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 164

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 164

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Mr. Huck has served as school trustee of the New Jerusalem school district and fraternally is a member of Sumner Lodge I. O. O. F. No. 177, of Tracy; also a member of the Tracy Parlor N. S. G. W., while Mrs. Huck is a member of the Native Daughters of the Golden West, and they are members of the Luth- eran Church at Tracy.

RAYMOND ARTHUR NORTHROP .- Fifty- eight years have passed since the family to which Raymond Arthur Northrop belongs became identified with the progress and development of San Joaquin County. A native son of California, he was born at Acampo, November 13, 1898, a son of Charles W. and Ruth (Eddlemon) Northrop, both natives of California. Grandfather Horace Eddlemon was born in Arkansas and came across the plains in pioneer days, locating on a ranch a mile east of the present site of Lodi. Later on he moved to what is now called Christian Colony, where he farmed until he retired. There he and his wife passed away, their demise occurring only a month apart. Grandfather Horace D. Northrop was a native of Vermont, who was left on orphan early in life and worked and earned his living wherever and however he could. When he became of age, he went to Boston and was there engaged in the oyster business for several years. In the year 1850 he started for California, but stopped with a brother in Iowa, who persuaded him to remain there and he purchased a farm in Jack- son County. He married Miss Roxana Wilson, a na- tive of New Hampshire, who passed away in 1856; then, in 1862, he married Mrs. Lydia C. Wilson, whose maiden name was Cram, and in 1864 they crossed the plains to California, being accompanied by several other California-bound families. In Octo- ber, 1864, they settled in San Joaquin County, where he purchased 160 acres of choice farming land; and there their four children were born and reared, Charles W. Northrop, the father of our sub- ject, being youngest. There wer but rop

two children in the family of Charles W. North- and his wife. Merle served in Com- pany D, 363rd Infantry, 91st Division, and was sent overseas, taking part in three different battles with that celebrated division. After eleven months service overseas he returned home, and is now ranching on Sargent road. Raymond A. was educated in Houston district school, and assisted his mother on the home farm until his marriage.

On April 18, 1920, Mr. Northrop was married to Miss Donna B. Posey, a daughter of John M. Posey, a pioneer of the county. Mrs. Northrop was born on the Posey ranch west of Lodi, and was educated in the Turner district school and the Lodi high school. Mr. Northrop is in partnership with John M. Posey in running a forty-acre vineyard, twenty acres of which is in full bearing and twenty acres in young vineyard; he is also a partner in a twenty- three acre Tokay vineyard three miles east of Lodi. Three years ago Mr. Northrop built one of the most modern residences in the Lafayette Hall district, on his home ranch, which is under the Woodbridge irrigation system. One child has come to bless their home, and she bears the name of June Noreen. Mr. and Mrs. Northrop are active members in the Congre- gational Church at Lodi, and he is a well-known and representative citizen of his locality.

---

Raymond Northrop

Douna B. Northrop

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

JOHN JONS .- An experienced wheat and grain rancher who was also a pioneer in alfalfa culture is John Jons, a native of Upper Holstein, Germany, where he was born on October 25, 1860. He enjoyed a bright boyhood in the comfortable home of his parents, who provided for him an excellent common school training; but when he was eighteen years of age, he decided to come to America. He reached New York aboard the steamer Lessing, and after a brief stay in the metropolis, pushed on to Iowa, where he spent three and one-half years near Ogden, in Boone County, engaged in hard farm labor.

In 1882, he migrated still further to the West, and on reaching California, pitched his tent in San Joaquin City, then a center in San Joaquin County, and near by he found employment on the San Joaquin ranch owned by L. B. Holt. He also put in a few months in Stanislaus County. He went in for extensive grow- ing of wheat and grain in the San Joaquin City dis- trict, and he was the very first rancher to take up the raising of alfalfa on the Kasson Irrigated Farms, some three and one-half miles south on the River Road from Banta. This was in 1912; and now Mr. Jons owns a splendid tract of forty-five acres, produc- tive of fine alfalfa, where he is also conducting a first- class up-to-date dairy. Combining the thoroughness of Old World methods with the more modern appli- ances and devices of the American farmer, and taking into account in particular the conditions peculiar to California, Mr. Jons has met with success.

On September 26, 1888, Mr. Jons was made a citi- zen of the United States, and five years later, on April 6, he was married to Miss Hannah Haccius, a native of Germany, who had come out to Stockton in 1881, following her brothers, Hans, now a resident of San Jose, and Christian Haccius. Three children have been born to this union: Frederick is a rancher and lives at home; Hannah has become the wife of Ed. S Thornberg, and they have one child and reside at Tracy; Frieda is Mrs. William B. McBride; and her husband, who is now ranching near Vernalis, enlisted in the U. S. Army Aviation service. In national polit- ical affairs Mr. Jons is a Republican, but in local matters he co-operates in every way, regardless of partisanship, for the benefit of the community.

