth Minnesota Infantry, serving until he received his discharge, then entered the law department of the University of Minnesota. During his college career he served for three consecutive terms as chief clerk of the Minnesota senate but did not complete his university course, owing to his appointment as administrator of his father's estate, the father having passed away at Los Angeles, Cal., in 1905. Mr. Myran, Sr., had acquired a large amount of property, which the son sold to good advantage, and this led to his connection with the real estate business, which he has found both a congenial and profitable field for the development of his talents. He followed that business in Los Angeles for several years, afterward going to Oakland to accept a position with the Realty Syndicate Company.

In August, 1917, shortly after the United States entered the World War, Mr. Myran enlisted as a private and his previous military experience won him promotion to a clerkship at headquarters. After serving in that capacity for several months he was commissioned a lieutenant and placed in charge of the adjustment branch, personnel division, under Major-General Duval. On being furloughed to the Reserves he came to Stockton, arriving here in January, 1919. He entered the employ of the Adolph Johnson Realty Company and his efficient work led to his advancement to the position of sales manager, in which capacity he is now acting. Broad experience and close study have given him a comprehensive knowledge of the business and he has negotiated many important realty transfers, thereby greatly contributing to the success of the company which he represents.

Mr. Myran's life has never been a self-centered one and his well developed powers have been utilized in support of many worthy causes. He is president of the county advisory board, which has charge of the annual campaign to raise funds for the promotion of the Salvation Army's work. The campaign was inaugurated three years ago and has been very successful. He was active in the formation of the Service Club and was instrumental in securing a charter for Karl Ross Post of the American Legion. Shortly after the Service Club became a part of the Legion he was elected commander of the local post, which he has made one of the leading organizations of this character in the state. Through untiring efforts he greatly increased its membership, which has now reached 1,000, and no worthy ex-service man has ever come to him in vain for assistance. He was an active participant in the convention of the American Legion held at San Diego, Cal., in 1920, serving on important committees and participating in many debates. He was recently appointed departmental speaker of the Legion for this district, his appointment coming from the national headquarters at Indianapolis, Ind., and it was his duty to visit the various posts of his section for the purpose of arousing interest and enthusiasm in the measures promulgated by the organization, but not having the necessary time to devote to the position he resigned. He also served as chairman of the general convention committee for the annual encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, which was held at Stockton, May 9-19, 1921 and it was largely through his efforts that the meeting was such a decided success. He is also a member of the Spanish-American War Veterans' Association, and Lions Club of Stockton; and his fraternal connections are with the Knights of Pythias, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Stockton Lodge, No. 218, B.P.O.E., and Stockton Lodge, F. & A.M.

Mr. Myran was united in marriage to Miss Roberta Roberts, a native of Nebraska, and they have many sincere friends in Stockton. He is alert, energetic and progressive, and his present success has been won through industry and ability. He is an enthusiastic booster for Stockton, whose future he regards as a most promising one, and his efforts are of a most practical character, the sound judgment of an astute business man being manifest in all of his opinions concerning the best methods of developing and improving his city.

An assistant managing secretary of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce Gilbert D. Keitle is doing valuable and important work, his efforts proving directive forces in promoting the development and prosperity of this district along commercial and agricultural lines. He is a member of one of the old pioneer families of Stockton and was born in this city February 23, 1896, his parents being Albert W. and Nettie (Hamlet) Keitle, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Stockton. In the early days the maternal grandfather crossed the plains to California, settling in Stockton, where he established a soap manufacturing plant, which he conducted for many years.

Gilbert D. Keitle acquired his education in the schools of his native city and was graduated from the Stockton high school with the class of 1914. Before completing his studies he started a newspaper, which he conducted under the name of the Weekly Tribune, and for some time he continued to publish that paper, meeting with success in the venture. Journalism had always attracted him and following his graduation from high school he entered the employ of the Daily Record, with which he was connected until the United States entered the World War. He enlisted in the Medical Corps but was transferred to the aviation section and sent to Waco, Texas, going from there to North Carolina. He next entered the officers' training school at Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga., maintained in connection with the infantry department, and was there stationed when the armistice was signed. He received his discharge at the close of eighteen months' service and returned to Stockton, resuming his work with the Record. In October, 1919, he was appointed assistant managing secretary of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce, serving as acting secretary for a period of seven months during 1920, and he was also secretary and treasurer of the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau, making an excellent record in each connection.

Mr. Keitle is a member of Stockton Parlor No. 7, N.S.G.W., and he is also connected with the American Legion and the Elks Lodge, No. 218. He is an enterprising, wide-awake young man whose progressiveness and public spirit prompt him to put forth earnest and effective effort in advancing the welfare of his city, county and state, and that his life has been an exemplary one in all respects is indicated in the fact that those who have known him from boyhood to the present time entertain for him the highest regard and esteem.

San Joaquin County owes much to such well-organized, well-conducted business concerns as the Ladd Dairy farm in the Montezuma district in the vicinity of Stockton, whose proprietor is George Allen Ladd, a worthy representative of a pioneer family of California, dating back to 1853. He was born on the ranch where he now resides, March 25, 1875, a son of Walter Eugene and Juliette Estella (Ayers) Ladd, and is the eldest of a family of four children, the others being Walter E., Elmer A., and Juliette. His grandfather, George Samuel Ladd, was a New Englander by birth and reached California, with his brother Ira W. Ladd, also represented in this history, in 1853, and both were prominently associated with educational and commercial enterprises of the county. George Samuel Ladd married Miss Abigail Bourland, a native of Arkansas. She survives her husband, who passed away in 1902, and she resides in Stockton.

Walter Eugene Ladd, the father of our subject, was born in 1859 and in 1885 he was married to Miss Juliette Estella Ayers, a native of Lodi, San Joaquin County. Walter Eugene Ladd passed away in September, 1918, the mother still surviving.

After finishing the grammar school in the Montezuma district, George Allen Ladd attended Heald's Business College in Stockton, where he took an electrical course; later he was employed in an electrical supply establishment in Stockton where he remained for four years; he then entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad as machinist, continuing with them for a period of three years. He then accepted a position with the Southern Sierra Power Company as operator, but three months later on receiving word of his father's death, he returned to Stockton and assumed control of the ranch interests left by his father, continuing to operate the dairy established by his father a number of years ago and steadily improving his herd of dairy cattle; he is much interested in the new and progressive methods of handling his dairy and gives his personal attention to all the details of the business.

The marriage of Mr. Ladd united him with Miss Nellie M. Whitmore, a native of Ceres, the daughter of Col. Richard Keith and Annie (Pagels) Whitmore, pioneer ranchers of Stanislaus County. Mrs. Ladd may well be proud of the civic and the military record of her father, Col. R.K. Whitmore. He came from New Jersey to California about 1875, and while still a young man undertook the farming of grain at Stockton. After a while he moved to Ceres, and quite naturally assumed leadership in the early days of that town. He married Miss Annie Pagels, and she, too, has her share of the credit as a founder of the promising town. More and more he became active in public affairs, and for twenty-five years he served in the California National Guards. He was for a while major of infantry, and he was mustered out as colonel of the Sixth California Regiment Infantry after seeing creditable Spanish War service. In Ceres, honored by all, he passed away in 1911. Mrs. Ladd's brother, Richard Keith Whitmore, is cashier of the American Bank of Modesto. Mr. and Mrs. Ladd have one daughter, Alice W. Mr. Ladd is a Republican in matters of national politics; but when it comes to boosting Montezuma district and San Joaquin County, he is always willing to throw aside narrow partisanship if by so doing he may be able to advance any good cause.

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JAMES E. NELSON, M.D.

Since becoming a resident of Lodi in 1905, Dr. James E. Nelson has witnessed the phenomenal growth of this section of San Joaquin County with a great deal of interest, and his influence as a physician and as a business man has had much to do with the actual development of the community. He came here when Lodi had a population of only 1,300 and began the practice of medicine, continuing at his chosen calling until he now is recognized as one of the leading physicians of Lodi and San Joaquin County. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born on a farm near Volant, Lawrence County, May 23, 1879. His education was received, first in Volant, and then at a school in Rogers, Ohio. In 1901 he was graduated from Westminster College at New Wilmington, Pa., with the degree of B.S., and four years later he received his M.D. degree from the medical department of the University of Missouri at Columbia. During the month of September, 1905, he arrived in California, located in Lodi in the Bank of Lodi building on West Pine Street, and began the practice of his profession. With the passing of the years success has crowned his efforts and he now enjoys a large practice. He is a member of the County and State Medical societies and of the American Medical Association.

The marriage of Dr. Nelson united him with Miss Grace Belle Mudd, a native of Missouri. They are parents of two children, Margaret B. and William Raoul. Dr. Nelson is a Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner, holding membership in Ben Ali Temple in Sacramento. In civic affairs Dr. Nelson was instrumental in organizing the Rotary Club in Lodi and served as its president the first year. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Lodi Union High School and of the Lodi board of health and a member of San Joaquin board of health of the local health district of which he was one of the organizers. To show his faith in this community he has invested in country real estate and owns an eighty-acre vineyard east of Lodi. While a student in college he was active in athletics and w as an expert golf player. Dr. Nelson enjoys fishing above all other outdoor sports and each summer he and Mrs. Nelson seek some favored spot in the mountains where trout abound and they have visited nearly every part of the state where trout fishing is to be found. Dr. Nelson is one of the real “boosters” for this favored section of the San Joaquin Valley and in his adopted city he is always found ready and willing to lend his aid in its development.

