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 116

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 116

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Captain Taisen was a picturesque figure in early California history, especially in and around San Francisco Bay and the Stockton district. He sailed around Cape Horn into San Francisco Bay from his native land in the early '60s and became personally acquainted with prominent California pioneers in San Francisco who made history in the development of that city and in the building of railroads. Captain Taisen had followed the sea as a young man and when he arrived at San Francisco he continued in this line. He ran a fleet of scows, schooners and barges up the San Joaquin, Sacramento and Moke- lumne rivers loaded with freight. These barges were run up the slough in Stockton, back of where now stands the plant of the- Wagner Leather Company. There was a drawbridge over El Dorado Street in those days through which the barges passed to the unloading place. He also ran sloops and sailboats up the Mokelumne River and the station of Taisen was named for him Captain Taisen was widely known among the seafaring men of the Bay cities and river districts and owned several racing yachts which took part in regattas on San Francisco Bay. His sons have in their possession an American flag he won with his yacht Dorenda in a race on San Francisco Bay, July 4, 1876. He was a member of the Master Mariner Society of San Francisco, and of the Druids, of San Francisco, organized in 1871, and also be- longed to California Lodge No. 1, I. O. O. F., the first lodge of this order organized in the state, September 9, 1849, and helped build the Odd Fellows Building at Woodbridge.

Johan Gleisen

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

The oldest son of the family, John C. Taisen, was born in San Francisco January 9, 1874, and there he received a good education in the public schools. Entering the employ of the Thomas Dye Works and serving an apprenticeship, he learned the trade of dyer very thoroughly so that he is today one of the leaders in that line in the state. His brother, Walter H. Taisen, had established a dyeing and cleaning works in Stockton and in November, 1904, he joined him and has since had charge of the plant and its operations, while his brother takes care of the business manage- ment. He is a director of the California Master Dyers and Cleaners Association, of which his brother is also a member, and they also are members of the National Master Dyers and Cleaners Association.

Mrs. Taisen, who was Miss Alta Little before her marriage, was born at Altaville, a daughter of Harry Little and a granddaughter of George Klinger, a pioneer of '49 who was one of the early ranchers at Linden, where he was also engaged in making saddles and harness, the first American saddles in California being made by him, his shop at that time being in Sacramento. By a former marriage Mr. Taisen has two daughters, Mrs. Mabel Cruze of San Francisco and Mrs. Margaret Zumwalt, of Port- land, Ore. Mr. Taisen is a director of the Olympic baths and fraternally is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Loyal Order of Moose, Woodmen of the World. He is deeply interested in civic move- ments and takes pride in the progress of his adopted city. He served efficiently as park commissioner, taking a decided stand for permanent improvements.

DAN W. BIRD .- An enthusiastic advocate of the superior possibilities of Lodi and San Joaquin Coun- ty, and a man whose opinions carry weight in de- velopment circles is Dan W. Bird of Lodi. He was born in Whitley County, Ky., January 21, 1855, and when he was fifteen his parents moved to Greene County, Mo., where the father engaged in farming and where Dan W. lived until he was eighteen. He received an education sufficient to enable him to ob- tain a certificate to teach and for ten years he fol- lowed pedagogical pursuits in the schools of Missouri. During his residence in that state he was a county school commissioner in Dade County; later he turned his attention to commercial pursuits and became a traveling salesman for a hardware concern, finally engaging in that business at Lockwood for fifteen years. His next venture was in the drygoods busi- ness at Greenfield, the county seat of Dade County. Three years later he came West and in 1901 located in Aberdeen, Wash,, remaining one year, then spent 1902 in Portland, Ore., and the following year came to Cali- fornia and located at Lodi, where he found very satis- factory business connections as a bookkeeper and salesman for the Northern Hardware Company.

In 1904 Mr. Bird became associated with John Bewley in the real estate business and later engaged in the real estate, loan and insurance business in- dependently under the firm name of Dan W. Bird & Company and with the passing of the years he has been very successful. He has been a witness of many changes in this section of the county; vine- yards that sold in 1903 for $300 per acre now easily bring $2,000 per acre; grain land sold for $100 to $150 per acre. When he landed here Lodi had no depot, no paved streets, nor cement walks; now there are twenty miles of walks and sixteen miles of macadamized streets within the corporate limits.

