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 159

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 159

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From that date, Mr. Gnekow has continued busi- ness for himself; and he not only is the oldest living master plumbing contractor in the four lines of plumbing, sheet metal work, heating and electrical contracting in Stockton, but he is favored with the largest trade in those lines, given to anyone in the city. He has done plumbing, electrical and contract work in nearly all of the school buildings erected in Stockton during the past ten years; among these are the fine Lincoln, Jackson, Washington, North Fair Oaks and New High schools; and he has also for years done much of the same kind of work in many of the best residences in Stockton, and in such no- table structures as the Home Apartments, the Taft Hotel, the Bronx Hotel, the Hotel Sutter, the San- guinetti Block, the Cassinelli three-story block, at Lafayette and El Dorado streets, the new buildings at the San Joaquin Agricultural Park, the Japanese Hotel, on South El Dorado Street, and the Y. M. C. A. Building and the New York Hotel. In addition, he was called upon to do much of the expert work for the heating plant of the Pittsburg School, and also the Manteca and the Angels Camp Schools, the new theater in Pittsburg, and the electrical work for the Merced Theater. In 1893 he did the plumbing and sheet-metal work on the Masonic Temple at Redding, in Shasta County, the heating, plumbing and sheet-metal work in the Bank of Lodi, the Cath-

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olic Church at Lodi, and three business blocks for J. Schmidt at Tracy.

In 1893, when natural gas was struck in Stockton, and the Citizens Gas Company was formed, Mr. Gnekow sold the first cast-iron gas-range to con- sumers offered by anyone in Stockton-the "Success and Perfect Range," of which his sales were large.

At Stockton, on March 13, 1888, Mr. Gnekow was married to Miss Marion Tinkham, a native of Stock- ton; and their union was blessed with the birth of one son, Lester E., who is a partner with his father and looks after the electrical department of the ever- expanding establishment. In September of 1883 Mr. Gnekow joined Stockton Lodge, No. 11, I. O. O. F., and Parker Encampment, No. 3, in which he progressed through all the chairs. He was the youngest noble grand in the lodge to hold that office, and the youngest chief patriarch of the Encampment. He was also the youngest district deputy of this district, which includes Stockton, Linden, Farming- ton and Tracy; and he was the last and youngest male district deputy to install the Rebekah Lodge. His work there was considered about as perfect as mortals may make it, and he took great pride in his fraternal associations and duties. He had passed through all the chairs, becoming district deputy at the age of twenty-six years.

HULL J. CLANCY .- Among the younger genera- tion of successful orchardists in the Christian Colony district is Hull J. Clancy, who has won for himself a prominent place in the affairs of his locality. He was born in Acampo, Cal., on July 2, 1898, a son of John H. and Fanny (Towne) Clancy, the former a native of New York State and the latter of California. John H. Clancy became a representative farmer of the San Joaquin Valley, and as foreman of the great Langford ranch aided materially in the development and advancement of the county in general. Six sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. John H. Clancy, as fol- lows: Roy, a resident of Stockton; Cecil and Ell- more, whose sketch appears also in this work; Maur- ice; Dewey; and Hull, of this sketch.

As a boy, Hull J. Clancy attended the Houston grammar school and later the Lodi high school; and upon leaving high school he assisted his father in farming until the time of his marriage, after which he engaged in farming on his own account. Mr. Clancy's marriage occurred in Oakland, Cal., on July 27, 1919, and united him with Miss Blossom Killgore, a native of Fresno County, and a daughter of J. N. and Anna M. Killgore. Her father, J. N. Killgore, came to California many years ago and became agent for the great Chow-Chilla Development Company of Merced County. Mrs. Clancy was educated in the Lodi grammar and high schools and the University of California. They are the parents of one son, John H. Mr. Clancy operates an eighty-acre orchard, thirty acres in peaches and fifty acres in prunes, lo- cated at the first cross-road north of the Mokelumne bridge on the Victor-Christian Colony road. This orchard is highly improved, being irrigated by a six- inch pump driven by a twenty-five horse-power direct- drive Sterling motor. Politically, Mr. Clancy is a Republican. Mr. Clancy has always been a very hard worker and has applied himself very closely to the task of improving the land on which he is located; and he is now enjoying the reward of his years of labor in the fortunate leasehold of one of the finest properties in the county.