WESLEY PALMER BODEN .- Business enter- prise found a stalwart exponent in Wesley Palmer Boden, whose progressive spirit and determination have been manifest in all that he has undertaken, and who by reason of his individual effort has made a marked success in life. He was born in Nodaway County, Mo, on October 29, 1855, a son of Wilkison and Harriett (Jones) Boden, and is the eldest of three children, the others being Henry, residing in Oakland, Cal., and Ludy, deceased. Grandfather Boden was a pioneer of Missouri, who removed from Virginia in an early day. The father, Wilkison Boden, was a native of Virginia, born June 12, 1834. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in the 31st Missouri Volunteers as a sharpshooter, and in consequence was placed in the most dangerous posi- tions at the front. After going through the Battle of Shiloh, April 7, 1862, he was stricken with brain fever, brought about by exposure, and passed away on April 20, 1862, at Pittsburg Landing. The mother lived to be about seventy years old.

The opportunities for an education in Missouri were extremely meager, and Wesley Boden was denied that privilege, but being alert to every advan- tage of his surroundings, and using his innate intelli- gence, he has succeeded in acquiring a valuable fund of information. When he was eighteen years of age, he removed to Kansas, and later he went to Nebraska. In both states he worked as a broncho-buster being engaged by cattlemen, and eighteen years were spent as a cowboy.

The marriage of Mr. Boden occurred at North Loup, Valley County, Nebr., on October 10, 1880. and united him with Miss Annie Post, a native of Baraboo, Sauk County, Wis., and a daughter of Ash- able and Betsie (Pettis) Post. Her father, Ashable Post, was born in Ohio, and removed to Wisconsin about the time of the outbreak of the Civil War. They were the parents of three children: Alvira, now Mrs. Jacobs, of Lodi; Frank, who passed away in Oroville; and Mrs. Boden. Her mother passed away before the family left Wisconsin. Removing to Cali- fornia, the young married couple first settled on a stock ranch near Alum Rock Park, Santa Clara County, where they spent four years; then, in com- pany with Mr. Boden's brother, they went to Pine Ridge, in the hills northeast of Gilroy, purchased 1,840 acres of range land, and spent five years in the cattle business. Mr. Boden then removed to Hay- wards and continued in the cattle business for the next two years. Then he sold out and removed to Santa Cruz, and resided there for one year. They then returned to San Jose and rented an orchard west of Berryessa, on Penetencia Creek; and besides his farming operations here, he was engaged in steam wood-sawing. Upon receiving an offer from Mr. Randol, a member of the San Jose State Normal School faculty, to care for his ranch four miles west of Lodi, Mr. Boden removed to San Joaquin County. and was occupied for ten years in the management of this ranch. He purchased ten acres in vineyard within what are now the city limits of Lodi, which he later subdivided into city lots, retaining about three lots for himself and family, on which he built a residence. Mr. and Mrs. Boden are the parents of one daughter, Mabel, now Mrs. Amos Dunton, resid- ing on the Cherokee road about three miles north of Lodi. Mr. and Mrs. Dunton are the parents of three children, Pearl, Wesley, and Marjorie. Fraternally, Mr. Boden is a member of the Knights of Pythias.

SATURNINO CELAYETA .- A man of enterprise and energy, who has won for himself a place among the substantial citizens of San Joaquin County, is Saturnino Celayeta, now living retired from the active duties of a business life. He was born in the Pyre- nees Mountains of Northern Spain, February 14, 1865. his parents being farmer folk of that region; and there he grew to young manhood and received a common-school education. In 1887, at the age of twenty-two years, he came to California, and for four years was in the employ of Miller & Lux on the Los Banos Ranch, in charge of their cattle. During this time, Mr. Celayeta got his first start in the sheep business, which was the nucleus of his large and extensive bands of sheep, ranging in the San Joaquin Valley from the mountains on the east to the western boundary of the county and the Mojave Desert, and from Red Bluff on the north to Kern County on the

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

south. For twenty-two years Mr. Celayeta was en- gaged in the sheep business, owning as many as 10,000 head, and buying and selling large numbers of them. Perhaps his largest deal was the purchase of 8,880 wethers from the Conn & Wood ranch at Red Bluff. Mr. Celayeta had charge of large bands of sheep owned by other parties, and for a number of years was associated with T. C. Evans as a part- ner in the sheep business, as well as in the liquor business and in ranching on Roberts Island, on the Royal ranch. About eight years ago Mr. Celayeta disposed of his sheep, and since that time has been retired. He has been enterprising, ambitious and industrious, from his earliest years of active life, and his successful career has rewarded him accordingly.

