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 144

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1660

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as trustee of the San Joaquin unit of the American Federation of Farmers for two years. He also served for two years as tax collector of the South San Joa- quin Irrigation District. He has been an active worker for better educational facilities and has labored untiringly for the new Ripon Union high school and the fine grammar school there. In politics a Repub- lican, he is a strong advocate of irrigation and is working for the development of the South San Joaquin Irrigation system, embracing 71,000 acres. Mrs. Roberts was brought up in the old Covenanter Church and Mr. Roberts in the Church of Eng- land, but they now worship at the new Congregational Church at Ripon.

MRS. FAUSTENA MONTORA ROLERSON .-- A distinguished resident of Stockton who enjoys the esteem of all who know her is Mrs. Faustena Mon- tora Rolerson, who was born near Belfast, Lincoln- ville, Me., on January 5, 1845, the daughter of Harri- son P. and Ruth (Herrick) Taber, natives respec- tively of Kennebec and New Brunswick, Maine. Her father was born in October, 1820, and her mother in March, 1822; he was only nine years old when he was thrown upon his own resources, the son of a farmer upon a rocky hillside farm. However, at the age of twenty-five, he was able to marry, and to well establish himself in New England agricultural pur- suits. Mr. and Mrs. Taber were blessed with twelve children, eleven of whom attained maturity; and our subject was the eldest of the number. She in- herits exceptional qualities from her father, who was a man of resourcefulness, and who gained success to a marked degree before he passed hence, in 1887, at the age of sixty-seven. Mrs. Taber lived to be eighty- four, and in 1904 made a visit of twelve months to California and this county.

At Waldo, Maine, in 1868, Miss Taber was mar- ried to Benjamin F. Rolerson, who was born on July 1, 1844, at that place, and was also reared on the same kind of rocky, hillside farm. At the age of eighteen he enlisted in Company I, 14th Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry, under Captain J. B. Gar- dener, signing up on November 27, 1861; and as a soldier in defense of the Union he served three years of the Civil War, and on January 13, 1865, received his honorable discharge at Augusta, Maine. Then he worked at farming, and three years later was married.

In 1875, Mr. Rolerson came out to California, arriv- ing at Stockton in May; and three years later, Mrs. Rolerson, who had been visiting her folks in the meanwhile, devotedly followed her husband to the Golden State. They went to a farm on Rock Creek, Stanislaus County, and there spent three years; and in 1882, they moved into San Joaquin County and took up their residence on Roberts Island. They bought a ranch of 350 acres, and started to develop it; but on account of floods and storms during three sea- sons, which drowned their crops, they had hard, uphill work. They persevered, however, in Delta reclamation endeavor, until success came their way, and they operated so extensively until 1908 that now their names stand out prominently among those who wrought the great changes there. Mr. Rolerson died at Stockton on August 1, 1909, shortly after he had sold his ranch and moved into the city, an honored pioneer, known to be generous to a fault, and in ex- cellent standing, as a Mason, an Odd Fellow and an Elk. He was also past commander of Rawlins Post, G. A. R., of Stockton. He was active in politics;

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

always a stanch Republican, he served on the county committee and as a delegate to conventions. He also served as deputy assessor for many years. His re- ligion was the Golden Rule; and he lived up to it, doing unto others as he would be done by.

Five children were born in the family; but only four survived their lamented father. Lois is Mrs. L. E. Ammons, and lives at 731 North Edison Street, Stockton. She has one daughter, Mrs. Ina Ames of San Francisco, who has one son, Charles Ames. Elmer C., who won many friends, is deceased and left a daughter, Mrs. Ruth Mead, of Ventura. Edith A. is the widow of Henry Banta, and has a son, Ralph, of Stockton. Flora M. is the wife of John Smith, and resides at Geyserville. Berdena married R. J. Heeney, of Roberts Island, whose life is also sketched in this volume. Since 1909, Mrs. Rclerson has resided in. Stockton, making her home with her daughter, Mrs. Ammons, who with herself is much interested in the work of the College of the Pacific, not long ago removed to Stockton. Mrs. Ammons has served as treasurer of Circle No. 64, Ladies of the G. A. R., and both she and her mother take an active part in the work of this order. Mrs. Rolerson never tires of doing good, eager alike for the enlight- enment of the young and the old.

