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 112

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 112

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subsequently Mrs. Hannan was married to J. W. Maher. She lived to be eighty-eight years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Gall were the parents of one son, John. Mr. Gall passed away April 21, 1915. He took a pro- minent part in the political life of Stockton and was a member of the old Volunteer Fire Department in early days, serving as chief during 1882 and 1883; later he was chief of police of Stockton. Fraternally he belonged to the Native Sons of the Golden West. Since Mr. Gall's death, his son John has erected a modern two-story business block at a cost of $40,- 000 on the corner of East Main and Aurora streets; this was the first modern block to be erected in this section for a number of years. When Mr. Gall passed away, Stockton lost one of her most loyal citi- zens and he never lacked for enthusiasm when any measure or movement was proposed for the advance- ment and prosperity of his beloved city of Stockton.

ARTHUR C. BOEHMER, M. D .- A thorough un- derstanding of the theory and practice of medicine and surgery has brought Dr. Arthur C. Boehmer most gratifying success and the citizens of Lodi have shown their appreciation of his five years of work among them, for he occupies a high position in the esteem and confidence of the people of the city and environs. A native of Wisconsin, he was born in La Crosse on October 30, 1890, but when a small lad removed with his parents to Tomah, Wis., where he was reared and attended the public schools. He entered the University of Illinois and was grad- uated with the class of 1913 with the degree of M. D. and was the youngest student to graduate from that institution up to that date. He was popular in the Greek fraternity, Phi Rho Sigma, and was interested in all college activities. After his graduation he be- came an interne in the West Side Hospital in Chi- cago where he remained for two years, gaining knowledge and experience; he then became the house physician of this hospital, remaining in that posi- tion for one year; he then became associated with the famous surgeon, Arthur Nathan Claggett, and the year's close association with this noted surgeon gave him an experience that could not have been acquired otherwise. He then became professor in the Chicago College of Medicine and also in the Illinois Post Graduate School where he remained until his removal to Lodi in 1917, where he has been success- fully practicing his profession. He has been very active in the affairs of the County and State Medical societies and through his efforts and influence has aided materially in making the city and county a more desirable place in which to live.

The marriage of Dr. Boehmer united him with Miss Florence L. Schubert, a native of Illinois. In his fraternal affiliations, Dr. Boehmer is a member of Lodi Lodge No. 256, F. & A. M., and of the Royal Arch and Council of Stockton, and the Ben Ali Temple of Sacramento. At the present time he is the examining physician of the Eagles lodge of Lodi. In local affairs he is a member of the Lodi Business Men's Association and the Mokelumne Club. He has always been most actively interested in everything pertaining to the progress both of Lodi and San Joaquin County and maintains a most progressive stand on all questions relative to the prosperity and development of his particular locality. He has re- cently erected one of the most artistic and attractive residences in Lodi where he and his esteemed wife entertain their many friends and acquaintances.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

JOHN M. POSEY .- Not many Californians, per- haps, can boast with modest pride of a family tree so interesting as that of John M. Posey, the well- known San Joaquin County realtor, which links him and his near-of-kin to the truly good and equally truly great. Himself a native son, he was born on September 27, 1863, in the northern part of the San Joaquin Valley, on the ranch of his father, Jeremiah Posey, a pioneer of the Lodi district and a native of Alabama. He had previously married Miss Eliza Lucas, a native of Georgia and a member of the family of the distinguished Robert Lucas, twice Gov- ernor of the Buckeye State; and after their marriage they had removed to Texas, and from the Lone Star State had crossed the plains together to California. Upon their arrival on the Coast, Mr. Posey traded a span of mules for 150 acres of land along the river in the northern section of San Joaquin County, and this he farmed to grain, and many are the good stories coming down through him about those settler days. There were no fences then in that part of the county, and cattle roamed at will; and the Indians came down from the mountains to help harvest the crops. The grain was hauled to Carson City and Virginia City, Nev., over toll roads, the tolls being $125 for the round trip, which required two weeks to make. Elks, too, were plentiful, and John Posey well remembers seeing a couple of them, one day, when he was a little child playing on the Dodge place. From all accounts, no better parents ever lived than these worthy pioneers who rounded out their useful, self-sacrificing lives with honor and suc- cess not accorded to everyone, and left behind, as a precious legacy to their descendants and also to society generally, and the patriotic American proud of his country's founders, the glory of an untarnished name. Three children still live to represent the family: Margaret has become Mrs. Aldrich and re- sides at Lodi; near her is Agnes, better known as Mrs. Foster; while the one surviving son is the subject of this review.

