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 139

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 139

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The marriage of Mr. Wigginton to Miss Sarah H. Owen occurred at Steubenville, Ohio, on December 13, 1870. Miss Owen was born at Steubenville, a daughter of Richard and Eliza Owen, and received her education in that city. Richard Owen was a tailor by trade, who came to California in 1849 and settled in Calaveras County on the Mokelumne River, where he resided until his death. Mrs. Wigginton met a very tragic death at Lodi, August 4, 1900, at the age of forty-eight, as the result of injuries sus- tained in a runaway accident on the 26th day of the preceding month. Mr. and Mrs. Wigginton became the parents of two children, Lilie and Emma, who are both living at the family home on South Quinby Avenue, in Lodi-a home where true filial af- fection abounds. Lilie has charge of the telephone exchange at the Beckman Grocery, in Lodi; while Emma is employed in the office of the Hotel Lodi.

Lilie Wigginton married Mr. George W. Spink, who became master mechanic for the Key Route Company at Oakland. On the 15th day of November, 1903, while in the performance of his duty, he was acci- dentally injured while passing through the subway at Oakland. He died from the injury received, on November 17. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Spinks: Aline, wife of Harold Deal of San Fran- cisco; and George, who resides with his widowed mother at Lodi.

Emma Wigginton married David E. Otis, who be- came superintendent of the municipally owned and controlled incinerator at Portland, Ore. On Sep- tember 14, 1913, while in consultation with Mayor Albee at the City Hall in Portland, his life came to a

y Nigginton

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

very abrupt end, as the result of a stroke of apoplexy. Mr. and Mrs. Otis became the parents of one child, Norman Otis, who married Miss Glory Emery of Los Angeles. Norman Otis is now with the Ford agency at Eagle Rock, a suburb of Los Angeles.

In 1886, Mr. Wigginton came to California, and first settled in Oakland, where he worked at his trade for nine and a half years for Fibush Bros. Altogether the family lived in Oakland about eighteen years. Mr. Wigginton then went to Stockton, where he worked at his trade for two years; then went to Fresno for a short time, and then to Benicia, where he remained for six months. In 1890 he located in Lodi and pur- chased eight acres west of town, for which he paid $115 per acre. When he sold the property he received $800 per acre for it. He then went to Portland, Ore , and worked for the City Creamery, his son-in-law, Mr. Otis, being the superintendent of the plant. He remained there for five years. In 1917 he returned to Lodi and bought his present two-acre home on Quimby Avenue, on which he built his residence, and where he has since resided. In politics, Mr. Wiggin- ton is independent, and fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Lodge of Terre Haute, Ind., and the An- cient Order of Foresters of Oakland.

JAMES STEVEN GERARD .- In a record of those who have been prominently identified with the development and progress of modern California, it is fitting that definite consideration be granted to James Steven Gerard, for he has been a prominent representative of the agricultural interests of San Joaquin County, and has so ordered his life as to gain and retain the confidence and esteem of his fellowmen. He was born at Dutch Flat, Cal, on July 11, 1856, and was the only son of that sturdy pioneer, John H. Gerard, who married Miss Caroline C. Sterling. Both parents were natives of England. They are represented on another page in this history.

James Steven Gerard received his education at the school located at the four corners south of Woodbridge, known as the Burton Towne corners, and in 1878 was married to Miss Annie C. Penny, a native of Massachusetts, a stepdaughter of the late Capt. Thomas Chapman, who was captain of the Pacific mail steamer "San Blas" for twenty years. After marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Gerard removed to San Francisco, where he was employed by freight and transportation companies out of Stockton to San Francisco. They are the parents of six children: Caroline, Mrs. Shirkie, died in San Francisco; Leon died in San Francisco; John, deceased; Lillian, Mrs. Schleef; Raymond; and James Steven, Jr. The last three reside on their ranches near Lodi.

Mr. Gerard was agent for the Union Transporta- tion Company, working under James Gillis; then he was clerk under Division Superintendent W. W. Prugh of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company; then spent some time working for the California Transportation Company in bay and river steamer work, and later was agent for this company at Oak- land for three years. During the great San Fran- cisco fire of 1906, Mr. Gerard lost his entire belong- ings, house and personal effects. Mrs. Gerard passed away a number of years ago and our subject now makes his home at Woodbridge, dividing his time among his sons and daughter on the old Gerard home place. Mr. Gerard has many warm personal friends who have been attracted to him by his many sterling traits.

