USA > California > San Joaquin County > An illustrated history of San Joaquin County, California. Containing a history of San Joaquin County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its future prospects; > Part 92
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
nine others in driving wagons laden with mili- tary supplies for the soldiers at Salt Lake city. From that point he went to Los Angeles, Cali- fornia, and there worked for about three years, also as a teamster. In 1860 he engaged in inining in Tuolumne County, remaining one year, and was next employed in taking care of cattle near Knight's ferry at $75 a month un- til 1865. He had meantime made Stockton his home in 1862, and at the close of his career as a wagoner he settled in this city and went to work at his trade, opening a shop of his own. For about two years, 1871 and 1872, he had a partner, the firm being Wilson & Feeley, car- penters and builders. At all other times since starting here in 1865, Mr. Wilson has carried on business alone, finding it easier to give satisfaction to liis customers, with respons- ibility nndivided. He has been remarkably successful and attributes his acceptance with his customers to the simple rule of trying to do faithful work.
Mr. Wilson was married in Stockton, May 21, 1872, to Miss Maggie Tye, born in New London, Connecticut, June 2, 1853, a daughter of Michael and Ann (Maran) Tye, both natives of Ireland. They came here from Connecticut, in 1862, with their children, of whom one son and four daughters are living: Hugh M. Tye, an upholsterer of this city; Annie, now the wife of Michael McCann, engineer of the fire department; and two other married sisters, non-residents.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have three living chil- dren: Margaret Elizabeth, born June 17, 1875; Henry Wilson, December 8, 1877; Ella Moran, December 17, 1882. Mr. Wilson has built from his own plans and designs a very comfort- ble and pleasant home at moderate cost, at 88 Oak street, Stockton.
ILLIAM GEORGE WHEATON, a rancher of this county, residing in Stockton, was born in Honiton, Devon- shire, England, June 29, 1840, a son of William 39
and Emina (Du Chemin) Wheaton, natives of that shire. The mother, born in 1812, is living in Exeter, England, in 1890; the father, left an orphan at the age of eight, became a man of some local prominence as a merchant and con- tractor, and lived to be over seventy, dying in England about 1883. Grandfather George Du Chemin was born in London, the son, as is be- lieved, of a French emigrant of the revolution- ary period, lived to be over eighty; his wife, by birth a Miss Wilcox, died at the age of fifty.
The subject of this sketch received a fairly good education, and was employed by his father as a clerk from the close of his school days un- til about a year after his marriage. W. George Wheaton was married in East Teynmouth, August 30, 1869, to Miss Julia Whitmarsh, born in Exeter, March 27, 1842, a daughter of Thomas Webb and Louise (Dn Chemin) Whit- marsh, a cousin. In 1870 Mr. Wheaton en- gaged with a partner in silk manufacture at Chard, Somerset, under the style of Payne & Wheaton, and about three years later sold his interest to Mr. Payne. He then embarked in a business venture in Honiton, which proved short- lived and unprofitable, and on November 30, 1875, he left Bristol with his wife and children on the steamer Somerset, for New York city. On their arrival they took train for Stockton, reaching this city December 22, 1875, and set- tled in their present home on Sutter street, be- tween First and Second streets, which Mr. Whea- ton purchased the following year. In 1878 he bought 240 acres on the Lone Tree road, in Dent Township, 160 on the " West Side" in 1882, and 160 near Clements in 1884, all of which he rents to working farmers. Mrs. Wheaton, a lady of education and of special talent in music. gave lessons in that line, chiefly on the piano, for twelve years. She died at her home August 16, 1888, leaving two children: Ada Julia, born in Axminster, Devon, England, June 8, 1870, and Mary Louise Bentley, born in Perry street, near Chard, Somerset, April 21, 1872, both educated at home by their devoted mother. The elder sister took charge of her mother's pupils and has
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
continued teaching in that line to the present time. The younger sister also is a good mu- sician, and both, with their father, are members of St. John's Episcopal Church of this city.