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MARY ALICE NELSON

A very interesting and stimulating example of the ability often shown by women to manage their ranch estates, is afforded by Mary Alice Nelson, the owner of a choice Delta farm, embracing 367 rich acres near the Kingston District schoolhouse—one of the finest Delta farms, in fact, in all San Joaquin County. A native daughter naturally proud of her identification with the Golden State, she was born at Douglas Flat, in Calaveras County, on March 9, 1867, the only child of Edward and Jeannette (Powell) Thomas; and in that county she was reared, that is, for the first few years, for in 1870, on the death of her mother, she was taken to the home of William Richards, at Washington Flat, growing up there, and attending both the Angels Camp and Murphys district schools until she was fifteen years of age.

In this connection it is fitting to give a brief history of her foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Richards, as it is very interesting. Wm. Richards was born in Cornwall, England, and there he was married to Grace Huskin and they emigrated to Southern Wisconsin and there Mr. Richards was engaged in lead mining. In 1850 he started across the plains in an ox-team home with his wife and five children. En route they were attacked by Indians and lost much of their stock, delaying them so they were obliged to winter in Salt Lake. On a certain day the father and mother had gone into the city for supplies and while they were away two of the boys, the second and third in the family, fourteen and twelve years of age, respectively, went to the Jordan River to gather some wood. In Wisconsin they had been used to skate on the ice and one of them tried it and said it was strong, but he immediately broke through and went under. His brother rushed to his assistance, and both were drowned. To the credit of Brigham Young it must be said he sent men to try to recover the bodies but succeeded in securing only one.

The next spring the family came on to California. They wintered in Stockton, 1851-52, then to Washington Flat, where Mr. Richards had a store and hauled goods and supplies with ox teams from Stockton. His wife kept the store and traded in gold dust and about every sixty days made a trip to San Francisco, where she sold the gold dust to the mint. Mr. Richards was also interested in mining. He remained there until he died, in 1873. His widow survived him until 1880. Of their three remaining children, William died in 1906; Elizabeth, Mrs. Forsyth, resides on the home ranch; Grace died in 1917.

In 1882 Mary Thomas came to live in the home of her father, who had established himself as a prosperous farmer near French Camp, and completed her education in Stockton Business College, from which institution she was graduated June 18, 1885, after which she assisted her father in his business and presided over his home until she was married on June 18, 1890, to James A. Nelson, a native of Sweden, who came to California when nineteen years of age and became a pioneer rancher of San Joaquin County, and from 1890 to 1915 was actively identified with the development of the district. Immediately after his marriage Mr. Nelson had located on leased land on Roberts Island from Woods Brothers and engaged in raising grain. However, he soon purchased land in the district known as the pocket which, with the aid of his family, he improved and brought to a high state of cultivation. Mr. Nelson long served as a very conscientious member of the board of trustees of Kingston School district, and stood high in the Stockton Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America. He was a Democrat in matters of national politics. At the time of his death, he had amassed considerable property, and was a prominent figure in Stockton financial circles. He died on June 22, 1915, survived by his widow and five children.

Ellsworth P. Nelson graduated from the public schools, and is a Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge and the Scottish Rite order. He has been for years the right hand of his mother in conducting the extensive farming operations, and has more than justified the confidence reposed in him. Edward Thomas Nelson, also graduated from the public schools and Heald's Business College. He served in the 347th F.A. in the U.S. Army, A.E.F., and has an enviable military war record with the Army of Occupation, returning to civilian life as a disabled veteran, and having a hard struggle to regain his health. Erwin Nelson, the rancher, was educated at the public schools and Heald's Business College. He served in Company M., 363rd Inf., in lumber camps in Washington, and has an honorable discharge from Camp Lewis. He is now at home on the farm, doing his best to contribute toward the restoration of post-war prosperity. Grace Inet graduated from the Stockton high school; and James Victor Nelson is a student there, where he is a prominent athlete, and represented his school on the 1921 and 1922 football teams. He is also a De Molay member. Mrs. Nelson can be justly proud of her sons and daughters, having been very successful in rearing them to become useful citizens, a credit to their native County.

Mrs. Nelson displays excellent business acumen, and is thoroughly conversant with the modern methods employed on her Delta farm, where there is so much in strong contrast to the conditions of early days. She recalls very vividly the time of her advent to the Delta in 1895, when there were no bridges, and one had to cross the channels by ferry, if one traveled in a carriage or dray, as the ferry did not operate for foot-travelers, for whom a row-boat was employed. She recalls also the first appearance of a top surrey in the Delta in 1893. Mrs. Nelson, as a veritable pioneer, owns one of the treasured $50 gold-slugs made in California in the '50s—one received by her foster father, William Richards, when he sold a yoke of oxen he had driven across the plains. She values this slug highly, and naturally shows it with pride, for few persons own one like it. She is a member of the Congregational Church and of the Auxiliary of the Pioneer Society of San Joaquin.

Mrs. Nelson has also been the owner, for twelve years or more, of desirable residence property at 528 West Oak Street, Stockton, where she spends the winter months, although she has a very commodious, comfortable and ornate home at the ranch. She is a woman of splendid characteristics, and is beloved and highly esteemed, not only by her devoted children, but by her neighbors and business associates as well.

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PAUL L. NESS

Well known as an able pharmacist, a successful business man and a progressive citizen, Paul L. Ness is the owner and proprietor of the Ness Drug Store at Ripon. He was born at Lofoden, Norway, June 28, 1880, a son of Johan Ness, a physician of that place, but early in life he was bereaved of both father and mother, and so deprived of many of the enjoyments of childhood. He was confirmed in the Lutheran Church and attended the schools of his district, and while a mere youth began the study of pharmacy, starting as an errand boy and holding positions in drug stores at Stockmarknes, Hemmingsver and Kobelvorg, and being an apt student he acquired both a practical and theoretical knowledge of pharmacy.

Coming to the United States in 1904, Mr. Ness held positions at Granite Falls, Minn., and Lily, S.D., until the fall of 1906, when he came to California, where he similarly engaged at Berkeley and Oakland until 1909, when he came to Oakdale, where he soon became the proprietor of a drug store. Disposing of this, he left for an extended visit to his old home in 1914, his tour over Europe covering over seven months. Returning to San Francisco he bought out a drug store at San Rafael, which he disposed of after operating it for more than a year and in 1915 came to Ripon, where he established the P.L. Ness Pharmacy and a few years later, in association with Dr. N.B. Gould, built the Ripon Hospital.

In 1922 Mr. Ness built the beautiful two-story pressed brick building at Stockton and Main streets, Ripon, and this will be the permanent home for his pharmacy. It is one of the best appointed drug stores in the San Joaquin Valley and reflects great credit on its owner. By his uniform kindness, courteous ways and strict attention to business, Mr. Ness has won a success that is well deserved. A naturalized citizen of his adopted land, he works for the best interests of the community in all things.

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OTTO NEUBAUER

A well known citizen and the owner of a productive ten-acre vineyard on Harney Lane, in the Lodi section, is Otto Neubauer, and his place is visible evidence of his enterprise and thrift. He was born in Pommern, Germany, on January 19, 1866, a son of William and Henrietta (Linberg) Neubauer, farmers of their native land. They were the parents of seven children; Otto, the subject of this sketch, being the third in order of birth.

Otto attended the excellent schools of his native land and learned the trade of blacksmith there; and on July 7, 1888, landed on American soil and went direct to Faribault, Minn., where he found employment with Henry Reinege for one year on his farm. He then moved to Superior, Wis., and worked as blacksmith in the timber camps for H.M. Stocking; later he was lumberjack for seven years; then became a cook in the camps near Superior and finally opened a restaurant there, but sold out and went back to Faribault, where he conducted a hotel and restaurant for nearly three years, when he returned to Superior and ran a restaurant for one year. He then sold his restaurant in Superior and came to California and opened a restaurant at Lodi, which he continued for four and a half years, when he sold out and moved on a thirty-acre ranch just off of Cherokee Lane, two and half miles southeast of Lodi, which he had purchased upon coming here. This place was a part of the old Ferdun ranch and was devoted to grapes, which he set out, and to alfalfa growing. He lived on this place for eleven years and then sold it and purchased the ranch of ten acres on Harney Lane where he now resides. He built a new, modern house and installed a pumping plant for irrigation with a four-inch pump driven by a ten horse-power motor.

The marriage of Mr. Neubauer occurred at Morristown, Minn., on June 26, 1899, and united him with Miss Katie Weber, a daughter of Jacob Weber, a farmer of Morristown. Mrs. Neubauer was reared and educated in Morristown. Mr. and Mrs. Neubauer have had four children; Otto and Walter, died in infancy in Wisconsin; Mildred, died in her 13th year; Harold, died at four years. He is a Republican in politics and he and his wife are members of the German Lutheran Church of Lodi.

