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 131

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 131

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On December 10, 1906, in Fairbanks, Alaska, Mr. Clark was united in marriage with Miss Frances Miller, who was born in Chicago, a union that has proved very happy and has been blessed with the birth of one son, W. Sam, Jr. Frances Miller was the daughter of Giles Miller, a native of Syracuse, N. Y., who was among the early pioneers of Chi- cago, first engaging in farming in that city and then in the real estate business. He married Louise Eighme, born in Buffalo, N. Y., and both have passed away. Frances Miller received a good education in Chicago, where she was reared in a home of culture and refinement. In 1906 she made the trip to Alaska to visit her sister, Mrs. M. L. Gleason, who had gone there in the pioneer days of 1898, and in Fair- banks Miss Miller met and married Mr. Clark. Fra- ternally Mr. Clark was made a Mason in Dinuba Lodge · No. 385, F. & A. M., is a member of the Scottish Rite bodies in Fresno and with his wife is a member of the Eastern Star. He is vice-president of the Stockton Exchange Club, and ever since he has resided here he has taken an active interest in com- munity affairs, always using his influence to advance the civic, social and moral conditions. Mr. Clark gives much credit for his success to his estimable wife who has taken a deep interest in all his affairs and nobly done her share, encouraging him in his am- bitions and ready at all times to endure hardships and make sacrifices to aid him in attaining his goal.

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Frances M. Clarke.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

Mr. Clark well deserves the title of Father of the Clarkadota fig, as he has given many years of his life to its propagation, and his perseverance will bring about the enriching of hundreds of others in the culture of this wonderful fruit.

JOHN ALEGRETTI .- It is a rare occurrence that a man fills a position thirty-seven years with increased efficiency, but such is the case with John Alegretti, who has been superintendent of the gardens at the San Joaquin General Hospital for that period of time. His birth occurred at Chiavari, Province of Genoa, Italy, December 24, 1844, a son of Giuseppe and Elizabeth (Bizanio) Alegretti, both natives of Italy and now deceased. about eighteen years of age John Alegretti, though unable to speak English, left home for America, arriving in San Fran- cisco in 1862; he entered the employ of his uncle, A. Bizanio, and attended night school in the Bay City. Desiring to start in business for himself, he became a fisherman on the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and for several years continued with fine success; he then located in Stockton and went to work for James Crozzier, in market gardening on Rough and Ready Island, from which were shipped fruits and produce to San Francisco and other mar- kets in California; in 1877 he rented and conducted what was known as the Ten-Mile House on the Durham Ferry Road. In 1888, Mr. Alegretti gave up farming and became superintendent of gardens at the county farm, where he has since remained faithfully and efficiently, performing his duties to the entire satisfaction of the county.

The first marriage of Mr. Alegretti occurred in Stockton which united him with Miss Carrie Ganelli and they were the parents of five children, three liv- ing: Giocannia is the wife of M. Pardini; Miralda is the wife of Charles Garrow; and Sylvio. Mrs. Ale- gretti passed away at the age of thirty-two and in 1893 Mr. Alegretti was married to Mrs. Kitty Carson (Summers) Lloyd, daughter of the late Dr. Summers of Walnut Grove, Cal. She was born while her par- ents were enroute to California near the sink of Car- son River. On July 31, 1871, Mr. Alegretti became an American citizen and has since been a stanch Re- publican in politics. Mr. and Mrs. Alegretti reside in their comfortable home in the grounds of the hos- pital at French Camp and are held in high esteem by all who know them.

JOHN W. MONTGOMERY .- A progressive rancher of the type that always profits from experi- ence, is John W. Montgomery, the owner and pro- prietor of a grain warehouse in Lockeford. A na- tive Californian, he was born near Lockeford on October 26, 1856, a son of Chandler R. and Olive (Whitmore) Montgomery, the father a native of Rocklin and the mother of Camden, Maine. Chan- dler R. Montgomery came to California in 1850 and for a while he mined at Placerville; later he engaged in teaming between Sacramento and Placer- ville. For a short time he was at Mokelumne Hill and in 1852 came to a point on the river where he preempted a quarter section of land east of what is now Lockeford, where he engaged in grain and stockraising. From time to time he bought preemp- tions from several men until he had aquired some 1,400 acres and engaged in raising grain on a large scale. Of their family of thirteen children the fol- lowing are now living: John W .; Mrs. Alice E. Barber of Deer Isle, Maine; Winifred S .; Olive;

Chandler R, of Lockeford; Florence, Mrs. W. E. Taggert; Elizabeth, a teacher; and Mrs. Carrie Earle of Los Angeles.

