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 156

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 156

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Chester W. Conklin was born November 5, 1889, graduated from the Stockton high school, and is now in the undertaking business in Stockton. He mar- ried Lizzie Owens, daughter of John and Sarah Owens, and they have one daughter, Janis.

FRED N. FOSTER .- A pioneer in the field of auto painting, Fred N. Foster was the first man to commercialize this work successfully in Stockton, and now this line of activity has so increased that a dozen or more firms are profitably engaged in it. A native of New York state, where he was born Octo- ber 1, 1864, Mr. Foster at the youthful age of four- teen started to learn the trade of coach painter with the firm of Harvey & Wallace of Buffalo, N. Y., one of the largest and best known firms in the East in the days of coach making. In those times, Mr. Fos- ter relates, it took from a year to fifteen months to complete the painting of a coach, and to show the improvements that have been made in this line, he now turns out a complete and satisfactory job of auto painting in four weeks.

Mr. Foster was with Harvey & Wallace for five years and at the end of that time he was an expert and finished workman. He then became associated with some of the leading firms in Buffalo as super- intendent of their painting departments, among them the Pierce-Arrow Automobile Company, the Thomas Flyer Automobile Company, and the Babcock Elec- tric Company. He next located in Chicago, where he followed this line of work until he came to the Pacific Coast. He spent a short time in Seattle before settling in Portland, Ore., where he was engaged for three years. In 1907 he gained such a reputation as an expert that he was called to Stockton to take the superintendency of the painting department of the Sunset Carriage Factory, a position he held most efficiently for three years.

Recognizing his ability and the fine quality of his work, Mr. Foster's friends induced him to go into business for himself, and he opened up an auto painting shop at 105 West Channel Street in a build- ing erected for him by Andrew Simpson. The day he started business he found three cars ready for him to work on, and he has had a prosperous and thriv- ing trade ever since, both in painting and lettering and monogram work, in which he is expert. Mr. Foster has four grades of work, A, B, C and D, and the first of these receives his absolute guarantee that the job will be even more satisfactory and durable than when the car came from the factory, all the original paint being removed. The water in Stock- ton being alkali, provision is made for that condition by using the hardest drying varnish known, this serving to resist alkali, oil and water. He employs from five to sixteen men in his business.

While living at Buffalo, N. Y., Mr. Foster was united in marriage with Miss Mary Albert of that city, and they make their home in the beautiful resi- dence erected by Mr. Foster on Yosemite Terrace. He is a member of the California Auto Trades Asso- ciation, the San Joaquin County Auto Trades Asso- ciation, being a member of the executive board of the latter for four years, the Merchants and Manu- facturers Association, the Progressive Business Men's Club, and in fraternal circles belongs to the Elks, Odd Fellows and Eagles. Enthusiastic over . the business possibilities of Stockton, where he has made such a success, Mr. Foster is public spirited in all his views and takes an active interest in civic affairs.

Mary Foster

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

JOHN ELTRINGHAM-A rancher whose spe- cializing in vineyarding and orcharding has met with great success is John Eltringham, a native son from Calaveras County, who is now living three miles to the northeast of Acampo. He was born at Douglas Flat, on January 13, 1874, a son of John and Eliza- beth (Reese) Eltringham. His father was an early settler in California, who came from Pennsylvania in 1848, and mined in Tuolumne County. He was of English descent, but the mother's people were of Welsh extraction. They also came West in the early days, crossing the plains, as did the father, in order to reach the Golden State. Mr. Eltringham mined all his life. He lived to be eighty-eight years of age, and was the father of nine children. Hattie has be- come Mrs. Zwinge, and lives in Valley Spring, Cal .; Mary is Mrs. Seibert, of Lodi; Katherine died at the age of ten; Henry is at Wedge Flat, in Calaveras County; Will is farming at Stockton; John was the sixth-born; Walter is deceased; David is at Douglas Flat, on the old home place; and Vina is at Angels Camp, Cal.

John Eltringham left home when he was fourteen years old and worked for three years for P. A. Buell, in the planing mill at Stockton. Then he became an engineer, working for the Wagner Leather Company for thirteen years. The next three years were spent at Topman & Brant's planing mills at Stockton. In 1914, he bought twenty-three acres of open land, which he developed as an orchard, growing apri- cots and prunes. An excellent pumping plant fur- nishes a seven-inch stream of water.

