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 119

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 119

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

Dougald was blessed with the birth of a daughter, Carolyn, who is the wife of Paul E. Weston of Stock- ton. Mr. McDougald was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his labors to the fullest for he was called by death, November 17, 1898, and when he passed away, the city of Stockton and San Joaquin County lost one of its most loved and honored citizens. He was a popular member of the Odd Fellows and the Elks.

Since her husband's death Mrs. McDougald has continued to reside in Stockton where she has a com- fortable residence at the corner of North and Center streets, the lawn and gardens being beautified with many trees and shrubs, among them several majestic oaks, splendid symmetrical specimens which lend an artistic setting to the residence. From her home she looks after large interests left by her husband as well as those she inherited from the estate of her father, the late Capt. Wm. S. Moss. She is deeply interested in horticulture and is also a lover of fine stock and enjoys the great outdoors. Like her husband, she is very enterprising and progressive and is keenly desi- rous of doing all she can to help build up this fertile section of the garden spot of the world.

JOHN A. MERZ .- A native of Germany, where he was born on April 6, 1867, spending a part of his boyhood there, John A. Merz, long one of the most loyal and optimistic citizens of his adopted land, has the distinction of being the first man in Stockton to commercialize automobile painting, with the result that he enjoyed the most profitable patronage of any expert hereabouts in his line. His father, Baltis Merz, who had married Miss Rosie Ammon, brought his family from Germany in 1879 and arrived at Stockton on May 15, 1880; and it was fortunate for our subject that he had already participated in good educational advantages, for the circumstances of the family were such, after they reached here and Mr. Merz died, that John had to go to work for a living, although only thirteen years of age. From 1880 to 1886, he served at the carriage-painter's trade in the service of M. P. Henderson, while from 1886 to 1890 he was one of the best painters at the Wil- liam P. Miller Carriage Factory.

In 1890, however, Mr. Merz decided to strike out for himself, and so he built a small shop at 732 East Lafayette Street, commencing with one helper to establish a thoroughly dependable carriage and wagon-painting service. Eight years went by, how- ever, before he painted an automobile for the first time, and this was the well-known machine of C. A. Towne, one of the first owners in Stockton of a motor-car. From that first, luckily successful, experi- ence grew an important business, to carry on which he employed regularly at least seven hands. He also rebuilt and enlarged his shop and his satisfied cus- tomers came from all over San Joaquin County, and even occasionally from beyond the county's limits. Taking plenty of time and never allowing even the customer to hurry him beyond what is advisable for the patron's interests, Mr. Merz found it easy enough to produce work of the highest quality, so that it was never difficult to live up to a guarantee. He disposed of his business in February, 1921, and is now living retired.

At Stockton Mr. Merz was married to Miss Mag- dalena Adams, a native daughter and a member of a well-known Stockton pioneer family. By a former marriage with Miss Lulu Ellen Heeney, daughter

of a pioneer, he is the father of one daughter, Lulu Ellen, now the wife of Harry Saner of Stockton. Mr. Merz is popular as a fraternity man, belonging to San Joaquin Lodge No. 19, F. & A. M., Truth Lodge No. 55, I. O. O. F., also to the Encampment, and he has made all chairs of the Red Men, and also all the chairs of the Woodmen of the World. For twelve years he was a member of Company A, N. G. C. He was one of the original stockholders of the Union Safe Deposit Bank, and since 1917 has been a mem- ber of the board of directors.

THOMAS EUGENE CAMPBELL .- A worthy native son of San Joaquin County who is intensely interested in the development of the state and in preserving its history and pioneer landmarks is Thomas Eugene Campbell, who was born at Farm- ington, October 18, 1861. He is a son of John A. and Sivilla A. (Funk) Campbell, natives of Ohio and Des Moines, Iowa, respectively. John Campbell was reared in Ohio and Wisconsin until he resolved to migrate to California. When still a young man he joined an ox-team train and crossed the plains in the early fifties. He rode ahead and did the scouting for the train and selected their camping places. On one of his trips he ran across an Indian on horseback and in the fight he killed the Indian and thus saved his train from massacre, for the Indian would have brought the men of the tribe and annihilated the train. On his arrival in California he located in San Joaquin County, and he became a prominent busi- ness man at Farmington where he kept the hotel, was postmaster and justice of the peace, as well as road overseer and school trustee, and was a man of progressive ideas and much influence. His death occurred May 21, 1873. The mother came to Cali- fornia across the plains in 1850 in an ox-team train with her parents to San Joaquin County. She mar- ried a second time to Milo M. Church, a substantial farmer in Farmington. She passed away in Stockton March 20, 1920.