FRANCIS DELBERT REYNER .- An excellent representative of the agricultural interests of San Joaquin County is found in Francis Delbert Reyner, whose energy, determination and enterprise have car- ried him to a well-to-do and influential position among his fellow men. His ranch and residence are located one and a half miles south of Banta, and he- has been a progressive and industrious member of the farming class since young manhood. A native son of California, he was born on the Hinkle ranch near the New Jerusalem district school, on September 17, 1874, and is the only son of Francis and Lousia A. (Travis) Reyner, natives of Maryland and Missouri respectively, His father was a pioneer of California in 1861 and his life history will be found elsewhere in this work.

Francis Delbert Reyner received a good education in the schools of Banta, from which he was grad- uated in 1897. At the age of fourteen years he was able to take a man's place on the headers during harvest time. After finishing his schooling he went to Stockton, where he was employed by Noble D. Powell. While working there he learned the electrical supply business, and thereafter for the next three years engaged with the Sunset Telephone & Tele- graph Company as lineman and in other capacities; then he went to Alaska and there he helped to es- tablish the Alaska Fishing and Development Com- pany and also conducted a fish saltery, this venture engaging his attention for a year and a half. He then returned to San Joaquin County and engaged in farming on the old home ranch and since 1907 has made this his home.

The marriage of Mr. Reyner united him with Miss Anna M. Vail, a daughter of Platt and Almira (Hor- ton) Vail, early settlers of Stockton. Her father came to California in 1849 and was engaged in min- ing until 1854, when he returned to the East and engaged in farming near Elk Point, S. D. In 1889 they returned to California and in March, 1903, he

passed away, the mother surviving him until Feb- ruary 24, 1922. Two daughters survive them, Mrs. Reyner and Mrs. H. C. Haslan. In politics Mr. Reyner is a Republican; and all movements and measures which affect the general welfare are to him matters of deep interest.

FREDERICK W. SCHIMMELPFENNIG .- A decidedly proficient and influential official of Stock- ton is Frederick W. Schimmelpfennig, the chief en- gineer of the Stockton Water Works, which are owned by the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. He was born in Stockton on July 11, 1863, the son of Adam and Frederica "(Pforr) Schimmelpfennig, both natives of Germany, and both now deceased.

Adam Schimmelpfennig came to the United States in the late fifties, and located at Troy, N. Y., where, as a cabinetmaker, he worked for the Pullman Car Factory for five years. In 1859 he came out to Stockton, by way of the Isthmus, and bought a tract of land at the corner of East Weber Avenue be- tween Ophir and Sierra Nevada streets, extending from Main Street to Weber Avenue, making the pur- chase from the late Captain Weber, in a section then out in the country. . He planted grapes and all kinds of fruit-trees, and erected a residence which has been moved and is now located at Fair Oaks, an inter- esting landmark for sixty years. He followed the carpenter trade. Many years later, the property was divided among his children. Mr. Schimmelpfennig was twice married. By his first wife, Frederica Pforr, he had a son John, now deceased; a daughter, who is Mrs. Katherine Muller, of Monterey; a son, George W .; a daughter, Mary E., who married Robert Kelly, of Santa Rosa; a son, the subject of our interesting sketch, and Lena, who is the wife of Harry L. Horn, an attorney of San Francisco. This first wife hav- ing died, Mr. Schimmelpfennig married her sister, then a widow named Mrs. Reiss, and their union was blessed with three children. Fredericka Louisa is the wife of C. K. Smith, of Stockton, and she has a brother, Adam Henry of Oakland, and a sister, Sarah Elizabeth of Stockton. Adam Schimmel- pfennig died on March 1, 1910, at the age of eighty- six and Mrs. Schimmelpfennig passed away on July 19, 1913, at the age of seventy-six.

Frederick W. Schimmelpfennig attended the Vine- yard and Jefferson schools in Stockton, and when seventeen years of age, started to work in Fitzgerald's Planing Mill. Later, he went to San Francisco, where he worked in the engine room of the old Palace Hotel, in time becoming the hotel's engineer. For fifteen years he was in the engineering department of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Sacramento; and when he came to Stockton, he worked for J. M. Kroyer for six months. He then accepted appoint- ment as engineer for the Buffalo Brewing Company at Sacramento, and later at Stockton; and on June 6, 1906, he entered the employ of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company, taking a position in the engineer- ing department, first as assistant engineer, and then, on February 12, 1913, as chief engineer, on the re- tirement of George C. Turner.

