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 110

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 110

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FRANK B. BRIARE .- For almost forty years Frank B. Briare has been a resident of Stockton and has in many ways been identified with the best interests of his locality. For twenty-three years he has been actively and prominently identified with the police department of Stockton and was one of the most efficient officers the city ever had. He was born at Martinez, Cal., June 14, 1862, the eldest son of his family. At ten years of age he began to make his own living working on the Fitzgerald

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

ranch, receiving for his services one dollar per week and board and room; his next job was selling' news- papers in Martinez for four dollars per week; later he and George McMahon secured a job as school janitor at thirteen dollars per month; he also worked in the warehouses of Martinez and Brentwood. In 1883, in company with Eugene Marshall and Robert Hanna, he arrived in Stockton, the three of them having $30.30 between them. Mr. Briare secured work in the Crown Flour Mills, owned by J. M. Welch, packing flour, In 1884 he was appointed guard at San Quentin state prison and later be- came captain of the first watch; in 1889 he was transferred to Folsom prison and was lieutenant of the guard for seven and a half years. On June 23, 1893, he was in charge of the life termers, when the big break at the prison occured. The convicts at work at the stone quarry on the banks of the American River had secured a number of rifles and at three o'clock in the afternoon the fight began. Mr. Briare was overpowered in the fight which last- ed forty-five minutes, when four convicts were killed and three wounded, among the wounded being the outlaw Sontag. No one escaped. In 1897 Mr. Briare returned to Stockton and was employed by the Cali- fornia Transportation Company until 1899, when he was appointed on the Stockton police force and one year later received the appointment of captain of police, serving two years in that position. In 1902 he was appointed chief of police for a short period; then was patrolman until 1907 when he was appoint- ed chief of police and served for ten years in that capacity. In 1921 Mr. Briare was pensioned and he is now living retired from active business: He was identified with every murder case in the city, in- cluding the celebrated case of Le Doux and the Min- otti case, the Chamber and Jack Briscoe murders, the W. A. Door case, Houlon case and many others in this state as well as capturing many criminals wanted in other states. Since he retired from the police force he is a successful private detective.

The marriage of Mr. Briare occurred at Stock- ton on January 8, 1890, and united him with Miss Annie Elizabeth Collins, a native of Stockton and to them have been born eight children, all living: Mary Elizabeth, now Sister Mary Nazareth of the Dominican Sisters at Sacred Heart Convent, San Francisco; Frank Daniel is proprietor of the Stock- ton Carriage Works; he enlisted in the Navy during the World War; John Joseph is clerk. in the Pa- cific Gas & Electric Company's office at San Fran- cisco and is taking a law course at St. Ignatius College; George Stephens is with the Standard Oil Company and during the war was in the U. S. Navy; Bernadette is a graduate from St. Agnes college; she lives at home, and presides over her father's household; Clarence is with the Sterling Iron Works; he was a marine during the recent war; Ambrose A. is a student in the St. Agnes high school; and Anne Elizabeth also is attending St. Agnes school. Mrs. Briare passed away January 30, 1919, while her sons were serving their country. Fraternally Mr. Briare is a member of the Stock- ton Elks, Stockton Parlor, N. S. G. W., the Knights of Columbus and in politics he is a Democrat and has taken an active and influential part in winning success for his party.

OLIVER H. ECCLESTON .- A native-born Cali- fornian who has continuously remained amid scenes made familiar by association, is Oliver H. Eccleston, a worthy representative of that pioneer family. He was born in Stockton on January 4, 1872, the son of Ransom and Sarah E. (Samsel) Eccleston. The father, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work, was a young man of about twenty-four years when the wave of excitement passed over his home locality and without loss of time he made preparation for the journey across the plains, arriving in California dur- ing the month of November, 1849. He engaged in mining a short time, then took a trip to the Sandwich Islands, and upon his return to California in the spring of 1850 he located near San Andreas, Calaveras Coun- ty, where he first became interested in the hotel busi- ness, and in addition was the proprietor of a general store; then in 1866 he came to Stockton and there- after made this city his permanent home, following the hotel business. He was married in San Andreas to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Samsel on August 22, 1854, and of the children born to their marriage, two are living, as follows: Mrs. W. C. Matteson, of Stock- ton, and Oliver H., our subject. The father passed away in Stockton November 15, 1907, and the mother died in Stockton on July 26, 1922, aged eighty-four.