John W. Montgomery, the eldest of the family, attended the grammar school in Lockeford, then took a business course at Stockton, after which he en- gaged in ranching, having acquired 330 acres of land to which he added from time to time until he came to own 400 acres on which he was engaged in rais- ing grain for many years. He still owns 275 acres of this ranch.

The marriage of Mr. Montgomery on May 15, 1884, occurred at Atlanta and united him with Miss Rosa M. Minges, born near Atlanta, a daughter of John and Phillipina (Leicht) Minges, the former a '49er and a well-known man in the early days in San Joaquin County. Three children were born of this union: John M. graduated from the Univer- sity of California at Berkeley in electrical engineer- ing and won high rank as lieutenant-colonel of the Cadets and was captain of the rifle team, winning the gold medal in 1907, and the silver medal in 1908, for individual shooting. His team frequently was pitted against opponents and easily won their share of medals for markmanship. He died Decem- ber 31, 1908, at the age of twenty-four. Olive P., graduated from the University of California and taught school in Contra Costa, Yolo and Modoc Counties until her marriage to Robert L. Cooke, now a teacher of the science of radio in the Merced high school. Lester M. is the youngest and after finishing his schooling selected ranching as his field of opportunity and is now meeting with success in his operations near Lockewood. For many years John W. Montgomery has conducted a large grain warehouse at Lockeford, which is equipped with modern machinery for handling grain and he also has a small rolling mill with which he crushes feed for the local ranchers. In his political affiliations he is a Republican and fraternally is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at Stockton.

GEORGE W. BROWN .- A representative of the high-class agricultural methods which have made San Joaquin County one of the most prosperous in Northern California, George W. Brown has pursued his active and honorable career in this state for more than thirty years. His valuable and pleasant home estate located about three and a half miles west of Ripon consists of 220 acres of choice irrigated land which is entirely devoted to the raising of alfalfa, the yield averaging one and three-quarter tons to the acre and six cuttings are made during the year. The entire acreage will be eventually set to grapes, and already Mr. Brown is preparing portions of his ranch for that purpose. He was born near Rolla, Mo., Nov- ember 3, 1866, a son of George Washington and Elma (McCourtney) Brown, the former of French ancestry, born in western Kentucky and the latter descended from an old Scotch family, also born in Kentucky. There were but two children in the family, Mrs. Mary Martin, residing in Rolla, Mo. and George W. the subject of this sketch. Both parents are now deceased.

George W. Brown received his education in his native state and the age of twenty-three, in 1889 came to California. He soon found employment in plant- ing the vineyard owned by the late Judge Norton near Lodi and at the end of the second year assumed the position of foreman of the large ranch, where he

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

continued for four years. During this time he became conversant with many phases of viticulture and he was also able to save enough money to start farming pursuits on his own account, which he did in the Elliott district, where he farmed until 1896 when he removed to Collegeville and farmed on the Buck & Earl ranch for four years, his principal crop being grain. He remained in this district until 1907 when he leased the Norton & Anger vineyard for ten years.

On September 28, 1892, while residing in College- ville, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Frances Pier- son, a daughter of Jacob and Rosella (Lindsey) Pier- son, both natives of Kansas. Jacob Pierson was a veteran of the Civil War and served from 1861 to 1865. He passed away in Olathe, Kan. The family came to California in 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are the parents of five children: Roselma married James M. Cusick and they have one son and reside in Ripon; Marion is married and has one son and resides in Manteca; Miss Merle is at home; Leland is married and has a daughter and is superintendent of the Nor- ton & Anger vineyard; and Elliott is attending Union high school. Mr. Brown and his son-in-law, J. M. Cusick, are the owners of a fine herd of dairy cattle, which Mr. Cusick operates on shares. Mr. Brown is an authority on viticulture in the Ripon district of the county, having thoroughly tested the soil and clim- ate regarding the growing of extra choice Tokay grapes. In 1920 Mr. Brown erected a comfortable modern residence on his ranch where the family reside; he is a member and past noble grand of Mt. Horeb Lodge No. 58, I. O. O. F., at Ripon and belongs to the Masons at Manteca.