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KARL NEUHARTH

Nineteen years ago, Karl Neuharth made his first trip to California and while here visited the Lodi section of San Joaquin County, for one year. He then returned to his home in South Dakota and farmed there for two years, but the lure of the Golden State, with her mild winter climate, wonderful fruits and vegetables proved too much for him, so in 1907 he came back to make San Joaquin County his permanent home. He was born near Menno, S.D., on March 2, 1876, a son of Phillip and Katherine (Fink) Neuharth, and is the third-born of thirteen children: Jacob; Elizabeth, Mrs. Geo. Hauck; Karl, our subject; Barbara, Mrs. Fred Gutmiller; Katherine, Mrs. Emanuel Handel, of Lodi; Christian; Amelia, Mrs. John Handel; Louisa, Mrs. W. Meher; Christina, Mrs. David Schorzman; Rosina, Mrs. Geo. Serr; Bertha, Mrs. A. New; Phillip; and Pauline, Mrs. Gus Maas, of Lodi. The father was a farmer in his native country of South Russia and on arriving in America settled at Menno, S.D., where he filed a homestead and timber claim for a half-section of land. The parents still reside at Menno, S.D.

Karl Neuharth received a grammar school education in South Dakota and remained at home with his parents until he was twenty-seven years old, when he bought a quarter-section of land. This land, however, proved to be poor soil and in 1903 Mr. Neuharth sold it and came to California, where he remained for one year, when he went back to South Dakota and engaged in farming for the next two years. In 1907 he returned to California to make this his permanent home and bought forty acres of land on Kettleman Lane; later he traded this for a ten-acre vineyard two miles east of Lodi on the Lockeford Road.

The marriage of Mr. Neuharth occurred at Grafton, Neb., on November 14, 1915, and united him with Miss Rosina Eckerman, a native of that state and a daughter of Peter and Margaret Eckerman, the parents of twelve children: Peter, Jacob, Henry, John, Fred, Andrew, Frederick, Regina, Mrs. John Schmidt, of Lodi; Caroline, Emma, Mrs. Rosina Neuharth, and Christina. Mrs. Neuharth received her education in the grammar school of Grafton, Neb. Her mother passed away in 1904, but her father is still living. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Neuharth removed to their ten-acre ranch, where Mr. Neuharth had built a residence, and remained there for three years, when he sold it and purchased a thirty-acre ranch on Almond Avenue, a mile south of Lodi. Of this, eighteen acres is in vineyard and the balance in an orchard of cherries, apricots and several acres in alfalfa. In the fall of 1921, in partnership with his brother-in-law, E. Handel, Mr. Neuharth bought a thirty-five acre vineyard on the Lockeford-Lodi Road two miles east of Lodi. Mr. and Mrs. Neuharth are the parents of four children: Vera, Ruben, Emma, and Ella; and they are members of the German Reformed Church of Lodi. In politics Mr. Neuharth is a Republican.

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CHRISTIAN NEUMILLER

Prominent among the sturdy, progressive pioneers of Stockton who will long be pleasantly and gratefully remembered as the representatives of a public-spirited, widely-respected family in the front rank of Californian settlers, was the late Christian Neumiller, who died at his home in Stockton on November 3rd, 1919. He was born at Wolfersheim, Canton Zweibruecken, in Rhenish Bavaria, Germany, on February 16, 1835, and when twenty years of age came to the United States and served an apprenticeship to the baker's trade. When a full-fledged journeyman, he worked as a baker in Baltimore, Md., Alexandria, Va., and Washington, D.C., and in 1858 migrated westward to California, via the Isthmus of Panama. He arrived in San Francisco on October 18, 1858, and after six days in the Bay City moved inland to Stockton where, on New Year's Day, 1859, he entered the employ of the State of California, becoming chief baker in the bakery department of the State Hospital at Stockton. From the beginning he gave satisfaction to everybody; and he continued to discharge that responsibility, at times not altogether light, until September 1, 1908, when he retired, rounding out an enviable record, especially for almost continuous service, for he was with the State Hospital all the time, with the exception of about five years, or from 1867 to 1872, when he was engaged in farming in San Joaquin County. On his retirement, therefore, he completed about forty years of honorable service in the state, during which time Stockton continued to be his home—excepting, of course, the period when he was on the farm, near Collegeville, about ten miles from Stockton.

In June, 1865, Mr. Neumiller was married to Miss Marie Mey of Sufflenheim, Alsace, then a part of France, who had come to the United States twelve years before and had reached California for the first time in 1863. She died at Stockton on August 18, 1905, esteemed and beloved by all who knew her, the revered mother of two daughters and two sons, Mrs. Mary E. Minta, widow of the late Judge Wesley Minta, of Stockton; Miss Emma C. Neumiller; William C. Neumiller, treasurer and tax collector of San Joaquin County, and Charles L. Neumiller, a member of the law firm of Neumiller & Ditz, elsewhere written of in this work. These worthy representatives of one of the worthiest pioneer families hereabouts continue to reside at Stockton, Charles L. Neumiller and the two daughters making their home at the old Neumiller homestead, and William C. Neumiller maintaining his own home with his family.

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CHARLES L. NEUMILLER

A very popular member of the California Bar, distinguished for his legal knowledge and highly esteemed for his unswerving integrity, is Charles L. Neumiller, the senior member of the law firm of Neumiller & Ditz, occupying a spacious suite of well-appointed offices in the Commercial and Savings Bank Building, Stockton. He is the younger son of the late Christian and Marie (Mey) Neumiller, natives respectively of Rhenish Bavaria and Alsace, whose interesting life-stories are given elsewhere in this historical work, and he was born, a native son proud of his association with the great Golden State, at Stockton on October 21, 1873. He was reared and educated in Stockton, attending the public schools there, and was graduated from the Stockton high school with the class of '92.

While yet a boy, he began to cherish the ambition to become a lawyer; and this ambition he stuck to despite the fact that his father, as a hard-working man, had not the means of putting his son through college, and particularly of affording him a training in the law. Young Neumiller, therefore, was confronted with the problem of making his own way and at the same time of saving enough to take him through the law school of the University. Upon his graduation from the high school, he entered the employ of the Farmers Union and Milling Company, of Stockton, filling the position of office boy, and by attending closely to the details of the work he was expected to do, he was soon advanced to the position of shipping clerk, both of the mill and the seven establishments called the Eureka Warehouses. In 1893, the Sperry Flour Company acquired the mill and the mill warehouses, but Mr. Neumiller was retained and made superintendent of the grain storage warehouses. In this capacity, he had an abundant opportunity of becoming acquainted with the leading farmers and grain men of San Joaquin County, and some of these associations bore good fruit years later.

The year 1898 was a very disastrous one for the warehouse business—first, because of the great fire, which completely destroyed warehouses No. 5 and No. 6, and secondly because the severe drought caused a crop failure, so that there was no immediate need of rebuilding the structures destroyed by fire. Mr. Neumiller, however, turned this misfortune to good account; he resolved to complete his education and to fit himself for the legal profession. In August, therefore, he matriculated at the Hastings Law School and began to pursue the regular law studies, at the same time taking work in the University of California; and each summer he returned to Stockton, where his former employers gave him work, and in that way he managed to pay his way through college. Applying himself assiduously to his studies, he graduated in 1901, both from the University of California and from the Hastings Law School, which conferred upon him the degree of L.L.B. with the authority of the University, with which the Law School was affiliated.

Being thus duly admitted to the Bar of California, he was retained by his employers to close out their interests and large land holdings in Tulare, Kings, Fresno and Kern counties; and in this he succeeded very well, although the varied work required nearly a year. On June 1, 1902, he returned to Stockton and on July 1, 1902, he entered the district attorney's office, under Arthur H. Ashley, of Stockton, then district attorney of San Joaquin County. On January 1, 1903, the law-firm of Ashley & Neumiller was organized, with offices in the Salz Building, for the general practice of law. This firm built up a good practice, but in 1910 the partnership was dissolved and each partner resumed practice for himself, Mr. Neumiller retaining the offices in the Hale Building on Main Street where the firm of Ashley & Neumiller removed in 1906.

In 1914, George A. Ditz, a graduate of Stanford University and the Harvard Law School, came as a young lawyer into Mr. Neumiller's office, and two years later he became a partner in the law firm of Messrs. Neumiller & Ditz, now enjoying a large practice, making a specialty of corporation work. They are the attorneys for The Holt Manufacturing Company, the Sperry Flour Company, the Samson Tractor Company, the Wagner Leather Company, the Monarch Foundry Company, the Western Union Telegraph Company, the Pacific Gas & Electric Company, the Western Pacific Railroad Company, the Tidewater & Southern Railroad Company, the Rindge Land & Navigation Company, and many other well-known concerns.

Mr. Neumiller is a member of the Masons, Elks, Odd Fellows and Native Sons, and also of Stockton Commandery, No. 8, K.T. In politics, he is a strong Progressive Republican, a warm admirer of the late Theodore Roosevelt, and always has been a close and personal friend of Senator Hiram W. Johnson. Since 1912, he has been a member of the State Board of Prison Directors of the State of California and since 1915 he has served as the president thereof, which speaks for itself, for there, as everywhere else, he has discharged his trust conscientiously and efficiently.

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LEMUEL P. NEWCOMB

A very interesting chapter in the history of pioneering in San Joaquin County is revived in the story of Lemuel P. Newcomb, the vineyardist, and his worthy family, enviably identified with the planting of some of the first vineyards, and long active in laying broad and deep some of the foundations of the California commonwealth. He was born near Huntington, W.Va., on December 2, 1869, the son of George and Louisa (Flowers) Newcomb. His mother was descended from old settlers in West Virginia, while his father, who was one of four children, was from Tennessee. He was a farmer, and died in Oklahoma in 1896, survived by his devoted wife, who is still living in Montana at the age of seventy-three. Lemuel was one of a family of eleven children, he being the eldest. The others were named: Luella, Ambrose, Mary, Lena, Isaac, Flossy, John, James, Dela and Andy.