At Stockton, in 1895, Mr. Schimmelpfennig was married to Miss Gertrude Solomon, the ceremony taking place on the 20th of July, the gifted lady hav- ing come to Stockton from Germany, where she was born, when she was six years of age. Two children have been born to this union, Ruth H. and Naoma.

Anfchi eforming Gertrude Schimmelpfennig

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

FREEMAN B. MILLS-A representative viticul- turist of the Lodi section of San Joaquin County, Freeman B. Mills was born on the ranch where he now resides, near Woodbridge, on March 28, 1860. He is a son of Freeman and Minerva (Grace) Mills, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Massachusetts. The mother's people date back to the Revolutionary War period. His father came to California in 1853, across the plains from Illinois, and was engaged for a time in mining gold in Sierra County and then in business in Colusa County. In 1857 he came to San Joaquin County and located at Woodbridge and bought a squatter's title to eighty acres; later he added another eighty acres adjoining. In time he became an extensive grain farmer and was thus engaged until his death on September 20, 1875, at the age of 63 years. He was a prominent man in San Joaquin County, and for one term he served in the office of sheriff of the county. He was a charter member of Jefferson Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Wood- bridge, and was generally public-spirited and enter- prising in all that concerned the welfare of his county. The mother survived her husband about twenty years and passed away at the age of eighty- two years. There were six children in the family, as follows: William G., deceased; Mary L., Mrs. Barron of Lodi; Mrs. Charity S. Kincaid, deceased; George A., deceased; Alice G., Mrs. Taylor of Los Angeles; and Freeman B., of this sketch.

Freeman B. Mills was reared in his native county, and was fifteen years old when his father died, after which for several years he remained at home and assisted his mother in the conduct of the home place. He began his education in the public schools of Woodbridge; then attended the Los Angeles Acad- emy, which the next year became the University of Southern California; then in 1881 he was graduated from the University of the Pacific at San Jose with the degree of B. S. He then returned to Stockton where he received his diploma for teaching, and first taught at the Salem school, the only school in Lodi, two terms; then in the Woodbridge grammar school for three years, and two years at the Houston district school. Since then he has been exclusively engaged in his present absorbing pursuit of grape culture, in which he has gained fine success.

Mr. Mills was married August 11, 1885, to Miss Carrie C. Ellis, of Lodi, a daughter of the late Ralph Ellis of that place. Her father was a former sheriff and member of the board of supervisors of Napa County, and was prominent in state politics and also one of the pioneers of California, coming to the state about the same time as the father of our subject. Mrs. Mills received her education in Napa Seminary, a private school for girls. She is one of a family of five children: Wilson R .; Frank, at Stockton with the Morris Plan Bank; Henry; Carrie C., Mrs. Mills; Mrs. Margaret E. Porter of Woodland. Ralph Ellis lived to be sixty-five years old and his widow survived him until 1921. Mr. and Mrs. Mills are the parents of two children: Everts F., a rancher at Lodi, and Ralphine. When Mr. Mills started his agricultural pursuits he owned thirty-five acres of unimproved wheat land. About thirty years ago he set this to table grapes and was among the first men to plant a vineyard in the Lodi section for commercial pur- poses. From time to time he added to his holdings until he now owns and operates 250 acres in bearing vineyard in the Lodi and Woodbridge sections. Mr. 61

Mills has installed a thorough irrigation system, the entire 250 acres being piped with concrete water main. About three years ago Mr. Mills built a modern two-story stucco house on his ranch in the suburbs of Lodi. In 1921, Mr. Mills was interested in organizing the Woodbridge Fruit Company, of which he is president; this company purchased 400 acres of land lying due north of Lockeford on the north side of the. Mokelumne River, one-half of which is rich bottom land. They have improved the tract until it is nearly all in vineyard and peach orchard. Mr. Mills was the organizer and now serves as president of the Rio Oso Fruit Company that recently purchased 900 acres of grain land on the Bear River near Wheatland. This land is under development; over one-half of it has already been set to peach trees, and the intention is to have it all set out by 1924. Mr. Mills is a member of the board of directors and is secretary of the California Fruit Exchange at Sacramento since its reorganization about twenty years ago, and a director in the Citi- zens National Bank of Lodi. In politics he is a Republican, and fraternally is a member of Wood- bridge Lodge No. 131, F. & A. M., and is a past master of the lodge.