JOHN ALEXANDER PETERSON .- A native Californian and an enterprising and prosperous rancher is found in John Alexander Peterson, who is the owner of a ten-acre vineyard about four and one- half miles southeast of Lodi on Harney Lane. He was born near Oakdale, Stanislaus County, on July 20, 1875, a son of Jacob and Anna Marie (Hanson) Peterson. The father, Jacob Peterson, was born in Schleswig, then a part of Denmark, and was a farmer in his native country. While still a young man, he came to California, leased land near Oakdale, and later farmed a half section of land which he owned at Grayson. In 1885 he removed to Calaveras County, where he died in February 15, 1900, from the affects of an injury received when his horse ran away. Our subject is the eldest of a family of nine children: John Alexander; Mamie, the widow of Fred Schon of San Francisco; Christ of Taft; Jacob resides at Taft; Christina, Mrs. Henry Clauson of Wallace; Bessie, Mrs. Walter Reiger of Taft; Peter of Clements; Henry resides at Mariposa; one child died in infancy.

John Alexander Peterson received his education in the Grayson school in Stanislaus County and when his parents removed to Calaveras County he attended school at Wallace. When he was seventeen years old he left home and worked on different ranches in the neighborhood of his home; then for some eight seasons he worked in the Gwinn mines; then tried his luck in the mines of Tonopah, Nevada, for two years. Not contented with mining life he returned to Lodi, where he bought his home place of ten acres paying $450 per acre (he could have bought the same property earlier for $50 per acre), six acres of which is in vineyard and the balance in alfalfa; he has in- stalled an irrigation system and has built a bungalow.

The marriage of Mr. Peterson occured at the Gwinn mine on April 14, 1904 and united him with Miss Carrie Ludwig, a native of Sutter Creek, Cal. and a daughter of Albert and Hannah Ludwig. Her father was killed in an accident and her mother is living at the age of seventy-two years. She is one of six children and was, educated in the Paloma dis- trict at Sutter Creek. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are the parents of two children: Alice and Ruth. In poli- tics Mr. Peterson is a Democrat; he has made a success of his work here and his ranch is now an excellent property, well improved and valuable.

R. J. PARSONS .- Fifty years have come and gone and great the changes that have occurred during the residence of R. J. Parsons in California, forty-six years being spent in San Joaquin County, a respected citizen and a well-to-do agriculturist. He was born near Thorntown, Ind., September 29, 1844, and was eight years old when he accompanied his parents to a farm twelve miles north of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His father, Lewis Parsons, was a native of Virginia and migrated to Kentucky in 1831, where he was married to Miss Polly Kersey and in 1838 they re- moved to Indiana. Grandfather Kersey was a vet- eran of the Revolutionary War and also fought in the Indian War and was a pioneer of Indiana. At twenty years of age, R. J. Parsons removed to the western part of Iowa, then spoken of as "out west," where he engaged in farming and remained there until his marriage in January, 1871, which united him with Miss Susie Arnett, a native of Iowa, whose parents were pioneers of that state. Her grand- father lived to be 100 years old, passing away in Cedar Rapids, in 1886. On April 14, 1872, Mr. Par- sons and his bride arrived in California and upon their arrival in Truckee encountered the heaviest snowstorm in the history of that place, which was not much to their liking, and their journey was con- tinued until they reached Sacramento, then on to San Joaquin County, where Mr. Parsons began farm- ing on the Brock place near the Ross Sargent ranch and remained there for twenty years; he then re- moved to Butte County where he bought a farm but never lived on it except to plow it. He sold it at a good profit and in 1876 he took up his permanent residence in San Joaquin County where he purchased 160 acres near Woodbridge; two years later he bought another 160 acres. In 1880 he planted eighteen acres to Tokay grapes which have since brought a fortune to the present owner. In 1902 Mr. Parsons sold his ranch and moved to Stockton and for ten years was occupied in street and road contracting work; following this in 1912 he purchased fifty-five acres in the South San Joaquin irrigation district where he has since made his home. Mr. and Mrs. Parsons were the parents of seven children, all born in California. Alfred Nelson Parsons died when about thirty years old, leaving one child; Myrtle Louise is the widow of F. A. Marshall of Yakima, Wash. Clara is the wife of J. S. Hannah of Duns- muir, Calif .; Elmer Robert Parsons, a construction foreman, resides at Stockton; Mabel is the widow of G. Napier of Seattle, Wash .; Lela L. is the wife of J. E. Mahin, who resides on his ranch near Escalon, but is an engineer with the El Dorado Brewing Com- pany at Stockton; Earl Arnett is in the employ of the Holt Manufacturing Company. The wife and mother passed away in Stockton in 1904. Politically Mr.