Lemuel P. Newcomb lived with his parents in West Virginia until, at the age of nineteen, he struck out for himself. Then he went to Illinois and spent six months in Ashley, and six months at Mount Pulaski. After that he removed to Kansas and leased a farm in Republic County, which he operated for a year. Leaving there, he took a westward trip to the State of Washington, but after a short time came south to California. This was in 1890, when he settled in the Acampo district and worked for wages for a short time, first for Mrs. Foster and then for Mrs. Northrop.

He next rented the Thorn grain ranch of 160 acres and farmed it for a year, and then tried his hand on Roberts Island, where he cultivated some sixty acres for nine years. For eight years he farmed the Williams place. After that, he went back to Washington, and at Montesano worked in a logging camp for two and one-half years, when he returned to the Acampo section. In 1907 he bought fifty acres, known as the Mowry Ranch, but soon after returned it to the estate and received back his money. This was after wards divided among the heirs. Mrs. Newcomb received eight and one-third acres. Mr. Newcomb received the same, for the amount he had paid down on the ranch, and then he bought another eight and one-third acres, making his entire holding twenty-five acres. He had been married at Acampo, on August 17, 1892, to Miss Etta Mowry, born at Lockeford, and the daughter of George and Molly (Smith) Mowry. Her father was a merchant and farmer, the son of Lazarus and Electa (Morgan) Mowry. She was one of four girls, the eldest of whom, Mina, is now deceased. Ollie was the next; then came Mrs. Newcomb; and the youngest was Ada, also deceased. Lazarus Mowry, the grandfather, came to California on March 18, 1873, and bought fifty acres on the Mokelumne River, where the Southern Pacific Railroad crosses, the land lying on the north side of the river at this point. It was a dense undergrowth, and Mr. Mowry cleared it and planted the first vineyard north of the river in the vicinity of Acampo, in the early eighties. Mrs. Mowry died in 1906, at the age of seventy-eight, an event of more local interest because many of the Mowry family are laid away in the family plot in Lodi cemetery. Lazarus Mowry was born in Ohio, on January 27, 1825, and died at Lodi on October 8, 1908. The name, of German origin, was originally Mourrer, and was changed with the passage of years and the migration of its bearers. Lazarus enlisted in the Civil War as Lazarus Mouer, and the change to Mowry was doubtless made in the hope that that form would be easier to pronounce. Lazarus Mowry married Miss Mary Louis, on August 20, 1846, and she died two years later, on June 4. When he married for the second time, he chose for his wife Miss Electa Vida Morgan, of Virginia, the ceremony taking place on December 31, 1848. She was a direct descendant of General Daniel Morgan, who fought in the Revolutionary War and defeated Tarleton at Cowpens, on January 17, 1781. Miss Morgan came to Ohio with her parents, and later, in the fall of 1855, accompanied them to Iowa, and several years afterward moved to Illinois. Lazarus Mowry enlisted in Company C, 118th Illinois Volunteers, but after three months of service came home and then moved to Missouri, where he remained until the spring of 1873, when he came to California.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lazarus Mowry. Following are their names and the dates of their birth: Lewis C. (now deceased), February 24, 1850; George M. (the father of Mrs. Newcomb), December 21, 1851, also now deceased; Milton J., of Stockton, November 18, 1854; John B., Portland, Ore., October 6, 1858; David, and William M. (both deceased), April 16, 1860, and November 2, 1862, respectively; Ulysses G., Arizona, May 15, 1866; and Wesley A. (also deceased), June 6, 1868.

Mr. Newcomb has a trim vineyard of five acres on the present twenty-five which is half of the old Mowry homestead, and an orchard of three acres, the balance being open land. The ranch is equipped with a first-class pumping plant. Four children have made up his family. Irma is Mrs. L.A. Kalk, of Lodi. She is the mother of one child, Gwenelda; George P. is with the Standard Oil Company, and has two sons, George, Jr. and Wilbur; Irwin is at home; Alfred married Mary L.A. Garcia, and resides at Woodbridge. They have one child, Goldy Fern. Mr. Newcomb is a member of the Lodi Lodge, Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife are Democrats, and are intensely interested in forwarding, in every way possible, the best interests of the community.

Ref: Page 434-435

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 6/6/2010

CHARLES L. NEWTON

An experienced, successful vineyardist, who has also been able to serve his fellow-citizens in the official capacity of county supervisor, is Charles L. Newton, a native of California, having been born in Amador County on January 27, 1857. His father, Dr. Jabez Newton, came to California in September, 1849, and landed at French Gulch, in El Dorado County; he was a member of the Connecticut branch, dating back to the Mayflower, and a descendant and relative of men high in public and professional stations. Dr. C.B. Newton, a younger brother of Jabez, was a regent of Bellevue Hospital, in New York, and Dr. Jabez Newton was also a well-known physician, although after coming to California, he abandoned practice and went in for mining, in Eldorado and Amador Counties. He opened up a copper mine between Ionia and Jackson in Amador County which became well-known as the Newton Copper Mine. When he came to Woodbridge, he helped to lay out the town, and then he settled in the locality.

In this vicinity, therefore, Charles L. Newton went to school, and at the San Joaquin Valley College, conveniently located at Woodbridge, he completed his studies. His father had gone into the hotel business while in Amador County, while he was locating mines, and in that county he acquired about 2,000 acres of land, which he sold on coming to Woodbridge. For many years, Dr. Newton was proprietor of the Keith Hotel at Woodbridge, until he retired, and he lived to be 83 years old. He had married Miss Mary E. Rutledge, a member of a family whose history is elsewhere sketched in this volume, and she lived to her seventy-sixth year. Five children were born to this worthy couple. Our subject was the eldest; then came Prof. C.B. Newton, of San Francisco; J.F. Newton, deceased; Annie, Mrs. J.S. Mayberry, of Antioch; and Jennie, Mrs. A.C. White, of Stockton.

After finishing his schooling, Charles Newton went into the butcher business in Woodbridge, purchasing the interests of the firm of Thompson & Folier; and this shop he ran for about ten years. On September 26, 1883, he was married at the old Jahant ranch, about four miles north of Woodbridge, to Miss Katherine Jahant; the wedding being a noted affair. Rev. A.J. Compton performed the ceremony, and not less than eighty invited guests attended. Her parents were Victor and Soli Jahant, the former a native of Ohio and the latter a native of England. He came to California in 1852, and two years later bought some 640 acres originally located by Charles Grassard and Peter Jahant, in 1853, and the next year Victor Jahant came into possession of said section of land located in Liberty township, four miles north of Woodbridge. Mrs. Newton was one of a family of seven children. Her father was a very energetic farmer, and kept his ranch in a fine state of cultivation, always using the best farm machinery he could buy. Wheat at that time was the main product looked for, and he raised some of the best in the state. In 1877, he built a splendid ranch home and there he established his family.

Mr. Newton sold his business in Woodbridge in about 1887 and they moved to Shasta County, and located at Anderson; there Mr. Newton opened a butcher and ice business; and he also carried on the forwarding business at that point, and remained in this line of activity for four years. On his return to Woodbridge he engaged in butchering for a year, and he then took a position with Thompson and Company, at Lodi, where he remained for one year and a half, resigning to assume public office.

He was elected county supervisor, 1899, and later he was re-elected four times, giving twenty years to the public service. During the years he served as supervisor he was for many years chairman of the committee on roads, bridges and franchises. Always an advocate of good roads and road improvement he saw the need for bonding the county to build permanent roads, but it took two years to get the people thoroughly interested so a bond issue of $1,890,000 was voted which built the splendid permanent roads of today. Thus San Joaquin County was the first county in the state to issue bonds to build permanent highways. In fact, Mr. Newton, as supervisor, was an enthusiastic supporter of every movement for the building up of the county and bettering the condition and enhancing the comfort and happiness of its peoples. Mr. Newton, though repeatedly offered the chairmanship of the board, steadfastly refused the honor in order that he might better carry the work he planned from the floor. He was a member of the committee appointed from different county supervisoral boards to handle the San Joaquin Valley exhibits for the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. Feeling after giving twenty years to the office of supervisor that he had done his duty faithfully and wishing to be free to look after his private business and ranches, he refused to be again a candidate, so in 1918 he stepped down and out from the office, leaving behind an enviable record, it being the general opinion that he was one of the best supervisors San Joaquin County ever had.

Since retiring from office, Mr. Newton has given himself exclusively to the occupation of a vineyardist; sixteen years ago having set out about fifty acres of the old Jahant ranch to grapes,—thirty acres to Tokay and twenty acres to wine grapes. He has been steadily improving his vineyard, and today he has it in a fine-bearing condition. He also purchased a twenty acre vineyard adjoining his home place and on each place he has installed pumping plants. He is now the director of the Woodbridge Vineyardist Association, and has done much to raise this to a front rank among similar California organizations.

Always a Democrat in politics, Mr. Newton has been active in the councils of his party in county and state politics having served as a member of the county central committee for years as well as a delegate to county and state conventions. He was a member of the state convention that nominated Jas. Budd for governor of California.

