History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 106

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1660

USA > California > San Joaquin County > History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 106

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He next formed a partnership with J. L. Craig, to operate in the real estate field, under the firm name of Coley & Craig; and they subdivided the tract of land at Escalon, described in the interesting Craig sketch given on another page of this work. At one time the Coley & Craig company owned over 4,000 acres of land there, and later they operated in Stock- ton, erecting business houses and private residences. On his own account, Mr. Coley built a number of first-class homes in Stockton, in one case putting twelve in the northwestern part of Stockton, and after the fire at Escalon, three years ago, he also erected business blocks there, some of which he still owns. He has large real estate holdings, besides those in Stockton, in Oakland and San Francisco, and he has been one of the leading factors in the upbuilding of southern San Joaquin County, thereby becoming notable as a self-made man who has met with exceptional success. He has written fire insur- ance for the past twenty years, and he still has cus- tomers who, having taken out their insurance with him at the start, have remained his good patrons ever since. Mr. Coley belongs to the Oakdale Blue Lodge of Masons, No. 275, and to Lodge No. 218 of the Stockton Elks. He has one son, Cyril L. Coley, who is associated with him in business.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

EMERY E. TREMAIN .- An experienced, wide- awake mechanic whose workshop is much sought by the users of auto-trucks, truck-bodies, etc., desir- ing first-class service, is Emery E. Tremain, the wood-worker and blacksmith of 640 East Market Street, Stockton. He is the agent for the G. M. C. motor truck and the Swinehart truck tire, nor could the successful manufacturers of these products well find a more capable representative. He was born near the Allegheny River, in Allegheny County, Pa., on February 16, 1872, and reared at Wichita, Kan. In 1891, with a boy friend as a companion, he started West, expecting to settle in the state of Washington; but they landed in Stockton with just five dollars as their combined capital. Emery secured work on John Williams' ranch, and later he accepted employ- ment with the Ed Clowes ranch; then he went to the Smith ranch, where he was foreman for three years. All in all, he put in eleven years on ranches, and in those early days used to work on a thirty-two- horse grain harvester.

In 1901 he started to learn the blacksmith's trade with L. F. Salbach, but when he had finished, at the end of three years, he opened a small shop for him- self at the corner of Stanislaus and East Market streets. He had saved $650, but it was necessary to assume a debt of $1,465 for machinery and tools in order to equip even a modest work-shop in the way he believed it ought to be done. In one year, how- ever, he had earned enough to enable him to clear off all indebtedness. In 1907 he bought a lot on East Market Street, the site of his present building, pay- ing $2,500 for the same, but he was obliged to borrow $1,500 in order to close the deal; but again luck, or better still, the rewards of foresight and industry were with him, for in another year he had made money enough to wipe out that new indebtedness and to take care of the purchase. In 1911 he erected a two-story building of cement and brick on his lot, at a cost of $7,500, borrowing half of the money in order to build; but now his property is free of debt.

In February, 1915, Mr. Tremain took on the agency of the G. M. C. motor truck, and so successful has he proved himself in presenting the claims of this superior outfit that he has readily made important sales to the leading establishments in Stockton, among them being the Sunset Lumber Company, the Stockton Transfer Company, the San Joaquin Oil Burner Company, the Stockton, Littlefield and Horan Furniture companies, the Stockton Soda Works, the Goodale Transfer Company, the Hatch Lumber Company, etc.

Mr. Tremain, among other ventures, pioneered an automobile stage company from Stockton to the Yosemite Valley, by way of Big Oak Flats, securing a franchise and putting on a twelve-passenger coach, and from the beginning the undertaking "boosted" Stockton, although it was not until the second year that it paid expenses. Then, at a fair profit, Mr. Tremain sold the line to Bob Young, having pre- viously opened an office in San Francisco for the stage route. Mr. Tremain, who has always been one of the most enthusiastic and loyal boosters for Stock- ton, has himself invested in a vineyard of ten acres in the Victor Tract near the city .. In earlier days he was a member of the Terminal City Wheelman's Club, and took part in many road races across the country, and quite naturally for one who has come to be so actively engaged in motoring he has worked

hard, wherever the opportunity presented itself, to forward the cause of better roads. Mr. Tremain has leased his ground floor, blacksmith and wood-work- ing departments to Messrs. Bidwell and Mckinnon, who will conduct that branch, while he gives his time to the truck and tire business.