On July 6, 1903, Mr. Celayeta was united in mar- riage with Miss Frances Arriola, also a native of Spain, and they are the parents of five children: Elena, N. Augustine, Alfonso W., John (who died aged four years), and Marie Eva, all born, reared and educated in Stockton. In 1906, Mr. and Mrs. Celayeta visited the scenes of their boyhood and girlhood in Spain, renewing old acquaintances there. He has always been an advocate of public progress, and throughout the community in which he has so long resided he enjoys the high esteem and confidence of his neighbors and friends.

HIRAM LINDSEY. - Prominent among the agencies which have helped to make motoring an enjoyable experience in San Joaquin County, is the well-conducted garage owned by Hiram Lindsey, of 825 East Weber Avenue, Stockton, and now recog- nized as one of the best headquarters for the motorist in Northern California. Mr. Lindsey was born at Coulterville, in Mariposa County, on March 28, 1871, the son of James Lindsey, an honored pioneer, now deceased. In 1851 James Lindsey crossed the great plains with his father, John Lindsey, being at that time eighteen years of age; and his father took up mining, first in Mariposa County, and then in Nevada. Later, like so many other pioneers, he carried frieght to the mines. He was supervisor of Mariposa County for many years, and being a practical mountain rancher, with ideals and a vision, he helped to develop the county's resources.

Hiram Lindsey went to school at Coulterville, and he worked, as a boy, upon a ranch. When eighteen years old, he entered the quartz mines, and in time had charge of air-compression work. He came to Stockton in 1909 and was with the Sampson Iron Works, installing their pumping plants; and later he was with the Sterling Iron Works. Nine years ago, he entered the automobile field, and in February, 1919, he was able to establish himself in business. He maintains a modern garage and repair shop, with Ford authorized service. He is an expert mechanic, and is also assisted by expert workmen. The ser- vice rendered is strictly first-class, and commands a steady and lucrative patronage.

Mr. Lindsey married Miss Mary A. Smith, a native of Tuolumne County, and a member of a well-known pioneer family, the ceremony taking place on Decem- ber 25, 1897, near Groveland, Tuolumne County. Two children have sprung from this union, Ernest H. and Vera Isabel. Mr. Lindsey is a past noble grand in the Coulterville Lodge, No. 104, I. O. O. F., and was demitted to Truth Lodge, No. 55, at Stock- ton; and he also belongs to the Loyal Order of Moose.

FRED SPROTT .- Five miles west of Lodi on the Kelly Road is located the fine ranch property of Fred Sprott, consisting of 110 acres, forty-five acres of which is in vineyard and the balance grain land. He has been successful as a farmer; and as a friend and loyal supporter of education and progress he has made his influence felt in his locality. He was born at Hillsboro, Iowa, January 20, 1872, a son of Samuel and Sarah (Streight) Sprott, natives of Penn- sylvania and Virginia, respectively. The father removed from Pennsylvania Hillsboro, Van Buren County, Iowa, where he purchased 220 acres and engaged in farming. There were eight children in the family: Samuel, Jr., deceased; Mrs. Ida Bry- son, deceased; Fred, the subject of this review; John, Frank, Mrs. Kate Kendall, and Walter, all of Hills- boro, Iowa; and Lynn, deceased. The father lived to be sixty-eight years old, and the mother was seventy- eight when she passed away.

Fred Sprott received his education in the public school of Hillsboro, and at the age of sixteen began to earn his own living, working on farms in the neighborhood of his home. In 1894 he made his way to California, and worked in the mines and on farms in Amador County. In 1897 he went to Walla Walla, Wash., and remained there, with the exception of trips back to Iowa, until the joined the U. S. Army, in which he enlisted in February, 1898. His first service was with Troop A of the 4th Cavalry, and he trained at Walla Walla, Wash. At the end of three years he was honorably discharged as corporal. He immediately re-enlisted and joined Troop F, 8th U. S. Cavalry and served in Cuba for about three years. At the end of that enlistment he was mustered out at San- tiago, in the celebrated Morro Castle, as sergeant. Then he re-enlisted in Troop H, 13th U. S. Cavalry, and served in the Philippines under General Pershing for nearly three years, returning to Fort Meyer, Va., where he was stationed until he was mustered out in 1907, after nine years of service, having almost seven- teen years to his credit on account of foreign service. Each time he enlisted as a private and promotion fol- lowed promotion until he was sergeant. After his final discharge in 1907, he resolved to take up the life of a civilian. Going to New Mexico, he rode the range near Roswell, for six months, and then came to San Joaquin County, where he followed farming.