Left an orphan when a mere baby, John M. Posey was reared on a neighboring farm, where he went to work when old enough to be serviceable as a husky farm-hand, but attaining his twenty-first year, he started out to make his own way in the world. He went to Oregon and settled in the Rogue River country, and there, for four years, he farmed 160 acres. Returning to the San Joaquin Valley, he pur- chased another 160 acres near Lodi, known as the Dunbar ranch, which he proceeded both to cultivate and to make his home; and this he sold in 1914, after he had first raised grain there, and then planted an orchard and vines.

Since then Mr. Posey has bought, developed and sold numerous ranches throughout the San Joaquin Valley, his comprehensive knowledge of California agricultural conditions enabling him to judge with unusual intelligence and clearness, and to be the safest kind of a mentor to others as well desiring to entrust their important interest to his unbiased deci- sion and unimpeachable integrity. His present real estate holdings consist of about 235 acres lying to the west of Lodi, 100 acres of which are in bearing vines; and he has a tract of eighty acres near Lafay- ette which is highly improved. In 1914 Mr. Posey established a real estate business, by means of which he devotes his time and energies largely to the buy- ing and selling of extensive ranch properties, and he has become a most potent and welcome factor in both

the development and the upbuilding of Lodi and the immediate vicinity.

Mr. Posey's marriage on April 5, 1890, and at Medford, Ore., united him with Miss Lena Stimson, a native of the good old state of Maine, and seven children, all natives of San Joaquin County, have been born to them. Charles is a partner with his father in the J. M. Posey Land Company; Nellie has become Mrs. Fore and resides at Lafayette; Stella is Mrs. Mckenzie, and lives near Acampo; Donna is also married, having become the wife of Raymond Northrop, and resides near Mrs. Fore; J. Everett is operating one of his father's ranches; Margaret and Jennie are in school. Mr. Posey is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, affiliated with Lodi Parlor, and he belongs to the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Posey passed away in 1907, leaving behind a blessed memory.

The association of our subject, through his mother and her forbears, with the famous Robert Lucas, is naturally a matter of great satisfaction to Mr. Posey and his patriotic family, as it will always be a matter of real interest to the student of California history and the scribe delving into the annals of San Joaquin County; for the history of the Lucas family in America is a story of pioneer settlements and frontier life, a tale of Indian wars and boundary disputes, a story with chapters generations long, with ever the same pioneer background and ever the same pursuit of the border-line of civilization from England in the Cromwellian days to the middle of the American Continent two centuries later. In England, the Lucas family had been Quaker; and when the tide of westward civilization set toward American shores there crossed the Atlantic one Robert Lucas, who arrived in 1679, and took part in the founding of William Penn's colony. Bucks County, Pennsyl- vania, was his habitat; and here generations sprang forth to carry on the great work he had begun. Here Edward Lucas, the grandfather of Governor Robert Lucas, already referred to as related to John E. Posey's mother, was born, reared and married to Mary Darke, a descendant of one of Cromwell's sol- diers; and in their home in Jefferson County, Vir- ginia, on the 10,000 acres which Edward Lucas bought from Lord Fairfax. William Lucas, father of Robert, was born about 1743. As he grew into manhood, he met and married, at Shepherdstown, Miss Susannah Barnes, likewise of Jefferson County; and it was Joseph Barnes, her brother, who a few years later, according to local tradition, successfully propelled against the current of the Potomac River a steamboat of his own invention, long before Ful- ton's "Clermont" had ploughed the waters of the Hudson. Having cast off his Quaker proclivities, William enlisted in dead earnest for three years of service in the American Revolution; and it is still told in the family how at the muster of Captain William Lucas' company later, when off on frontier duty, a proclamation by Governor Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was read, warning all who had sworn allegiance to England to leave the country.