R & Parsons

Susan Adelia Parsons.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

Parsons is a Republican and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He is numbered among the early settlers of his neighborhood, and has witnessed great changes during his residence here as the county has emerged from pioneer conditions to its present high state of cultivation and prosperity.

BERT BETHFORD BANTA .- The descendant of a California pioneer, Bert Bethford Banta can well take pride in the achievements of his progeni- tors, for it is to their unbounded faith in the future of this part of the country and their many years of arduous labor, that much of the present prosperity of this generation is due. Mr. Banta's grandfather, Henry Banta, who was the father of the late James Banta, came to California in early days and settled in San Joaquin County where he acquired several hundred acres of land, Banta being named for him.

Bert Bethford Banta was born on March 25, 1889, in Merced, but grew up in San Joaquin County, at- tending school in the Willow district school. His mother, Mrs. Millie (Wacksmuth) Banta is a native of Pennsylvania, who accompanied her parents to California in 1868, her father being Edward Wack- smuth, a pioneer of the county, who was highly esteemed and honored by his friends and business associates. Edward Wacksmuth was born in Ger- many on January 31, 1834, and in 1857 came to the United States, locating at Pittsburgh, Pa. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union Army and served until 1864 when he received his honorable discharge at Washington, D. C. He saw service in the following battles: Battle of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Seven Days' Fight on the retreat with General McClellan, Battle of Malvern Hill, Battle of the Wilderness under General Hooker, Chancellorsville, Spottsyl- vania, and Gettysburg under General Meade. He was wounded in the right wrist and breast in the Battle of the Wilderness and was removed to the Base Hospital in Virginia and was cared for until his recovery. Soon after his discharge he removed to Franklin, Pa., where he was employed as an engineer for a short time; then went into the grocery business at the same place. In 1868, ambitious for a field of greater opportunities, he sold his business and em- barked for California via Aspinwall, across the Isth- mus of Panama and to San Francisco. Remaining in California but one year, he returned East for his family and on their arrival located in Sacramento, [ but after six months removed to Ellis, a town on the Central Pacific Railroad, where he engaged in the hotel business; he afterward leased the hotel for two years and engaged in the sheep business. How- ever, in 1877 he resumed the hotel busines and the following year removed his hotel building into Tracy, where he conducted a first-class house for many years. The Wacksmuth block on Central Avenue, stands as a monument to this man, who pioneered and won success. Besides Mrs. Banta, there are three children: Mrs. Elda Slack of Tracy, Mrs. Mary Grunauer and Eddie Wacksmuth, of San Francisco. 1

During 1909, Bert. B. Banta was graduated from the California School of Mechanical Arts in San Francisco, and then entered the University of Cali- fornia, taking up the agricultural course, and in 1914 received his B. S. degree. Returning to Tracy he has ever since been engaged in grain farming and stock raising, and is justly proud of the blooded animals on his farms. His extensive land holdings are coming under the irrigation systems and thereby

will become not only more productive, but more valuable. Mr. Banta erected a fine residence on a 320-acre tract of land adjoining Tracy where he makes his home; 125 acres are devoted to a fine field of alfalfa, and many acres of corn are also seen on his vast holdings, which are in the West Side Irrigation District.

Mr. Banta's marriage, which occured in Berkeley, Cal., in December, 1918, united him with Miss Amelia Armstrong, a daughter of Mrs. D. F. Armstrong, a resident of Berkeley. Mrs. Banta is an active worker in the affairs of the Woman's Improvement Club of Tracy and Eastern Star Circles. Mr. Banta is a well known figure in the Masonic Blue Lodge. Royal Arch, and Eastern Star, and is a strong mem- ber of the Farm Bureau of San Joaquin County. Both Mr. and Mrs. Banta being great lovers of the outdoors, have spent many happy days in the high Sierras, hunting and fishing, and have visited every National Park in the West, and some of them many times. Mr. Banta is a man of affairs and is ever ready to lend his aid to projects that are for the good of his home town and community.

GEORGE J. LUHRSEN .- An enterprising and successful business man and rancher whose far-sight- edness has been of service to others as well as himself, is George J. Luhrsen, who came to San Joaquin Coun- ty in 1876, where he has since continuously resided. He was born on February 26, 1864, in San Francisco, Cal., the son of Louis and Bridget Luhrsen. His father, a native of Germany, came to San Francisco in 1856 and was employed in the sugar industry, operated by Claus Spreckels at San Francisco, until 1875, when one year later he removed his family to the San Joaquin Valley where he passed away in 1890. The mother, who was born in Ireland, passed away here in 1892. They were the parents of two children, George J., and Mrs. Fred Holloway, who passed away in 1914.