On September 6, 1916, at Stockton, Mr. Sprott was married to Miss Clara Bell Harshner, who was born near Lodi, a daughter of Andrew M. and Mary Ann (Garber) Harshner, natives of Ohio, prominent pio- neers and farmers in San Joaquin County. The father crossed the plains with a band of horses in the early '60s, and became a successful farmer and stockraiser near Lodi. The mother came via Panama. Both lived useful and enviable lives until they passed away. Clara B. (Harshner) Sprott is the second oldest of four living children. She received her early educa- tion in the Turner public school, and also studied music in Woodbridge College. Reared in an atmos- phere of culture and refinement, she presides grace- fully over their home. Mr. and Mrs. Sprott own and reside on a portion of the Harshner homestead, which consists of 110 acres, forty-five acres of which is in vineyard. In 1916 they built a comfortable, modern residence, and the ranch is also improved with good farm buildings and is well irrigated from the Stockton- Mokelumne Ditch. In 1921 Mr. and Mrs. Sprott made a trip East, visiting throughout the South and

Tired Sprott Clara B. Sprott.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Iowa, then returning back home, pleased with their trip, but delighted to get back to the land of gold and sunshine. In poli- tics Mr. Sprott is a Democrat. His active and well spent life has won for him the confidence and esteem of the community.

FRANK E. LOWE .- A well-known and represent- ative farmer of San Joaquin County is Frank E. Lowe, who is engaged in general agricultural pursuits and the raising of grapes. He was born in Dane County, Wis., on July 15, 1873, and is the ninth child in a family of twelve of Amos and Mary (Barrows) Lowe, both parents being of English descent. The father, Amos Lowe, was a farmer. In 1886 he brought his family to California and settled in San Luis Obispo County, seven miles east of Atascadero. Com- ing to California for his health, Amos Lowe soon found that he had located in too high an altitude; so he removed to Arroyo Grande on the coast, and there engaged in farming. For many years he was justice of the peace of his township.

The education of Frank E. Lowe was obtained in the grammar and high schools of San Luis Obispo, and he assisted his father on his ranch until he was twenty-one years old. He then went to Hanford, Cal., where he worked for wages. Next he rented a vineyard of forty acres, where he remained for one year, and then returned to the coast and took charge of his father's sixty-acre ranch in the rich valley of the Arroyo Grande, where crops are always assured on account of the dense ocean fogs.

Mr. Lowe was married to Miss Rose Hodges at Arroyo Grande, in August, 1899. She was born near Arroyo Grande, and is the daughter of Thomas E. and Sarah (Wineinger) Hodges. Her father was one of the first settlers on the E. W. Steele tract in San Luis Obispo County, and was a successful rancher of the Arroyo Grande section. The Steele tract was originally an old Spanish grant. Mrs. Lowe was educated in the Arroyo Grande grammar and high school, and supplemented this with an attendance at Stanford University, after which she taught school in San Luis Obispo County until her marriage to Mr. Lowe. After his marriage, Mr. Lowe purchased nine- teen acres near Arroyo Grande and engaged in a general truck-farming business. Later he sold this property and bought nineteen and a half acres of his wife's father's ranch, devoted to walnuts and apricots. He farmed this ranch for ten years and still owns it. In November, 1912, he moved to San Joaquin County, where he purchased sixty acres in vineyard and alfalfa on the Sargent-Lafayette road, five miles west of Lodi; this he farmed for four years and then sold it. While residing on this place, Mrs. Lowe passed away. Mr. Lowe next bought a thirty-acre ranch on Kettle- man Lane, one mile south of Lodi, twenty acres of which is in grapes and the balance in alfalfa and cherry trees; the ranch is piped throughout for irri- gating, and there is a four-inch pump with a seven- and-a-half-horsepower motor on the place. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe were the parents of three children: Al- frieda A. attending the University of California at Berkeley, where she is training to be a teacher; Velma F., attending the University of Southern California; and Alvin F., at home. In politics, Mr. Lowe is a Republican; and fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Lodge of Lodi. Recently Mr. Lowe pur- chased fifty and one-half acres on the Kelly road

near Woodbridge, twenty acres of which is in bearing vineyard and eighteen acres in young vineyard at this time, the balance being unimproved land.