RAYMOND L. GERARD .- A representative Cal- ifornia rancher and a native son of the state, Ray- mond L. Gerard resides on his fine farming estate two miles west of Lodi, San Joaquin County. He is a progressive, enterprising and thoroughly up-to- date man of affairs, especially in his chosen line of accomplishment, and for the success he has won through his own hard labor and conscientious indus- try he quite deserves the respect and esteem which his fellow-citizens accord him. He was born in Stockton on January 26, 1892, a son of James Stevens and Annie C. (Penny) Gerard, natives of California and Massachusetts, respectively. The Gerards are of English descent. Grandfather John H. Gerard located on what is known as the Gerard acres in 1856, and became an extensive landowner in the Woodbridge section of San Joaquin County. His only son, the father of our subject, removed to San Francisco when Raymond L. was a small child, and most of his active life was spent in the employ of transportation companies around the Bay. Raymond L. is next to the youngest of a family of six children. The mother passed away many years ago, and the father now makes his home with his sons and daugh- ter, who reside on portions of the old homestead.

Raymond L. Gerard began his education in the Mission school in San Francisco. When thirteen years of age he began work in the San Francisco Exchange, at the same time continuing his studies at night school; thus he finished the grammar grades. After this he attended the Humboldt evening high school held at Mission High. After three years in the Stock Exchange, he quit to enter the San Fran- cisco Business College, where he was duly graduated. He then entered the Van der Nailen School of Civil Engineering in Oakland, and still later attended the Polytechnic College of Engineering at Oakland, and on finishing his course in civil engineering he engaged in general surveying throughout northern California for the following three years.

The marriage of Mr. Gerard occurred at Oakland on April 7, 1914, and united him with Miss Edna L. Bassett, a native of Oakland, Cal., the daughter of William H. and Nellie Nevada (Midgley) Bassett, the former a native of California and the latter of Nevada. Her father was a lumberman in the vicinity of Oakland and San Francisco, but is now engaged in farming near Raymond, Cal. Mrs. Gerard is one of three children: Eleanor; Edna L., Mrs. Gerard; and Wallace. Mrs. Gerard received her education in the Oakland gammar and high schools. After his mar- riage, Mr. Gerard worked as bookkeeper and sales- man for the A. P. Parker Company, manufacturing agents of San Francisco, for three years; then, in the winter of 1917, he removed to Lodi, where his portion of his Grandmother Gerard's estate was located, being eighty acres of the old Gerard home- stead. There is an orchard of twenty acres in young cherry trees, and the balance of sixty acres is in vineyard. The ranch is irrigated with a five-inch pump driven by a fifteen-horsepower motor, and Mr. Gerard does his cultivating with a Fordson and a small Holt tractor. Mr. and Mrs. Gerard have had two children: a babe that passed away in infancy, and Phyllis Eleanor, also deceased. In politics both Mr. Gerard and his wife are Republicans, and both are students of Christian Science. Fraternally, Mr. Gerard was made a Mason in Woodbridge No. 131, F. & A. M., in which he has served as junior dea- con. He is also a member of Stockton Chapter No.

Paymond L. Gerard

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28, R. A. M .; Stockton Council, R. & S. M .; and Stockton Commandery No. 8, K. T .; and with his wife is a member of O. E. S. No. 118, Woodbridge. He is also a member of the California Almond Grow- ers Association.

EDWIN DARWIN BAINBRIDGE .- Almost a half century has passed since Edwin Darwin Bain- bridge became a resident of California, his arrival in the state dating from December 12, 1874. He was born in Grant County, Wis., February 24, 1859, a son of James A. and Mary Ellen (Herold) Bainbridge, natives of Kentucky and Missouri, respectively. The father, Dr. James A. Bainbridge, was born in Ken- tucky, December 22, 1832, and at the age of twenty- five years, in 1857, was married to Miss Mary Ellen Herold, born in Missouri in 1838. In 1860 the family removed to Missouri, where Dr. Bainbridge followed his profession at Paulingsville. This worthy couple were the parents of ten children, seven of whom are now living. One of the sons, Dr. C. E. Bainbridge, a prominent physician and surgeon in Sacramento, died in 1910. The Bainbridges. lived on a farm in Randolph County, Mo., until 1874, when they re- moved to California and settled near Stockton at what is now Manteca. The mother passed away at the family home near Ripon in 1885 at the age of forty-seven years. Dr. Bainbridge in 1875 acquired large land holdings near Ripon, owning 1,280 acres of rich grain land; and he practiced his profession and farmed until his death in April, 1914. He was a Democrat and fraternally was a Master Mason.