Thomas Eugene was the second oldest of seven children born to John Campbell and his wife, and spent his boyhood at Farmington where he received a good education in the public schools. From a boy he was interested in mechanics and machinery was his delight, and as early as 1878 he worked on the old centennial combined harvester built by Dave Young and John Hoult, and in 1883 he worked for H. A. Benton, who built a harvester in 1883-84. Mr. Campbell followed farming in partnership with his brother John on the Schofield ranch at Twenty Six Mile; then they ran the Vanscroten ranch near Westley, after which he dissolved partnership with his brother and engaged in the general blacksmith business at Farmington and at the same time served as constable, deputy sheriff and deputy assessor. He helped H. A. Benton finish the building of his com- bined harvester in 1889 and then entered the employ of the Holt Manufacturing Company, continuing with them for a period of ten years as expert, trav- eling for them over the Northwest. Resigning his position in 1900 he removed to San Leandro where he was with the Best Manufacturing Company, con- tinuing with them for eight years as expert machin- ist, traveling eight seasons throughout California, Oregon and Washington. During the earthquake and fire he was a member of the Relief Committee in Alameda County and was also deputy marshal of San Leandro. In 1908 he returned to Stockton and

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had charge of building the playgrounds in this city when he was solicited by Benjamin Holt to again enter their employ and he then spent two years with them. As early as 1893 he went to Washington for the Holts and put up the first side hill harvester and saw it make a success. From 1917 to 1919 he trav- eled as an expert for the Harris Manufacturing Com- pany of Stockton. In 1919 he resigned to engage in contracting and building, but later quit to accept the position of sales manager for the Tractor Exchange in this city, a position for which his years of experi- ence well fitted him. In January, 1923, with a part- ner. P. De Leon, he purchased the business and continued as manager.

Mr. Campbell is a prominent Odd Fellow and a member of Truth Lodge No. 55, I. O. O. F., Stock- ton, since 1882, of which he is past grand. He is also a member of the Encampment and the Oakland Canton. He served as drill master of the degree team in San Leandro in 1905. He is a member of Rainbow Lodge of Rebekahs in Stockton, as well as the Knights of Pythias, in which he has served as keeper of the records and seals.

Always a leader in local matters in social and civil life, he is a believer in protection for Americans so is naturally a strong Republican and always takes an active part in county, state and national politics. He has been a member of the County Re- publican Central Committee and its executive com- mittee in which he is very prominent and influential. He is well and favorably known over the whole county and has done herculean work for his friends in gaining their political ambition.

WILLIS N. MERRILL .- A native son of Califor- nia who fittingly represents the agricultural interests of San Joaquin County, Willis N. Merrill was born in Woodfords, Alpine County, May 5, 1869, a son of Willis Perry Merrill, a native of Westport, N. Y. The mother passed away when Willis N. was a young lad and his father subsequently married Miss Mary O'Neil.

During the gold excitement in California, Willis P. Merrill came West and settled at Dogtown where he engaged in mining for a number of years; then he owned a train of pack mules which carried pro- visions across the mountains from California to Nevada. He finally settled in Alpine County where he opened a general merchandise store at Wood- fords, which he conducted until his death at the age of sixty-three years, survived by his widow, who con- ducts the store left her by her husband. Willis N. is the eldest in a family of four children. Edith died in New York state in 1918; Frank died in infancy; Ruby is Mrs. George Hays and resides at Stockton. Two children were born to the second marriage: Grant and Bernice.

Willis N. Merrill attended the district school at Woodfords and later went to Placerville where he was graduated from the high school, after which he assisted his father in the store. His marriage united him with Miss Jessie Wilkerson, a native of Colusa, Cal., a daughter of R. T. and Charlotte Wilkerson, natives of Missouri and Indiana, respectively; the father coming to California from Missouri in boy- hood. After his marriage Mr. Merrill removed to Reno, Nev., where he and Mr. Wilkerson purchased 400 acres of land, which he successfully farmed for nine years. He then sold out and came back to Cali- 48

