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 132

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 132

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In 1882 Mary Thomas came to live in the home of her father, who had established himself as a prosper- ous farmer near French Camp, and completed her education in Stockton Business College, from which institution she was graduated June 18, 1885, after which she assisted her father in his business and pre- sided over his home until she was married on June 18, 1890, to James A. Nelson, a native of Sweden, who came to California when nineteen years of age and became a pioneer rancher of San Joaquin Coun- ty, and from 1890 to 1915 was actively identified with the development of the district. Immediately after his marriage Mr. Nelson had located on leased land on Roberts Island from Woods Brothers and en- gaged in raising grain. However, he soon purchased land in the district known as the pocket which, with the aid of his family, he improved and brought to a high state of cultivation. Mr. Nelson long served as a very conscientious member of the board of trus- tees of Kingston School district, and stood high in the Stockton Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America. He was a Democrat in matters of nation- al politics. At the time of his death, he had amassed considerable property, and was a prominent figure in Stockton financial circles. He died on June 22, 1915, survived by his widow and five children.

Ellsworth P. Nelson graduated from the public schools, and is a Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge and the Scottish Rite order. He has been for years the right hand of his mother in conducting the ex- tensive farming operations, and has more than justi- fied the confidence reposed in him. Edward Thomas Nelson also graduated from the public schools and Heald's Business College. He served in the 347th F. A. in the U. S. Army, A. E. F., and has an en- viable military war record with the Army of Occupa- tion, returning to civilian life as a. disabled veteran, and having a hard struggle to regain his health. Er- win Nelson, the rancher, was educated at the public schools and Heald's Business College. He served in Company M., 363rd Inf., in lumber camps in Wash- ington, and has an honorable discharge from Camp Lewis. He is now at home on the farm, doing his best to contribute toward the restoration of post-war prosperity. Grace Inet graduated from the Stockton high school; and James Victor Nelson is a student there, where he is a prominent athlete, and repre- sented his school on the 1921 and 1922 football teams. He is also a De Molay member. Mrs. Nel- son can be justly proud of her sons and daughters, having been very successful in rearing them to be- come useful citizens, a credit to their native County.

Mrs. Nelson displays excellent business acumen, and is thoroughly conversant with the modern meth- ods employed on her Delta farm, where there is so much in strong contrast to the conditions of early days. She recalls very vividly the time of her advent to the Delta in 1895, when there were no bridges, and one had to cross the channels by ferry, if one traveled in a carriage or dray, as the ferry did not operate for foot-travelers, for whom a row-boat was employed. She recalls also the first appearance of a top surrey in the Delta in 1893. Mrs. Nelson, as a veritable pioneer, owns one of the treasured $50 gold- slugs made in California in the '50's-one received by her foster father, William Richards, when he sold a yoke of oxen he had driven across the plains. She values this slug highly, and naturally shows it with pride, for few persons own one like it. She is a mem-

Mary. a. nelson.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

ber of the Congregational Church and of the Auxil- iary of the Pioneer Society of San Joaquin.

Mrs. Nelson has also been the owner, for twelve years or more, of desirable residence property at 528 West Oak Street, Stockton, where she spends the winter months, although she has a very commo- dious, comfortable and ornate home at the ranch. She is a woman of splendid characteristics, and is be- loved and highly esteemed, not only by her devoted children, but by her neighbors and business associates as well.

FRANK OLIVER HOUSKEN .- San Joaquin County and the town of Tracy and environs are largely indebted to Frank Oliver Housken, who has aided in laying the foundations on which have been built the present progress and prosperity of this sec- tion. He was born in Union township, San Joaquin County on February 17, 1868, a son of George Hous- ken, a pioneer of the county, who settled ten miles northwest of Woodbridge about sixty years ago and who conducted a general merchandise store in that locality. In 1873 the family moved farther down the Mokelumne River to the home ranch northwest of New Hope and there four sons and four daughters were reared and educated, excepting for the school- ing received in higher institutions. His father is now past eighty-three years of age and resides with his daughter, Mrs. Fountain, in Oakland, but still retains his ranches and interests in San Joaquin County.

Frank Oliver began his education in the New Hope school at the age of six years and finished his high school course in the San Francisco high school; he then entered the University of Michigan and was graduated from the law department in 1890, received his L. L. B. degree and during the same year was admitted to the bar. Returning to California, he was admitted to practice in 1890 by the California Supreme Court, and later in the Federal Court. He had been commissioned a notary public all that time by each governor of the state, commencing with Governor H. H. Markham.