WILLIAM R. MOLL .- A successful business man of Stockton, whose business was begun in a small way and by diligent and intelligent effort has become a profitable venture, is William R. Moll, the proprietor of the squab farm at 1540 South Aurora Street, where he has about 4,000 birds. He is a native son of San Joaquin County, his birth occur- ring at Atlanta on February 6, 1879, a son of Joseph and Margaret (Bedford) Moll, natives of New York and Iowa, respectively. Joseph Moll settled in Cali- fornia in 1875 and began farming in Atlanta, San Joaquin County; later he removed to Eugene, Stan- islaus County, where he farmed until he retired. His wife passed away in 1917 and he is still living in Stockton at the age of eighty years. William R. Moll received his education at the Lone Tree district school, and at seventeen years of age started out for himself; he became a steam engineer on dredges in the Bay region; then he worked two years at Blue Lakes, Alpine County, running a hoist for the Stan- dard Electric Company. Returning then to Stockton, he opened a cigar store on California Street, which he operated for ten years; during this time he had become interested in pigeon raising, and his business grew to such proportions, that his quarters became too small, so he moved his pigeon farm to 1559 South Hunter Street. In three years' time it also" became inadequate for his needs on account of his rapidly growing business. Wishing to devote all of his time to pigeon raising he sold his cigar business and about 1914 purchased his present property, con- sisting of three lots on South Aurora Street, where he built suitable buildings for pigeon raising and also rebuilt the house on the place into a modern resi- dence. He is equipped to handle 5,000 birds at one time, which is a source of good income; his birds have taken first prize not only at local fairs but also at different county fairs where he has made an exhibit. He is breeding the birds for excellency and size so as to command the highest price in the market. He ships squabs principally to Chicago and New York City. Mr. Moll was the first individual in California to ship dressed squabs to Eastern

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

points, his object being to obtain higher prices. In this he was successful as his returns were doubled. Others in his line heard of it and came to him for advice in shipping. He is today the largest squab breeder in Central California.

In August, 1905, in San Francisco, Mr. Moll was united in marriage with Miss Ora E. Stoughten- burgh, a native of Stockton, the daughter of John and Mary (Davis) Stoughtenburgh, born in Wood- land, Cal., and Concord, Iowa, respectively. The

mother died in Stockton, and the father now resides in Sacramento. Mr. and Mrs. Moll are the parents of one son, Irving. Mr. Moll has been a member of the Stockton Red Men for about twenty years.

JAMES BURNS .- Prominent among the best in- formed ship-builders in California may well be rated James Burns, the efficient and popular superintendent at the shipyards of the California Navigation & Im- provement Company at Stockton. He is a native of Belfast, Ireland, and when a boy worked in the ship- yards along the Clyde, in Scotland. In 1882 he came to the United States and worked for a short time at the Cramp shipyards in Philadelphia; but in July of that same year he left the City of Brotherly Love and sailed on the steamer Queen of the Pacific, through the Straits of Magellan and up to San Francisco. His first trip to Stockton was in Octo- ber, 1882. He was not long in finding employment on the steamer Roberts Island and the barge West Side, owned by H. J. Cochrane, and he also worked on the steamer Empire City, owned by the Cornwall Company. He quit steamboating for a time and worked at the Crown Flour Mill in Stockton, until 1898; and then he was assistant superintendent of the building of the steamer H. J. Cochrane, a passen- ger and freight vessel which ran in connection with the People's Railroad, later taken over by the Santa Fe System. The steamer was the fastest river boat on the Coast, and had the largest boilers and engine; and she made the round trip daily from San Fran- cisco to Stockton.

Since 1901, however, James Burns has been in the employ of the California Navigation & Improvement Company in charge of the boat building and repairs at their yard in Stockton; and there, on the average, some fifty men are regularly employed, and this number is sometimes increased to even 100 men. Usually two steamers are rebuilt yearly, new boilers and new machinery being installed, and among the .craft turned out there, the Capital City, a new steamer running between Sacramento and San Fran- cisco, was repaired at a cost of about $60,000. The steamer McDona'd was built at the plant, as were also three steamers for the Yukon River traffic in Alaska, The plant is fully equipped for all such work with the most modern machinery. After forty years of continuous service on the San Joaquin River, our subject may be credited with a knowledge of condi- tions hereabouts well worth possessing.