In 1901, at Stockton, Mr. Tremain was married to Miss Susan C. Pope, a native of Stockton, and a member of one of the well-known pioneer families of this section, her mother having crossed the great plains to California many years ago. One son, Virgil E. Tremain, has blessed this fortunate union. Mr. Tremain is a member of the San Joaquin Auto Trades Association, and of the State and National Auto Trades societies, and for more than twenty years he has been a popular member of the Red Men.

DUDLEY I. WALTZ .- The great cattle-barons of California have always occupied an heroic position in the intensely interesting history of the Golden State, exponents of that courage, foresight, optimism and progressive enterprise which have marked the leaders of the Pacific commonwealth as among the most progressive of all highly successful Americans; and it is natural, therefore, that such men of large affairs as Dudley I Waltz, the stockman, should be accorded an enviable eminence among men of wide influence, and should preeminently enjoy the esteem and confidence of their fellows. Mr. Waltz was born in Monroe County, Mo., May 3, 1861, first seeing the light on a comfortable home farm; but in 1877, when only sixteen years of age, he came out to Cali- fornia, in company with a boy friend. His first em- ployment was on a farm at Wheatland, where he pitched hay for $1.25 per day, and after working as a farm hand for some three years, he bought 320 acres of land in Sutter County which he farmed to wheat and barley. At the end of two years, he sold this ranch at a profit, and he then bought 800 acres of land in Placer County, which he farmed for an- other two years, and then sold at a profit. He next bought a small band of sheep, this being his start in handling sheep and cattle, and from that time on he has steadily advanced, until now he is one of the largest sheep-owners in California, having about 30,- 000 head.

In 1896, he bought of General Bidwell, of Chico, some 7,000 head of sheep, and leased all of Bid- well's pasture land up to the time of his death. The same year, he bought 10,000 sheep from the Joe Cone estate at Red Bluff. In 1898, he bought from Tom Haw, a Chinaman, some 10,000 head, at Dil- lon, Mont., and the next year he opened a butcher shop on Second Street, Chico, which he operated for a couple of years. In 1900 he bought a train load of cattle in Old Mexico; and this was the first load of cattle that crossed the quarantine line into the state. They were unloaded at Bakersfield, where they were disinfected and examined by a state vet- erinary. For two years he conducted a ranch in Merced County, removing to Stockton in 1902. Now thousands of his sheep and cattle range on a thous- and hills in California, and his holdings include the Stanford Ranch of 9000 acres in Tehama and Butte counties, once a part of the famous Leland Stanford estate, known as the Vina ranch. He also owns 9000 acres of land in Merced County, and leases 20,000 more in Mariposa and Merced counties; and he leases 50,000 acres of land in Butte and Tehama counties,

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

directing the whole with the assistance of his two sons, Edward P. and Arthur W. Waltz, who are as- sociated with him in his livestock enterprises. Mr. Waltz is a member of the advisory board of the Im- perial Cattle Loan Company of Los Angeles, and he is ex-president of the San Joaquin County Cattle Men's Association. He helped to organize, and is the president of the Central California Wool Growers' Association, and is also director of the State Wool Growers Association; and in 1911, he helped to or- ganize the California State Life Insurance Company of Sacramento, and is official appraiser and director of the same, and in 1922 was elected its vice-presi- dent. This company has been very successful, and has made the best showing of any company in the United States in the past ten years.

When Mr. Waltz married September 2, 1889, at Auburn, Cal., he chose for his bride Miss Martha H. Brock, a native of Sutter County; and their union has been blessed with the birth of five children: Edward P., who married Miss Dorothy Boone of Red Bluff, is associated with our subject and his bro- ther, Arthur B., in the sheep and cattle business, un- der the firm name of D. I. Waltz & Sons with princi- pal offices at Stockton; Arthur B. was in the Avia- tion service and put in eighteen months overseas; Dorothy is the wife of Ralph Jeanelle of Stockton, and Minnie and Grace are the youngest in the fam- iny. San Joaquin County is justly proud of such an eminently progressive captain of industry as Mr. Waltz, one of the greatest patrons of husbandry in the Golden State.