fornia and settled on a quarter section of land in the Henderson district of San Joaquin County, south- west of Lodi, on the Stockton-Woodbridge Road, where he engaged in general farming. A year ago forty acres was sold, which leaves 120 acres of land. He has a fine stand of alfalfa on twenty-five acres and has thirteen acres in young vineyard, his ranch being irrigated from the Stockton-Mokelumne River irrigation ditch. Mr. and Mrs. Merrill are the parents of eight children: Roy makes his home with his parents; Verla is in training to be a nurse in San Francisco; Rita and Shirley are in high school in Lodi; Mildred; Winifred; Harold and Harriet. In politics Mr. Merrill votes with the Republican party and fraternally is affiliated with the I. O. O. F. Lodge at Lodi and he has served for three years on the board of school trustees of Henderson district.

J. EDWIN McFARLAND .- Wide-awake, foresee- ing and resolute, J. Edwin McFarland has become the popular constable of Stockton, and one of the most efficient of San Joaquin County's public officials. He was born on a farm in Floyd County, Ky., on August 8, 1869, and when only fourteen years of age, ran away from home. He went to Texas and there, for years, rode the range as a cowboy, gathering a very valu- able experience, particularly among men; and then, for years, he followed agricultural pursuits in the Lone Star State. Wherever he went, whatever he did, he developed all of his natural faculties, gaining. a reputa- tion for sincerity and thoroughness.

In 1900, he came to Stockton, and for a while he was with the Southern Pacific Railroad as assistant fore- man in construction work, and later became foreman. In 1905 he was in the employ of the Central Califor- nia Traction Company, and helped to build that com- pany's road; and later he was conductor on the line. In 1912 he carried on a mercantile business, having a store at the corner of Oak and El Dorado streets. He was appointed deputy sheriff of San Joaquin County under Sheriff W. H. Riecks; elected constable in 1915, and in 1919 was re-elected; and although a Democrat, boasted of hearty support within the Re- publican ranks as well. In the discharge of his duties, Constable McFarland has never known or shown partisanship, and therefore could not fail to have given entire satisfaction.

In Stockton, Mr. McFarland was married to Mrs. Mary Horton, a native of Germany, who had one daughter, Clara. Mr. McFarland belongs to the Morning Star Lodge, No. 68, F. & A. M., and is a member of the Scottish Rite bodies in Stockton, and is a member of Truth Lodge, No. 55, I. O. O. F., Parker Encampment and Rainbow Rebekah Lodge.

GEORGE F. MATTESICH .- Among the grain farmers of pronounced success in San Joaquin County, is George F. Mattesich, a native son of the county, who lives on his ranch three miles south of Farming- ton; he also operates the 500 acre ranch owned by M. Harrold south of Farmington, besides leasing other grain land aggregating 2,500 acres. He was born at Stockton, Cal., September 21, 1881, a son of Dominic and Catherine (Connors) Mattesich, natives of Aus- tria and Ireland, respectively. Both parents were pio- neers of the county and were active in its advance- ment and development for over a third of a century. There were three children in the family, George F. being the eldest; John Edward; and Lena, Mrs.

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Charles A. Seward, who lives in the home place. Dominic Mattesich passed away in May, 1901, and Mrs. Mattesich resides on the home ranch southeast of Farmington. George F. Mattesich attended school in the neighborhood of his home and early in life was instructed in the grain industry and since he was nine- teen years old has had his share of the work of the home ranch.

On December 25, 1910, at Lodi, Mr. Mattesich was married to Miss Mae Madelaine Milloglav, a native of Stockton, and a daughter of Peter and Laura Alice (Johnson) Milloglav, vineyardists residing two miles east of Lodi. Two children have blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Mattesich, Glen and Lloyd, stu- dents in the Wheatland school. Dominic Mattesich had one of the first great Holt harvesters drawn by 32 horses, in 1891 in partnership with Peter Dorland, who was another large grain farmer. Mr. Mattesich died in 1901, and after his death the two sons George F. and John, continued grain farming. Together they bought another combined harvester and this time operated in partnership for twelve years. The two brothers then dissolved partnership.

Mr. Mattesich started with two eight-horse teams and accomplished extensive grain raising until 1913, when he bought his first . Holt caterpillar, paying $4,000 for it, and since that time he has sold off his horses and now conducts his work wholly with power machinery. He owns a half interest in 160 acres of land five miles southeast of Collegeville which was purchased sixteen years ago in partnership with his brother John; he also owns a ten-acre vinyard on the eighty-acre farm near Farmington where he resides. He is an advocate of good roads and the best of edu- cational facilities and is considered an enterprising and progressive citizen of his locality.