Edwin Darwin Bainbridge is the eldest of the large family and received his education in the public schools of Missouri and after coming to California was associated with his father in ranching. In 1882 he began to farm independently and rented the Will- iam Campbell ranch near Ripon for two years, then in 1884 purchased 618 acres, known as the Putt Visher ranch, paying $50 per acre and leased the ad- joining 938 acres, which he farmed to grain. His agricultural activities were not without losses and discouragements. In 1890 Mr. Bainbridge went to Madera County, where he farmed four sections of land to grain for the next three years and at the same time farmed 2000 acres near Ripon and met with good success. Giving up his lease in Madera County, in 1893, he continued on the Visher ranch, then rented the Gardenheier ranch of 1100 acres, near Valley Home, from the pioneer D. A. Guern- sey, and farmed there for thirteen years. In 1899 he gave up his holdings near Ripon, but in October, 1912, Mr. Bainbridge returned to the Ripon district, where he owned 120 acres, which he had purchased in 1904 for $25 per acre. He now resides there. By 1908 Mr. Bainbridge had twelve acres under irriga- tion which was seeded to alfalfa; later he sold off two forty-acre ranches and retains forty acres of the original home place, which he is planting to orchard and vineyard.

The marriage of Mr. Bainbridge united him with Miss Addie A. Aldrich, a native daughter of Massa- chusetts, a daughter of A. D. Aldrich, now deceased. The Aldrich family came to California in 1877 and settled near Farmington. Mr. and Mrs. Bainbridge are the parents of four children; James A., is mar- ried and has one son and resides in Stockton; Edith Doris, Mrs. Warren Hagman, resides in Ripon, the mother of a son; Helen E., deceased; and Allyn D., is a rancher at home. Mr. Bainbridge was a di-

rector in the South San Joaquin irrigation district for two years; for three years served as a trustee of the Ripon school; was a director in the California Alfalfa Growers, Inc., which office he resigned in 1921; is a charter member of the California Milk Producers Association of Central California and also of the Almond Growers Association. He is a Demo- crat in politics and fraternally is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at Ripon. As a pub- lic-spirited citizen, a friend, of education and pro- moter of general progress he has long enjoyed the thorough confidence of his fellow citizens.

ELLMORE S. CLANCY .- The horticultural in- terests of San Joaquin County are indebted to Ell- more S. Clancy for his active co-operation and pro- gressive spirit in irrigation development and general advancement of the locality where he resides. He was born at Acampo, Cal., on December 31, 1891, and is one of the three Clancy brothers who have demonstrated what intelligence and hard work will accomplish along horticultural lines. He is a son of John H. and Fanny (Towne) Clancy. The father was a representative and active farmer for many years in San Joaquin County; and later he conducted a merchandise business in Acampo. Ellmore worked as a clerk for nine years in stores at Acampo and in its environs. His education was received in the grammar and high schools of Lodi, and his knowl- edge of horticulture began on his father's farm.

The marriage of Mr. Clancy occurred on February 3, 1914, in Lodi, Cal., and united him with Miss Elvena Sanguinetti, a daughter of Stefano and Mary Sanguinetti, both living on a ranch one mile north- east of Acampo. Mrs. Clancy attended the Elliott grammar school and is one of a family of seven chil- dren. The sketch of her brother James Sanguinetti appears in this work. Mr. Clancy owns a thirty-acre ranch, which is planted to almonds, and which he has brought to a high state of cultivation and productive- ness. His equipment for irrigating this tract of land consists of a four-inch pump operated by a motor. Diligence and determination have characterized Mr. Clancy's operations, and have enabled him to advance steadily toward the goal of prosperity.

EUGENE S. McCOMB .- The son of one of San Joaquin County's pioneer settlers, Eugene S. Mc- Comb was born near Woodbridge, September 15, 1865. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Lane) McComb, the former of Scotch descent, while the mother was a native of Tennessee; both are now de- ceased. John McComb crossed the plains in 1861, arriving in San Joaquin with a steer and a cow yoked together, drawing his prairie schooner. He settled near New Hope and followed farming, being foreman of the DeVrier ranch for many years. Later he engaged in lumbering in the redwoods in Hum- boldt County, and there he passed away about twenty years ago. These worthy pioneer parents had five children: Eugene S., of this sketch; Jerome B .; William; Mrs. Mattie George; and Alden Mc- Comb, deceased, who was formerly chief of police at San Mateo.