ARTHUR F. ROBERTS .- A business man of marked ability, who has been with the Hobbs-Par- sons Company of Stockton, wholesale distributors of produce, for the past twenty-one years, is Arthur F. Roberts, the capable manager of that organization. Born on a farm in the Mohawk Valley near Rome, Oneida County, N. Y., on July 28, 1870, he received his education in the district schools, the Rome Acad- emy and the Albany Business College in Albany, N. Y. Remaining at home until he was twenty- three years of age, in 1893 he came to Fresno Coun- ty, Cal., and went to work in a raisin vineyard at thirty dollars per month; at the end of one year he formed a partnership in the retail fruit and pro- duce business; later engaged in the wholesale fruit and produce business and was the originator of the system of packing figs with steam treatment. He was thus occupied until 1900 when he entered the employ of the Hobbs-Parsons Company as a buyer. He traveled over the large potato growing states of the West, principally Oregon, Idaho and Minnesota, passing two seasons in Minnesota where he estab- lished relations with the large potato growers, and this business connection still continues.

The marriage of Mr. Roberts united him with Miss Clara Belle Hamilton, a native of Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, Cal., and they are the parents of three children: Edward Hamilton, Thomas Arthur, and Harriet Anne. He has taken an active interest in the Y. M. C. A. and for several years was a member of the board of directors and at present is a member of the finance board. In 1920 he was chairman of the boys' work committee. At one time he was a member of the executive council of the Boy Scouts. During the World War he was captain of all drives covering a territory eight miles north of Stockton

and near the close of the war served as a member of the county exemption board. He is a member of the Stockton Golf and Country Club; an ex-member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce, and is a past president of the Stockton Rotary Club. In 1921 he was elected a director in the Stockton Savings and Loan Bank. In May, 1922, he was elected a member of the committee of freeholders, fifteen in number, which drafted a new charter for the city of Stockton, providing for the manager form of government. In his religious affiliations he is pres- ident of the board of trustees of the First Congrega- tional Church, of which the family are members.

JOHN EDMUND MORAN .- A native son of Cal- ifornia who was identified in a practical and success- ful manner with agricultural pursuits all his active career, was the late John Edmund Moran. He was born on his father's ranch near Bethany, Cal., No- vember 13, 1873, a son of William and Hannah Moran, both of them natives of Ireland, the par- ents of eleven children, eight of whom are living; they are now residents of Oakland, the father being ninety years old. He came to San Joaquin County in the early '60s, where he followed farming and sheep raising on the West Side for many years.

John Edmund Moran received his education in the Tracy schools and meantime helped his father on the home place; when he grew older he engaged in farming on his own account and for twenty years was a prominent and successful grain farmer in the Delta district of San Joaquin County. His holdings on Union Island, a part of the old Williams proper- ties, consisted of over 1,000 acres; he also leased land in the Bixler tract for many years. In partnership with Harry Martin, he operated about 500 acres in the Clifton Court tract in Contra Costa County. He was also in partnership with his brother, E. A. Mo- ran for five years and the latter, with Mr. Moran's son Sherid, will continue the farming operations. Mr. Moran was always loyal to the county of his birth and was active in all affairs of the development of the West Side, and took an active part in the estab- lishment of the irrigation district for the development of the Delta lands of the county.

The marriage of Mr. Moran occurred at the home of the bride in San Joaquin County and united him with Miss Caroline A. Pagel, also born in San Joa- quin County, a boyhood friend. She is the daughter of Frank and Elizabeth (Kraus) Pagel, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Alsace Lor- raine. There were five children in the family, three of whom are living: Mrs. Moran, Fred and A. J. Pagel, who are ranching in the county. The father was an early settler on the West Side of the county where he took up Government land and farmed until his death. The mother, too, is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Moran were the parents of four children: Sherid, Helen T. and George E .; Edward, the eldest child, died aged ten months. Mr. Moran passed away April 20, 1922, mourned by his devoted family and a host of friends. Fraternally he was a member of the Odd Fellows, Tracy Parlor, N. S. G. W., and Stockton Lodge, No. 218, B. P. O. E. For many years he served as a school trustee in his district. He was a thorough and practical agriculturist, and his sterling characteristics and honorable business methods won for, him the respect and esteem of all with whom he had business or social relations.