At Stockton, in November, 1898, Mr. Eltringham married Miss Lena Seifert, who was born at Stockton, the daughter of Lorenz and Lena Seifert, whose life- story is elsewhere sketched in this work. She was reared and educated in Stockton, and grew up at home. They have one son, Reese Eltringham, who assists his father. They operate their own farm, and also lease of Mr. Van Valkenberg some sixty acres in vineyard, ten acres in alfalfa, and fifty acres of open farm land. Mr. and Mrs. Eltringham are Republicans. Mr. Eltringham belongs to the Wood- men of the World at Stockton.

CAPT. CARL CONRAD FREWERT .- Although many years have passed since the death of Capt. Carl Conrad Frewert, he is still well remembered among the older residents of San Joaquin County, for his genial nature and sterling traits of charac- ter gave him a high place in the esteem of all who knew him. He was born March 12, 1824, in West- phalia, Prussia, and in 1849 was married at Ham- burg, Germany, to Miss Eulia Agers, of that city; and in the summer of 1850 they sailed for San Fran- cisco, coming around the Horn. A brickmason by trade, he followed this line of work in San Francisco until 1851, when he came to San Joaquin County and preempted land in Tulare Township; afterwards he became the owner of a place on the San Joaquin River, improving and developing the land. Some of it is still in the possession of the family; and a small cabin, made of material he brought with him on his voyage, is still in good repair on the old home place now occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Bertha A. Gaul. In addition to his farming activities, Captain Frewert also started a ferry over the San Joaquin River in 1877, and this for a number of years was a busy place. During the erection of the Capitol building

at Sacramento he assisted in laying the brick, being an expert in this line.

Mrs. Frewert survived only a short time after coming to California, passing away in 1853. Ten years later Captain Frewert returned to Germany, and there he was married, on June 2, 1867, to Miss Amelie Hager. She died December 24, 1872; and on May 14, 1873, he was married at Stockton to Miss Johanna F. Tabert, a native of Posen, Germany. Captain Frewert passed away in 1884, at the age of sixty years, his death being caused by an illness con- tracted through exposure during the severe flood of that year, which caused such devastation in the vicin- ity of his ranch, the levee breaking through at that point. A Mason of many years standing, Captain Frewert stood high among the members of that fra- ternity. Of the children of his last marriage three survive: Charles Frewert, of Pendleton, Ore., has for many years represented the Holt Manufacturing Company in that state; Mrs. Matilda A. Peterson has one son, Harold, and resides at Burlingame; Mrs. Bertha A. Gaul is the mother of three children, Herman, Mrs. Emma Claussen, and Vera. After her husband's death, Mrs. Frewert was married to Emil Krenz, who passed away at Stockton. She survived him until April 13, 1915, when she died at Burlin- game. She was a Lutheran.

CHARLES ALBERT JAHANT .- The annals of San Joaquin County pioneer history would not be complete without the story of the life of Peter F. Jahant and his son, Charles Albert, who passed away on July 25, 1918. Charles Albert Jahant was born on his father's ranch one mile north of Acampo, Ap- ril 21, 1874, and was the third oldest in a family of eight children. Peter Jahant was born in France in 1827 and when he was about six months old his par- ents came to the United States and settled in Akron, Ohio; he was one of a family of eleven children. At the age of twenty-three, he started for California across the plains with mule teams, arriving about the first of July, 1850. Arriving in California he had five cents in his pocket and he set about to find work to do; after hunting for work all day, and having nothing to eat, he finally determined to seek advice. He went to Dr. Sargent, of Sargent Brothers, who kept a store, and told of his condition, whereupon he was told to help himself to whatever he wanted and that he could pay when he could, as was the custom of the country in those days. Dr. Sargent also gave him some work to do and at the end of four days he had a chance to go to the mines, where he remained about two months, then went to Sacra- mento and with his savings bought a mule team, but after two months he was taken ill with cholera, the expense of which took all his hard earnings and also his team, and when he recovered he was again penniless. After that he returned to mining on the Yuba until the stormy wet winter of 1852-53, when he returned to Sacramento, which he found inun- dated, and finally settled in San Joaquin County. where his brother Victor lived, and where he took up Government land. In 1865 he sold his place to his brother and removed to Stockton, where he bought a livery stable, in which business he con- tinued until 1871. He then returned to his old neigh- borhood and bought 540 acres of valuable land, and in 1885 he erected a handsome residence. In 1867

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

he was married to Miss Susan Maley, of Irish des- cent, but reared in Boston, Mass. He passed away in 1911, at the age of eighty-four years.

Charles Albert Jahant was educated in the schools of Acampo and Stockton and assisted his father on the home place. At his father's death the home place was divided among the heirs and our subject received as his portion eighty acres; later he pur- chased sixty acres, making 140 acres, 130 acres in vineyard and the balance devoted to an orchard.