ENRY WITMER WEAVER, of Stockton, an attorney for land claimants, was born in Pennsylvania, December 22, 1836, a son of Jonathan and Ann (Lefevre) Weaver, both natives of that State, and both now deceased. Five of their children, three sons and two dangh- ters, are living in 1890, all married: one son in Kentucky, another in Philadelphia, the third, the subject of this sketch, in this city, and the two danghters, near the old home, nine iniles east of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
H. W. Weaver received a limited education in his yonth in the old log school-house of the district, and at the age of fourteen became a clerk in a general store in Paradise, Pennsylva- nia, where he worked several years, receiving a salary of $300 toward the close of his connection. He then went to the State Normal School for two years, but instead of teaching took a position on the Pennsylvania Railroad at Sta- tion 24, in charge of a grain warehouse and other interests of the road at that point. In 1858 he moved to Sterling, Illinois, where he entered a dry-goods store as clerk, remaining until April, 1861, when he enlisted in the Thir- teenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until mustered out in 1864. He then returned to Sterling and resumed his situation in the same dry-goods establishment in which he had worked before his enlistment. He was there married in 1864, to Miss Ellen G. Cooke, born in Newburg, Chenango County, New York, a daughter of William Z. and Charlotte (Hyde) Cooke. They were among the early settlers of Sterling, where the mother died at about the age of forty; the father is living in Santa Ana, California, in 1890, aged about seventy. Soon after his marriage Mr. Weaver opened a general store in Sterling, which he carried on until
Jannary 1, 1870, when he came to Stockton, inore especially for the benefit of Mrs. Weaver's health. She had been an invalid for a few years, but has entirely recovered. Mr. Weaver obtained the position of clerk in the United States land office, where he remained nntil 1876. He was elected County Clerk in 1877, holding the place by re-election until 1883, and since that time has been engaged in his present busi- ness of attorney for land claimants before the Stockton land office or the general land office in Washington, District of Columbia.
Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Weaver have four chil- dren: Ann, now Mrs. C. E. Littlehale, of this city; Daniel L., a clerk with Jackson & Earle; Catharine J., and Henry Eckert Weaver, of whom the oldest was born in Sterling, Illinois, and the other three in Stockton, California. Mr. H. W. Weaver has been a Mason since 1858, and is also a member of the A. O. U. W.
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ETER VINET, a rancher of Dent Town- ship, was born in Charente, France, in 1822, and emigrated to Mexico in 1839, direct from Bordeaux to Vera Cruz. In 1845 he was there married to Miss Refugia Aguirre, born in Mexico about 1829, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Aguirre, the father being by birth a Spaniard. On the discovery of gold in California Mr. and Mrs. Vinet came to this coast, and Mr. Vinet went to mining for two years. Except these two years he has been en- gaged in farm work for fifty years. In 1859 he bought his first 160 acres in this township, and in 1889 owns 1,760 acres, devoted chiefly to the raising of wheat.
Mr. and Mrs. Vinet are the parents of three living children. Joseph Peter, born October 17, 1863, received a good education, finishing with a session in Santa Clara College, and is in busi- ness in Stockton. He was married to Miss Marie Louise Pache, a daughter of Jules P. Pache, of Stockton. They have one child, Marie Louise Refugia, born October 12, 1888.
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The other children of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Vi- net are Miss Anita Refugia, born January 19, 1867, and Marie Irene, born in 1870, both of whom finished their education in Notre Dame Academy in San Jose. There is also an adopted daughter, Dolores Gertrude, married in 1884 to William A. Carroll, of Dent Township. They have two children, Joseph Justin and Artlınr Victor.
ENNIS TUMELTY, of the firm of Mc- Kinnon & Tumelty, bridge builders and general contractors of Stockton, was born in Down County, Ireland, August 23, 1843, a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Fitzsimmons) Tumelty, both natives of that county. The father, by trade a mason, died at the age of thirty-five, the result of a fall from a building on which he had been at work three years be- fore. The mother, born in 1806, died in her native county in 1881, and her parents also lived to a good age, having passed middle life by some years. Grand-uncle Matt Tnmelty, a farmer in Down, reached the age of ninety-six.
The subject of this sketch received some schooling in his youth, and helped on the farm on which he was brought np. At the age of seventeen he went to Scotland and learned the trade of ship carpenter in Ardrossen on the Clyde, serving an apprenticeship of five years. He there worked one year as journeyman, and three years at different points on the Clyde. He was married in Glasgow in 1869, to Miss Cath- erine Lynch, born in Ayrshire in 1847, a daugh- ter of Henry and Agnes (Boyle) Lynch. He continued working at his trade on the Clyde until 1871, when he left for America with his wife and child, arriving in New York on the 27th of June. He went direct to Sarnia, On- tario, working there three months, and thence to Lapeer, Michigan, where he worked nine months in a lumber camp as engineer, having acquired some knowledge of that business on the Clyde. In 1872 he again engaged at his
trade of ship carpenter in Port Huron, Michi- gan, where he remained until 1875, when he came to California and settled down in the same line of work here in June of that year. In 1878 he first became connected in business with his present partner and with two others, and soon engaged in taking contracts. After some changes in membership, the present firm of Mckinnon & Tumelty, consisting of August McKinnon and Dennis Tumelty, was formed in January, 1883. They have done considerable work in the bridge-building line in this county, as well as in the counties of Stanislaus, Cala- veras, Kern, Tulare, Sacramento and Contra Costa. They employ gangs of workmen vary- ing from twenty-five to 125 or more, according to the magnitude and urgency of the contracts on hand.