John & Moran

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

LOUIS M. HAIGHT, M. D .- Few names of mod- ern California are more distinguished among the na- tive sons and daughters than that of Haight, so worthily represented in Stockton by Dr. L. M. Haight. A native son, he was born in Alameda on October 7, 1868, the son of the Hon. Henry Huntly and Anna E. (Bissell) Haight, the former a native of Rochester, N. Y., and the latter born in St. Louis, to whom, in time, three children were born-L. M., of this review; Miss Janet C. Haight, a favorite in social circles in Oakland, and Henry Huntly Haight, who passed away in 1919.

Henry H. Haight, Sr., came out to San Francisco as a pioneer in 1850, and being an attorney by pro- fession, he had no difficulty in successfully estab- lishing himself in practice in the Bay City. Nomi- nated on the Democratic ticket, he ran for governor of California; and in 1867 he was elected to that high office. He made a famous governor, for it was during his term that he signed the charter of the University of California, and that great institution, of such vital importance to the people of the Golden State, was started. For the first two years of its existence, the University encountered many trying difficulties; and it was then that Governor Haight and a relative contributed funds to keep it going. Governor Haight was prominent in banking circles in San Francisco, and held a directorship in various financial institutions. He was also a large land- owner on the east side of the Bay, and his country home in Alameda, occupying twenty-two acres, was one of the show places of the district. The Haight school in Alameda was named in his honor, as was Haight Street in San Francisco. He died in 1878.

L. M. Haight attended the school named in honor of his father in Alameda, then went East to New Haven, Conn., where he attended the Hopkins Gram- mar School for three years. He then matriculated at Sheffield Scientific School, a branch of Yale Uni- versity, from which he was graduated in 1889 with the Ph. B. degree. In 1892 he returned to California and at Stockton bought an interest in Holden's Drug Store. During this time he took a post-graduate course in pharmacy at the University of California, and in 1897 was graduated in pharmacy, and then he sold out his interest in the drug company.

In 1898 Mr. Haight entered the Cooper Medical College, from which he was duly graduated in 1903 with the degree of M. D .; and for the next two years he was in the City and County Hospital at San Fran- cisco. He also practiced medicine in that city for two years, and in 1908 he returned to Stockton, and ever since has been practicing here. He is a mem- ber of the National and State Medical associations and of the San Joaquin County Medical Society. Dr. Haight belongs to Morning Star Lodge No. 68, F. & A. M .; Stockton Chapter No. 28, R. A. M .; Stockton Commandery No. 8 K. T .; Stockton Pyra- mid No. 5, of Sciots; and to Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He also is a member of Stockton Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. Elks; Pohono Tribe of Red Men; and of Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W.

In 1900 Dr. L. M. Haight was united in marriage with Miss Minnie A. Schuler, a native of Stockton and the daughter of Michael and Marie Barbara (Strohmeier) Schuler, pioneers of Stockton. Both were born in Germany, the former in 1828, and his wife, in 1838, and he came to Stockton in 1852, mar-

ried here on October 27, 1860, followed freighting to the Southern mines from Stockton and took part in the early activities in the building up of this city. He died on November 20, 1905, and Mrs. Schuler passed away in 1901. They had eight children born to them and all are living. Of the union of Dr. Haight and his wife three sons have been born: Louis Cameron is a student in the medical department of the Uni- versity of California; Herbert Schuler is attending the Stockton high school, as is the youngest, Henry Huntley, named for his grandfather.

M. S. HEWITT .- An enterprising rancher who re- sides on a portion of the ranch where he was born is M. S. Hewitt. His ranch of 183 acres lies about fif- teen miles east of the city of Stockton and is a por- tion of his father's ranch of 1080 acres, which was farmed to grain for many years. A native son of San Joaquin County, M. S. Hewitt was born Sep- tember 18, 1892, the eldest son of William Thomas and Mary Jane (Herron) Hewitt, both now de- ceased. William Thomas Hewitt was born in Steu- benville, Ohio, and was five years old when his father, Samuel Hewitt, left Ohio for California in 1852, crossing the plains with ox teams. Grand- father Samuel Hewitt settled on land near Farm- ington, where he became an extensive grain farmer. William Thomas Hewitt, the father of our subject, was born January 23, 1847, and from his youth up was engaged in farming and came to own a home- stead ranch of 1080 acres on which he erected a fine residence of nine rooms at a cost of $4000, and a barn costing half that amount. He removed to 1219 North Hunter Street, Stockton, Cal. in 1906, where he resided until he passed away in January, 1908, after which his widow continued to reside in Stockton un- til her death June 2, 1920.