On March 12, 1901, in Lodi, Mr. Jahant was mar- ried to Miss Marian Hutchins, a native of Lodi, and a daughter of John and Anna (Nevin) Hutchins, the latter born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. John Hut- chins was a native of Canada and in 1853 crossed the plains to California, the journey consuming six months, and with four associates he bought the site of the present thriving city of Lodi. He raised grain for many years and later planted one of the first commercial vineyards in this district. Mr .. Jahant passed away on July 25, 1918, in the prime of his manhood and his death came as a shock to his fam- ily and the community, where he was highly es- teemed. Mrs. Jahant, who is a member of the Lodi Parlor, N. D. G. W., makes her home at 24 West Lodi Avenue.

JOHN D. SOWLES .- A veteran of the Civil War and a resident of California since 1868, John D. Sowles has contributed his share to the develop- ment of this section since his removal here in 1880: He was born in New York State, but was taken to Eaton County, Mich., where he was reared. His father was Nathaniel Sowles, a farmer of Michigan, who came to California in 1853 and went into the mines at Marysville on the Feather River. The op- portunities for schooling were meager and John D. attended school for a limited time, but years of ex- perience in brushing up against the world have af- forded him a liberal and practical education.

In October of 1861, Mr. Sowles enlisted in Co. B., Tenth Michigan Infantry, U. S. A., and served in the Army of the Cumberland under Generals Thomas and Sherman, serving throughout the duration of the war and was discharged in 1865. . Then he re- turned to his home in Michigan to remain until 1868, when he set out for California coming via the Pan- ama route. Reaching California he settled on Sher- man Island and rented 200 acres on which. he pro- duced grain for six years, the venture proving a suc- cess; then he went to the West Side between Byron and Tracy, and still later, about 1880, he came to the Elliott district of San Joaquin County and has continued his operations in this locality to the pres- ent time. He now leases a tract of land comprising ninety acres.

The first marriage of Mr. Sowles occurred in 1873, on Sherman Island, and united him with Miss Emma Ward, a native of Pennsylvania, who passed away in 1877. Mr. Sowles' second marriage occurred in Stockton on December 20, 1915, and united him with Mrs. Gladys Morgan, who before her marriage was Miss Selkirk, born in San Francisco, a daughter of W. R. and Adell (Aldrich) Selkirk. The father, W. R. Selkirk, was a newspaper man. His father came to California in 1849, during the gold rush, and mined at Gold Hill, where he resided for many years. W. R. Selkirk became an active figure in poli-

tics and was the editor of the Mountain Democrat; later he removed to San Bernardino, and edited the San Bernardino Sun, and still later the Alta Califor- nian at San Francisco. When Mr. Selkirk settled in the northern part of San Joaquin County he had charge of Reclamation District No. 548 of California, and in association with George Athearn had full charge of this work. Mr. Selkirk now resides in Seattle, Wash., at the age of sixty-four. Mrs. Sowles inherits her literary tastes from her father, for she is a frequent contibutor to the Sacramento Bee and various stock papers on the care of farm animals. Politically, Mr. Sowles is a Republican, and frater- nally is a past grand of the Odd Fellows Lodge of Lockeford. He is a man of true worth, and both he and his estimable wife are popular in the commun- ity because of their generous, liberal views.

JOHN CRAWFORD .- Thirty-one years ago John Crawford had his first view of the Golden Gate and has since been content to make this state his home. He was born in the maritime village of Carnoustie, Forfarshire, Scotland, October 22, 1859, and is the youngest of ten children born to James and Eliza- beth Crawford, both natives of the same village. James Crawford was a market gardener and followed that trade in Scotland until his death at the age of sixty-five years. John was thrown on his own re- sources at the age of thirteen, working as a milk peddler and receiving small wages; as soon as he was large enough he found work as a farm hand near his home village and during the next ten years he had saved sufficient money to pay his passage on the S. S. Roma bound for Australia. Arriving there he found plenty of work as a farm laborer, and later on rail- road construction, and he helped to build the large docks at Melbourne. He remained there until 1891, when he took passage to the United States, and on April 6, 1891, his vessel steamed through the Golden Gate. Immediately after his arrival, Mr. Crawford went to Sacramento, where for eighteen months he was engaged in cement contracting; then he removed to Stockton and bought a small tract of land in east Stockton where, at that time, there were only three houses. Mr. Crawford engaged in cement contract- ing, being the trusted and faithful foreman for Craven & Barber for many years and he handled concrete contracts in San Jose, Lodi, Sacramento and Stock- ton; he has also been in charge of the workmen for the Clark & Henery Company and for A. B. Munson.