Mr. Housken limits his practice to civil work, hav- ing no inclination toward criminal practice, and is inclined to specialize in real property law, with its numerous fields, including probate law. He con- ducted the proceedings for the incorporation of the city of Tracy and has been its legal adviser in han- dling the bond issue.

The marriage of Mr. Housken occurred in 1901 and united him with Miss Anna S. Lammers, a daughter of Diedrich and Dorothea (Hemson) Lammers. Her father came to California in 1859 from South Caro- lina and was married to Miss Hemson in 1871 at Ellis, Cal. Diedrich Lammers settled in San Joaquin County in 1866 and followed ranching all his life. The Lammers district school was named for Diedrich Lammers and his brother, Martin Lammers. Died- rich Lammers passed away at his home near Tracy in 1890, his wife surviving him until 1917. Mrs. Housken was reared and schooled on the West Side and she and her sister, Mrs. George J. Luhrsen, are the sole survivors of the family. She is prominent in the Rebekahs, being past noble grand and takes a keen interest in public affairs and the welfare of her locality. Politically, Mr. Housken is a Republican, but has ever held principle above party. His interest in the West Side section of San Joaquin County led him in 1921 to found the West Side Pioneer Society; 55

he is an authority on its history. He has in his pos- session a copy of the first newspaper published in Tracy and all subsequent editions, which he has care- fully preserved.

Mr. Housken is a member of the following fra- ternal orders: Masons, I. O. O. F., N. S. G. W., For- esters of America and the Rebekahs. He has been through all the chairs and in 1904-5 was district deputy grand patriarch of the local district. He is a director in the Pioneer Bank of Tracy. Mr. Housken believes heartily in irrigation, and in 1908 was secre- tary of the organization to promote same.

ALFRED D. WARDROBE .- An exceptionally in- teresting and instructive story is that of the pioneer family of Alfred D. Wardrobe, the progressive and successful vineyardist, who lives one and one-half miles to the east of Acampo. He was born in San Joaquin County, near the Live Oak schoolhouse, in Elkhorn Township, on September 15, 1867, the son of S. V. and Eunice (Cobb) Wardrobe. Both his father's and his mother's family came to California from Massachusetts in 1851. Grandfather Charles Cobb was a boot and shoe manufacturer, and just be- fore the outbreak of the Civil War he sold a large consignment of his products to patrons in the South- ern States. He was paid Confederate script, which in time proved utterly worthless, and was thus forced into bankruptcy. In 1865, with only $15 as capital, he landed in California, after a journey by way of the Isthmus, having left his wife and children behind in Boston. He obtained a job in San Francisco clean- ing a cargo of shoes that had come round the Horn, and had moulded on the way. For this he received $9 per week, and had to board himself. When it be- came known that he was an experienced shoe-man, he was offered the position of salesman in the shoe- store; and when, later, someone wanted a man to take charge of his shoe-store in Marysville, he was sent there, and he remained in Marysville as manager of the shoe-store for several years. At the end of six years, he was able to send for his wife and fam- ily, and they joined him at Marysville. Later, he took up some land between Lodi and Stockton, 160 acres in all, and embarked in farming; and after a while he acquired another tract of 160 acres. He lived to be about eighty-six years old, and came to be worth ap- proximately $10,000 before he passed away. A few years ago the home place was purchased by Stewart Elliott.

S. V. Wardrobe, whose full name was Samuel Valorious Wardrobe, the father of our subject, made three trips to California, the first, around the Horn in 1848, the second in 1850, and the last in 1851, when he yielded to the lure of the moment and went into the mines. Afterward, he bought a ranch in the Live Oak section, and as he was naturally a pro- gressive agriculturist he became quite an extensive grain farmer. In the early days lumber was very scarce. While back home in West Scituate, Mass., a suburb of Boston, on his visit in 1850, he had his brother, Reuben Langdon Wardrobe, who was a car- penter and joiner, frame a 12'x12' house out of East- ern yellow pine, which was shipped in the knock- down to California via the Horn. It was unloaded from a new steamer, at Weber's Point, in Stockton, and by the two brothers was hauled out to S. V. Wardrobe's land, near where the Live Oak school- house is now situated. Later on additions were

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made and the house was remodeled, but to this day it encloses the first 12' x 12' house, which was con- verted into a bedroom. The house is still standing, and is in use to this day. In that bedroom our sub- ject's oldest brother. and Alfred Wardrobe himself were both born. It is the oldest living-room, which has been in continuous use, in San Joaquin County. S. V. Wardrobe and his devoted wife were blessed with four children. Frank S., the eldest, is in Butte County; Lucy is deceased; Alfred was the third- born; and Eunice, the youngest, is also deceased.