Mr. and Mrs. Tumelty are the parents of five living children: Richard Charles, born in Scotland, June 26, 1870, is in the employ of Mckinnon & Tumelty as engineer; James, born in Port Huron, Michigan, October 3, 1873, is learning the trade of plumber in this city in 1890; Catherine, also born in Port Huron, Au- gust 31, 1875 Hugh, born in Stockton, May 13, 1877; William D., also born in this city, August 13, 1883.
Mr. Tumelty is a member of the Irish-Amer- ican Association.
LFRED BENJAMIN TREADWELL, Prosecuting Attorney of Stockton, was born in this city, November 29, 1856, a son of William and Susan (Walker) Tread well, both deceased. The father, born in England about 1807, by trade a painter, emigrated to Mexico and was there married; the mother, born in Mexico, of an English father and a Mexican mother, Vivian Evara, who were mar- ried in Hermosillo in 1834. She was of Span- ish descent. Grandfather Walker died there, aged sixty-eight; grandmother Vivian (Evara) Walker came with three sons and Mr. and Mrs.
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
Treadwell to California in 1851, at the sugges- tion or request of Mr. Thomas Walker, of Stockton, who perhaps was a relative of grand- father Walker. Here William Treadwell be- came associated with Thomas Walker under the style of Walker & Company, one of the pioneer commission houses of this city. He died in 1857, and the mother followed in 1860, leaving the subject of this sketch an orphan of four years. The grandmother lived until 1878, dying at the age of sixty-eight. At the age of eight years A. B. Treadwell was taken to Mexico and was there educated, first in Mazatlan, and afterwards in Guaymas, until the age of eighteen, learning English, Spanish, French, Italian and Latin, and teaching from the age of seventeen to nineteen in a college in Culiacan, twice a week. In 1876 he returned to this State, opened a school of languages in San Francisco, and in 1879 founded La Republica, editing and pub- lishing that paper until he sold it to the Mexi- can consul. He returned to Stockton in 1882 and taught Spanish and Italian classes here and in San Francisco for about a year. Meanwhile he had commenced, in 1877, the study of law in leisure moments. He read law one year under Judge A. Van R. Patterson. He was admitted to the bar in 1882, and was immediately elected a justice of the peace, continuing his law studies on opportunity in the office of the late Judge D. S. Terry. He was re-elected a justice in 1884, for the years 1885 and 1886, and in 1887 and 1888 he practiced law with E. E. Copeland, under the style of Treadwell & Copeland. In 1889 he was chosen secretary of the judiciary committee of the State senate for two years, and in June, 1889, during the recess of the senate, he was appointed city prosecutor of Stockton.
Mr. Treadwell was married in this city, No- vember 29, 1884, to Miss Nettie Fairchild, born in this county in 1861, a daughter of William H. and Anna (Gray) Fairchild. The father, born in Pennsylvania about 1820, came to California in 1850, afterward settling on a farm in this county, died in 1882. The mother, born in Scotland in 1837, is living on the old home-
stead, four miles from Stockton, on the Waterloo road. Mr. and Mrs. Treadwell have one child, Sophie Anita, born November 29, 1885. Mr. Treadwell is president of the County Democracy and secretary of the Democratic County Com- mittee.
ENRY WILCOX SHARP, joint proprie- tor with his brother, C. F., of Yo Semite House, was born in South Lyndboro, New Hampshire, Marcli 28, 1850, a son of John Wilcox and Susan Bridges (Cram) Sharp. The father was also born in Boston, January 15, 1823, a son of John and Harriet (Wilcox) Sharp. Born and married in Yorkshire, England, they emigrated to America abont 1820, and settled in Boston, where John Sharp filled the position of foreman in a stone-cutting establishment, and died about 1833, at the age of forty-nine. His widow survived him nearly half a century, dy- ing in that city in 1879, aged ninety-four; and her mother reached the still more remarkable age of 108 years, dying in England. John Wilcox Sharp also learned the trade of stone- cutter in his native city and was there married, December 14, 1848, to Miss Susan B. Cram, born in Vermont, January 11, 1829, a daugh- ter of Solomon and Mary (Sargent) Cram. The father, a native of Roxbury, Vermont, by trade a blacksmithı, was over seventy at his death in South Lyndboro, New Hampshire. The mother, a native of Hillsboro, New Hamp. shire and married in Lyndboro, lived to be over eighty. Her father, a soldier in the war of 1812, and discharged for disability, returned home to die of the wounds received in some battle of that war. His widow, by birth a Miss Grant of Greenfield, New Hampshire, reached the age of ninety. Grandfather David Cram also lived to be ninety, dying in Roxbury, Vermont, and his wife, by birth a Miss Putnam, of the same family as General Israel Putnam, died in middle life, also in Roxbury, Vermont. The original emigrant of the name of Cram, the grandfather
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
of this David Cram, came from England in 1739, and the 150th anniversary of the event was celebrated by his descendants in Lyndboro, New Hampshire, in September, 1889.
