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 108

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 108

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

On June 16, 1840, Miss Mary Katherine Vanmeter, was married to John Pinnell Henning, who came out to California for the first time in 1849. Later, he re- turned to Missouri, and in 1854, the family came across the great plains, Mrs. Henning, during the long, hazardous journey, driving her own team. The oldest son, Irving Pinnell, was then twelve years of age; the next, Addison David, was ten years old; while the youngest son, Abraham Parsons, the sub- ject of this sketch, was only seven, somewhat tender ages, which did not, however deter these sturdy boys from riding horseback the long, tiresome journey, over 3,000 miles, at the same time driving cattle, and standing guard during the night, like men, on the watch against a possible ravaging onslaught of the prowling Sioux and Cheyenne Indians, precautions not in vain, for only a few days after the departure of the family from the fort, the Indians killed many of the soldiers in cold-blooded murder. The Indians at this time were becoming desperate over the apparent destruction of their game, and in revenge were accus- tomed to make the most cowardly and unprovoked assaults on the immigrants. On Bear River, the men in advance of the Henning train killed an Indian and captured twenty ponies in an encounter with the red men. Mrs. Henning was a very cool and careful driver, and never had an accident, even in crossing the roughest mountain rivers, although along the River Platte and among the Black Hills the storms raged almost daily, and once, during a hard thunder- storm, the lightning killed an ox.

After what could be called a fortunate and in many ways a pleasant journey of five months, all the party reached San Jose safely and camped on the Collins ranch at the Eastern foothills of the Santa Clara Val- ley-the ranch then owned by Mr. Collins, the hat manufacturer of San Francisco. Soon after, Mr. Hen- ning purchased a farm of 160 acres from a Mr. John-

son, and there the family made their home. There, also, Mary Elizabeth was born, who later married a Mr. Hall and resided in a lovely home on the Mon- terey road, near San Jose. The other daughter, Sarah Frances, who married Mr. De Rome and settled at Menlo Park, was born on the farm near Edenvale, to which John P. Henning later moved. Two sons, John Thomas Henning and Herbert Vanmeter Hen- ning died when only a few years old. Addison Hen- ning passed away in 1892, on the 5th of April, at the Henning home at San Miguel, one month after the father died; and both J. P. and his son Addison were buried near the home. This home-place remained in the estate of the heirs of J. P. Henning for quite a while after his death.

J. P. Henning was engaged in farming and stock- raising in the Santa Clara Valley until 1859, when he bought out Buffalo Jones, above Los Gatos, and un- dertook the running of sawmills together with stock- raising. He laid out Lexington, and named it after his home in Missouri, where he and his brother Alpha W. resided and owned a furniture factory. In 1861, J. P. Henning bought 250 acres of land west of Eden- vale, on the old Monterey road, and set out a large family orchard, one of the first to be planted in that vicinity. He also made valuable improvements while preparing a genuine homestead; but in after years he bought other titles and paid full value in gold coin three different times, each to a different claimant, for the same piece of land, and finally was ruthlessly driven from his home by so-called officers of the law.

Under the necessity of beginning life all over again, Mr. Henning removed to Lompoc, in Santa Barbara County, in 1874, to the New Temperance Colony, of which he was an active trustee, and his eldest son a highly estemeed secretary, from 1875 to 1880. In the latter year, the oldest son, Irving Pinnell Henning, married Miss Ella Brown; and after their marriage, they removed to San Jose. He was for many years connected with the Cogswell Polytechnic College, and later with the California School of Mechanical Arts, of San Francisco, founded by James Lick. The youngest son, Abraham Parsons, the subject of this sketch, married Miss Sarah Ryder.

After a number of years, John Pinnell Henning, with his wife and youngest daughter, Fannie, moved near Cayucos, in San Luis Obispo County; and here Fannie married Alfred De Rome, a skillful artisan at the forge. Following the marriage of the youngest of the family, the parents sold their home and took up a government homestead, twelve miles east of Paso Robles; but Mr. Henning soon sold this, and bought instead a forty-acre tract of highly improved land, two and one-half miles to the south of San Miguel Mission on the Southern Pacific Railway and main county highway, bordering the Salinas River. There J. P. Henning died, and the mother made her home on this ranch with her daughter until her death.

Abraham Parsons Henning was married near Sal- inas, Cal., on May 20, 1873, to Miss Sarah Ryder, born in San Francisco, the daughter of William Charles and Rachel Marie (Kerr) Ryder, both natives of Boston. William Ryder made the journey to Cali- fornia in 1854 with his wife, and after settling in the Gateway of the West, conducted the old Red- dington Drug Store in that city for many years. Later, in partnership with his brother he bought a farm near San Mateo, some 200 acres in all, and for a few years made his home at this place. In 1872

a. Nº Housing

Sarah E. Henning.