JAMES STEVEN GERARD, JR .- Among the younger generation of horticulturists in the San Joa- quin Valley, few names are more prominently asso- ciated with the agricultural development of the county than that of James Steven Gerard, Jr., the owner of 170 acres of orchard and vineyard one and a half miles west of Lodi on the Sacramento High- way. His fields and vineyards are indicative of his careful supervision and progressive methods, and thus he is numbered among the leading agricultur- ists and fruit-raisers of San Joaquin County. A native son of California, he was born in San Fran- cisco on September 24, 1893, a son of James Steven and Annie C. (Penny) Gerard, natives of California and Boston, Mass., respectively, and a grandson of John H. and Caroline (Sterling) Gerard, natives of England, who were pioneers of San Joaquin County, and are represented elsewhere in this work.

James S. Gerard, Jr., began his education in the old Mission grammar school in San Francisco and then entered the Wilmerding School of Mechanical Arts. Then he took up the study of law at the St. Ignatius Law School and in the offices of Morrison, Dunne & Brobeck of San Francisco, but not being very much enthused over that study, gave it up. When he was seventeen years old the family returned to Lodi and settled on the old Gerard home place. Upon the death of Grandmother Gerard, our subject inherited 104 acres, a portion of the Gerard ranch. Twenty-five acres of this ranch was in vineyard and the balance has been developed into an orchard of cherries, pears and almonds. The entire ranch is piped for irrigation with concrete pipe, the water being supplied by two pumps, one a six-inch pump and the other a four-inch pump, driven by a fifteen horsepower and seven horsepower motors. He has sold thirty-four acres, retaining seventy acres.

In 1915, Mr. Gerard built a comfortable bungalow home on this ranch, and on June 4 of the same year was married to Miss Mildred Levisa Stannard, a native of Lodi, Cal., and daughter of H. B. and May (Carleton) Stannard. Her parents came to Califor- nia some thirty years ago from La Crosse, Wis., where her father was a merchant. The father passed away in Lodi, but the mother still resides there. Mrs. Gerard received her education in the Lodi public schools of her native town of Lodi. They are the parents of one daughter, Janet May. Within the last year, Mr. Gerard has purchased 100 acres in the Merced irrigation district, which has been set to orchard and vineyard. Mr. Gerard is a Republican in politics, and fraternally is a member of Wood- bridge Lodge No. 131, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master. He is also a member of Stockton Chapter No. 28, R. A. M, Stockton Council Royal and Select Masters, and Stockton Commandery No. 8. K. T., as well as Ben Ali Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in Sacramento; and with his wife is a member of Woodbridge Chapter, Order of East- ern Star. Mr. Gerard is past president of Lodi Parlor No. 18, N. S. G. W., and is a member of the Lions Club, Mokelumne Club of Lodi, and the Woodbridge Gun Club.

Mr. Gerard entered the service of his country, enlisting in the Navy in August of 1918, and was sent to Goat Island, where he trained as an appren- tice seaman for six months. Then he was sent to Harvard Radio School, Cambridge, Mass., and attended three months. He was then stationed at the Fire Island radio station, N. Y., as an electrician's

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

mate, radio second class, remaining there until he was returned to California and discharged at Goat Island in May, 1919. He is a member of Lodi Post No. 22, American Legion.

FRED D. BURLEIGH .- Among the progressive and enterprising men who are very optimistic and see a great future for the San Joaquin Valley is Fred D. Burleigh, manager of the Fred Hartsook studio at Stockton. He is a native of Illinois, born at Taylor- ville, Christian County, in 1873. His paternal ances- tors are traced back to England and descended from a very old family of the nobility. George N. Bur- leigh, the father of Fred D., was born in Macon County, Ill., and Grandfather Burleigh served in an Illinois regiment during the Civil War.

George N. Burleigh was a photographer in Taylor- ville and there he married Miss Mary Murphy, who was also born near that place; later Mr. Burleigh located his studio at 111 West Side Square, Spring- field, Ill., in the place adjoining 107, the location that was formerly the law office of Abraham Lincoln. George Burleigh was a successful photographer, con- tinuing his business in the Capital City until he retired. He spent his last days in Newark, N. J., while his widow now lives at Daytona, Fla. This worthy couple had three children, of whom Fred is next to the oldest. Until the age of twelve he lived in Taylorville, where he attended school, when his parents moved to Springfield, Ill., and there in due time he was graduated from the Springfield high school. Gifted by nature with an artistic tempera- ment he displayed from the time he was a lad much interest in his father's studio and soon after his graduation he studied photography in all of its de- tails, learning the art under his father's preceptorship. On reaching the age of twenty-one he entered the employ of the Eastman Kodak Company of Roches- ter, N. Y., as traveling demonstrator over the West, his territory extending from the Gulf to the Canadian border and from Chicago to the Pacific coast. This vast territory kept him very busy, but he found it very interesting, giving him an experience that was indeed instructive and comprehensive.