Alfred Wardrobe attended the Live Oak School, and remained with his father until the latter's death, at the age of fifty-six. The mother had already passed away. After his father's death, he and his brother managed the old home place of 627 acres until 1910; and then a division of the property was made, he receiving 307 acres, and his brother 320. He sold this place, and bought twenty acres on the Acampo- Lockeford road, about one and one-half miles east of Acampo, a fine tract of vineyard and orchard, which Mr. Wardrobe has developed with his own pumping plant and irrigation system.

At Sheldon, Cal., on May 6, 1896, he was married to Miss Rebecca Macy, the daughter of Seth and Jane Macy, and a native of Sacramento County. Her father was born in Iowa and her mother in Missouri. In the late fifties, Mr. Macy went into the mines. Mr. and Mrs. Alfred D. Wardrobe have had four daughters, and three are living, Oleta having died at the age of eighteen. Viola and Myrtle are high school students at Lodi, and Vernon is a pupil in the grammar school. Mr. Wardrobe is a Democrat and is a member of Elkgrove Lodge of Odd Fellows.

PETER F. LAMBERT .- A pioneer vineyardist of the Summer Home district of San Joaquin County is Peter F. Lambert, who is recognized as one of the representative citizens of San Joaquin County. His birth occurred near Coblenz, Germany, September 10, 1854, and until he was twenty-one years old he worked in his father's vineyard. The vineyard was in terraces on steep hillsides and portions of it have been in the possession of the Lambert family for three generations.

Peter F. Lambert received a fair education in the public schools of Germany and in 1876 was serving in the Prussian army; he fled to Holland, where he boarded the S. S. Maize bound for New York. Arriving in New York he made his way to Nebraska, stopping at various points of interest en route; he then spent three years in the Black Hills of South Dakota, mining, but with no particular success. His next move was to Miles City, Mont., where he was employed by the Northern Pacific Construction Com- pany and became a foreman for the company and remained there for four years. Gradually he worked his way to the coast, down through Washington and Oregon to this state, locating first near Healdsburg.

The marriage of Mr. Lambert occurred at Billings, Mont., in 1889, and united him with Miss Annie Boh- man. Mrs. Lambert passed away at Manteca in June, 1909. In 1897 Mr. Lambert decided to try his fortune in the Klondike and he was one of a party of four to go, remaining there two years when he returned to California and joined his family at Healds- burg. In the spring of 1901 he sold his vineyard home at Healdsburg and located at Manteca, which has

since been his home. The second marriage of Mr. Lambert occurred in 1916, uniting him with Mrs. Minnie Fisher, who had two children, Albert and August B., by her first marriage. Mr. Lambert has developed his home place of thirty acres in the Sum- mer Home district to a vineyard, his average yield being eight tons to the acre. In 1879, at Deadwood, S. D., he became a United States citizen and since that time has voted the Republican ticket. In 1917 he became a member of the California Raisin Grow- ers' Association, and from 1915 to 1919 served as a director of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District.

CHRISTIAN NEUMILLER .- Prominent among the sturdy, progressive pioneers of Stockton who will long be pleasantly and gratefully remembered as the representatives of a public-spirited, widely- respected family in the front rank of Californian set- tlers, was the late Christian Neumiller, who died at his home in Stockton on November 3rd, 1919. He was born at Wolfersheim, Canton Zweibruecken, in Rhenish Bavaria, Germany, on February 16, 1835, and when twenty years of age came to the United States and served an apprenticeship to the baker's trade. When a full-fledged journeyman, he worked as a baker in Baltimore, Md., Alexandria, Va., and Washington, D. C., and in 1858 migrated westward to California, via the Isthmus of Panama. He ar- rived in San Francisco on October 18, 1858, and after six days in the Bay City moved inland to Stockton where, on New Year's Day, 1859, he en- tered the employ of the State of California, becom- ing chief baker in the bakery department of the State Hospital at Stockton. From the beginning he gave satisfaction to everybody; and he continued to discharge that responsibility, at times not al- together light, until September 1, 1908, when he re- tired, rounding out an enviable record, especially for almost continuous service, for he was with the State Hospital all the time, with the exception of about five years, or from 1867 to 1872, when he was engaged in farming in San Joaquin County. On his retirement, therefore, he completed about forty years of honorable service in the state, dur- ing which time Stockton continued to be his home -excepting, of course, the period when he was on the farm, near Collegeville, about ten miles from Stockton.