677

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

he moved to the vicinity of Salinas and engaged in the raising of grain at that place and it was here that Sarah Ryder married Abraham Parsons Hen- ning. Sarah was the eldest of eight children, the others being as follows: William Charles, now de- ceased; Rachael Marie, who is Mrs. Bardin and lives at Salinas; . Eliza Jane, Mrs. Gruwell, who lives at San Miguel; John, deceased; Henry; Harriet, now Mrs. Machado, of Monterey; and Mrs. Florence Smart, also deceased. William Ryder died at the age of seventy-eight, and his wife when seventy-four.

After their wedding, Mr. and Mrs. Henning re- sided in San Jose for some fifteen years, and then removed to Cottonwood, in Shasta County, where their children were reared and educated. They were blessed with ten children: John A. is in Lodi; Irving L. is of Woodland; Wilbur S. lives at Lodi; Frank A. is in Lodi; Allen D. is in Dorris, Cal .; Henry H. is at Lodi; Marion D. is at Gervais, Ore .; Mabel Frances died in 1892; two years later, George Par- sons passed away; and Florence L. is at home in Clements with her mother.

In 1911, Mr. Henning moved with his family to San Joaquin County, and in November bought a ranch of fifty acres about one mile to the east of Clements, on the state highway. This was open land but Mr. Hen- ning's enthusiastic application to the industry in- volved enabled him to develop this ranch as he had developed orchards and vineyards in Fresno, Santa Clara, and Shasta counties. He set out thirty-five acres to an orchard, planting plums and walnuts. The orchard is irrigated by a private pumping plant on the ranch. The remaining fifteen acres are ordinary farming land. Here Mr. Henning built a commodious home, and here he died, on December 27, 1920. He left a widow and eight living children, and two sisters and a brother-Mary E. Hall of Los Gatos, Fannie De Rome, and Irving P. Henning of San Jose -- the rest of the family having already preceded him to the Great Beyond. Mr. Henning was a Republi- can. He endeavored to be liberal and fair in all things, and supported whatever made for the public welfare and community progress.

JAMES P. HARKINS .- An efficient and popular railroad official is James P. Harkins, the wide-awake and affable agent of the Western Pacific Railroad handling both their growing freight and passenger interests at Stockton, in which city he was born on November 29, 1877. His father, Captain John Har- kins, is still esteemed as one of the most agreeable of Irish gentlemen settling in America, while his mother, who was Miss Mary Ann McCarthy before her marriage, is equally the center of a circle of devoted friends, who admire in her those traits for which the daughters of Erin have long been noted.

James Harkins was educated at St. Mary's College, Stockton, in the thorough manner for which that institution is famous, and then he began a three- year experience as messenger boy in the employ of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and during his service there, he learned telegraphy, becoming telegraph operator for the Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad, a busy line running from Stockton to the coal mines at Tesla. When the Western Pacific Railroad started construction in 1905, they took over this coal line, and Mr. Harkins became an operator along the line of construction. In 1909, the Western Pacific Railroad commenced regular operations in their important service to the public, and Mr. Har-

kins was made cashier in the local office under the management of J. H. Mettler, the agent. Four years later, in January, he was promoted to be chief clerk, and, having continued to give the best of satisfaction as his experience was widened and he became more interested in and devoted to railroad work, in March, 1919, he was made freight and passenger agent at Stockton-in which capacity he succeeds so well that the company is able to render the maximum of ser- vice with the lowest cost and the least possible fric- tion to the public.

At Stockton, in 1914, Mr. Harkins was married to Miss Catherine McLaughlin, the daughter of a pion- eer family of Stockton; and their fortunate union has been blessed with three children, William T., Ivan James, and Jacquelin M. Mr. Harkins belongs to Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W., to Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. E., and he is a very active and popular worker in the K. of C. and the Young Men's Institute.