PETER FRANCIS McENERNEY .- A prominent stockman whose extensive, successful operations evi- dence the man of progressive ideals and aggressive methods, is Peter Francis McEnerney, living at Dry Creek and Traction Line, about four miles north- west of Elliott. He is a Native Son, having been born at Franklin, in Sacramento County, on August 11, 1875, the son of Patrick and Bridget McEnerney, esteemed pioneers. His father was a native of Ire- land, and came to California in the sixties. He farmed to grain extensively in Sacramento County. There were eleven children in the family, all still living: William D .; Peter Francis, of this review; and Sarah, Mary, Joseph, Thomas, John Leo, Bernard, Paul, Susan and Gertrude. Patrick McEnerney owned about 1,800 acres of grain land, and in addition leased much more along the river.

Peter McEnerney attended the Arno district school, and helped with the work on the farm. About 1910, he bought 160 acres on Dry Creek, at a point where the traction line crosses the creek; and he also has forty acres beyond the arroyo. In addition, he has leased about 1,400 acres of range land, and runs from 100 to 200 head of cattle on his ranch. Of late years he has been raising thoroughbred shorthorn cattle. He has twenty-five head of registered, pedi- greed stock, and intends to use the shorthorn cattle on the range. He is breeding to shorthorn, with the idea of improving the range cattle for beef. He owns an additional quarter-section across Dry Creek from his home ranch, and he also manages some fifty- eight acres of the old home ranch of his father. He has improved his ranch with a modern farm house and farm buildings, and has made it a choice prop- erty. He is a member of the Grange.

At Denver, Colo., on April 18, 1918, Mr. McEner- ney was married to Miss Lela Myers, a native of Smith Center, Kans., and the daughter of William and Hattie Myers; and three children have blessed their union: Patricia Frances, Clare Delbert, and Hattie Elizabeth. Mrs. McEnerney was reared and educated at her birthplace, and grew up in the home of a pioneer who came to Kansas in early preemption days. Mr. McEnerney is an active member of Galt Parlor, No. 243, the Native Sons of the Golden West, and has passed through all the chairs.

THEODOR LORENZEN .- The youngest of the Lorenzen brothers, Theodor Lorenzen is the only surviving member of a family of seven children. The firm of Lorenzen Brothers, well-known and prominent grain growers and stockraisers of San Joaquin Coun- ty, was composed of four brothers, all born in Schles- wig. Peter Lorenzen died at Tracy, California, Jan- uary 29, 1890, aged forty-five years; Hans Christian Lorenzen born January 26, 1848, died at Tracy, Cal., December 30, 1919. Henry Lorenzen, born July 14, 1851, died at Tracy, Cal., August 11, 1912. Theodor Lorenzen was born November 28, 1855.

They were sons of Peter and Catharine (Sass) Lo- renzen, both natives of Schleswig, and all were reared in their native country. The two older brothers, Peter and Hans Christian, were the first to come to America, in 1873. They worked for a few months in Iowa, but having heard of Central California, re- solved to cast their fortunes in the Golden State, and

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therefore came on to San Joaquin County, in Novem- ber, 1873, where they rented land, and operated on a large scale, becoming unusually prosperous grain growers. They made their first land purchase in 1890.

Henry Lorenzen came to America in 1882, landing in New York City where he remained until 1883. He then came out to San Joaquin County, Cal., where he joined his two older brothers and entered heartily into their farming operations. He was an excellent business head and worked hard and gave his best efforts to their operations. Theodor Lorenzen grew up in Schleswig until twenty-four, then joined his three brothers in San Joaquin County, in April, 1880.

All the Lorenzen brothers were over- six feet in height, and some of them six feet four inches, while Peter was fully six feet six inches tall, and they were all muscular and powerful. They worked together in close cooperation with great industry and energy, and accumulated about 2,500 acres of excellent land- and the necessary work-stock and implements and a good reserve in money besides. Men of fine presence and genial ways, they won the highest respect and confidence of their neighbors and fellow men.

Theodor Lorenzen has made his home continuously in San Joaquin County with the exception of the years between 1895 and 1908, when he was occupied in gen- eral farming in Benton County, Iowa. During 1890 he made a visit to his parents' home in Germany, where he remained for a year and a half, and again in 1911 he visited his old home. His parents are since deceased, and he is now the only surviving member of his family. All of the Lorenzen brothers were Democrats, giving earnest support to the principles of the party. Henry Lorenzen was a member of Sumner Lodge No. 177, I. O. O. F., at Tracy, and likewise a member of the Tracy Encampment, No. 49. All the brothers were well known business men, wide- awake and progressive, readily recognizing and im- proving opportunities and so conducting their busi- ness affairs as to win most gratifying and substantial success. Our subject is now living retired and makes his home on the River ranch near Banta.

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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 164

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