With the exception of four years spent in Shasta County, Mr. Newton has made Woodbridge his home since 1869; and he at present resides in the house formerly belonging to the Folger family, which he remodeled. Two sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Newton, and one is living. Charles Victor died at the age of 26; the other son, D.E. Newton, of Woodbridge, is the field manager of the Pioneer Fruit Company. Mr. Newton is a member of Woodbridge Lodge of Masons; is past master, and with his wife is member of the O.E.S. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, and the Native Sons of the Golden West.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 6/6/2010

CHARLES H. NICEWONGER

The career of Charles H. Nicewonger has been one of steady progress until he now holds the important and responsible position of manager of the San Joaquin Wharf & Warehouse Company. A native of Stockton, Cal., he was born on his father's ranch on French Camp road, four miles from Stockton, June 15, 1874. His father, Hays Nicewonger, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., and came to California in the early '70s, where he secured work on the George H. Castle ranch east of Stockton; later purchasing property, he farmed for himself on the French Camp road and there he continuously resided until his death. He was a Civil War veteran, having served as a member of the Signal Corps from Pennsylvania, enlisting when nineteen years of age. He was a member of the G.A.R. post of Stockton. His brother, Levi Nicewonger, was supervisor of San Joaquin County from the Second district and was prominent in the politics of the city and county. Hays Nicewonger married Miss Cynthia Castle, a daughter of George H. Castle, a '49er of California who came across the plains with ox teams and farmed east of Stockton for many years. He served as sheriff of the county prior to Tom Cunningham. Mr. Nicewonger died in 1916, being survived by his widow. They were the parents of three children: Charles H., our subject; Cary H., of Palo Alto; and Mrs. Hattie H. Schneider, of Berkeley.

Charles H. was educated in the Castle school, the Fremont grammar and the Stockton high school, where he was graduated in 1894, after which he spent two years at Stanford University. Returning to Stockton he obtained employment as a clerk in a retail coal office; then was bookkeeper for Fred Rahl Company; then with the River Express Company. For eight years he was with the California Navigation & Improvement Company as freight clerk, purser and bookkeeper; then for three years was bookkeeper with the Dickinson Guernsey Co., and then with Melone & Perry in the same capacity from 1908 until 1918. During 1918 he became the manager of the Delta Warehouse Co., operating two large warehouses, the first with a capacity of 35,000 tons and the second of 15,000 tons, storing grain and beans principally. In 1922 Mr. Nicewonger resigned and accepted a position with the San Joaquin Wharf & Warehouse Company, and on August 15, 1922, he moved the company's business to 12-14 West Weber Avenue, Mr. Nicewonger being secretary and treasurer of the company. His knowledge and experience are factors that have entered into the success of the business, which has made a steady growth since he assumed the managership.

Mr. Nicewonger's marriage united him with Miss Helen Crane, born in Ypsilanti, Mich.; and they are the parents of one son, Charles Robert. Fraternally, Mr. Nicewonger is a member of Charity Lodge, No. 6, I.O.O.F., having passed through all the chairs; and is past district deputy. He also belongs to Morning Star Lodge of Masons, No. 68, and the Ancient Egyptian Order of Sciots of Stockton.

Ref: Page 1488-1489

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 6/6/2010

ROBERT NICHOLS, JR.

An enterprising farmer, who is engaged in orcharding and dairying, is Robert Nichols, Jr., who owns and operates a twenty-eight-acre orchard one mile northwest of Thornton, on which he has made his home since 1912. A native Californian, he was born at Sheldon, August 12, 1881, a son of Robert and Mary (Traganza) Nichols, the former a native of Devonshire, England, and the latter of Placerville, Cal. The father left his native country at seventeen years of age and came to the United States, and three years later came to California. Here he was married a few years later to Miss Mary Traganza, a daughter of Thomas Traganza, an early pioneer of California, who engaged in mining on the Cosumnes River and later took up land from the Mexican government near Sheldon, where he reared his family. In time he came to own 800 acres of land in Sacramento County. Robert and Mary Nichols were the parents of five children: Thomas, Lavina, Mrs. Alltucker, residing at Elk Grove; Mary, Mrs. Schirmer, living in Sacramento; Robert, of this sketch; and Hazel, Mrs. Polhemus, of Elk Grove. The father is living, now aged seventy-five years, while the mother passed away in 1909.

Robert Nichols, Jr., received his education in the Union district school of Sacramento County. In his twentieth year he took up the plumbing and tinning trade under Lattourrette-Fical Company of Sacramento, remaining with this company for four and a half years. Then he returned to the home ranch, which he operated for four years. After this he again went to Sacramento, and purchased a half interest in the Ford agency with Mr. Fical, his former employer. At the end of ten months he sold his interest to his partner and bought a twenty-acre improved ranch about one mile northwest of Thornton, and soon afterward purchased about eight acres more adjoining. Here he is engaged in the raising of beans, alfalfa, and fruit, and also conducts a dairy.

On September 23, 1903, in Sacramento, Mr. Nichols was married to Miss Mabel Gertrude Shepard, a native of Ohio and a daughter of George A. and Eliza M. (Wood) Shepard. Her parents came to California when she was five years old, and her father was employed in the Southern Pacific Railroad shops at Sacramento; and there Mrs. Nichols received her education. Mrs. Nichols is one of two children. Her brother, George W. Shepard, resides in Sacramento. Six years ago her father passed away; the mother now resides in Sacramento. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols are the parents of two children: Roberta Gertrude and Aletha Lilis. In politics Mr. Nichols generally favors the Republican party candidates. For two years he has been constable of the New Hope district of San Joaquin County, and for six years he has been a member of the New Hope school board, and at the present time is clerk of the board. Fraternally, he is a member of the Odd Fellows, Oak Park Lodge No. 5, of Sacramento, and was also a member, a past district deputy and great sachem of the Winnebago Tribe of Red Men, No. 94, at Sacramento. Mrs. Nichols is in charge of the Thornton branch of the San Joaquin County public library. Mr. Nichols is a public-spirited man, favoring any measure that promotes general progress, and has done much valuable service for his community.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 6/6/2010

EUGENE F. NICKEL

An enterprising citizen of Lodi Eugene F. Nickel is the owner of an apartment house located at 17½ West Elm Street. He was born at Frankfort on the Oder in the province of Brandenburg, Germany, August 8, 1868, a son of Rudolph and Augusta (Beige) Nickel, both natives of Germany. There were six children in the family. Richard resides at Acton, Cal.; Olga, deceased; Hedwig, Mrs. Hilpert, resides in Leavenworth, Kans.; Eliza, Mrs. Julius Woock, resides in Lodi; Bruno, deceased; Eugene F. is the subject of this sketch. The father passed away at the age of fifty-five, the mother surviving until she was seventy-one years old.

Eugene F. Nickel received his education in the schools of Germany, and in 1885 accompanied his parents to the United States and settled in Leavenworth, Kans., where he worked for his brother-in-law, Theodore Hilpert, in his grocery store, for two years. In 1887, with his mother and brother Richard, he moved to California and settled at Acton. Here he homesteaded a tract of land, but was later forced to relinquish his claim to it. His residence at Acton covered a period of seventeen years, during which time he engaged in mining and was road supervisor and mine recorder of the Cedar mining district. In 1904 Mr. Nickel came to Lodi, where he found employment with the Lodi Wine Company. He then established a wholesale and retail wine business of his own in Lodi, which he successfully conducted, shipping to the East until 1912, when he sold out and opened a dry goods store at 17 and 19 West Elm Street, which he conducted for two years.

On January 4, 1909, at Los Angeles, Mr. Nickel was married to Miss Anna Schulte, a native of Wilmington, Cal., a daughter of August and Dorothy (Lembke) Schulte, the former a native of Westphalia and the latter of Mason County, Iowa. Mrs. Nickel's maternal grandfather, Jacob Lembke, a native of Germany, came to California in an early day and settled at Wilmington, where he acquired valuable property holdings. Mrs. Nickel is the eldest of a family of seven children, the others being Fred, John, Mrs. Ida Gallgher, Mrs. Irene Scheen and Wilford, all residents of Lodi, and George, deceased at the age of six months. Her father is deceased, but the mother is still living in Lodi. Mr. and Mrs. Nickel are the parents of four children. Theodore, Carl, Eugene and Herbert, and an adopted daughter, Agnes. After Mr. Nickel sold his dry goods business he erected the Nickel Block, a two-story brick and reinforced concrete building, 40 x 170 feet, at 17 and 19 West Elm Street, with stores below and apartments above. In politics Mr. Nickel is a Republican. Fraternally he is a member of the Sons of Hermann Lodge of Lodi, and is a past president and trustee of the Grand Lodge of California. Mrs. Nickel is a member of the Parent-Teachers Association. The family are members of the Lutheran Church of Lodi.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 6/6/2010

EDWARD NIES

More than a century ago George Washington said that “Agriculture is the most useful as well as the most honorable occupation to which man can devote his energies,” and the truth of this saying stands today as it did then. Farming is the basis of commercial activity and is one of the great departments of labor without which the human race could not maintain an existence. Edward Nies is known in San Joaquin County as an enterprising agriculturist, making his home in Victor, but in partnership with his brother, owns forty acres in vineyard. He is a native of McIntosh County, N.D., born near Lehr on August 8, 1896, and is a son of Henry and Christina Nies, both of whom were natives of southern Russia. About thirty-five years ago, Henry Nies left his home in Russia for America and on arrival settled in North Dakota, where he homesteaded a tract of land and engaged in farming for sixteen years, when he disposed of his land holdings in North Dakota and came to California, where he bought a ranch of eighty acres south of Victor, which he set out to vineyard and farmed for seventeen years and then retired to Lodi, where he resides. There were ten children that grew up in the family: John, of Lehr, N.D.; Barbara was the wife of Henry Frey and resided in Salem, Ore. She and her husband died only four hours apart, leaving six children: Andrew, Ida, William, Allina, Walter and Eldon, who now make their home in San Joaquin County. Katie, Mrs. Adolph Bechthold; Jacob, Christ, Edward, Adolph, Emil, Mrs. Martha Lee, and Albert, all reside in the vicinity of Victor.