RICHARD W. BONNEY .- A native son of Cali- fornia who is prominently connected with various military organizations is Richard W. Bonney, who was born in Stockton, August 5, 1871, the son of John A. and Ann Elizabeth (Yelland) Bonney, na- tives of Eastport, Maine, and Cornwall, England, re- spectively. John A. Bonney crossed the plains to California by way of the Salt Lake route in 1854 and upon his arrival he followed mining, built quartz mills, etc., until 1867, making his headquarters in Reno and Carson City, Nev. During 1867 he en- tered the employ of the Central Pacific Railroad as foreman of the bridge-building department and was engaged in building stations, tanks, bridges at various points on the line. He lived in Stockton until 1872, when he moved to Merced and was in charge of the pumping plant at that station for the Central Pacific. Later he returned to the vicinity of Stockton and tried his luck in running a ranch near the fair grounds, but this was not to his liking and during the interim was employed by the paper mill. Then he moved into town and took up the trades of millwright and carpenter, doing a great deal of work for the Sperry Flour Company and for the old Shippee Harvester Works. Mr. Bonney, in October, 1870, had married at Stockton, Miss Ann Elizabeth Yelland and six children were born to them: Richard W., was the oldest; Ida Scott, is now the widow of James M. Wright and lives in Pacific Grove; Ethelind M., is a teacher in the Stock- ton schools; Orpha O., died in infancy; Mabel Y., the next in order of birth, died at eighteen months; Ruth Allen is now Mrs. H. E. Lewis, also of Pa- cific Grove. The wife and mother died in 1920, while Mr. Bonney died on October 4, 1914. The last twenty-three years of his life were spent at Pacific Grove, where he was a member of the local Grand Army Post. He was in Nevada during the Civil War and joined Company E, First Nevada Cavalry, and spent one year fighting the Indians. He was a member of Rawlins Post, G. A. R., later being trans- ferred to the Pacific Grove Post.

Richard W. Bonney attended the Nightingale dis- trict school and after moving to Stockton, the Jeffer- son school and finished with a business course at the Stockton Business College. When he was fif- teen he worked in a tannery, later at the black- smithing trade, then began at the printing business, which he followed for a quarter of a century, except- ing the time he was in military service. He first

678

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

worked for B. H. Berdine, then in 1890 started with the Stockton Mail, continuing there as a printing pressman until 1914. For short periods of time he worked on the Monterey Cypress and the Pacific Grove Review. On November 1, 1913, he took the civil service examination and in 1914 became an em- ploye of the postal department in Stockton, later became a letter carrier, and is now in the parcel post department in the local postoffice. When the members of the board of freeholders were elected to frame the present operating charter of Stockton, Mr. Bonney was one of those elected.

The marriage of Mr. Bonney, on June 27, 1900. at Stockton, united him with Miss Katherine Des- mond, born near Lawrence, Mass., a daughter of Michael and Bridget Desmond, both natives of Ire- land. In 1892, Miss Desmond came to California to join a brother and two aunts. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bonney: Mary V., Loyola C., Richard W., Jr., and Christina D., who died at the age of twenty-one months.

Mr. Bonney has an interesting record as a soldier which began when he entered Company A, Sixth Infantry, Third Brigade, N. G. C. on June 8, 1891, and saw service for twenty-four days during July, 1894, at the time of the A. R. U. strike; in 1895 he was promoted to be a corporal, then became sergeant in 1898, just before the Maine was blown up. When war was declared against Spain, Company A, enlisted in the volunteer service. Mr. Bonney went to San Francisco with his company, where they completed their muster into the United States Volunteer Serv- ice. The captains of each company were instructed to appoint their own non-commissioned officers and Mr. Bonney was appointed company quartermaster sergeant and was stationed at Alcatraz until Septem- ber, 1898, then transferred to Fort Point and served until he was mustered out of service of the United States on December 15, 1898. He was given orders to report back to the N. G. C. on May 25, 1899, at which time he was given a company discharge for promotion and became regimental quartermaster ser- geant for the Sixth Regiment, N. G. C. on June 10, 1901. In 1905 he reenlisted in Company A, N. G. C., was appointed Company Q. M. S., during that enlistment Company A was called for duty in San Francisco at the time of the fire in 1906, and Mr. Bonney was on duty 30 days. . After a record of ten years of service, he was given a certificate of dis- charge and a decoration. Mr. Bonney was one of the organizers and. mustering officers of Commodore Stockton Camp, No. 281, Spanish-American War Veterans on August 29, 1902. On January 4, 1904. it was rechartered as Commodore Stockton Camp, No. 4, Department of California, United Spanish War Veterans; when organized there were seventeen char- ter members and now there are fifty-four, Mr. Bonney being adjutant. When Weber Auxiliary No. 38 was organized Mrs. Bonney was made the first president. On November 13, 1917, Hiram W. Johnson Garri- son No. 33, Army and Navy Union of U. S. A., was organized with twenty charter members, Mr. Bonney again being mustering-in officer. He is commander of Gen. Thos. E. Ketcham Camp No. 11, Div. of Calif .- & Pacific of Sons of Veterans, U. S. A .; mem- ber of Court Stockton No. 56. F. & A; Stockton Printing Pressman's Union No. 132 of which he is past president, and honorary member of Luneta Post No. 52 V. of F. W. of U. S. A. In politics he is a Republican.