Well satisfied with the general conditions in Lodi, Mr. Bird erected a modern and costly home in the city and is content to spend his remaining years in the valley he has helped to develop. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding his membership at Lockwood, Mo. Active, progressive and successful, Mr. Bird has been a most energetic worker in the county and brought to bear in all his dealings those principles of honesty and integrity that are the real fundamen- tals of success.

THOMAS F. SCALLY .- A familiar figure on the streets of Stockton and among the business men of that thriving city is Thomas F. Scally, more famil- iarly known as Tom Scally, the genial proprietor of Scally's hardware store, located at 28 North Cali- fornia Street. A native son of the Golden State, he was born in Stockton on December 3, 1877, a son of Patrick and Mary Josephine (Dennis) Scally, who were both natives of Ireland. His father was an early settler of Stockton, locating here in 1876, and for seven years was with Miller's Warehouse Com- pany, then for twenty-three years was the foreman of the Farmers' Union and Milling Company. At the present time he is the proprietor of the Santa Fe Hotel located on East Taylor Street. The mother has passed away.

Thomas F. Scally began his education in the Jack- son school, later entering the Brothers' College. While a young man he was determined, to learn the hardware business and entered the employ of Steiney & Ladd, and remained with them for one year; then he entered the employ of the Ruhl Stove and Hard- ware Company. During 1904 he became a partner of William C. Schuler and Fred Tschierschky in the hardware business, being located at 526 East Main Street. In 1913 our subject sold his interest and started into business for himself where he is now located and his business has grown to successful proportions.

From 1901 to 1913, Mr. Scally made a name for himself as a pitcher in semi-professional baseball in the San Joaquin Valley; he pitched for the Stockton Athletics; also for clubs in Modesto, Livermore, Oak- dale and Elk Grove. His team won the pennant in the Valley League in 1902. His marriage united him with Miss Josephine M. Hild, a native of Arcata, Humboldt County, Cal., and they are the parents of one daughter, Josephine. He is a member of the Elks, the Eagles, the Red Men, Knights of Colum- bus and the Y. M. I. He has always entered enthu- siastically into the civic life of the community and is ever ready to put his shoulder to the wheel to help its progress and prosperity.

JOHN M. PERRY .- A worthy representative of a pioneer family is found in John M. Perry, and his prominence in financial circles and civic affairs have placed him in the front rank of the most substantial and dependable of Stockton's citizens. He was born in Stockton, San Joaquin County, December 14, 1872, a son of George and Susannah (Nightingale) Perry, the former a native of New York and the latter of Pennsylvania. George Perry came to California as early as 1852 across the plains in an ox-team train and engaged in hauling supplies to the mines with Stockton as headquarters; later he engaged in the real estate and insurance business and served his community as constable in those early pioneer days. Fraternally he belonged to the Red Men of Stockton.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Perry: Sarah Elizabeth and George Edward are deceased; John M., our subject, is the third oldest; Frank died at four years of age; Walter A. and Mrs. Stella Washington also reside in Stockton. George Perry died in 1881, his widow . surviving him until 1906.

John M. attended the grammar and high schools of Stockton and while a young lad of twelve years he began working before and after school and vaca- tions for William P. Miller, a carriage manufacturer, assisting in the office until he completed school, and then he entered the employ of the Monarch Publish- ing Company as bookkeeper and clerk, where he remained for four years. In 1894 he was employed by the Union Transportation Company, who were operating daily steamers between Stockton and San Francisco, as assistant to the president, and two years later was elected secretary of the company. During the time of his service with this company, there was a rate war on between the rival steamboat companies, and passengers were carried to San Fran- cisco for ten cents and freight rates were corre- spondingly low. Mr. Perry worked early and late, his service covering a period of eight years; years of hard, conscientious work.