In June, 1865, Mr. Neumiller was married to Miss Marie Mey of Sufflenheim, Alsace, then a part of France, who had come to the United States twelve years before and had reached California for the first time in 1863. She died at Stockton on August 18, 1905, esteemed and beloved by all who knew her, the revered mother of two daughters and two sons, Mrs. Mary E. Minta, widow of the late Judge Wes- ley Minta, of Stockton; Miss Emma C. Neumiller; William C. Neumiller, treasurer and tax collector of San Joaquin County, and Charles L. Neumiller, a member of the law firm of Neumiller & Ditz, else- where written of in this work. These worthy rep- resentatives of one of the worthiest pioneer fami- lies hereabouts continue to reside at Stockton, Charles L. Neumiller and the two daughters making their home at the old Neumiller homestead, and William C. Neumiller maintaining his own home with his family.

Chr . Neumiller

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

WARREN LAMB .- Among the more recent busi- ness organizations of Tracy, San Joaquin County, is the Orange Crush Bottling Company, incorporated at $75,000. The main office of the company is at Sixth and B streets, Tracy, and there are branch offices with bottling works in Stockton and Turlock, Cal. The proprietor, Warren Lamb, was born at Charles- ton, Lee County, Iowa, on March 28, 1857, a son of James and Sarah (Sloars) Lamb, both natives of Richmond, Ind His father, James Lamb, came to California in 1849, but returned to New York via Panama and thence to Indiana, where he was married. The young people then removed to Iowa in 1856 and engaged in farming and stockraising, and in 1860, with a party of fifteen ox-teams started across the plains; after six months they arrived in Clements, Jackson Valley, Calaveras County, Cal. The com- pany experienced many hardships and adventures, but had no trouble with the Indians. Securing land they began to farm, but in 1862 a disastrous flood almost ruined the settlers of Jackson Valley. In 1863 Mrs. Sarah Lamb passed away and the family was broken up until in 1866, when his father married again and their home was once more established; also their property was reclaimed, and ten years were spent in Jackson Valley, where Warren learned to do farm work, and remained at home until 1880.

Mr. Lamb's marriage united him with Miss Hattie E. Minser, a native of Indiana, but who came West with her parents in 1860. They are the parents of four children, as follows: James N., born in Cala- veras County in 1886, married Miss Pearl Gieseke, and they have one son. They reside on Seventh Street, Tracy, and he is a prominent member in the Knights of Pythias, Native Sons of the Golden West, and treasurer of the Foresters of America. He has held a number of public offices in Tracy, and is now the vice-president and general manager of the Orange Crush Bottling Company. Ida M. is the wife of John W. Shaw and they have one son and reside in Tracy; Ethel E. is the wife of A. C. Shaw and they have one daughter and reside in Stockton; W. Ray Lamb is married and has one son and they reside in Stockton; he is a stockholder in the Orange Crush Bottling Company and is manager of the Stockton branch of the company.

Mr. Lamb farmed in the Elliott district of San Joaquin County, and in 1890 removed to Valley Springs where he established a livery and hotel busi- ness, which he conducted successfully for ten years. In 1900 he made a trip to Alaska and the following year removed his family to St. Michaels, and the fol- lowing three years were spent in prospecting and mining, with some success, but on account of health conditions in 1903 he returned to California and set- tled in Livermore, Alameda County. Here he estab- lished a small business for the manufacture of soda water and in 1914 the business had so increased that a branch store was established in Tracy, with James N. Lamb, his son, in charge, known as Lamb & Sons, dealers in soda water, ice, fuel and feed. As repre- sentatives of the National Ice Company they do a fine business in the summer with ice and soda. This company owns the exclusive right to bottle and dis- tribute Ward's Orange Crush and Lemon Crush soda drinks in the following four counties: San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Stanislaus, and Merced. The plant at Tracy is equipped with up-to-date machinery and has a capacity of turning out 800 dozen bottles per day. At Turlock the company is constructing a fine

hollow tile building with complete modern equipment. More than 500 cases of soda water will be produced daily by the company, and it will be one of the largest and best equipped bottling companies in the valley.