ROBERT BOYCE .- An honored pioneer citizen of San Joaquin County, who contributed generously to the county's development during a residence of fifty-five years, Robert Boyce was born in a rural dis- trict of Richland County, Ohio, on July 6, 1847, the son of Jonathan and Nancy (Jump) Boyce, natives respectively of England and West. Virg.n.a. When a young man, Jonathan Boyce came out to America and westward to Ohio, with his parents, where they settled in Richland County, and he followed agricul- tural pursuits. In the year 1859 he crossed the great plains with his family, making the long and tedious journey to California in an ox-team train, and on his arrival in San Joaquin County, he located at Wood- bridge. A true type of the wide-awake and progres- sive California pioneer, he saw the value of the vir- ginal land spreading out before him, and set to work to clear and improve some of it; and because he understood the possibilities of the soil, and was, all in all, a good farmer, he succeeded in raising fine crops, and prospered, and steadily added to his hold- ings,-a circumstance of double import, for others witnessed his success and were stimulated to follow his example. Mr. Boyce and his devoted wife passed away at the old farm homestead, esteemed and hon- ored by all who knew them.

Robert Boyce, the fourth of their six children, spent his early boyhood on the Boyce farm in Ohio, but in 1859, when he was twelve years old, he accompanied his parents across the continent to Woodbridge, in San Joaquin County. There he attended the public schools and completed his schooling. He remained on his father's ranch until he was twenty-four, and then, in 1871, he purchased the adjoining 160 acres. He farmed this tract to grain, and through the best of care and most scientific cultivation, he coaxed from the soil the highest yield. In 1882, he purchased another tract of 160 acres opposite his home-place; and after farming to grain for many years, he con- cluded to try viticulture. He therefore experimented, in 1890, by planting thirty-three acres to a vineyard, and the effort proved so successful in every way that in 1900 he set out sixty acres more .. He was an early shipper of grapes, and built a house on his ranch especially for packing his products; and continuing to give unwearied attention to the problems of cultiva- tion, he brought the properties into full bearing. In 1910, he removed to Lodi, where he erected a comfortable home from which he superintended his ranch; but he was not destined long to enjoy these domestic comforts, passing away on March 17, 1914. For many years a member of the Knights of Pythias, he was affiliated with the Woodbridge lodge; and he not only enjoyed an enviable popularity among his fraternal associates, but he occupied a high place in the esteem of the comumnity, in which he had lived and labored for so many years, and in whose welfare he had always felt the keenest interest.

On March 3, 1872, Robert Boyce was married near Lodi to Miss Lorah K. Turner, a native of Plaque- mine, near Baton Rouge, La., and the daughter of Frank and Victorine (Robicheaud) Turner-the for- mer a native of Missouri, descended from an old and long-honored South Carolina family, and the latter a native of Louisiana, gracefully representing an old family there of most interesting French descent. Mr. Turner crossed the great plains to California in 1852, and for four years mined in Placerville, when he re- turned East for his wife and two children, whom he brought out to the Coast in 1856, by way of the Isth-

سعيكمية

Robert Boyce

681

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

mus of Panama. At Woodbridge he located on 160 acres, which he in many ways improved. Mrs Turner passed away in California, but her devoted husband spent his last days in Louisiana. He was for many years a trustee of the Turner School district, and was decidedly a strong, friendly advocate of popular edu- cation; and was also a member of the Masonic Lodge, in highest standing. Mr. and Mrs. Boyce were blessed with two children: Lorah, the wife of Chas. McConnell, passed away, in 1911, leaving three chil- dren; Martha D., is the wife of Major Walter E. Garrison, and they have two daughters.

Since her lamented husband's death, Mrs. Boyce has continued to make her home at 303 West Elm street, Lodi, and to take an active part in community work, being a member of the Lodi Woman's Club, and maintaining a very live interest in civic and social affairs. While not a member of any church, she is nevertheless a true Christian in spirit and in deed, and believes in doing all the good she can, especially in matters of unostentatious charity. She still retains the large ranch lands left her by her husband, and in 1919 she had an additional eighty acres of the old home ranch planted to Tokay grapes. Mrs. Boyce has been privileged to witness the most wonderful trans- formations effected in California during her long resi- dence and she can recount many interesting stories of early days. She well remembers, for example, her trip to the Golden Gate from New Orleans, by way of Aspinwall, and then across the Isthmus to Panama, when they took passage on the steamer Golden Gate, and landed in San Francisco in January, 1856. San Joaquin County was then unsettled, Texas cattle roamed wild everywhere, and settlers were few and far between. But each year showed a steady influx, and thanks to the path-breaking labors of such pio- neers as Mr. and Mrs. Boyce, the forests were felled, the land cleared, and the desert was made to blossom as the rose.