In Iowa Mr. Burleigh made the acquaintance of a beautiful and accomplished lady whom he married at Fort Dodge. She was Miss Ida May Johnson, a native of Fort Dodge, who was-a graduate of High- land Park University at Des Moines, Iowa, and was a cultured and refined woman. However, her health became impaired, so thinking she might be benefitted by the mild and salubrious climate of the Pacific coast he transferred his headquarters to San Fran- cisco in 1902, from which place he traveled the entire Pacific Coast. He liked climate and conditions in this state as well as its people, so very wisely he finally concluded to make his future home in this land of sunshine and flowers. Resigning his position with the Eastman Company in 1912 he removed to Sacra- mento, where he accepted the position as operator and manager of Fred Hartsook's studio. Success crowned his efforts and it was his fortune to build up the business until it became the largest and most popular in the Capital City. After six years of suc- cessful endeavor he was transferred to the Stockton studio, and here his ability has been appreciated, so that the studio has been brought to the same high standard. The business place is located at 531 East Main Street, where they have a large and well fur-

nished studio and where they accomplish the most artistic and satisfactory work. A large proportion of the portraits in this work are from photographs taken at Hartsook's studio.

Mrs. Burleigh on coming to California for a time improved in health, but in time she began to fail and although she had the best of medical attention and care she succumbed and passed on June 7, 1919, a woman much loved and mourned by her family and many friends. Their union had been blessed with one child, a lovely daughter named Effidean.

Fraternally, Mr. Burleigh is prominent in local Masonic circles. He was made a Mason in Mt. Nebo Lodge No. 76, A. F. & A. M., Carlinville, Il1. On coming to California he demitted and is now a mem- ber of Delta Lodge No. 471, F. & A. M. He is also a member of Stockton Chapter No. 28, R. A. M., Stockton Council No. 10, and the Order of Sciots.

Mr. Burleigh is a firm believer in protection, the fundamental principle of the Republican party, hence he casts his influence and works for the good of the country under that banner. He fully appreciates the wonderful resources of California, and takes pleasure in assisting in its civic and social development.

REXFORD B. RICHMOND .- A progressive young man of superior business qualifications who has been identified with the automobile industry for the past seven years, Rexford B. Richmond has made for himself a distinct place in Stockton's business circles. Quick to discriminate and swift to grasp the opportunity for success, his selection of San Joaquin County as the scene of his operations in the automobile field has been well rewarded.

He was born in Malvern, Iowa, on May 23, 1885. His father being a harnessmaker he learned the trade with him. In 1907 the family removed to Colorado and father and son took up a homestead near Ster1- ing, and our subject remained there four years and was engaged in farming and at the same time worked at his trade as harnessmaker. In the year of 1911 he came to California and located in Merced and was employed in the harness department of the Bar-

croft Hardware Company. When this company opened a branch store at Chowchilla, Mr. Richmond was sent there in charge of the new store. In 1913 he removed to Stockton and two years later estab- lished his own business, that of making automobile tops. He started in a small way at 28 South Amer- ican Avenue with a capital of fifteen dollars. As his business grew and expanded he was obliged to seek larger and better quarters and removed to 228 East Miner Avenue, where he manufactures auto tops de luxe, with stationary top and disappearing cur- tains. Mr. Richmond has the exclusive contract for San Joaquin County for the Gillig sliding curtains, in celluloid and glass. The Richmond perfected auto top is made of extra superior materials, has overhead light, beveled glass, tonneau windshields, pockets for flowers, dust brushes, etc., and is built to give long service without becoming loose in the frame, the heavy ash sills being reinforced with metal braces Mr. Richmond is also distributor for the Hartford tonneau windshield; he also manufactures seat covers and conducts a modern upholstery department.

The marriage of Mr. Richmond united him with Miss Ada Patmon, a native of Holyoke, Colo., and they are the parents of four children: Ruth, Charles, Evelyn and Glenn; the two youngest children are natives of California. Fraternally Mr. Richmond is

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

identified with Stockton Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. E., and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a wide-awake booster and is a worker for good roads and harbor improvements.