George J. attended the Lincoln grammar school in San Francisco one year, until he was eleven years old, when he became self supporting; however, he was only eight years old when he earned his first dollar. He became employed on the ranch owned by the late Herman Miller, located near the old town of Ellis; at the age of fourteen he took a man's place on the threshing machine and for many seasons cov- ered the West Side section on a header operated in

the wheat harvest. In 1878, the year the village of Ellis was moved to Tracy, Mr. Luhrsen drove a thirty-mule team used in hauling the buildings over- land two and one-half miles. In 1882 he entered the employ of D. and M. Lammers near Bethany, San Joaquin County, and for the next thirteen years was a successful and trusted employee.

The marriage of Mr. Luhrsen occurred on Febru- ary 18, 1894, and united him with Miss Matilda Anne Lammers, the eldest daughter of the venerable pioneers, Deitrich and Dorothea Lammers of this county. They have one child, Esther D., the wife of Virgil F. Poet, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Tracy in 1914; they are the parents of two children, George Franklin and Mabel Dorothea, twins. Mr. Luhrsen owns 320 acres of rich land all under the system of the West Side Irrigation District, of which he is director of division No. 1. For twenty-two consecutive years he has served as a trustee of the Lammersville district school; and with his usual progressive spirit, helped in

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

establishing the West Side Union high school, and he is a member of the board of trustees, having served as such since it started. In his political affilia- tions he is a Republican, and as a member of the county central committee has had the privilege of doing some excellent work in the choice of candidates. On February 28, 1885, Mr. Luhrsen became a member of the Sumner Lodge of Odd Fellows and for four different terms has held the office of noble grand; in 1896 served as delegate to the Grand Lodge Encamp- ment held in San Francisco; he is past district deputy of the lodge, coming from district No. 7, and was the first man to hold that office; he is a charter mem- ber of Encampment No. 49; a member of the Samar- ian Rebekah Lodge, Canton Ridgely; a past president of the Tracy Parlor, N. S. G. W .; also a Master Ma- son of .Mt. Osso Lodge No. 460, of Tracy.

MARY ALICE NELSON .- A very interesting and stimulating example of the ability often shown by women to manage their ranch estates, is afforded by Mary Alice Nelson, the owner of a choice Delta farm, embracing 367 rich acres near the Kingston District schoolhouse-one of the finest Delta farms, in fact, in all San Joaquin County. A native daugh- ter naturally proud of her identification with the Golden State, she was born at Douglas Flat, in Cal- averas County, on March 9, 1867, the only child of Edward and Jeannette (Powell) Thomas; and in that county she was reared, that is, for the first few years, for in 1870, on the death of her mother, she was taken to the home of William Richards, at Washing- ton Flat, growing up there, and attending both the Angels Camp and Murphys district schools until she was fifteen years of age.

In this connection it is fitting to give a brief his- tory of her foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Rich- ards, as it is very interesting. Wm. Richards was born in Cornwall, England, and there he was married to Grace Huskin and they emigrated to Southern Wisconsin and there Mr. Richards was engaged in lead mining. In 1850 he started across the plains in an ox-team home with his wife and five children. En route they were attacked by Indians and lost much of their stock, delaying them so they were obliged to winter in Salt Lake. On a certain day the father and mother had gone into the city for supplies and while they were away two of the boys, the second and third in the family, fourteen and twelve years of age, respectively, went to the Jordan River to gather some wood. In Wisconsin they had been used to skate on the ice and one of them tried it and said it was strong, but he immediately broke through and went under. His brother rushed to his assistance. and both were drowned. To the credit of Brigham Young it must be said he sent men to try to recover the bodies but succeeded in securing only one.

The next spring the family came on to California. They wintered in Stockton, 1851-52, then to Wash- ington Flat, where Mr. Richards had a store and hauled goods and supplies with ox teams from Stock- ton. His wife kept the store and traded in gold dust and about every sixty days made a trip to San Fran- cisco, where she sold the gold dust to the mint. Mr. Richards was also interested in mining. He re- mained there until he died, in 1873. His widow sur- vived him until 1880. Of their three remaining chil- dren, William died in 1906; Elizabeth, Mrs. For- syth, resides on the home ranch; Grace died in 1917.

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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 131

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