WM. E. FERGUSSON .- A veteran of the Civil War, Wm. E. Fergusson was born in Glengary Coun- ty, Ontario, August 2, 1848, a son of Rev. Wm. E. and Jane (Mason) Fergusson, natives of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The father was a graduate of St. An- drews University with the degree of M. A. and was ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church. Com- ing to Ontario he preached for many years until he accepted the position of inspector of schools for Dun- das County until he retired. He and his wife died in Ontario.

Of their ten children William E. is the fifth oldest and was educated in the public school at Winchester. Living close to the U. S. line, his patriotism was stirred and when sixteen years of age he left his books and made his way across the line to enlist in Company K., 193rd New York Volunteer Infantry, March, 1865, was sent into the Shenandoah Valley where he served nearly a year, being mustered out at Harper's Ferry in the spring of 1866 and was honorably discharged in Albany, N. Y. He returned to his studies and then taught school in Ontario until 1870, when he came to Nevada and taught school in Reese River until he began mining, in which he met with fair success. In 1884 he came to Shasta County, Cal., where he followed farming.

In 1872 Mr. Fergusson made a trip back to Ontario and was married to Miss Elsie Neveu, a native of that province. She died in Shasta County in 1893 leav- ing six children. Foresta presides over her father's

home; W. P. Fergusson, Kenneth T. Fergusson, D. D. S .; Franklin Fergusson, Mrs. Elsie Proctor and Wilbur, all of Stockton. For a time Mr. Fergusson was in the employ of a lumber company. Later he be- came manager of a store and was assistant post- master for several years. Several of his children having located in Stockton he also came hither and for three years he engaged in the grocery business, since which time he has lived retired. In Shasta County he was a member of the school board. He was made a Mason in St. Johns Lodge in Ontario and is now a member of Morning Star Lodge No. 68 F. & A. M. and also a member of Rawlins Post No. 23 G. A. R. serving as adjutant for the last six years and is also a past commander of the Post. He is a trustee in the United Brethren Church and politically he is a stanch Republican.

JOHN D. GRUWELL .- For more than twenty- five years John D. Gruwell resided on his ranch property four miles east of Farmington, were he became one of the best and most representative agri- culturists in the county, and on his ranch of 720 acres, which was his home and center of operations from 1871 to 1900, he enjoyed a degree of prosperity which ranked him among the most enterprising men of his class in San Joaquin County. He was born in Quincy, Ill., June 9, 1830, a son of Robert and Millicent (Daves) Gruwell. The parents, natives of Ohio, moved to Indiana in an early day, and thence to Illinois in 1828; and there Robert Gruwell became the owner of 160 acres of land, and remained a resident there until 1833, when he moved to Lee County, Iowa. On May 3, 1849, with his wife and eleven children, he started for California. All these children were born in Illinois and Iowa; the eldest child died in 1852 at the sink of the Humbolt River, while crossing the plains. With them across the plains a brother, Jacob Gruwell, came with his family.

At Salt Lake City some Mormon acquaintances told them that it was impossible to go through to California by the northern route, as the grass was all burnt off. They wintered at Fort Utah, a dis- tance of sixty miles from Salt Lake City, found work, and there met a man named Page, whom their father had brought from Iowa, and this man, in company with a cousin, went to the council house and there heard the Mormons talk of murdering Jacob and Robert Gruwell, charging that they had been parties to the expulsion of the Mormons from Nauvoo, III., and other localities in Iowa. The young men re- turned to camp and reported the danger, so the Gru- well brothers started for California at once, by a cir- cuitous route, leaving their families, who secured a Mexican guide and in three days started on the southern route for this state, their train being the first that ever passed over General John C. Free- mont's southern trail. After many hardships, priva- tions and also loss of cattle, etc., their progress be- came very slow, and soon their diet was confined to beef cattle, who had become too poor and weak to bear the yoke. It was seen that the women and children would all perish from hunger, so John D. Gruwell and his older brother, in company with four others, left the train at a distance of 300 miles for the nearest settlement, the Cucamonga ranch. They had been informed by their Mexican guide that the dis- tance was only sixty miles, and they took with them only four days' rations; when their provisions gave out they lost all hope. They toiled on, however, four

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 108

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