The Lamb family have always been strong advocates of irrigation and have been useful factors in the development of the locality in which they reside. Mr. Lamb owns a thirty-acre alfalfa ranch in the West Side Irrigation District, and is a stockholder and director in the Pioneer Bank of Tracy. He served as a member of the Republican County Central Com- mittee and was one year a delegate to the state con- vention. For over forty years Mr. Lamb has been an active member of Odd Fellows' Lodge No. 219, and is past grand of same; is a member of the Re- bekah lodge and has passed all the chairs and was a delegate to the grand lodge. He is a past officer of the Foresters of America, and past president of the Chamber of Commerce of Tracy.

FRED A. LATTIN .- It is an acknowledged fact that the most important work to which a man can direct his energies is that of teaching, and to this Fred A. Lattin is devoting his time, energies and thought. He was born in Schuyler County, N. Y., on January 12, 1862, a son of Joseph and Josephine (Howard) Lattin, of old English ancestry. The father was a teacher, and also owned and conducted a large farm in Schuyler County. His early ancestors were pioneer settlers in New England and were prominent in early colonial history.

Fred A. Lattin entered the country district school and upon finishing the elementary grades, entered Cook's Academy for one term. At the age of eighteen he taught two terms in his home district school, but desiring a better and more complete education, he entered the State Normal School at Cortland, N. Y., receiving a teacher's certificate in 1884 from that institution. Removing to Hinckley, Ill., he held a principalship for four years; then removed to south- ern Michigan and for seven years was active in the management of his wife's ranch, and while residing there became active in the state grange.

The marriage of Mr. Lattin occurred in Quincy, Mich., in 1886, and united him with Miss Jessie Cook, a daughter of A. B. and Anna Cook. They are the parents of two living children: Leon C. is married and resides at Lodi; he has one child named Fern; W. George is married and resides at Athena, Ore., and is employed by the Standard Oil Company; he has one child, Jeane; a third child, Bessie, died at the age of thirteen years. In 1894 the family removed to California and settled in Los Gatos, Santa Clara County, seeking a better climate on account of Mrs. Lattin's health. A fruit ranch was purchased near Campbell and he was employed as teacher in the Santa Clara County public schools, remaining there until 1901, when they removed to Lake County and he was principal for two years of schools in that county; the next move was to Modesto, and there he engaged in the general merchandise business for about one year, when he again took up his profession, and the year following removed to Ripon and there taught in the district schools. In 1910 he purchased a five-acre ranch near Lodi on which the family reside. Since 1917 Mr. Lattin has been the superin- tendent of the Tracy schools, which have shown a remarkable growth under his supervision; in 1917 the enrollment to the Tracy schools was 225 with seven teachers, in 1922 there are sixteen teachers with an enrollment of 520 students. Prof. Lattin has been

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connected with the public schools for thirty-two years. His political affiliations are those of the Repub- lican party and fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. and Mrs. Lattin belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church of Lodi.

ADOLPH H. LINNE .- The determination to win success has been the paramount characteristic in the career of Adolph H. Linne. Though obstacles and dis- couragements were many, he pressed steadily forward, until he is an influential citizen of the community. His native city is San Francisco, where he was born on June 1, 1871. Very early in life he was thrown upon his own resources as his parents passed away in the early '80s. The necessity of earning his daily bread required most of his time, and his schooling was therefore very meager, but he had learned well the lessons of honesty and industry. In October, 1883, Mr. Linne came to San Joaquin County and found employment on the Henry Fink ranch at Bethany, where he remained for about four years; then he was transferred to Mr. Fink's ranch near Banta, and until 1898 continued to labor upon the Fink ranch, when he went into partnership with his brother, Henry A. Linne. Entering into an agreement with Mr. Fink whereby they could farm 1,000 acres on shares, the brothers began operations. The first year was a very dry one throughout the entire district, and as the systems of irrigation had not been completed, the farmers suffered greatly from the drouth and, in con- sequence, short crops, but they persevered and became well known for their extensive grain farming. As their income increased, they purchased 640 acres of land south of Tracy, which is today a valuable prop- erty, devoted to grain raising, and in 1907 Mr. Linne built a fine residence and other substantial buildings. As time went on the Linne brothers have acquired more land, some of which faces on the Lincoln High- way southeast of Tracy and is now some of the most desirable land in the locality. There was 520 acres in this tract, all under irrigation; 160 acres has been divided off into forty-acre tracts, and sold off. The remaining 360 acres is devoted to grain, but the Linne brothers are preparing it for orchard and alfalfa.

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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 132

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