John W. Sharp came to California by way of Cape Horn, arriving in San Francisco early in 1850. He went to mining in Tuolnmne County and afterward in Calaveras County. His wife, accompanied by the subject of this sketch, at that time their only child, came out in 1852, by the Nicaragua route. They left Boston in June, and took ship at New York, but, delayed by storms and accidents of various kinds on both oceans, they did not reach San Francisco until August. There they were met by the husband and father, who went into the laundry business for ten months in that city, to give them a chance to regain health and strength. He then went to Mokelumne Hill, where he built a hotel in July, 1853, where he was burnt out in 1855. He then went to mining at St. Anton for a short time withi marked success, accumulating quite a bit of money. He next built a fine hotel for those times, in Calaveritas, which also burnt down in 1858 during his ab- sence in Carson valley in search of a good cattle range. He then started a small store which he conducted but a short time, when he sold ont and moved to San Andreas, where he bnilt a store of the native rock, qnarried, dressed and placed by himself, and kept a general store until the " silver mountain " excitement arose, when he left for that region, about 1863. There was a little surface silver found, but that was all. He remained there nearly a year, running a livery stable about nine months, the venture proving on the whole a considerable loss. Returning he took charge of the Metro- politan Hotel in San Andreas, and conducted it until 1868. He then moved to San Francisco, where he carried on the old Barnum restaurant near where the Palace Hotel now stands, until again called away by the White Pine excite- ment in Nevada, which proved another failure, wasting, however, only six weeks of time. He then carried on the Revere Honse in Napa from
1868 to 1873. He then conducted a general store in Darwin, Inyo County, about two years, when he sold out to his sons, and retired from active business, continuing, however, to live with them, together with his wife and danghter. Mr. and Mrs. John W. Sharp have only three children, the two sons, H. W. and C. F. already referred to, and a daughter, Harriet Sophia, born in Calaveritas, March 7, 1859, a graduate of Napa Seminary, and now residing in the Yo Semite Honse with her parents and brothers.
H. W. Sharp, the subject of this sketch, went to school in San Andreas to the age of about fifteen, when he went to San Francisco to learn the art of printing. He afterward worked on the Napa Register and later on the Yolo Mail, and for a time was owner of that paper. He was married in Napa on Thanksgiving day, 1873, to Miss Emma Mabes, born in Campo Seco, Calaveras County, July 4, 1855, a daughter of August and Minnie (Haas) Mabes. The mother died in May, 1889, aged seventy-two; the father is still living in 1890, aged about seventy-three. H. W. Sharp and his brother bought out the father's store in Darwin about 1876, and carried it on nearly three years under the style of H. W. and C. F. Sharp. Their next venture was in running the Ormsby House in Carson, Nevada, which they conducted about six years. They conducted the Andrews Hotel in San Luis Obispo only six months, when it was destroyed by fire. After a retirement of some months in San Francisco, which has been the home of the family in the intervals of hotel engagements, they took charge of the Yo Semite House in August, 1886. Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Sharp have three children: Minnie Susan, born in Darwin, May 14, 1876; Hattie May, born in San Francisco, May 1, 1878; and Harry Mabes, born in Napa, March 17, 1880.
Charles Franklin Sharp, joint proprietor with his brother of the Yo Semite House, Stockton, was born at Mokelumne Hill, January 22, 1854, and after receiving his earlier education in the local schools attended Lincoln School in San Francisco several years, receiving three medals
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for high standing in his classes. When the family moved to Napa, he studied in the Napa College two years. He learned book-keeping and telegraphing and filled the position of agent for Wells, Fargo & Company in Darwin, Inyo County, three years. He conducted the Paso Robles Hotel as manager for the proprie- tor, from 1886 to 1889, being still interested with his brother in the Yo Semite Honse of this city, and in 1889 returned here, and has since assisted in the actual management. The Yo Semite House was opened for business July 4, 1869, and was enlarged to double its former capacity in 1885, being now capable of accom- modating 150 gnests, containing 107 rooms, well-ventilated and well-furnished, with well- appointed accessories in parlors, dining-room, reading-room, billiard-room, commercial trav- elers' room and every thing requisite to con- stitute a first-class hotel. The building is of brick, three stories high, and liolds rank in every respect as one of the best liotels in Cen- tral California.