In 1903 he formed a partnership with G. S. Melone, under the firm name of Melone & Perry, in a grain and warehouse business. As early as 1900 Mr. Perry became interested in farming in the San Joaquin Delta and since that time has been instrumental in the first cultivation of many thousands of acres of virgin soil. He has been extensively engaged in raising beans, onions, potatoes, asparagus and other vegetables, as well as grain, at times cultivating as many as 3,500 acres in a season. This extensive farming is accomplished not only on his own land, but on leased properties. He is also interested in viticulture and as early as 1906 he purchased a tract of raw land near Woodbridge, which he planted to vineyard and almonds, which he operated and had the pleasure of seeing develop into one of the finest vineyards in this section. In 1918 he disposed of this property. Mr. Perry's close connection with the agricultural interests of the county has enabled him to become an authority on land valuations, soil productiveness, irrigation problems, as well as the marketing of the farm products. He is a member of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau; and since 1911 has been a director of the State Board of Agricul- ture, and during the years of 1915-16-17 served as president of that body, which made him an ex-officio member of the Board of Regents of the University of California. In 1907, Mr. Perry was elected a director of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce and two years later was elected its president and served two terms. This was the time of the bond issue for the improvement of the country roads, when many miles of paved roads were built in the county. He was the first president of the City Planning Com- mission, serving efficiently until his resignation in the summer of 1921.

The marriage of Mr. Perry, in Stockton, united him with Miss Jennie E. Hogan, a native of Lodi, a daughter of George Hogan, an early settler and farmer of the county. Mr. Perry is connected with a number of the fraternal orders of Stockton, among them being San Joaquin Lodge No. 19, F. & A. M .; Stockton Chapter No. 29, R. A. M .; Stockton Com- mandery No. 8, K. T .; Islam Temple, A. A. O. N.

M. S., of San Francisco, and of the Sciots; he is a past noble grand of Stockton Lodge No. 11, I. O. O. F .; past president of the Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W. He is a member of three social orders, the Yosemite Club, the Stockton Golf and Country Club and the Olympic Club of San Francisco. He is a director in the Sacramento-San Joaquin chain of banks and a member of the advisory board of the Stockton branch of same, and he was formerly vice- president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank and one of the founders and president of the Morris Plan Bank since its organization. During the late war he was a member of the advisory board under Ralph P. Merritt, food administrator for California; was on the executive committee for all Liberty Loan drives in the county and was county director of War Savings Stamps all through the war, and a member of the State Council of Defense. He is a Republican.

WALTER H. TAISEN .- Belonging to the third generation of California pioneers, Walter H. Taisen of the firm of Taisen Bros., proprietors of the Taisen Dyeing & Cleaning Works, can well take pride in his birth as a native son. He was born at San Francisco March 4, 1876, the son of Capt. John P. and Margaret (Eisenhauer) Taisen, his father being a well-known figure in shipping circles around the Bay in early days, while his maternal grand- father, Adam Eisenhauer, brought his family across the plains in 1860, a detailed sketch of these worthy pioneers being given in the sketch of John C. Taisen on another page of this history.

After completing the course at the grammar schools in San Francisco, Walter H. Taisen entered the employ of the Truman, Hooker Company, agricul- tural implement dealers, working his way up in the advertising and sales department; later he was with the picture frame establishment of Schussler Bros. for a time, then having a desire for. outdoor life he made his way to Nevada and rode the range as a cowboy for two years, enjoying the experience greatly .. On returning to San Francisco he was with the Thomas Dye Works when his brother, John C. Taisen, was the dyer. Next he became salesman for the Franklin Watch Company and opened an office for them in Stockton in January, 1904. Becoming acquainted with the city, he decided it would be an excellent place to engage in business on his own account. He purchased the National Renovatory and in June took over the management. He soon determined to enlarge the business so his brother, John C. Taisen, joined him in November of that year and the Taisen Dyeing and Cleaning Works came into being. However, wishing to see more of the West, he disposed of his interest to his brother in 1911 and made a trip into Oregon, Wash- ington, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, and then went to Alaska, where he pioneered on the govern- ment-owned railroad, following merchandising for a year at Anchorage. Returning to Stockton in 1916, he repurchased his half interest in the cleaning works from his brother and has since given his time to the outside and business department, while his brother has charge of the plant. The brothers are stockholders in the Samson Tire Corporation and were the first firm in Stockton to use an auto deliv- ery wagon, now almost universal in the conduct of modern business. They now use two automobiles on

Walter H. Vaiser

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

their deliveries and sometimes have to press into service their private cars.