Oliver H. Eccleston began his education in the public schools of Stockton and completed it with a business course in the Stockton Business College. At the age of twelve years he delivered and sold papers on the streets of Stockton and three years later, when he was fifteen years old, he became an apprentice to learn the printer's trade with the Stockton Independ- ent. He worked nights on this paper as printer's devil for a period of six months during which time he continued to go to school in the afternoons. How- ever, night work not appealing to him, he obtained position as pressman with Everett Ruggles, who after a short time started an evening paper, called The Re- publican, afterwards acquired by the Stockton Daily Record. His printing experience extended over a period of three years, during which time he continued to take special courses of study at the Stockton Busi- ness College and completed their teacher's preparatory course with an idea of studying medicine. However, business vocation called him and after working at various callings from blacksmith's helper with the H. C. Shaw Company and Matteson-Williamson Man- ufacturing Company, foundry helper with the Stock- ton Iron Works, warehouseman with the Standard Oil Company, laundry driver with the Troy Laundry and as clerk and bookkeeper with the Houser and Haines Manufacturing Company, he settled down per- manently with the Holt Manufacturing Company as bookkeeper in their accounting department. His previous shop experiences gave him a practical insight into the requirements and workings of factory ac- counts which combined with a methodical mind and natural accounting skill soon advanced him to the position of chief accountant and office manager of The Holt Manufacturing Company. For a number of years he has held the position of assistant secretary and auditor of this company and during the war ren- dered valuable service in taking care of the systems of the rapidly expanding departments and business accounting. During the war he also acted as auditor and director of accounts of the San Joaquin County War Committee and rendered accurate account of all subscriptions of the various Liberty Loan drives and

Off Eccleston

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

Red Cross campaigns amounting to several millions of dollars. During these drives he supervised the tabulating and personal records of over 60,000 names of residents and citizens of San Joaquin County. and Stockton. Mr. Benjamin Holt, president of The Holt Manufacturing Company, employed him as his confi- dential secretary and Mr. Eccleston accompanied him on his many business trips to Eastern cities, Canada and the Northwest and also to the eastern plant of The Holt Manufacturing Company, at Peoria, Illinois. Mr. Eccleston has been the secretary and treasurer of the Benjamin Holt Corporation since its inception in 1915, this corporation holding all the property of Benjamin Holt. The confidence of Mr. Holt in his secretary was shown at the time of his death when he named him as one of the executors of his will and one of the trustees of a fund set aside for old and faithful employees. The total length of service of Mr. Eccleston with the Holt interests has extended over a period of thirty years.

Mr. Eccleston's marriage united him with Miss Kathrine Power, a native of Ireland, born in County Waterford, but reared in Stockton, a daughter of Dr. John Power, the pioneer veterinary surgeon of Stock- ton, and they are the parents of three children: Ruth Marie, William Power and Jack Oliver. Mr. Eccles- ton is prominent in fraternal affairs, being a member of Stockton Lodge No. 11, I. O. O. F., and Parker Encampment No. 3. During his term of service in lodge work, he was past district deputy grand master of District No. 7, I. O. O. F., and was also a member of Stockton Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. E. and past president of Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W. In his younger days, Mr. Eccleston was a member of the National Guard of California, Company A, serving his term of three years as private and corporal. As an American citizen he has always been among those who stood for law and order and for a Government by the people and for the people.

MRS. ELIZA J. GORDON .- A resident of Cali- fornia since 1868, Mrs. Eliza J. Gordon was born in Indiana, November 18, 1835. Her father, Josiah Anderson, a native of Kentucky, removed to Indi- ana where he was a farmer. Later he located near Burlington, Iowa, residing on a farm there until 1849, when he became a pioneer of California, passing away at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. He had married Lucinda Westfall, a native of Ohio who died in California, aged sixty-five years, leaving their ten children, three of whom are now living, namely: Eliza J., our subject, Newton and J. O. all of Stockton. Eliza J. grew up in Iowa and there attended the public schools. She was married in 1851 to Aaron Gordon who was born in Springfield, Ohio, August 21, 1830, a brickmason by trade. Removing to Iowa in an early day he was married there and followed his trade until the Civil War when he enlisted in Company A, 83rd Iowa Volun- teer Infantry, serving throughout the war. He received an honorable discharge, after which he con- tinued at his trade in Iowa until 1869, when he brought his family to California, coming via the Panama route and soon selected Stockton as his location. Here he engaged in contracting and build- ing. Many of the important buildings of those early days are to his credit. He built his residence at 1452 South Hunter Street where he resided until

he died August 10, 1909. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon were blessed with ten children, four of whom are living: Virgil, Mrs. Imogene Parker, Elmer E., and Mrs. Algena Loos, of Stockton. Mrs. Gordon con- tinues to reside at her old home surrounded by her family and many friends who appreciate her for her merit and worth.