EORGE WASHINGTON TRAHERN, a rancher, residing in Stockton, was born in Mississippi, April 15, 1825, a son of Wes- ley and Delilah (Braschear) Trahern. The father, a native of Virginia, moved to Missis- sippi, where he became owner of a plantation on Pearl river, seven miles below Jackson, the State capital. There he raised cotton and corn chiefly, besides dealing in stock. He was married at the home of his bride, on the Tombigbee, in Alabama. They had three sons and two dangh- ters, the latter still living in Texas; of the sons only the subject of this sketch survives. In his youth he acquired some knowledge of cattle on his father's place, and afterward from a brother- in-law in Texas, where he also handled some cattle on his own account. He joined the Texas rangers in the struggle for separation from Mex- ico, and with them enlisted for the Mexican war, serving to the end, and is a pensioner of
that war. With fourteen others he set out for California in 1849, coming by way of Chi- linahna, Mexico, and arriving in Wood's Dig- gings, near Sonora, he gathered a little gold in a brief trial of that industry. He thien pushed on for the plains, and in the fall settled in this county, near what is now Linden, and engaged in the cattle business. In 1850 lie was joined by John McMullen, one of his companions on the trip from Texas, and they located 160 acres eachı on the Calaveras, abont three miles north of Linden. In 1851 they formed a partnership, and in 1852 bought 400 acres adjoining the 320, making a compact body, which they made lead- quarters for their stock business. In 1852 Mr. Tralern went East and drove 1,000 cattle across the plains. They also had free range of large tracts in those days, reaching sixteen miles south to the Stanislans and as far to the east, to the limits of the county, shared in, however, by other cattle dealers. At the death of his part- ner, in 1868, they owned 21,000 acres in differ- ent parts of the connty, which were divided between himself and the McMullen heirs in the spring of 1869. Mr. Trahern has continued in the stock right along, being thns engaged in this county for forty years. He owns 8,600 acres in Castoria Township, at the mouth of the Stanislaus, and 3,342 acres on " the west side," in Tulare Township. Of the former tract he farms 3,300 acres, and of the latter, 1,500, rais- ing wheat chiefly, but also considerable barley and rye.
Mr. Trahern was married March 1, 1860, to Miss Henrietta B. Childers, born in Missouri in 1842, a daughter of Johnson and Margaret (Blair) Childers. The father, a native of Ken- tucky, had moved to Missouri, and thence to California in 1852. He mined for a time at Volcano, in Amador County, and afterward settled in Calaveras County, where he carried on the Half-way Honse on the Mokelumne Hill road for a few years. About 1855 he settled in this county, where he died at the age of forty- seven, leaving six children, of whom five are living.
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Mr. and Mrs. Trahern are the parents of five living children: Laura Trahern; Rachel C., the wife of N. C. Farnam, a merchant of Bantas, in this county, has one child, Henrietta Hazel, born June 19, 1887; Bessie Lee, now Mrs. Percy Williams, of Union Island, has one child, Thomas Hansford Williams, born in November, 1889; Lydia Trahern and David Donglass Trahern.
Mr. G. W. Trahern is a member of the San Joaquin Valley Society of California Pioneers since 1868.
HARLES HENRY WYMAN, an attorney on land and mining claims, in Stockton, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, October 23, 1848, a son of Humphrey Barrett and Louis- ann Weston (Hill) Wymnan, both natives of Massachusetts and descendants of the Pilgrims. The inother's family traces relationship with Governor Endicott, and the father's with Gen- eral Israel Putnam, of Revolutionary renown. The father, at one time a merchant of Boston, is still living in that city.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of Boston, until the age of fourteen, when he entered Captain Thompson's Naval Academy, from which he was graduated at sixteen. Receiving the appointment of mid- shipman in the United States Navy, he was placed on the Santiago de Cuba, of the North Atlantic squadron, which soon engaged in pur- suit of the rebel privateer Alabama, chasing her into Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mr. Wyman was promoted to the position of master's mate, but resigned to enlist in the Thirty-fifth Massa- chusetts Volunteer Infantry, which, however, was at the front only four months, when the war closed. Engaging in nothing of a permanent character for more than a year after the disband- inent of the volunteers, Mr. Wyman took ship- ping at Brooklyn, New York, on board the barque Whistler for this coast, coming by way of Cape Horn. Arriving in San Francisco May
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