In July, 1899, Mr. Crawford was married to Miss Amanda Noren, a native of Stockholm, Sweden, born January 30, 1857. Mrs. Crawford came to America in June, 1889, stopping in Chicago until December, 1893, when she arrived in San Jose, Cal., and the fol- lowing year came to Stockton. Mr. Crawford has invested his money in Stockton property and now owns twelve lots besides his fine residence at 2525 East Weber Avenue. Mr. Crawford became a United States citizen in Stockton in 1902 and since that time has cast his votes with the Republican party. Mrs. Crawford is an active member of the Fair Oaks Wom- an's Improvement Club. In early days, Mr. Craw- ford farmed the land to hay and grain where now stands the Fair Oaks Club house. He is still in- terested in farming, but is enjoying the competence so richly deserved and earned through years of in- dustry and good management.

John Crawford Amanda Crawford

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

WILLIS WARE STACKS .- Ability and industry, combined with a good practical head for business, are among the qualities that have brought success to Willis W. Stacks, rancher near the Elliott school, where he was born on March 11, 1884, the son of Thomas Jefferson and Mary Jane (Hickey) Stacks, both natives of Jasper County, Mo. In 1872, Thomas J. Stacks came to California where he worked at anything he could find to do until after he was married, when he engaged in farming in the Elliott district. The mother was a daughter of Joshua and Sarah F. (Crow) Hickey. Joshua Hickey came to California in 1861 and settled on a 160-acre ranch in the Elliott district in San Joaquin County. He passed away in 1865, and his widow, with her four daughters, went back to Missouri and in 1873 came back to California and here married John Hickey, who died in 1908. Grandmother Hickey died at the age of eighty-five on April 30, 1922, leav- ing three girls, Mary Jane Stacks, Mrs. Emma M. Wilson and Mrs. Elizabeth Aldrich.

The father, Thomas J. Stacks, farmed 500 acres of grain land in the Elliott district; 200 acres is an in- heritance from John Hickey, which is still owned by Mrs. Stacks. In 1908, a country residence was built on this property and there the family reside. They were the parents of eight children: Nancy F. is Mrs. R. Declercq, of Fresno; Minnie H. is Mrs. S. S. Strobridge, of Lockeford; Willis W. is the sub- ject of this review; Annie is Mrs. Chas. Emslie, of Stockton; William T .; Bessie is Mrs. James Lewis, of Sacramento; Jennie is Mrs. Eli Springer, of Lodi; Dora is Mrs. Harry Ritchie, of Lodi. There are ten grandchildren in the family. T. J. Stacks died February 17, 1915.

W. W. Stacks received his schooling in the El- liott district and grew to young manhood on his father's farm, where he learned lessons of thrift and industry so necessary to success in any undertak- ing, and he carries on the home ranch with his mother. In politics, Mr. Stacks is a Democrat.

EDWARD H. NOACK .- Commercial activity finds a worthy representative in Edward H. Noack, president and manager of the Monarch Foundry Company, of Stockton, Cal. He was born in San Francisco on March 9, 1875, and as a child lived in Stockton. During the year of 1883, his parents removed to Walla Walla, Wash., and our subject became a messenger boy with the Western Union Telegraph Company. During the summer of 1894, the family left Washington with a four-horse team and wagon and drove to Stockton, leaving on June 12 and arriving in Stockton on July 31. His first work in Stockton was in a photograph gallery oper- ated by Frank Elliott. Then he became an appren- tice to learn the pattern-maker's trade with the Globe Iron Works, and later with Matteson & William- son; from September, 1898, to September, 1900, he worked at the trade in Sacramento with the South- ern Pacific Railroad Company. Returning to Stock- ton, he entered the employ of J. M. Kroyer, who had just started the Sampson Iron Works, and he got out the first patterns for their gas engine. In Sep- tember of 1906, in partnership with R. J. Quinn, Charles Foreman and George Snell, he started the East Street Foundry Company, and in 1907 the busi- ness was incorporated as the Monarch Foundry Com- pany and moved to the present location on East Oak 67