It was in these eventful times and stirring environ- ments that Robert Lucas was born on April 1, 1781, destined to make his way, in 1800, to Ohio, under the influence of the restless spirit manifest at. the close of the Revolutionary War, which impelled men from older regions to push out as settlers into untrodden territory. In Ohio, he rose to the rank of Major-General of Militia. When the War of 1812

John M. Tosay.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

broke out and again involved his country in'a dispute with a foreign power, calling for additional or re- newed display of patriotism, Robert Lucas was com- missioned captain in the 19th U. S. Infantry, on March 14, 1812, and on the 20th of February of the following year he was made lieutenant-colonel; but on June 30, feeling a more imperative call for his services at home, he resigned his enviable commis- sion and served as brigadier-general of the Ohio State Militia in defense of the frontier, continuing that arduous and responsible duty from July 25 until September 19, subject to untold privation and ex- hausting fatigue, and exposed hourly to every con- ceivable kind of danger. In 1814 he was a member of the Ohio Legislature, and in 1832 he presided over the Democratic National Convention that nomi- nated Andrew Jackson for a second term.

General Lucas served twice as Governor of Ohio. first from 1832 to 1836, first taking the oath of office on December 7, 1832, and then, when his first record was well known to the people, he was the first Terri- torial Governor of Iowa, filling that difficult role at the outset of the new commonwealth, from 1838 to 1841. He was an active Freemason, a man of strong impulses, but of strict integrity.

This distinguished relative of the Poseys cannot fail to interest Californians, and especially so because of the Golden State's relation to the two common- wealths he once ruled. He was a typical Western man. as his biographer, John C. Parish, has declared, and believed in the development of the West and its resources. Throughout his career in Ohio his efforts to establish roads and perfect a great canal system for that state were particularly marked. In Iowa the legitimate successor of the canal-the railroad- claimed his interest. In 1850, when even Californians were awakening, despite their paramount interest in gold, or perhaps because of it, to the necessity of better means of transportation to the West, enthu- siasm over railroads toward the West ran high in Iowa, and Robert Lucas actively participated in the conventions. Thus in his last days we find him- always a pioneer-exerting his best energies toward the development of three great pioneer movements: education, temperance, and railway communication. But his life brought many disappointments. . With all the intensity of his spirit he had cherished long- ings and ambitions which in the nature of things could not be fulfilled. He had been privileged to sow the seed; it was given to others to reap the har- vest. His years had been many and his services great. He had seen a great state rise from the wil- derness north of the Ohio River, and had given it a third of a century of his own life's work. He had guided the beginnings of the promising Territory of Iowa, and helped it to gain admission as a new State of the Union.

Hardly less interesting from a human standpoint was the companion of his arduous days. On March 7, 1816, Robert Lucas married Miss Friendly Ashley Sumner, and shortly after he and his bride moved to Pike County, and settled in the town of Piketon, which, for over a score of years, was to be his home. Ninety years have passed by; and yet the little village of Piketon, with the hills on one side and the Scioto River on the other, has not grown a great deal. The present postmaster is a grandson of Robert's brother, Joseph Lucas; and there still tread the gravel paths 44

of Piketon, men and women who remember the tall, straight figure and stern face of the Governor, and the delicious currant pies of his wife, Friendly. When Mr. and Mrs. Lucas first made this place their home, he was thirty-five years of age, and lived in a house that still stands on the main street of the town. Later, when his brother-in-law and political rival was elected to the State Senate, and for two years he could devote his time and attention strictly to his private affairs, he built himself a house which was among the finest in all Southern Ohio. To this old- time mansion, years have brought somewhat of change; but it still stands on the Jackson Road two miles east of Piketon. It was a large, two-story brick house with a hall in the center and sitting-room and parlor opening on each side of the hall. Each room, upstairs and down, was provided with a fire-' place. Over the front door was placed a stone, in which were cut the following words: "Virtue, Lib- erty and Independence." Below the word Liberty appeared a five-pointed star; while below the motto were carved name .and date: "R. Lucas, 1824." Located on a farm of 437 acres, surrounded with large trees and with sweet briar and eglantine grow- ing in profusion about the place, and over the walls, it was indeed a home of wonderful attractiveness. The grove about the house was the distinctive feature of the farm; and so, in honor of his wife, Robert Lucas named his new home "Friendly Grove." Here the Lucas family lived for fifteen years, and here Lucas and his hospitable wife entertained in great. state. Political friends came to discuss weighty mat- ters of public concern, and to laugh at the quick- witted sallies of Mrs. Lucas. Methodist circuit riders stopped here in their unending round of pio- neer preaching, finding spiritual improvement and incidentally nourishing their gaunt frames upon the ample and delectable meals outspread by their host- ess. Mrs. Lucas had an ever-ready tongue, an un- quenchable fund of spirits and vigor, and a wide- spread reputation as a cook; and she was a general favorite, particularly with those to whom these and her many other virtuous qualities appealed. One of her pastimes was horseback riding; indeed, it was a common sight to see her galloping over the rough country roads of early Ohio on her coal-black horse "Nig," or, with a big basket swung from the pommel of her saddle, riding over the stretch of hills that lay between Friendly Grove and Piketon on her way to do the shopping for the family.