Three children were born to this pioneer couple, of whom Marion Samuel, our subject, is the eldest. He began his education in the district school in the neighborhood of his home and supplemented it with an engineering course at the Agricultural College lo- cated at Corvallis, Ore., from which he was gradu- ated in 1915 with the degree of B. S. The following year, 1916, he located in Modesto, where he was em- ployed as cashier of the Grange Company. On Oc- tober. 2, 1917, Mr. Hewitt enlisted in the 143rd Field Artillery, receiving the rank of corporal, and went to France with a replacement battalion and after his arrival in France served in Battery C., Seventh Field Artillery; he went through three major offensives and served nine months with the occupation army at Coblenz, Germany. On September 27, 1919, he received his honorable discharge and immediately re- turned to Stockton and has since taken a very ac- tive interest in farming pursuits. He handles the subdivision of the home ranch in a very capable manner and his present fine home place of 183 acres is a portion of the homestead which was settled by his grandfather, Samuel Hewitt, in the early '50s.

On May 30, 1922, Mr. Hewitt was married to Miss Marguerite Menchen, a graduate of the Lux School at San Francisco, a daughter of George and Anna Menchen, residents of Petaluma. Mr. Hewitt is a member of the American Legion and the local Farm Bureau. In politics he is a Republican and his public spirited interest has been manifested in all affairs concerning the welfare of his county and community

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

GEORGE FALKENBOROUGH SMITH .- Prominent among the sturdy, progressive and pros- perous pioneers whose fruitful lives were spent in intimate association with the growth and develop- ment of California, especially with the expansion of the northern section of the state, was George Falk- enborough Smith, less familiarly known, perhaps, by that name to his fellow-pioneers of early days than by the name Fortenberry Smith, as he was generally called throughout the great Central Valley, where he was always popular and esteemed as an experienced and very successful "Gringo" cattle raiser. While best known in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, his dealings extended through the state to the south as far as the Mexican border; and having always maintained amicable relations, through his honest and generous methods, with the native Span- ish and Mexicans, he was welcomed wherever he rode by the cattle raisers.

His branch of the Smith family went back to Virginian ancestry in the person of Grandfather Isaac Smith, a Revolutionary soldier. His son, Robert Smith, was born on June 2, 1771, and in time mig- rated to Kentucky, where he met and married Lydia Ann Hardin McMahon, a member of two other Vir- ginia families, the McMahons coming from Frederick County and the Hardins from Fauquier County, in that state. The first Hardin emigrant was a French Huguenot, while his wife was Lydia Waters, of English birth. John McMahon, and Rosannah Har- din, born in 1760, went to Kentucky when Lydia (who was born on May 9, 1784) was three years old, join- ing the expedition headed by Rosannah's brother, Col. John Hardin. He had already been there and had located lands, and about 1786 or 1787 he took his family and certain relatives back to Washington County. The sons of Martin Hardin, the great-grand- father, who lived and died in Fauquier County, lived some years at George's Creek, Monongahela, Pa .; and from there they floated down the river into the Ohio River, to Kentucky.

George F. Smith was born on September 13, 1822, in Crawford County, Ind., and from infancy profited by the English, Irish and Huguenot traits inherited from his excellent parents, who had moved into Crawford County because they considered the river lands unhealthful. They had ten children; but one boy died in infancy, and their only girl Rose passed away when she was nineteen years old and just bud- ding into attractive womanhood. George was born about the time she breathed her last. Having a large family and no daughters, Mrs. Smith trained her sons to household duties, assigning four to help their' father in the field, and retaining four to assist her in the home. Two of the latter did the cooking and general housework, and two-Ben and George-busied themselves with the spinning and weaving. George was the spinner, and inordinately vain over his ability in that line; he would spin his stint, and then help Ben with his weaving, and after that they were free to play. He would also challenge all the girls of the neighborhood to a contest of skill, but the girls never ventured to accept his challenge, and hence he re- garded himself as the champion spinner of the neigh- borhood. Robert Smith, who had long been a crip- ple through a fall from a horse, died when George was sixteen, and as soon as they were old enough the boys went back to the Ohio River, several settling in Meade County, Ky., where they lived and died. Thus

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History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 106

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849 Publication date: 1923 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1660

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1660