MRS. CATHERINE MATTESICH .- Among the old settlers of San Joaquin County who has witnessed a remarkable transformation and who has borne her share of the privations and responsibilties of a pioneer existence, is Mrs. Catherine Mattesich, who has re- sided on her present ranch since 1884. This ranch consists of 160 acres of fine wheat land, located about six miles southeast of Farmington, San Joaquin County, where for thirty-eight years abundant crops of wheat and barley have been raised. Before her marriage, Mrs. Mattesich was Miss Catherine Con- nors, a native of County Galway, Ireland, born March 14, 1852, the youngest daughter of Matthias and Nellie (Kennon) Connors, natives also of the same county in Ireland. Eight children accompanied the parents to America in 1864 where they located at Bos- ton, Mass. Matthias Connors had no small task to support his large family, as he had no trade and had to depend on the wages of a common laborer; how- ever, all of them received a good education. He passed away in Boston, Mass., honored and respected by all who knew him, at the ripe old age of eighty- four. Catherine Connors received a good education in the public schools of Boston and in 1878 when she had completed her schooling, she started for Cali- fornia on an emigrant train, her fare being $228. She came direct to Stockon, as her cousins by the name of McCarthy lived there.

On December 9, 1880, Miss Connors was married to Dominic Mattesich, a native of Austria. At six- teen years of age he became a sailor and thus spent four years, arriving in San Francisco when he was twenty years old, where he stopped with an uncle,

who persuaded him to give up the sailor's life and re- main in California. He purchased a tract of land south of Stockton and engaged in farming pursuits for four years, when he transferred his operations to the present quarter-section of land some six miles southeast of Farmington, where he raised wheat and barley. This ranch was formerly a sheep range and when Mr. and Mrs. Mattesich took up their residence here, there was only a small cabin on the place and the wonderful development and improvement in this section has been witnessed by Mrs. Mattesich, in which she has borne her part unfalteringly. Mr. Mattesich passed away in May, 1901, survived by his wife and three children: George F ; John Edward; Lena is the wife of Charles A. Seward, and they have one son, Charles, Jr. Mr. Seward conducts the home ranch for Mrs. Mattesich. John E. Mattesich is a trustee of the Wheatland district school, where he received most of his education. Since taking up her residence near Farmington, Mrs. Mattesich has been an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She is a woman of many fine attributes of both mind and heart and is highly esteemed in the neighbor- hood where she has passed so many active years.

HARWELL WOODROW COALE .- A distin- guished attorney in San Joaquin County, Harwell Woodrow Coale is a native of Alabama, where he was born at Mobile, on March 28, 1873, a son of Skipwith and Mary Elizabeth (Harwell) Coale, na- tives respectively of Maryland and Alabama. The Coale family is a very old family in Maryland, and were members of the Society of Friends. Grand- father Samuel Coale married Miss Susanna Wood- row, who also comes of a very old family of Mary- land. They removed to Alabama where Samuel Coale became an extensive planter and reared a large family, of whom Skipwith was the eldest; he enlisted and served four years in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, holding an officer's commis- sion, and was wounded. After his return home he became a cotton factor in Mobile, Ala., until his marriage to Miss Harwell, when they located at Choctaw Corner, Clarke County, where he was a merchant until his death in 1883; his wife survived him just one week. This worthy couple had four children, of whom Harwell W. is the eldest. He was reared at Choctaw Corner until he was left an orphan at the age of ten years, then with the other three children he went to live with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Coale, on their plantation and there, under private instruction was prepared for college. When sixteen years of age he entered the Southern Univer- sity at Greensboro, Ala,, where he was graduated with his degree of B. S. in the class of 1892, having pursued excellent courses in chemistry, pharmacy, and commercial law. He engaged in the drug busi- ness in Thomasville, Ala., for two years, then was with the Brunswick Drug Company of New Orleans, trav- eling throughout eastern Texas for his territory, with his headquarters in his home town of Beaumont; then he moved to Palestine, Texas, and traveled for the Houston Drug Company, continuing with them for a period of four years.

In 1904, he came to California as a salesman for the Coffin, Reddington Drug Company of San Fran- cisco; and since 1905 he has made his home in Stock- ton. He took up the study of law in his spare time, and in 1917 he was admitted to practice at the bar in California; and he has since been practicing law in

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Stockton with offices in the Wilhoit Building. Much of his practice is in the Federal Courts, and he has been very successful.