Eugene S. McComb attended school at Arcata, Humboldt County, and as early as nine years of age began to work in a sawmill there. At the age of six- teen he returned to San Joaquin County and worked as a rancher for a time, and then went to San Fran- cisco and learned his trade of bricklayer, which he

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has followed ever since in various places in central California. In 1906 he came to Stockton and worked for the pioneer brick contractors, Eli Confer, Ed Hanke, and George Summerville. He was foreman on the following buildings in Stockton: Flint & Bige- low Block, Knutzen Block, T & D Theater, Congre- gational Church, McCoy Block, and the addition to the California-Moline Plow Works. In Lodi he worked on many of the buildings erected in the early days, and in later years on the Corey Block and the Post Office Building. He worked on the Hotel Modesto, in Modesto, and on many buildings in San Francisco before the fire. For four years during the war he was in the employ of the Stockton Fire & Enamel Brick Company, and with the Hoffman Brick Company:

Mr. McComb's marriage united him with Miss Mary E. Troy, a native of Ireland, and they are the parents of five children: Frances P., Mrs. Marie Dundero, Mrs. Elizabeth Ivy, Raymond, (deceased), and Delmar.

THOMAS F. GLEASON .- In the death, on March 14, 1922, of Thomas F. Gleason, Stockton lost one of its prominent business men and highly respected citi- zens. His career was a busy and useful one, and while promoting the material welfare of the commu- nity he also gave active and liberal support to those measures which tended to advance its intellectual and moral status. He was familiarly known as Tom Glea- son by his friends. His life was filled with good deeds and kindly thoughts, and all who knew him enter- tained for him the highest regard, by reason of his upright, honorable career. A native son of the Golden West, he was born in San Francisco in 1876, a son of Michael Gleason, a prominent business man and banker of the bay city. He was the brother of Mrs. John Geary, and Mrs. Cecil Doty, of Los Angeles; Miss Mary Gleason, James V. Gleason, and William H. Gleason, of San Francisco; M. James Gleason, of Palo Alto; and Robert Gleason, of San Jose. His preliminary education began in the public schools of San Francisco, from which he entered the California College of Pharmacy, being duly graduated from this institution. In 1902 he located in Stockton, where he took charge of the Central Drug Store for three years, and then worked for the Eagle Drug Company for eleven years. In 1909, Mr. Gleason made an ex- tended tour of the Orient. In 1916 he became the proprietor of the Patterson Pharmacy, located at 441 East Main Street, where he was successfully carrying on business at the time of his demise.

Mr. Gleason's marriage occurred on March 27, 1910, uniting him with Miss Edna Capurro, a native- of Stockton and a descendant of a pioneer family. Mrs. Gleason has been associated with her husband for many years in his drug business, and in the spring of the year 1922 took the examination and passed as a registered pharmacist. She is ably fitted to carry on the business left by her husband. Mr. Gleason was prominent fraternally, being an active member of No. 218, B. P. O. Elks, and No. 7, N. S. G. W., and of the Foresters of America, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Improved Or- der of Red Men, and the Yosemite Club, all of Stockton. He was a man of fine characteristics, gen- erous and enterprising, and skilled in his profession; and his true worth and kindly life endeared him to all.

LEWIS VILLIBORGHI .- A naturally gifted Italian dairy-rancher who has made a success of his enterprises in California and is now one of San Joaquin County's most progressive citizens, is Lewis Villiborghi, who was born in Novara, Piedmont, Italy, on July 10, 1872, the son of Sylvester and Mary (Parcivalia) Villiborghi. His father was a stone-mason and farmer, and also worked in log camps in Piedmont; and as the veteran of two wars-in 1848 and in 1858-he was among the most interesting characters in the community where he lived. Mr. and Mrs. Villiborghi had thirteen chil- dren, and Lewis was the fifth born in the family.

Lewis Villiborghi attended school long enough to learn to read, write and calculate; although, as early as his seventh year, he made his own way in the world, working for some years for wages in the Alps in the summer, and attending school in the winter. His father died in Italy at the age of sixty-nine; and his mother, who was well thought of by all who knew her, passed away at the age of forty years.

In 1894 our subject came to San Francisco and from there inland to Sonoma, where he stayed for four years, chopping wood and doing general farm work there and at Forestville and Greenville. Then he came to Stockton and took a job with a threshing crew in the summer-time and the following winter worked on the river-boat plying between Stockton and San Francisco. He then went to Jackson, Ama- dor County, and leased a ranch of 100 acres between Jackson and Ione, devoting twenty acres to a vege- table garden which he cultivated and operated for two and one-half years. He next went to Alpine County and worked for a season, helping to construct the Alpine Dam; and on his return to San Francisco he worked for two years as a cook in a restaurant.