Street and Sacramento Street. In 1812, R. L. Quisen- berry bought the interest of George Snell. Later, Quinn and Foreman sold out to the Monarch Foundry Com- pany, and about 1916 Quisenberry sold his interest. The present officers of the company are Edward H. Noack; who has been the president since 1912 and manager since its incorporation in 1907, and who holds the majority of the stock; and L. L. Ventre, the secretary of the corporation. The company started with a very small capital, paid $35 per month rent for the East Street building, and employed from twelve to twenty-five men, whereas they now em- ploy from 125 to 150 men. Their original building on East Oak Street was 75x100 feet. Additions have been made until the buildings now cover an area of 150x300 feet, with a separate machine shop 50x100 feet; additional property was purchased, and the plant now covers half a block. During 1915 an elec- tric furnace for making steel castings was installed, and Mr. Noack spent some time throughout the East making a thorough study of the steel business. In 1908, the company began the manufacture of centrif- ugal pumps. Among their other products are gray iron castings, electric steel castings, and general pumping machinery; they are the sole manufacturers of the Monarch Ames deep-well, double-acting plunger pumps, and their trade covers the entire Pacific Coast and extends into Mexico.

During the World War, Mr. Noack was very active in all bond drives at times being away from business an entire week. He is president of the Stockton Merchants, Manufacturers and Employers Association and an active member of the Stockton Rotary Club. Fraternally he is a member of the Charity Lodge of Odd Fellows, Stockton, and is a member and trustee of the Stockton Lodge, No. 218, B. P. O. E.

ROBERT B. OULLAHAN .- One of the most successful business men of Stockton is Robert B. Oullahan, the energetic and reliable realtor and in- surance broker. A careful student of real estate in all its phases, and of land and realty development, Mr. Oullahan has become well and favorably known throughout the State of California, and his expert judgment is frequently sought as to land values and soil productiveness. He was born in Gold Hill, Story County, Nev., on June 27, 1865, a son of D. J. and Julia F. (Baine) Oullahan. His father was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1824. His paternal grand- father, Robert Oullahan, was a prominent civil en- gineer. D. J. Oullahan received a college education, which equipped him for his various enterprises throughout his lifetime. He was a pioneer of Cali- fornia, arriving in the early fifties and locating in San Francisco. He was always a stalwart Democrat, and served as State Treasurer of California while Stoneman was Governor. Julia F. Baine, Robert's mother, was a native of Jackson, Miss., a daughter of Judge A. C. Baine, a Virginian who migrated to Jackson, Miss., and became a prominent attorney. On the discovery of gold in California, he came to San Francisco via Panama in the days of the early gold rush, and was joined a few years later by his family. Locating in Stockton, he became a prom- inent and leading attorney and was editor of the San Joaquin Republican. Associated with him in his practice in early days were T. T. Bouldin and David S. Terry. Julia Baine's education was principally

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obtained in the Stockton schools. There she met and married Mr. Oullahan. A cultured and refined woman, she emanated an influence for good. Her passing occurred in 1881. She left a husband and five children, of whom Robert B. was the eldest.

The family lived in San Francisco when Robert was a small boy; then, in 1873, they removed to Stockton, and he received his education in the public schools, and later entered Santa Clara University, which thoroughly prepared him for his entrance into business life. On completing his studies he took a position as assistant secretary of the state senate in 1886-1887, after which he entered the office of the State Comptroller at Sacramento under J. P. Dunn, and occupied that position for four years. He then returned to Stockton, and in 1891 began the insur- ance and real estate business, in which he has been remarkably successful. In 1903 he became associated with C. E. Littlehall, under the firm name of Oul- lahan & Littlehall Company, in the real estate and insurance business; and for seventeen years this firm were the foremost realtors of Stockton, and were very active in all real estate developments. Among the most outstanding were the Sunny Acres Tract, a subdivision of a large tract near Turlock, Stanis- laus County; the Knight Tract, a subdivision north of Lodi on the Mokelumne River; and the Moreing and Oullahan Tract, a subdivision east of Stockton on the Linden road. This company also put on the market the Nile Garden Colony, an extensive sub- division south of Manteca. Mr. Oullahan divided the Calaveras River holdings of Miss Julia Weber, a daughter of the late Capt. Charles M. Weber, the founder of Stockton; made partition of the Weber estate between the two heirs; and took charge of the large holdings of Miss Weber. He pioneered in subdividing the northwestern part of Stockton on Rose and Madison Streets; and promoted the sale of the present Stockton high school site, consisting of four city blocks, selected in a competitive campaign from four different sites. He also specialized in industrial sites in the water front and railroad dis- tricts, and has made large sales in farm and city property. Since July, 1920, Mr. Oullahan has been operating alone, and his years of experience and careful estimate of valuations assure him of con- tinued success in his undertakings. An important undertaking of the firm of Oullahan, Littlehall and Company was the development of that section of the business quarter of Stockton located on the west side of California Street, near Weber Avenue, and the abutting property on Weber Avenue, into modern brick buildings for mercantile purposes.

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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 156

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