ROBERT C. GRUWELL .- A native son of Cali- fornia, whose father and grandfather crossed the plains with ox teams in 1849 and became prominent grain ranchers east of Farmington, is Robert C. Gruwell. The family is one of the best known and highly esteemed in Central California, and has been intimately associated with the extensive farming in- terests of the state for over half a century. Mr. Gruwell's father was John D. Gruwell, well known in San Joaquin County as a man of character and ability. He came to California from his native state of Illinois in 1849 and engaged in mining on his own account; in 1851 he made his first purchase of land in Santa Clara County and later moved to Upper Lake, Lake County, Cal., and in 1869 moved to the east side of San Joaquin County, settling east of Farmington. The mother of Robert C. Gruwell was Evelyn (Fine) Gruwell, born in Missouri in 1836; her parents well-to-do farmers who died early in life during a yellow fever epidemic. John Fine cared for the little orphan girl, gave her a good home and she accompanied him and his wife to California in 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Gruwell were the parents of six chil- dren, of whom only two survive, Oscar, a merchant residing in Oakland and Robert C. of this sketch. Mrs. Gruwell passed way in June, 1906, at the family home in Oakland, followed by her husband in Au- gust, 1911, at the age of eighty-one.

Robert C. Gruwell was born near Upper Lake, Lake County, Cal., July 19, 1862. The family at that time resided on a Government homestead, where the father engaged in farming and stockraising until 1869, when the family removed to San Joaquin Coun- ty. Robert C. attended the Everett and Home Union schools and early learned the details of farm- ing through assisting his father with his grain and stockraising enterprises.

In 1891 Mr. Gruwell was married to Miss Birdie Drais, a daughter of Edward M. Drais, deceased pioneer and capitalist of the Farmington district of San Joaquin County. Mrs. Gruwell was born at the family home, known as Rock Creek ranch, on June 20, 1865, and received her education in the Home Union and Cottage schools. In 1897 Mr. and Mrs. Gruwell moved to their present home place twelve miles east of Stockton on the Copperopolis Road and here they reared their three sons: John Edward, Robert M., and Lyle M. Mr. Gruwell owns 540 acres of fine grain land in two ranches, 420 acres on Little John Creek, and 120 acres in the home ranch two miles west of Peters. Of recent years Mr. Gruwell has been assisted by his sons, each one hav- ing a share in the Gruwell ranch. Mr. Gruwell serves as the president of the board of trustees of the Everett school and has been a big factor in se- curing the fine new building which was completed in 1921, replacing the one built in 1865. Mr. Gruwell is a Democrat in politics and his sons are members

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of the N. S. G. W. at Stockton. He is an advocate of good roads and the famliy is one of prominence in this community where they have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.

LEWIS E. GRIMSLEY .- Coming to Stockton in 1872, Lewis E. Grimsley has since been closely allied with the development of the San Joaquin Valley and he is widely and favorably known to the ranchers of this part of the state, owing to his long connection with grain-threshing activities. He was born on a farm in Morgan County, Ill., July 14, 1853, and when twelve years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to Vernon County. Mo. For four generations members of the family have engaged in blacksmithing, the father and grandfather having de- voted their energies to that line of activity, while Mr. Grimsley and his son have also followed the trade, of which the subject of this review acquired a thorough knowledge under the guidance of his father while the family were residing in Missouri.

In the fall of 1872 Lewis E. Grimsley and his brother John came to California on one of the early emigrant trains, consisting of freight and passenger cars. Along the way they saw the remains of prairie schooners which had been burned by the Indians and they were three weeks in making the trip, arriving in Stockton on October 10th. Shortly afterward the brother died and Mr .. Grimsley succeeded in obtain- ing employment on a ranch near Waterloo owned by Judge Hill. For thirty-nine years he had charge of grain-threshing outfits and worked all over the San Joaquin Valley, threshing many thousands sacks of grain. In 1900 he became connected with the Holt Manufacturing Company, which sent him out with one of their steam threshing machines, operating on ranches situated on Tulare Lake and on Kern Lake. One season he was sent to the Eureka Flat section, near Walla Walla, Wash., and he also threshed grain for Charles Moreing, on the Jones tract. He did the plumbing work on the first caterpillar tractor built by Benjamin Holt for the Holt Manufacturing Com- pany and for the past twelve years has had charge of their plumbing department, and is regarded as one of their most competent and trusted employes.