When James Burns married, he chose for his wife Miss Annie E. McGahan, a native of Ireland; and their union has been blessed with the birth of three children: John J., James E., and Mary Theresa. He belongs to the Yosemite Club and to the Lodge No. 218 of the Elks at Stockton, where he spends half of his time, residing the other half in Oakland.

CARL A. WALTER-Highly esteemed in his life- time, and honored above many after his demise, Carl A. Walter, the sturdy, progressive pioneer, earned for himself an enviable place among those who will always receive their meed of praise for what a grate- ful posterity acknowledges they really did in helping to found the great California commonwealth. His contemporaries, who knew him face to face, were in- timately and accurately acquainted with his ideals, his toil and his accomplishments, largely as the re- sult of hard, intelligent labor; and now those who weigh and balance the records of the early, self-sac- rificing settlers, will not fail to accord him all the credit he deserves.

On September 26, 1849, in the year when so many thousands were rushing as fast as the slow and the inadequate conveyances of those days could bring them to California, Carl Walter was born in Holstein, Germany, where he grew to young manhood. In 1873, when he was twenty-four years of age, he sailed for America, and on May 14 arrived at Banta Station in San Joaquin County, and almost immediately em- barked in extensive agricultural enterprises on the West Side, with which he was destined to be identi- fied until 1912. On September 10, 1890, at Tracy, he was married to Miss Melanie E. Gunder, who was born .in Silesia, on February 3, 1868, and had come out to California in 1887, arriving at Midway, in Ala- meda County. She joined the family of Reinhold Haera, who had come to California in 1866 with her brother, Frank, and had become farmer folks.

In 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Walter took up farming near the Whitehall estate, in Pescadero Grant, with which they continued occupied until 1905, and there Mr. Walter operated extensively on the West Side as a grain farmer, until 1912, when he sold out and removed to French Camp, where at present his son Carl, who resides on the home property, is farming. In December, 1921, he and Mrs. Walter moved to Stockton, and on November 9, 1922, after months of ill-health and suffering, he passed away, mourned and survived by his wife and five children, and a host of appreciative, devoted friends. His residence was at 1422 East Sonora Street. He always exerted an enviable influence in civic affairs as a broad- minded but staunch Republican. He had served for ten years as a trustee in the French Camp school, where he was chairman of the board; and he was prominent as a member of Sumner Lodge, I. O. O. F. He was past chancellor in the Knights of Py- thias, at Tracy, and his funeral, which was largely attended, was conducted jointly by these two lodges.

Several children blessed the happy union of Mr. and Mrs. Walter. Carl Walter is married, and has a wife and two children, Carl Clifton and Muerl Lois; he is with the Harris Harvester Company at Stock- ton, and is a member of the Tracy Parlor, N. S. G. W. Margaret is employed by. Levy Bros. Melanie has become the wife of Clifton Kroyer, of the Kroyer Motors Co., Inc., of California, and resides at Long Beach. Freda is a graduate of the Stockton high school, and also of the Western Normal School, hav- ing been a member of the class of 1916. She also graduated from Heald's Business College in 1918, and has followed teaching in the public schools of San Joaquin County for the past six years, enjoying the esteem of her colleagues. She is a member of the

Carl q Walter

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

N. D. G. W. William graduated from the Stockton high school, 1917, and is now assistant manager of the W. L. Maxwell Company at Stockton.

WESLEY A. MORRIS .- An experienced contrac- tor well known to Stockton and vicinity as an expert builder of bungalows, who made Stanislaus County the scene of his operations for a period of two years, but who returned to Lodi in the summer of 1921, is Wesley A. Morris. He was born near Independence, Jackson County, Mo., on February 14, 1855, the son of John Morrow Morris, a Kentuckian who hailed from Greenville and came into Missouri in early days. He farmed there, and also worked as a mechanic capable of building all kinds of wagons. He married Miss Lucinda Maze, and she died when our subject was four and one-half years old. Grand- father Jesse Morrow Morris and his wife, who was Polly Ann Johnson, were reared at Louisville, Ky., but came to Missouri in the early days. An uncle of Wesley Morris, William Maze, left Missouri and came to California some years before the Civil War. During the Civil War John M. Morris moved his family to Leavenworth County, Kansas, and in 1861 purchased a farm about seven miles to the south- east of Leavenworth; and shortly after that, he died there. He had married a second time and his wife, who survives him, makes her home at Independence, Missouri.

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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 144

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