FRED W. WURSTER .- A distinguished member of the banking profession in California is Fred W. Wurster, the assistant manager of the Bank of Italy of Stockton, in which city he was born on May 12, 1866. His parents were Chris and Anna M. (Fol- lert) Wurster, both natives of Germany, and both now deceased. The father died in 1876, while the mother survived until 1903. Mr. Wurster came to California in the early '50s by way of Panama, and being a carriage painter, he followed that trade. He always took an active part in the old Volunteer Fire Department, and in time became prominent, and he was among the most popular members in the Stockton Lodge of Odd Fellows. Besides the son, the subject of our review, a daughter, Louise, also survives this marriage. On the death of her husband, Mrs. Wurster became the wife of Charles A. L. Grunsky, and to her second union was born a daughter, Anna Pauline Grunsky.

Fred Wurster had the good fortune to attend both the excellent Stockton public schools, and then, on September 17, 1883, he entered the employ of Fred Ruhl, the hardware merchant. On May 10, 1886, he became associated with the Stockton Iron Works. On October 10, 1898, however, he entered banking circles when he became a clerk in the San Joaquin Valley Bank, where he rose until he became assistant cashier; and when, on January 19, 1916, the bank be- came a national institution, he was made cashier of both the commercial and the savings departments. A year later, on November 27, the Bank of Italy took over the San Joaquin Valley National Bank, and then Mr. Wurster was appointed assistant manager, and this position he now holds. Thus Mr. Wurster has been associated for close to a quarter of a cen- tury with banking institutions in Stockton, and it is fitting that he should be on the executive committee of the Stockton Merchants' Association. He is also an active member of the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau, representing therein the city of Stockton cen- ter. When the San Joaquin Fair was revived in 1919, Mr. Wurster was made president for that year, and he contributed his share to making the Fair held in Oak Park a success in every way. This Fair is still held annually, and Mr. Wurster is an honorary di- rector. In early days he was active in developing the Southern San Joaquin irrigation district, and helped to put 70,000 acres of land under water; he was then a large landowner there, and he still re- tains a small alfalfa ranch in that district. All his. life he has had an active part in civic affairs, and he has taken especial pride in working for the best interests of the county.

On November 16, 1894, Mr. Wurster was married at Stockton to Miss Maude E. Wilson, who was born at Brewer, Penobscot County, Maine, but was reared in Stockton, where she attended the high school. Two children were born to this union. Will- iam Wilson Wurster was graduated from the Uni- versity of California with the class of '19, having specialized in architecture; Helen graduated in De- cember, 1921, at the University of California, Depart- ment of Household Science. Mr. Wurster is one of the trustees of the Congregational Church, and

he is also treasurer of the congregation. He is both a member and a past president of the Stockton Parlor No. 7 of the N. S. G. W., and a men.ber of Charity Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F.

MRS. CHARLOTTE BABSON WHEELER CLOWES .- Among the well-known pioneers of San Joaquin County is Mrs. Charlotte Babson Wheeler Clowes, the owner of Cooper Oaks, an excellent ranch of 354 acres, 60 acres of which is in alfalfa and the intention is to plant more land to alfalfa. She is a good business manager, and since her husband's death has most creditably borne the obligations and duties laid upon her. She is a native daughter of Cali- fornia, having been born in Stockton, June 8, 1863, a daughter of Roscoe and Helen Mar (Babson) Wheeler, both natives of Gloucester, Mass. At the age of seventeen Roscoe Wheeler left his native state and came to California via Panama, starting in 1849, and arriving early in 1850, and here he married Miss Babson, who came hither in the fall of 1860. Mrs. Clowes is the eldest in a family of five chil- dren, the others being Helen M., deceased; Roscoe Wheeler, who resides in Berkeley, Cal .; Susannah and Charles are both deceased. Roscoe Wheeler fol- lowed the freighting business on the San Francisco Bay and San Joaquin River and at the time of his death owned a tug and several vessels for freighting. In 1872-73 the family made their home in Glouces- ter, Mass., and in 1875 they took up their residence in Oakland, Cal., and while residing there the father passed away at the age of seventy, the mother living until she was seventy-eight.