Mr. Grimsley was married to Miss Minnie Klinger, who was born in San Joaquin County. Her father, George Klinger, was a native of Germany and in pioneer times he crossed the plains to California, becoming the first harness and saddle-maker in Stockton, while later he followed ranching and also conducted a saddle shop at Linden. For many years he served as a school trustee in the Linden district and he was a charter member of the Odd Fellows Lodge. Mr. and Mrs. Grimsley have become the parents of four children: Henry is the owner of a blacksmithshop at Linden; L. F., is the distributor of the C. L. Best line of tractors whose place of business is on South Aurora Street, Stockton, and his biography appears elsewhere in this work; William was connected with the Holt Manufacturing Com- pany for twenty-two years but is now associated with his brother L. F .; Maud, the only daughter is at home. Mr. Grimsley has watched with deep interest the development and upbuilding of Stock- ton, in which he has borne his full share, and as one of the pioneers of the San Joaquin Valley he has the esteem of a large circle of friends.

ROBERT FRANKLIN GREEN .- A venerable pioneer of San Joaquin County is found in Robert Franklin Green, who has been a continuous resident of the county. for fifty-nine years, his father having settled on the ranch where our subject now resides. He was born in Allen County, Kan., on August 9, 1861, a son of Jasper W. and Sarah E. (Carlisle) Green, born respectively in Alabama and Missouri. Grandfather Jesse Green was a Methodist minister. In 1860, with his wife and some of his children, he crossed the plains to California and located on a farm three and one-half miles northeast of what is now Lodi. On a part of this ranch the town of Victor is now located. Rev. Jesse Green was a pio- neer minister in the San Joaquin Valley, who with true religious zeal did much to establish early churches and raise the standard of morals in those early days. He passed away at the age of eighty- four years. Jasper W. Green removed from Ala- bama to Arkansas and engaged in the mercantile business. The war coming on, his business was ruined and he moved to Kansas, where he carried on farming. In 1864 he brought his family to Cali- fornia, making the journey across the plains in a prairie schooner drawn by oxen, and taking six months on the way to a day. On arriving at his father Jesse Green's place in San. Joaquin County, he purchased 160 acres near by and engaged in grain farming until the time of his death in 1887 aged fifty-seven years, The mother survived until she was sixty-two years old. They were. the parents of four children: Mrs. Mary Snyder, of Oakland; Rob- ert Franklin, the subject of this review; Newton, de- ceased; and Mrs. Lochie Ellis, of Lodi.

Frank Green, as he is familiarly called by his many friends, made the overland journey with his parents when he was in his third year, so that his first recollections are of San Joaquin County. Here he was reared on the farm, enjoying the great out- of-doors, and thus grew to be a very large and ath- letic man; and he still retains the vigor and strength with which nature so liberally endowed him. He received a good education at the Alpine school, and at the same time made himself useful as his father's right-hand man. After his father's death he con- tinued to run the home place, and in addition pur- chased 400 acres near by, which afterward became known as the Green Colony, and which he later sub- divided and sold in small acreages. Mr. Green received fifty acres as his share of his father's estate, of which he planted thirty-five acres in vineyard and fifteen acres in alfalfa. His irrigating system con- sists of a five-inch pump driven by a fifteen-horse- power motor.

During his long residence in San Joaquin County Mr. Green has become widely known, and his -many excellent traits of character have gained him the friendship and warm regard of many with whom he has come in contact. In national politics he is a Republican, and fraternally he is a member of the Lodi Lodge of Odd Fellows, of which he is a Past Grand and has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge. He is also a member of the Harmony Encampment of Odd Fellows; of Ridgely Canton, Stockton; and of Lodi Rebekah Lodge. He is interested in the growth and development of this county and is an original stockholder. in the National Products' Asso- ciation of Lodi.

RET Green

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During Mr. Green's long residence in the county he has witnessed the marvelous growth and devel- opment of not only the Victor section but all of the county. Though very young in years when arriving in the county he remembers helping his father clear the land of brush and heavy timber; and when he reached young manhood he took advantage of the natural resources the section afforded and has met with gratifying success.