Edward Nies came to California with his parents when seven years of age and received his education in the Alpine district school east of Lodi and assisted his father on the home place until he was twenty-one years old. He worked for wages on farms in the neighborhood of his home until he and his brother Adolph purchased the forty-acre vineyard together, which is well improved and highly cultivated, visible evidence of their thrift and industry. This vineyard is about two miles northwest of Lockeford on the Lockeford-Christian Colony highway and is in full bearing; a fine irrigation system has been installed by which they pump water direct from the Mokelumne River. In 1922 Nies brothers sold their ranch and purchased an orchard and vineyar4d one and one-half miles south of Victor. They also bought a store building in Victor and established a general merchandise business. He is a stockholder in the Victor Fruit Growers, Inc., and during the season buys and ships grapes.

Mr. Nies was married July 20, 1919, at Lodi, to Miss Bertha C. Kammer, also a native of North Dakota, a daughter of Phillip and Christina Kammer, engaged in farming in San Joaquin County. Mrs. Nies received her education in Franklin district, Sacramento County. They have one son, Lloyd Edward. Recently Mr. Nies purchased a new modern bungalow in Victor, where they reside. He and his wife are members of the Evangelical Church of Lodi and politically are Republicans.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 6/7/2010

BYRON A. NIXON

In these days of building progress and development, and with the increasing demand for lumber and building materials, it is a great satisfaction to do business with a firm that believes in keeping up-to-date along building lines. The Nixon Lumber Company, owned and operated by Byron A. and E.A. Nixon, is such an institution, which has been an invaluable factor in aiding building and industrial developments in Lockeford and vicinity. He was born in Van Buren County, Mich., on May 25, 1857, a son of Amos and Lucy Ann (Stocking) Nixon, both descendants of old Michigan families.

Byron A. Nixon attended the grammar schools of Van Buren County and when eighteen years of age began to make his own way in the world. His father being a farmer, he learned considerable about the agricultural business, but farming did not particularly appeal to him. From 1877 to 1878 he was in Montana and upon his return to Michigan settled in Antrim County and built the first store building in Bellaire, the county seat of Antrim County; later he engaged in the merchandise business in Bellaire, which occupied him for twelve years, when he sold out and went to Hillsdale, Mich., where he was employed by the Campbell Lumber Company, remaining with them for twelve years. Deciding to cast his lot in California, he spent one year in Santa Cruz in the real estate business; then went to Trinity County and spent a short time in the quartz mines of that county. After a short stay in Chico, Butte County, with the Diamond Match Company, he was transferred to Woodland, Cal., by the Diamond Match Company, where he remained for two years; and then was with Stevens Construction Company four years. Removing to Stockton in 1914, he began work for the Hatch Lumber Company, this position occupying a period of nearly five years. In the month of September, 1918, Mr. Nixon came to Lockeford and purchased the business of the Lockeford Lumber Company, which he has built up to its present proportions. Besides handling all kinds of rough and finished lumber, he carries a full line of coal and cement.

Mr. Nixon's marriage occurred at Unadilla, Livingston County, Mich., on December 7, 1886, and united him with Miss Ethel Adora May, a native of that state and a daughter of W.J. and Lydia (Durkee) May, her father a blacksmith and farmer by occupation. Mrs. Nixon received her education in the public schools of Michigan and later was graduated from the Mancelona Normal School, after which she taught for four years previous to her marriage to Mr. Nixon. They are the parents of two children: Mrs. A.H. Meier, of Chico, has three children; Burgess A. also resides at Chico and is with the Sacramento Northern Electric Company. Politically, Mr. Nixon is a Republican and fraternally belongs to the Masons of Hillsdale, Mich., and Scottish Rite Masons of Lansing, Mich. Mr. Nixon's operations are of a constructive nature and he has given freely of his time and means toward the development of his locality.

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Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 6/7/2010

EDWARD H. NOACK

Commercial activity finds a worthy representative in Edward H. Noack, president and manager of the Monarch Foundry Company, of Stockton, Cal. He was born in San Francisco on March 9, 1875, and as a child lived in Stockton. During the year of 1883, his parents removed to Walla Walla, Wash., and our subject became a messenger boy with the Western Union Telegraph Company. During the summer of 1894, the family left Washington with a four-horse team and wagon and drove to Stockton, leaving on June 12 and arriving in Stockton on July 31. His first work in Stockton was in a photograph gallery operated by Frank Elliott. Then he became an apprentice to learn the pattern-maker's trade with the Globe Iron Works, and later with Matteson & Williamson; from September, 1898, to September, 1900, he worked at the trade in Sacramento with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Returning to Stockton, he entered the employ of J.M. Kroyer, who had just started the Sampson Iron Works, and he got out the first patterns for their gas engine. In September of 1906, in partnership with R.J. Quinn, Charles Foreman and George Snell, he started the East Street Foundry Company, and in 1907 the business was incorporated as the Monarch Foundry Company and moved to the present location on East Oak Street and Sacramento Street. In 1812, R.L. Quisenberry bought the interest of George Snell. Later, Quinn and Foreman sold out to the Monarch Foundry Company, and about 1916 Quisenberry sold his interest. The present officers of the company are Edward H. Noack, who has been the president since 1912 and manager since its incorporation in 1907, and who holds the majority of the stock; and L.L. Ventre, the secretary of the corporation. The company started with a very small capital, paid $35 per month rent for the East Street building, and employed from twelve to twenty-five men, whereas they now employ from 125 to 150 men. Their original building on East Oak Street was 75x100 feet. Additions have been made until the buildings now cover an area of 150x300 feet, with a separate machine shop 50x100 feet; additional property was purchased, and the plant now covers half a block. During 1915 an electric furnace for making steel castings was installed, and Mr. Noack spent some time throughout the East making a thorough study of the steel business. In 1908, the company began the manufacture of centrifugal pumps. Among their other products are gray iron castings, electric steel castings, and general pumping machinery; they are the sole manufacturers of the Monarch Ames deep-well, double-acting plunger pumps, and their trade covers the entire Pacific Coast and extends into Mexico.

During the World War, Mr. Noack was very active in all bond drives at times being away from business an entire week. He is president of the Stockton Merchants, Manufacturers and Employers Association and an active member of the Stockton Rotary Club. Fraternally he is a member of the Charity Lodge of Odd Fellows, Stockton, and is a member and trustee of the Stockton Lodge, No. 218, B.P.O.E.

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HENRY THOMAS OHM

A prominent citizen and an extensive grain farmer, Henry Thomas Ohm has a fine farm and residence three miles northeast of Vernalis, and as a practical farmer and business man he has achieved a most desirable degree of success. He was born on the Ohm ranch near Vernalis on December 29, 1881, the only son of Thomas and Mrs. Rebecca (Riecks) Ohm, natives of Bremen and Holstein, Germany, respectively. The father passed away July 19, 1886. The mother still resides upon the old home place, and her sketch also appears in this work.

Henry Thomas Ohm grew up on the grain ranch, and received a good education in the New Jerusalem district school, supplemented by a course in the Adams Cosmopolitan School at San Francisco and the Polytechnic high school, continuing his course of study for three years. He then became a clerk in the office of Bovee, Toy & Sonntag, real estate and insurance brokers of San Francisco, where he remained for a year and a half; then, at the solicitation of his widowed mother, he returned to the home ranch, which he managed on shares. From time to time, Mr. Ohm has made an investment in lands, until he now owns extensive holdings near Vernalis, all devoted to grain raising, that yield abundant crops each season. Mr. Ohm, besides farming his own land, also operates the ranch belonging to Sheriff W.H. Riecks, a half-brother of our subject, who is a resident of Stockton. About one year ago, Mr. Ohm was one of the prime movers in, and brought about the election for, the foundation of an irrigation district, and is a member of the board of directors.

The marriage of Mr. Ohm occurred at Stockton on March 4, 1914, and united him with Miss Lillie Ohm, a native of California, born near Woodbridge, a daughter of John Ohm, of a prominent and influential family of San Joaquin County, and they are the parents of one daughter, Evelyn. Politically, Mr. Ohm is a Republican and fraternally is affiliated with the Stockton Elks, No. 218. His entire life has been spent in the San Joaquin Valley, with the exception of the time spent in acquiring his education at San Francisco, and his business career has been imbued with the spirit of enterprise which is so characteristic of the far West and which has led to its wonderful and rapid development.

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MRS. REBECCA OHM

One of the few survivors of the early day settlers of San Joaquin County, Mrs. Rebecca Ohm has borne an important part in its development. Although advanced in years, she has maintained her association with the progressive, alert, and constructive element of the locality where she has resided since 1867. With the exception of three years passed in San Francisco, Mrs. Ohm has continuously resided on the home place located about ten miles south of Banta. She is a native of Bremen, Germany, born on January 14, 1846, her parents being German and Rebecca (Segelkin) Von Bremen, who were also natives of Germany. Mrs. Ohm was reared in her native country, where she remained until her twentieth year, when with a brother and two sisters she came to the United States, sailing from Bremen to New York City, and then via the Isthmus of Panama she made her way to San Francisco, Cal., the trip covering a period of six weeks.