Charlotte B. Wheeler received her education in the Gloucester and Stockton grammar schools and the Oakland high school, from which she was grad- uated, and on June 11, 1889, in Fruitvale, Cal., she was married to Edward Cooper Clowes, also a na- tive of Stockton, born June 9, 1859, a son of Ben- jamin S. and Mary Lester (Cooper) Clowes, natives of New York and Hempstead, Long Island, res- pectively. The maternal grandfather, Thomas Cooper, was a brother of Peter Cooper, the great American philanthropist. Benjamin S. Clowes was killed by an explosion in Stockton, while the mother lived to be eighty-two years old. Edward Cooper Clowes was one of a family of ten children and re- ceived his education in the Stockton grammar and high schools, then spent two years in the Univer- sity of California. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Clowes lived on the Cooper ranch on the north bank of the Calaveras River on Cooper Lane. This ranch was originally owned by J. B. L. Cooper and upon his death passed to the eastern heirs. Mr. Clowes was a nurseryman by trade and was engaged in that line while living on the Cooper place, but found that the heavy black soil of that ranch was not so suitable for his nursery business, so moved it to Woodbridge. He passed away on the home place on March 28, 1902, after which Mrs. Clowes as- sumed the management of the ranch, and by her able management has paid off the mortgages and now the fine ranch of 354 acres is clear of incum- brance. There were three children in the family: Helen, a graduate of the University of California, with the M. A. degree, ably assists her mother in the management of the home place; Edward Cooper died at the age of seven years; and Roscoe Wheeler is a member of the senior class of the University of Cali- fornia. Mrs. Clowes conducts a dairy of 150 head of

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stock all tuberculin tested and high-grade Holstein cows, and the milk supplies customers in Stockton, from eight to twelve men being employed in the handling of the cows and milk. On the ranch is a fine, up-to-date dairy barn, equipped with the most modern and sanitary machinery for handling milk. Mrs. Clowes is a Republican in politics and a member of the Pioneer Auxiliary Society of Stockton.

MRS. ELIZA DEMORETTA FORE .- Among the pioneer women of San Joaquin County is Mrs. Eliza Demoretta Fore, residing two miles west of Lodi on the Kelly Road, where she owns an excel- lent ten-acre ranch all under cultivation. She is a good business manager, and since her husband's death has most creditably borne the obligations and duties laid upon her by that event. She is a native of Cameron, Mo., a daughter of John and Catherine (Nave) Miner, both parents being natives of Ken- tucky, where her father plied his trade of saddle- maker and also engaged in farming pursuits; later he became a merchant. There were six children in the family, namely: Malissa, Cassa, Winfield Scott, Eliza, our subject, and Joseph. The father lived to be seventy-five years old and the mother ninety-five.

Eliza Demoretta Miner received her education in the grammar schools of Cameron, Mo., and on March 4, 1877, was married to Millard Henry Fore, also a native of Missouri, a son of Charles Fore, who was a farmer. Mr. Fore owned eighty acres in Linn County, Mo, and on this farm the young married couple lived until 1882, when they sold it and came West to Oregon, where he purchased land and resumed his farming pursuits, also leasing 250 acres. However, they resided in Oregon only one year, then removed to Woodbridge, where he made his home until his death in 1909. Seven years ago, Mrs. Fore built a house on their ten-acre vineyard property, where she now resides.

Mr. and Mrs. Fore were the parents of eight chil- dren: : Charles Rucker is married and a rancher; Clarence Lester is married and has one daughter, Phyllis Lucile; Jewell Pearl, Mrs. Grimsley, has one daughter, Golden Maude; Goldie, Mrs. Guy C. Lewis, has two sons, Torrence and Roland; Millard L. resides on the home place; Claude Elmo. is married and has three children, Claude Elmo, Jr., Burdette Marion, and Dorothy Lorraine; Burdette Cornell lives at home; and Noble D. resides at Stockton. Three of the sons serve their country during the World War. Millard served in England as a cook in the officers' department; Burdette served in France in Company C, 145th Machine Gun Battalion of the 40th Division; and Noble was in Company 10 A of the recruit camp at Camp Kearney.

Mrs. Fore is a Democrat in her political affilia- tions. She is a member of the Women's Auxiliary of the American Legion, the Women's North Side Club, and the White Apron Club of Lafayette Hall district. Mrs. Fore has favored all measures for the promotion of the social, material, intellectual and moral welfare of her community, where she has made many friends. During the forty years of her residence in San Joaquin County, she has seen many changes and has watched the development of San Joaquin County as it has emerged from pioneer con- ditions to become a factor in the progress and pros- perity of the state.

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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 139

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