He was married in the Bay City, on July 3, 1904, to Miss Rosa Steiner, a native of Canton Schwyz, Switzerland, and the daughter of John and Anna Maria (Steiner) Steiner. The former, a farmer, died when she was five years old, and her mother passed away the year before. This worthy couple had fifteen children, and could not afford higher educa- tional advantages for them than those of the gram- mar school. When Miss Steiner was twenty-four years old, she came to the United States, and at Lan- caster, Pa., worked as a nurse for nine months. This added to her experience and enabled her to come to San Francisco, where she rendered excellent service in the hospital until she was married.

After their marriage Mr. Villiborghi went to Ione, Cal., and worked for wages as a farm hand for one and one-half years; and he then bought a ten-acre ranch in Jackson Valley, where he raised vegetables and also had a dairy. He sold out, and then rented a ranch on shares, and there for about five and one- half years conducted a good-sized dairy. He then moved, with his stock, some sixty-three head, to Galt, and operated the Harvey ranch for two years. Coming next to his present location, he took 240 acres of the McCaulay ranch, about five miles to the northwest of Woodbridge, where he has from twenty-five to thirty cows milking all the time. On this ranch are twenty-five acres of alfalfa, and forty acres of grapes-one-half Tokay and one-half Zinfandel; while the balance of the ranch is devoted to pasture.

Mr. and Mrs. Villiborghi have a family of four attractive children: Rosa attending Galt Union high school, class of 1923, and Marie, Virginia and Syl-

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Villiborghi

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

vester; and they take great delight in the pleasures of their domestic circle. Mr. Villiborghi is a Repub- lican.

JOHN WILLIAM MARTIN LUND .- A very progressive and successful rancher, whose life-story is always interesting, is John William Martin Lund, who lives in the lower division of Union Island, about twenty-five miles to the southwest of Stockton. He is the only son of Martin J. and Mary (Moran) Lund, of Delta fame, Martin J. Lund being widely known as the "Father of Delta."

Mr. Lund was born at Tracy on January 9, 1892, and as a lad went to the local schools, where he ac- quired the nickname of "Billy" Lund, which still clings to him today. As soon as he was old enough to do work, Billy helped his father, the as- sociation between the father and son increasing in pleasant intimacy each year; and together they have carried on an extensive delta farm business, paving the way for his own more recent successes on the Lund Rancho in the Lower Reclamation of Union Island. His practical and thorough knowledge of Delta farming has thus been gained by hard work; nor does he begrudge the effort and sacrifice made. All that he has accomplished seems natural enough, when one reflects upon the career of his parents, whose life-story is given elsewhere in this volume.

Mr. Lund was married in San Francisco, October 23, 1916, to Miss Anna Charlotte Van Horn, a native of New Orleans, who came with her parents to San Jose and was educated in the San Jose public schools and the San Jose state normal. Their union has been blessed with the birth of two children, Martin Stanley and John William, both born at San Fran- cisco. Mr. Lund is a member of Stockton Lodge, No. 218, B. P. O. E.

CECIL B. CLANCY .- San Joaquin County may well be proud of the invaluable contribution made to its permanent growth and real progress by such a citizen as Cecil B. Clancy, among the most promi- nent and successful orchardists of the San Joaquin Valley. He is a native son of California, born at Acampo on December 6, 1889, a son of John H. and Fanny (Towne) Clancy. Grandfather Daniel Clancy came to California in an early day and settled in Contra Costa County, when John H. was a lad of twelve years; and some thirty-four years ago the father settled in Acampo, being engaged as foreman of the Langford ranch, and was instrumental in the development of this great property.

Cecil B. Clancy received his education in the Hous- ton school, and at the age of sixteen began farming on his own account, having received valuable train- ing in farming from his father. Today Mr. Clancy owns 120 acres on the corner of the Victor road and the Lockeford-Acampo road in the heart of the Chris- tian Colony, about 105 acres being planted to peaches and fifteen acres to prunes. He has installed two pumping plants with six-inch pumps and twenty- horsepower electric motor, which enable him to care for his orchard in the most up-to-date manner. Dur- ing the fall of 1921, Mr. Clancy remodeled his ranch house, and it is now one of the finest in the locality.

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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 159

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