The first marriage of Miss. Von Bremen occurred on February 12, 1869, and united her with William Riecks, a native of Hanover, Germany, and to them were born three children: William H., the sheriff of San Joaquin County; Herman A. and Carl F. In 1868 William Riecks, who was born at Kiel, Germany, settled upon the ranch upon which our subject now resides and was one of the early residents of the neighborhood. He had come to California in boyhood, crossing the plains in 1856. He first engaged in agricultural pursuits in the Livermore district, and subsequently settled in San Joaquin County. He passed away on June 9, 1879, and was numbered among the worthy pioneers who took advantage of the natural resources of the state and who in carrying forward his own business interests also promoted the general prosperity and welfare of this portion of California. On August 14, 1881, Mrs. Riecks became the wife of Thomas Ohm, a native of Holstein, Germany, where he was born December 29, 1842. He came to California in 1866 by way of the Isthmus route, and settled in San Joaquin County in 1868. In 1881, following his marriage, he settled upon the farm now occupied by his widow, and continued there until his death on July 19, 1886. Besides being an extensive grain farmer, for many years he was engaged in the general merchandise business as a member of the firm of L. Borach & Company at Banta, Cal. He was a public-spirited citizen and was widely known in his locality, because of his devotion to the general good. He favored all measures for the promotion of the social, material, intellectual and moral welfare of his community, and he held membership in the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Ohm is also a member of that church and is among the representative pioneer women of her district in San Joaquin County. She has made many friends, and her own home in the New Jerusalem school district has always been noted for cordial hospitality. Mrs. Ohm has seen many changes during the long period of her residence in California and has watched the development of San Joaquin County as it has emerged from pioneer conditions to become a factor in the progress and prosperity of the state. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ohm, Henry Thomas, who operates the home place; Bertha M., and Antonia A.

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LEONIDA OLIVIERI, M.D.

Born in the ancient city of Genoa, Italy, December 14, 1866, Dr. Leonida Olivieri is a descendant of an eminent and noble Italian family. Both his father and his grandfather were physicians, and famous men of their time. He was graduated from the University of Physicians and Surgeons in Genoa, Italy, after which he took a post-graduate course at the Medical College of Paris. About thirty years ago he sailed for America, and for a while he located in Chicago, and in that city, in 1893, he was attached to the medical department of the World's Fair Exposition, where the instrument of his invention for the safe and rapid operation in tracheotomy received the first prize.

A few years later Dr. Olivieri came out to California for his health; and having been favorably impressed with the Golden State from the start, he has been here ever since, always busy with the successful practice of his profession. His exceptional scientific training and equipment, and his linguistic attainments, and the other fruits of his profound study and wide travel have contributed to enable him to render the greatest service to important circles in Stockton and the rest of San Joaquin County. During all these years he also contributed to the beauty of Stockton by erecting fine buildings and improving the country around by converting several large pieces of almost sterile land into valuable and highly productive ranches, and no greater evidence could be desired of his faith in the future of this region, to which he has always been so loyal. Cultured and philanthropic by nature, he has won the esteem and the sincere affection of his numerous friends here and elsewhere. In honor of distinguished services rendered by Dr. Olivieri to his native land, he was honored by King Humbert, who bestowed upon him the rank of Chevalier officer with the Cross of the Crown of Italy.

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JOHN OLSON

Prominent among those Californians who have not only been able to retire with a comfortable competence, but have withdrawn from active participation in the affairs of life with the assurance of good will from all to whom they are known, may be mentioned John Olson, of 229 North Grant Street, Stockton. He was born in Colsum, Sweden, on the Baltic Sea, on June 17, 1838, and as a boy followed the sea, becoming a ship-carpenter. He left home when he was eighteen years of age, and sailed to England; and from there he went out to Australia as second carpenter, in that way following his father, who had mastered the same trade.

In Australia he ran away from his ship, and not long after joined a vessel bound for San Francisco, arriving at the Golden Gate in 1858. From the Bay City he pushed on inland to Greenwood Valley, Placer County, where he took up a mining claim, with a friend, and was fortunate in making money; and later he went into Placer County, and there bought a claim for $1,400 at Todd's Valley, on the American River. He worked the same, and soon took out enough to pay for it. Then he sold out and went to Washoe, Nev., during the excitement in the Comstock Lode. He took up a claim and also mined at Ophir Mill and Washoe Valley.

In 1865, he returned to the East on a trip and while there married, in that year, Miss Charlotte Flower, a native of Ohio. He resumed carpenter work in Newcastle, Penn., and erected two blocks. These he sold and came back to California. He went to Dutch Flat, in Placer County, and worked in the mines as a carpenter; and then he went on to Gold Run, in Placer County, where he took up hydraulic mining and built a sluiceway. He went to Alta, in the same county, and helped to build a sawmill; and in Oakland he worked again at his trade, removing in 1878 to Lodi, where he worked for Comstock & Clapp, in building houses. He was for three years in Red Bluff and built a flour mill.

Coming to Stockton, he bought ten acres of land in the Parker Addition, south of Stockton, and this he farmed for about twenty years, raising alfalfa, grapes, berries, etc. He paid seventy-five dollars per acre for five acres, and eighty dollars per acre for the balance; and he sold this property, some years ago, at a fair profit. While he worked in Stockton, he was in the employ of Jerry Robinson, the contractor, and he helped to erect many notable buildings, including the Yosemite Theater.

Mr. Olson has four daughters, Mrs. Maggie Lenfister, Mrs. Gran Sharck, Mrs. Mabel Matthews, and Mrs. Bessie Erickson, and there are nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Olson also own a home on Clay Street, and they attend the Central Methodist Church.

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JOHN B. O'MALLEY

One of the successful, honored and highly respected citizens of San Joaquin County, where he located in an early day when pioneer conditions existed in this part of the state, was John B. O'Malley. As the day with its morning of hope and promise, its noontide of activity and its evening of accomplished and successful effort, ending in the grateful rest and quiet of the night, so was the life of this worthy man, who in his business career directed his labors so carefully and intelligently that he gained prosperity, and so honorably that he won the unqualified confidence of all with whom he came in contact. He was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, May 15, 1830, and when a lad of eight was bereaved of his father, Michael O'Malley. Being the oldest in the family he was obliged to begin at a very early age to help with the support of the other members of the family, but meanwhile he was able to acquire a fair education. When he was seventeen, in 1847, he brought his mother, Bridget O'Malley, his sister Margaret, and his brother Martin, to America. They embarked on a sailing vessel and after a six weeks' voyage, during which very stormy weather was encountered, they landed in this country, going direct to Norwich, Conn., where they located.

Two years later, on October 29, 1849, John B. O'Malley was married to Miss Ann E. Brennan, also a native of County Roscommon, born on June 29, 1831, the fourth child in a family of seven. She was educated in a private school and accompanied her parents to America in 1847, and she proved just the right kind of a helpmate and companion for her husband, and during her whole life, exemplified the wonderful character that made her loved by all who ever knew her. Mr. O'Malley was employed on the S.S. Commonwealth, a passenger steamer plying between Norwich and New York until 1853, when he became enthused over the news of the gold discovery in California, so made arrangements to leave his family in the East and set out to seek his fortune in the ]est. He arrived in San Francisco, via Panama, and came direct to Stockton and found work at the Weber House, a leading hotel of that period, and soon he became the manager and held that position for four years. In the meantime, in 1856, he sent for his wife and their two children, Elizabeth A. and John, who reached Stockton in due time. Soon a home was established in the new city and they remained here until 1862.

Mr. O'Malley had his turn at mining with some Stockton men, among whom was Michael Carroll, who eventually became his neighbor and lifelong friend. In 1862 Mr. O'Malley bought 400 acres of land from George Castle, located seventeen miles southeast from Stockton on the French Camp Road and here he built a cabin for his family and there they resided until he was able to complete a large and commodious residence. This house is still standing and has been the family home ever since. In order to have a good neighbor, Mr. O'Malley sold to Michael Carroll half of his original purchase and these two men worked together to make their part of the county a desirable place in which to live. Mr. O'Malley was very successful as a grain and live stock raiser and in time came to own 1,300 acres of good land; 640 acres of this property he later sold to the Stockton Vineyard Company. He was a philanthropist in the truest sense for he helped a man to help himself and was ever ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate; he was likewise a devoted husband and father and their home life was ideal.

There were eight children born to this worthy couple, namely: Elizabeth A., died aged eight years; John died aged two; Sarah entered the religious life and for thirty-one years was a teacher in St. Agnes College in Stockton, also for seven years was in San Rafael. She was known as Sister Mary John of the Dominican Order and died July 10, 1920; William B., of Stockton, married Louisa Denny of San Francisco and they have two children, John Raymond and Mary Ines; Mary, married W.L. Brennan and has four living children, Clare, Cyril, William Leland and Reginald; Miss Margaret makes her home on the ranch; Ellen is a registered nurse; and Miss Jane makes her home on the ranch and with her sister Margaret manages the home estate; both are graduates from St. Agnes College in Stockton, and they have shown marked ability in carrying on the ranch work and the memory of their father and mother are the incentives to maintain the highest standard on the ranch and to preserve the old California hospitality that has made their home a gathering place for all their friends.