Mrs. Walter H. Taisen was Miss Myrtle Little, born at Ione, and she is a sister of Mrs. John C. Taisen. Fraternally Mr. Taisen is a member of the Moose, the Red Men and Foresters of America. The brothers have built up a splendid business through the superior work and their territory is not confined to Stockton but extends to different parts of the state. Public spirited and progressive, they can always be counted upon to aid every worthy cause.

MELBOURNE E. ANGIER .- A splendid exam- ple of what an industrious, enterprising and optimistic man may accomplish, with the cooperation of his gifted wife, is afforded in the sterling lives and sub- stantial accomplishments of Mr. and Mrs. Melbourne E. Angier, whose handsome homeplace, about four miles southeast of Lodi, is one of the famous show- places of the San Joaquin Valley. Mr. Angier was born at Troy, Orleans County, Vt., on March 1, 1863, the son of Silas and Alvira (Conner) Angier, both natives of Connecticut; and he grew up with one brother, Oscar, and a sister, Alberta. Up to his thirteenth year, he attended school six months in the year, and after that three months a year, until he was seventeen, living at home on his father's farm of 100 acres in Vermont.

In March, 1884, he left home for far-off California, but first went on to British Columbia, where he worked in a saw-mill for a season. He then came to San Francisco, and from there he went into the foothills, where he chopped wood, for firing the locomotives on the Placerville branch. He then drove a scraper team on Andros Island, and in February, 1885, he started working for C. W. Norton on his ranch adjoining the place he now owns. He labored there until 1890, and then rented forty acres of land from Judge Norton-the tract being vineyard, which he helped set out in 1888 and was one of the first commercial vineyards of this locality.

The first ranch Mr. Angier bought was comprised of twenty acres, in the Live Oaks school district of San Joaquin County, open land, which he commenced to improve. He added to his holdings from time to time, until now he owns about 530 acres of the finest land in San Joaquin County. This includes 140 acres between Manteca and Ripon, in which he has a valuable equity. That is one of the finest vine- yards for bearing Tokay grapes, and is amply supplied with water from the South San Joaquin Irrigation district ditch. The balance, 390 acres is in the Live Oak section, 280 acres still unimproved open land. He has 160 acres planted to shipping plums of dif- ferent varieties, forty acres in Alicante Bouchet. He has on his home ranch two pumping plants, and he cultivates his ranch with both tractor and horsepower. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge of Lodi, and belongs to the Royal Arch Chapter and Commandery at Stockton, the Ben Ali Temple at San Francisco, Sacramento, and Stockton Lodge of Elks. In national politics he is a Republican.

At Lodi, on August 8, 1901, Mr. Angier was mar- ried to Miss Antoinette Hale, a native of St. John's, Clinton County, Mich .; and the daughter of John R. and Dora (Miles) Hale. When she was eight and one-half years old, her father migrated to Califor- nia with his family, and settled at Lodi, and he be- came an extensive fruit grower, located three miles southeast of Lockeford, where he lived for about three

years. There she attended the Lockeford school; but her father moved to Lodi and went into the fruit trade, and so she attended the Salem school, and rounded out her studies at the Stockton Business College. Her father lived to be ninety years old, and her mother attained the fine age of seventy, and they both died in Lodi. She was one of a family of three children, and she also had a half-brother and a half or step-sister, as follows: John R. Hale. Bessie, (who died at the age of five,) and Frank Orland and his sister, Emma. Six children have blessed this happy union: Harold, taking an agri- cultural course at U. C. in Berkeley, Addine, Ells- worth, Newell, Antoniette and Lemoise. Mr. An- gier very willingly accords to his able and devoted wife much of the credit for their common success and progress, by which they have become among the most useful, influential and representative people in the Valley; for in the course of their ranch-develop- ment, there were times when his wife had to cook for as many as fifty farmhands, and that, too, while they were living in a small home. Prior to her marriage, Mrs. Angier was a gifted woman in dra- matic expression, and for years conducted a class in that difficult subject. It is pleasant to learn, there- fore, that this hard-working and very deserving cou- ple, who so long bore the burden and the heat of the day, erected at a cost of some $30,000, one of the very finest country residences in all the San Joaquin Val- ley, and which is furnished with the delicate taste for which Mrs. Angier has long been known.