The home which Governor Lucas had built south of Iowa City in 1844 was the home of his last days. Because of the plum trees before the house, he called it Plum Grove; and here in the midst of his family, he quietly rested from his long life's work. He awaited the approach of death with calmness, day after day entering on the margins of old newspapers or on the backs of old documents expressions of his hope of immortality and final salvation, interweaving an undying evidence of his affection for his family. On the last day of the year 1852 he recorded a hymn full of hope and cheer in the pages of the journal he had kept in the War of 1812. Five weeks later, February 7, 1853, Robert Lucas died at Plum Grove, and on the following day he was buried in the ceme- tery at Iowa City. Friendly A. Lucas outlived her husband more than twenty years.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

GEORGE L. DICKENSON .- It is safe to say that there has been no person in Stockton who more con- tinuously extolled its possibilities as a manufacturing center and distributing point, with its three trans- continental railroads and its ocean shipping, than, George L. Dickenson, the conservative, yet enterpris- ing leader in business affairs and public-spirited citi- zen. A native of Missouri, he was born in Jackson County, September 13, 1857, the son of Charles W. and Elizabeth (Meador) Dickenson, natives of Vir- ginia and Kentucky, respectively. The Dickenson name has been associated with California since 1846, when Gallant Duncan Dickenson, a cousin of George L., became identified with the West. He was born in Virginia in 1806, and was left an orphan at an early age and reared by an uncle. In 1822 he went to Ruth- erford County Tenn., and there was married to Isa- bella McCreary in 1828; in 1834 they moved to Jack- son County, Mo., and lived there until 1846, when with his wife and six children, G. D. Dickenson left Inde- pendence and crossed the plains as a captain of a train of 500 emigrants. Arriving in California the family spent the first winter near San Jose, but in 1847 re- moved to Monterey County and lived there for the next eighteen months. While residing there, Mr. Dickenson built the first brick kiln and erected the first brick house in the state. During the year 1848, while prospecting for gold, he discovered the gulch which bears his name, and in April of 1849, he located in Stockton. . When he had passed through here in 1846 there was neither a wooden nor a brick building in the place. Here Mr. Dickenson built the first hotel, constructed of lumber that was brought around the Horn and costing him one dollar a foot. This hotel accomodated 100 guests and was operated by him for a short time; later it was leased to Roach & Morgan for a rental of $18,000 a year. The building was des- troyed by fire about two years later. G. D. Dickenson was elected alcalde of Stockton and served till Cali- fornia was admitted as a state. It was here that his daughter Margaret was married to A. G. Lawrey on October 29, 1849. She was the first American girl wedded in this city. In 1851 the family settled in Stanislaus County, where he established Dickenson's Ferry; and this continued to be their home until his death, October 25, 1870.

George L. Dickenson was educated in the public schools of his native county and in Baker University at Baldwin, Kans. For a number of years he was con- nected with railroad interests in the Middle West. He was in the auditing and freight department of the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Gulf Railroad at Kansas City, Mo .; then with the Atchison & Nebraska at Atchison, Kans .; and then with the Indiana, Bloom- ington & Western at Indianapolis, Ind. In 1890 he came to California and the following year settled in Stockton, where he became associated with the Holt Manufacturing Company, retaining his connection with this concern until 1913, when he resigned to give his attention to his own interests that had accumu- lated with the passing of the years. During the years he was with the company he became the first secre- cary after its incorporation in 1892; in 1910 he became secretary and treasurer of the Peoria, Ill., branch of the Holt Manufacturing Company; and then for three years had charge of the Holt interests in the Eastern and Middle states, as well as much of their foreign trade. He became recognized as one of the best in-

formed authorities on harvesters, traction engines and equipment. In 1901 the Matteson & Williamson Manufacturing Company was purchased by Mr. Dickenson and George H. Cowie. It was operated by them two years. In 1903 the business of this concern was merged with The Holt Manufacturing Company, and in 1905 The Georges Company was organized and succeeded to the realty holdings of the Matteson & Williamson Manufacturing Company.