In 1899 Mr. and Mrs. J.B. O'Malley celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at their country home, surrounded by children, grandchildren, relatives and friends, and was a most enjoyable occasion for all. Mr. O'Malley handled his extensive interests up to the day of his death, on September 26, 1909. On June 29, 1921, at the family home was celebrated the ninetieth birthday of Mother O'Malley and a large company enjoyed a genuine hospitality under the roof of this honored pioneer woman, who always had been an inspiration to all who ever came under influence. She died on September 10, 1921, mourned by the entire countryside, as well as her immediate family and intimate friends. She was laid to rest in St. Patrick's churchyard at Atlanta, which she loved so well and which she and her husband had helped to maintain. Mr. O'Malley and Michael Carroll will always be given credit for putting in the blast that brought the water at the Lane Springs resort; and at the time of his death Mr. O'Malley was the oldest naturalized citizen in the county, receiving his papers as early as 1852. His mother came to California in later years and lived with her son, dying at his home at the age of seventy-seven years. The names of Mr. and Mrs. J.B. O'Malley are enduringly inscribed upon the records of the early pioneer settlers of San Joaquin County and it is with much satisfaction we present their portraits in this history.

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CHARLES L. ORTMAN

It is interesting to chronicle the life of a native son who had the ambition and courage to take a stand for the right and then fight for it, and who won the confidence and respect of the community where he was born and reared. Such a man was the late Charles L. Ortman, the son of pioneer parents, prominent in the development and building up of the Stockton section. He was one of Stockton's most successful business men, and he served for three terms as county assessor, his acquaintance throughout the county being perhaps second to none. Born on the old Ortman homestead at the junction of the Linden and Jack Tone roads he spent his entire life there. Mr. Ortman, of late years took a great pride in his boyhood home place and made it a very attractive property, an excellent almond orchard thriving there at the present time; and was one of the first San Joaquin farmers to go into the almond growing business on a large scale, planting sixty acres, from which he received profitable returns each season.

As county assessor, Mr. Ortman made a great record. He was the first California assessor to assess the Western Union Telegraph Company's franchise as a county property, and defeated a bill in the legislature which practically exempted franchises from taxation. When the Western Union refused to pay, Mr. Ortman levied on the company's safe, hired a drayman and walking into the telegraph office, seized the safe and carted it away. Thus was the payment compelled and a state-wide precedent established. He was the first assessor to assess railroad fencing, railroad cars other than those belonging to the corporation; first to assess gas wells; he lowered the tax on land and raised the assessment on valuable income producing property; had framed by his private attorney and secured the passage by the state legislature a law assessing national bank stock; compelled the Santa Fe Railroad Company to pay taxes in San Joaquin County on its valuable land holdings; added millions of dollars to the assessment rolls of the state, thereby reducing the rate of taxation. In five lawsuits with tax shirkers he was upheld in every instance. He found that some of the larger stores in Stockton were assessed lower than the smaller ones, and in raising the valuation on income property, also raised the valuation of some of the larger stores five times more than the previous assessment; he was also the first assessor to assess the barges belonging to the Navigation Company. He appeared many times before the legislature at Sacramento, and although many corporations fought him on their assessments, he won out every time, but in some instances carried the cases to the Supreme Court of the state. His motto was, “the rich man, as well as the man of moderate property, should bear his just proportion of taxation.” He was ever a progressive Republican, and was never weary in contributing to raise the the standard of civic ideals. Mr. Ortman was noted for his fairness and honesty, but he was firm in his convictions and once he reached a conclusion he proceeded to carry out his plans regardless of counter influences. Upon quitting public life, Mr. Ortman entered the automobile business as a partner of Walter Hansel, whose biographical sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume, under the firm name of Hansel & Ortman. Success rewarded them from their earliest operations. The firm is one of the oldest on auto row and one of the largest in the San Joaquin Valley. Keenly attentive to business, kindly, courteous and obliging. Mr. Ortman made friends of all with whom he came in contact. His death brought genuine sorrow to a great many residents of San Joaquin County who held him in the highest regard. Mr. Ortman was fifty-nine years old when he passed away and is survived by a devoted wife, and a son, Carl S. Ortman. Fraternally he was a member of the Stockton Lodge of Elks and Stockton Parlor of Native Sons of the Golden West.

Carl S. Ortman is also a native son of California and was born in Stockton October 22, 1892, and received his education in the public schools of his native city. After finishing his education he entered the automobile business with his father and later became manager of Hansel & Ortman, auto dealers. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason, is a director in the San Joaquin Auto Trades Association; and a director in the Lions Club of Stockton. His marriage united him with Miss Althea Morse, a native of Rhode Island, and they are the parents of one daughter, Carla. Mr. Ortman is following closely the standards as maintained by his prominent father, and stands high in the estimation of the citizens of the community.

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CARL W. OSER

Forty-five years' association with one firm is the record of Carl W. Oser and one in which he can take just pride, and now as superintendent of the shipping and grading department of the Wagner Leather Company, he occupies a position among its most trusted and faithful employees. Since the pioneer days of '49, the name of Oser has been well represented in Stockton through our subject and his father, Alois Oser. The latter was born in Baden, Germany, of a family of high rank in that duchy. At the time of the gold excitement in California he was residing in Missouri, having come to the United States several years previous to this, and with one companion he started out to cross the plains on foot in 1849. They finally reached the coast, but at the cost of untold hardships and privations. While going over Truckee Pass, in the Sierra Nevadas, their food gave out and they were obliged to subsist on such foodstuffs as had been discarded by others who were westward bound.

When they reached Stockton, Mr. Oser was much broken in health, but as soon as he had regained his strength he carried out his plans to go to the mines. He went to Nevada County and mined at Grass Valley and Red Dog for a time, but as his hopes of fortune were not fulfilled, he returned to Stockton. He had thoroughly mastered the jeweler's trade before he left his native land and in 1858 he opened a jewelry store at Stockton under the name of Schmidt and Oser, their store being located on the Levee between Center and El Dorado streets. In 1869 Mr. Oser passed away, leaving a wife and five children. Before her marriage Mrs. Oser was Johanna Meunter, the daughter of a pioneer, Wm. Muenter, who came via Cape Horn in 1849, his wife and children following the same route in 1850; on their arrival they found that the father was dead; he was a victim of the cholera, and was buried on the present site of the City Hall on Market Street, San Francisco.

After her husband's death, Mrs. Oser reared her family of five children in the little house left her standing on Fremont between Hunter and El Dorado, giving them the best education she could in the local school. She now makes her home with our subject and at eighty-two years of age is hale and hearty and well posted on the early days. The second oldest of family, Carl W. Oser, was born February 17, 1862, in Stockton, and attended the local public schools. Meantime, from a boy he worked at odd times assisting his mother, and at the age of fifteen he became associated with the Wagner Leather Company, learning all the branches of the business. In 1890 he was made foreman of the tannery and now he is superintendent of the shipping and grading department. His well-merited promotions from time to time are a substantial acknowledgement of the esteem in which he is held by the heads of the company and his long retention is in itself a high recommendation of his faithful services.

On March 1, 1892, Mr. Oser was married to Miss Emma Stoetzer, and one daughter, Lois, was born to this marriage. Mrs. Oser's father, Henry E. Stoetzer, was born near Stuttgart, Germany, February 12, 1830, the son of Casper Stoetzer, a manufacturer, who followed his son to the United States and died here. Henry E. Stoetzer was interested in railroad work for some time before coming to California in 1860, by way of the Horn. Going directly to Calaveras County he was successfully engaged in mining at Copperopolis for two years, when, in 1862, he returned to Germany and was there married to Miss Bernardine Buehner, in Steinbach-Hallenberg. With his bride Mr. Stoetzer returned to the United States via Panama, but instead of resuming mining, he opened up a restaurant in Copperopolis, the first to be established there. In 1865 Mr. Stoetzer came to Stockton and continued in the same business under the name of the Copperopolis Restaurant, at the corner of Main and Sutter streets, and this was successful from the start. In 1867, however, a fire destroyed the building and Mr. Stoetzer then opened the St. Charles Hotel. In 1870 he purchased another hotel at San Joaquin and Weber streets, first known as the Fairplay, afterwards changed to the San Joaquin Hotel. On this site, in 1909, his two daughters erected a three-story building for stores and offices, greatly improving the property. In his various undertakings Mr. Stoetzer accumulated a competency which enabled him to live retired for twenty years before his death, which occurred June 6, 1900, his wife surviving him until October 30, 1907. They were the parents of four children: Louis F., in Washington, D.C.; Antone E., deceased; Mrs. Emma Oser and Mrs. Lena Berg.

Mr. Oser has many interesting memories of the early days of Stockton, as he has seen it grow from a small town to a beautiful, prosperous city, and he can well remember shooting ducks on Banner Island, opposite Stockton. He was a member of the old Volunteer Fire Department for many years, has occupied all the chairs of Stockton Parlor No. 7, N.S.G.W., and of the Knights of Pythias, and is a member of the Elks. Mr. Oser has always taken an active interest in public affairs and from 1884 to 1886 was constable of Stockton. In 1911 he was elected to the city council of Stockton, the only Republican on the council, receiving the majority of votes in the second ward over a very strong opponent. He served for two and a half years, up to the time the city adopted its new charter providing for a commission form of government. He was the instigator and carried through the measure to build steel sheds on the wharf to take place of the old wooden ones. This did away with having a fire boat and in the end was a means of great saving. He met with much opposition in this measure, but carried it through. A man of steadfast convictions, he can always be found on the side of the community's best interests and stands high in its esteem. The family make their home in a beautiful residence at 607 North Lincoln Street.