JOHN PERROTT .- San Joaquin County has been very fortunate in the character and ability of the men who have assumed to guide her financial institutions, prominent among whom may be rated John Perrott. He was born near Woodbridge, on the home ranch, in 1858, the son of John and Ann (Greives) Perrott, the former a native of England, and the latter of Massachusetts, and so grew up under the best of California conditions. As a pioneer of the sturdiest type, his father crossed the great plains with ox teams in the famous Argonaut year of 1849, and mined in Calaveras County. He returned East and then came back to California in 1853, locat- ing on a ranch near Woodbridge, where he followed farming. Six children are still living to honor this worthy couple, James R., John, Isabel, Frank, Fred and Emma Perrott.

John Perrott attended the district school as well as the Woodbridge Academy, and after that he took up farming on the home ranch. In 1889, he entered public life, when he became a deputy county assessor with headquarters at the Court House. Later he served under Del Keagle in the County Auditor's office, and his next public work was as assistant to County Treasurer Nate Nevin. Later he returned to the assessor's office, and following this service he became connected with the office of auditor and recorder under the former combined office, and after that he became the chief deputy auditor when the office of auditor was made separate and distinct from the recorder's office. On resigning his chief deputyship to accept the position vacated by W. H. Lorenz, cashier of the First National Bank of Lodi, the Stockton Record of Stockton said: "Few men, if any, in San Joaquin County are better known than Mr. Perrott, who has been in public life at intervals since 1889, for throughout his public service he has been a painstaking, conscientious public ser-

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vant, kindly and courteous, ever willing to be of assistance to anyone having business with his office, and a host of friends throughout San Joaquin County will wish him every success and happiness in his new field, and will congratulate the institution which has secured his services."

At San Francisco, in 1900, Mr. Perrott was mar- ried to Miss Clara Duff, a native of California, and a talented, charming lady who also has her wide circle of friends. Mr. and Mrs. Perrott own a ranch of eighty acres two and one-half miles west of Lodi, which he has developed into a fine vineyard, having fifty acres of producing vines. Mr. Perrott belongs to Lodi Lodge No. 256, F. & A. M., and to the Royal Arch, No. 28, of Stockton.

CARL W. OSER .- Forty-five years' association with one firm is the record of Carl W. Oser and one in which he can take just pride, and now as superin- tendent of the shipping and grading department of the Wagner Leather Company, he occupies a position among its most trusted and faithful employees. Since the pioneer days of '49, the name of Oser has been well represented in Stockton through our subject and his father, Alois Oser. The latter was born in Baden, Germany, of a family of high rank in that duchy. At the time of the gold excitement in California he was residing in Missouri, having come to the United States several years previous to this, and with one companion he started out to cross the plains on foot in 1849. They finally reached the coast, but at the cost of untold hardships and privations. While going over Truckee Pass, in the Sierra Nevadas, their food gave out and they were obliged to subsist on such foodstuffs as had been discarded by others who were westward bound.

When they reached Stockton, Mr. Oser was much broken in health, but as soon as he had regained his strength he carried out his plans to go to the mines. He went to Nevada County and mined at Grass Val- ley and Red Dog for a time, but as his hopes of for- tune were not fulfilled, he returned to Stockton. He had thoroughly mastered the jeweler's trade before he left his native land and in 1858 he opened a jewelry store at Stockton under the name of Schmidt and Oser, their store being located on the Levee between Center and El Dorado streets. In 1869 Mr. Oser passed away, leaving a wife and five children. Before her marriage Mrs. Oser was Johanna Meunter, the daughter of a pioneer, Wm. Muenter, who came via Cape Horn in 1849, his wife and children following the same route in 1850; on their arrival they found that the father was dead; he was a victim of the cholera, and was buried on the present site of the City Hall on Market Street, 'San Francisco.

After her husband's death, Mrs. Oser reared her family of five children in the little home left her standing on Fremont between Hunter and El Dorado, giving them the best education she could in the local school. She now makes her home with our subject and at eighty-two years of age is hale and hearty and well posted on the early days. The second oldest of family, Carl W. Oser, was born February 17, 1862, in Stockton, and attended the local public schools. Meantime, from a boy he worked at odd times assist- ing his mother, and at the age of fifteen he became associated with the Wagner Leather Company, learn- ing all the branches of the business. In 1890 he was

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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 116

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