Mr. Coale married Miss Helen Josephine Booth, one of the fair daughters of Alabama, born in Clarke County, and they have two sons, Dr. Harwell Wood- row Coale, who has offices in the Farmers and Mer- chants Bank Building, Stockton, and Julian L. Coale, a well known musician in San Francisco. Mr. Coale is a member of Morning Star Lodge No. 68, F. & A. M., Stockton, and of San Francisco Consistory No. 1, 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a mem- ber of Aahmes Temple A. A. O. N. M. S., Oakland, and with his wife is a member of Stockton Chap- ter No. 373, O. E. S. He is a charter member of Palestine Lodge No. 873, B. P. O. E., at Palestine, Texas, and is a member of the San Joaquin County, State and American Bar associations. Fraternally, therefore, as well as professionally, Mr. Coale enjoys a very enviable standing.

JOHN S. LADD .- An interesting representative of one of the worthiest of pioneer families is John S. Ladd, of 344 South Sutter street, Stockton, who was born in this city on December 27, 1873, the son of John S and Mary C. (Swan) Ladd, natives re- spectively of Vermont and Massachusetts. John Seneca Ladd, the father, was born in Danville, Cale- donia County, Vermont, on April 28, 1832, a son of Seneca and Pamelia (Estabrook) Ladd, both natives of the Green Mountain State. The mother was born in 1808, and died on August 26, 1846; the father sur- vived her twenty-six years, and died at the age of sixty-eight years. Great-grandfather Samuel Esta- brook was of Scotch parentage, a farmer by occupa- tion, and he lived to be ninety-nine years of age. He married Miss Susan E. Colby, and she also attained a splendid old age, dying in her eighty-fifth year. Great-grandfather Colby was a soldier in the Revolu- tion, and he reached the age of eighty-nine. Great- grandfather Warren Ladd was also a farmer and lived to an advanced age. Seneca Ladd, grandfather of John S. Ladd, a blacksmith by trade, left his shop in Danville, Vt., in 1850, and came to California, by way of Panama, and mined for two years on the Tuolumne River, and returned to Vermont in 1852, by way of the Nicaragua route. John S. Ladd, the father of our subject, attended the district school of Vermont, and then he went to the famous Phillips Academy. After that he entered the employ of the Fairbanks Scale Company, in St. Johnsbury, Vt., and in 1851, he too, started for California coming by way of the Ni- caragua route, being among the first to travel along that way.

He arrived in San Francisco on April 16, 1851, and for a time found employment there; and on February 15, 1852, he went inland to the mines in Tuolumne County, where he remained for two years. In 1854, he embarked in freighting with his brother, George S. Ladd, under the firm name of Ladd & Brother; and for fifteen years they teamed to the Southern mines. In 1866 the brothers bought 800 acres of land near Collegeville, on the Mariposa Road, eight miles east of Stockton, where they' raised wheat and sheep; and in 1870 they divided the land, and later John S. Ladd sold his portion. He then bought 354 acres of land three miles east of Stockton, near the old race- track, and there he farmed, and the ranch is still owned by the family. On March 12, 1863, Mr. Ladd married Miss Mary C. Swan, a native of Methuen,

Mass., where she was born on February 5, 1841, a daughter of Cabel and Judith (Pettengill) Swan, both natives of Massachusetts. Mary C. Swan came to California, making the journey via the Isthmus of Panama, in 1860, and it was in San Francisco the young people met and their marriage occurred. Three children were born to John S. Ladd and his good wife. May Alice first saw light on January 21, 1864, and was graduated from the high school and later re- ceived a diploma from the San Jose State Normal. She was married in Stockton on July 30, 1887, to Milton H. Kingsbury, Ex-chief of Police, who died, January 7, 1900, and their union was blessed with the birth of twin daughters, Mary Alice and Amanda Gage, and a son Milton L. Pamelia Estabrook was born on October 22, 1868, and married Melvin H. Orr, who died on November 8, 1916; he was a prominent attorney of Stockton, and a member of the law firm of Nichol, Orr & Nutter, later Nutter & Orr. John S. our subject is the youngest. John S. Ladd, the father, died December 29, 1912, and was survived by his widow. until June 28, 1915.

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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 119

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