FREDERICK W. BUTTRICK. - A prominent factor in the development of the northwest section of Stockton has been Frederick W. Buttrick, who was born near Lathrop, in San Joaquin County, on February 26, 1872, the son of William H. and Retta (Tyner) Buttrick, natives respectively of Massachu- setts and Missouri. Mr. Buttrick, as a pioneer, crossed the great plains in an ox-team with Captain Moss, and having done so well with his first venture, he and the captain made four trips across the conti- nent, on one of the journeys driving some 800 head of horses, which they sold to Brigham Young at Salt Lake City. Later still these two men owned large tracts of land, which they farmed to grain and where they raised cattle on land for which they paid only $2.50 an acre, the low price being due to its swampy character; and since this land has been drained and reclaimed, the value has advanced to $1200 per acre. Mr. Buttrick also farmed all of Staten Island, com- prising some 10,000 acres for J. B. Haggin; he was active in politics, and became paymaster of the Cali- fornia National Guard; and he died in 1905, highly esteemed by all who knew him.

Frederick W. Buttrick was sent to the Stockton schools, and he was graduated, after pursuing the ex- cellent courses of the high school at Stockton, with the class of '90. He then entered the employ of the Stockton Savings Bank, now the City Bank, where he remained nineteen years; and as assistant cashier he resigned to enter the real estate field in 1911. In partnership with Charles Ray, he organized the Tux- edo Land Company, which brought 800 acres north- west of Stockton on the San Joaquin River; and hav- ing laid out fifty acres as a subdivision under the name of the Tuxedo Park Company, they sold $460,- 000 worth of lots in twenty-two months, the Tuxedo Golf and Country Club taking a part of the 800 acres. About $15,000 was spent in advertising the property, and sixteen salesmen and eight autos were used in the selling campaign. What the company did for the investors may be realized from the fact that lots which sold six years ago for $400 are sell- ing today for $1,200, for the property is now built up, and contains some of the best homes in the city.

Since selling off that fine property, Mr. Buttrick has devoted his time to the development of small acreage for suburban homes. These were put on the market as the Stockton River Farms No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, in each of which there were forty acres. These are ideal garden farms, and about 100 acres have been subdivided into lots of from two and one- half to five-acre places, in which pumping plants have been established. Some fifty-two families have been located on these properties in the past two years, and there are now over 500 lot owners there. Mr. But- trick has himself erected a beautiful suburban resi- dence on one of the seven-acre places, having a pear orchard; and viewing his operations and successes as a whole, it is evident that he has become one of the important developers of the district.

At Merced, in 1918, Mr. Buttrick was married to Miss Gena Metvedt, a native of Wisconsin, a gifted lady who has added to Mr. Buttrick's popularity. He belongs to Lodge No. 218 of the Elks, and also the Yosemite Club.

EDWARD DUNNE .- A worthy, highly-esteemed pioneer of San Joaquin County who was always of particular interest as a relative of John Redmond, the famous Irish Nationalist, was the late Edward Dunne, a native of Ireland, where he was born in County Wexford on March 30, 1853. He came to the United States when he was still a boy, and for a time made his home in Baltimore; then, pushing out to the great West, he reached San Francisco in 1877. Soon after reaching that city he entered the firm of the Nolan Shoe Company, relatives of his, and there mastered the shoe trade, applying himself assiduously because of his expectation of establish- ing himself in business some day. In 1884 he came to Stockton to open a store for that manufacturing concern in the Masonic Building. A few months later he bought the business and moved to a better location on Main Street where he became particularly well known to the public. Mr. Dunne constructed the first cross-walk on Main Street, which ran from his store across the street to the Yosemite Hotel and for many years all street cars stopped at that crossing, making it especially agreeable in wet weather. He it was who inaugurated the light- ing of the store fronts in the city also. Some years after he had opened his store Mr. Dunne bought out the store in Fresno formerly owned by the Nolan Company, but sold it later on and devoted his entire time to the Stockton store. He was a master of every detail in his line of activity, and was always studying, in the minutest detail, the needs of his customers, often anticipating their wants. The result was that once a customer of Mr. Dunne, the patron seldom or never left him. Another result was that Mr. Dunne, full of local pride, never neglected any opportunity to build up the commercial interests of the community as a whole, not merely considering his own advancement, but standing ready to do his neigh- bor and his competitors a good turn if he could.

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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 110

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