In 1919 The Georges Company Building was erected at the corner of Aurora and Market streets. This structure was conceived by Mr. Dickenson as a home for industrial interests, it being in the heart of the in- dustrial district of the city. The building is two stories high, with the entire ground floor arranged to house tractor concerns and affiliated institutions that help make that branch of trade so important. It is well- appointed throughout and occupies about a quarter of a block. The second floor is devoted to business of- fices, each provided with conveniences that add com- fort to the occupants.

In passing, it is well to mention the fact that the Matteson & Williamson Manufacturing Company, which began business in 1852, was one of the oldest concerns in the state, and with it were connected men at different times that are now prominent in industries of their own. Among these we mention: G. H. Harris, superintendent, now president of the Harris Manu- facturing Company; O. H. Eccleston, secretary, now holding the same position with the Holt Company; E. H. Noack, who began his apprenticeship as a foundryman and is now president of the Monarch Foundry Company; J. M. Kroyer, formerly foreman in the machine shop, now president of the Kroyer Motor Company. When the company's business was merged with the Holt concern it had existed over half a century.

The marriage of Mr. Dickenson on February 15, 1910, united him with Miss Erma Wagner, born in Ventura County. They had a son, Richard W. Dick- enson, born November 12, 1910, who is shaping an in- dividuality that will place him in high position when reaching mature years. Upon the reorganization of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Dickenson was elected a director; and he was always active in its affairs. He was also a member of the United States Chamber of Commerce, and belonged to the Yosemite Club and the Golf and Country Club.

Mr. Dickenson was always found among the leaders in all movements that make for a greater Stockton, was ever on the alert to "boost" his favored city, and worked consistently to show industrial leaders of the whole country the splendid possibilities of this city as a manufacturing and distributing center, where raw materials, labor and water and rail transportation combine to create the location they are seeking. He was a persistent worker and advocate of Stockton and San Joaquin County, and never neglected an op- portunity to place before the public the features that are offered by Stockton for jobbing, manufacturing, packing, canning and distributing. He is the father of Tractor Row, which extends from Weber Avenue, to South Street on Aurora Street. It is this constant endeavor that does much to bring substantial results and new institutions to Stockton, and for these efforts the people of this county owe much to the unselfish devotion of Mr. Dickenson. He died January 12, 1923.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

ORRIN C. WILSON .- Among the highly es- teemed residents of Stockton was the late Orrin C. Wilson, the proprietor of the well-known broom fac- tory at Stockton. A native son, he was born in the house at Stockton in which he lived at the time of his death on June 8, 1873, the son of John Wilson, a na- tive of St. Johnsbury, near Danville, Vt., who was a farmer and came out to California by way of the Nic- aragua Route in 1852. He reached Stockton in time, and for a while teamed to the mines in Calaveras County, using bull-teams to haul the freight. Later, he followed sheep-shearing, and then he had a dairy in Stockton and delivered milk, leasing land from Cap- tain Weber, and farming where Oak Park now is. In 1864 he bought the block in Stockton bounded by Pilgrim, Ophir, Channel streets and Miner Avenue, paying only $450 for the same, and later he sold the half of it for the price paid for the whole. He also owned one-fourth of another block on Miner Avenue. He built eight houses on his property, erecting in 1869 the Wilson home-place. In partnership with Jacob and Hiram Fisher, John Wilson, who had mar- ried Miss Mary C. Fisher, a native of Missouri, April 7, 1863, also engaged in house-moving in earlier days, using stalwart oxen. He died March 27, 1899, full of years and honor as an exemplary citizen of the finest Yankee type, and his good wife passed away in 1909. They were the parents of two children, both sons, one of whom died at the age of five. John Wilson was a prominent member of the Methodist Church. Mrs. Wilson was the daughter of Hiram Fisher, who crossed the great plains in 1852 and be- came the owner of the Fisher Addition at Stockton. Mrs. John Wilson cooked the first meal in the first home which stood in Modesto, and that first house was a small frame structure moved from San Joaquin City to Modesto by her father, with the aid of ox- teams. She was an active worker in the Central Methodist Church.

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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 112

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