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 179

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 179

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The preliminary education of Henry C. Petersen was begun in the public school at Tracy and was continued in the Lammersville district and then at Mountain House in San Joaquin County; later he entered the San Jose State Normal School, where he graduated in 1895, and for the five years follow- ing was engaged in teaching, his last school being at Lockeford, this county, where he was principal. He then went to Chicago, Ill., to attend the medical department of the University of Illinois, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of M. D. with the class of '05. Returning to Stockton, he began the practice of his profession and was so en- gaged until 1910, when he went to London, England, for a post-graduate course in the various hospitals of that city, covering a period of one year, and on his return resumed his practice; then in 1916 he took a post-graduate course in the hospitals of New York City. During his years of practice, having made a close study of obstetrics and pediatrics, Dr. Petersen to still further fit himself, in 1921 took a special course in the above branches of medical science in the New York hospitals, and since his return to Stockton has made these branches of medicine his specialty, in which he is. meeting with deserved success. He has charge of the children's department of the city clinic in Stockton. For one year Dr. Petersen was health officer of San Joaquin County. He is a mem- ber of the American Medical Association, and also of the State and County societies. During the World War Dr. Petersen was one of the chief examiners for the draft board.

The marriage of Dr. Petersen occurred in Stockton in 1906, which united him with Miss Cora Comfort, a native of Palatine, Ill., who came to Stockton with

her mother when nine years of age and is a gradu- ate of the Stockton high school and the San Jose Normal, and became a very successful teacher. They are the parents of one son, Henry Charles, who was born in London, England. Fraternally, Dr. Peter- sen is a member of Charity Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F .; of the Morning Star Lodge No. 68, F. & A. M .; Stockton Chapter No. 28, R. A. M .; Stockton Com- mandery No. 8, Knights Templar, and Aahmes Tem- ple, A. A. O. N. M. S. of Oakland, and the Lions Club.

WALTER P. ROTHENBUSH .- A native son of California of more than passing prominence in the affairs of the Native Sons of the Golden West is Walter P. Rothenbush, having been a member of the Stockton lodge for a quarter of a century. He was born in Stockton, Cal., on April 23, 1880, a son of Jacob and Philopena (Zimmer) Rothenbush. The father, Jacob Rothenbush, was born in one of the Rhine provinces, Bavaria, Germany, on November 18, 1838. The Rothenbush family is one of the pioneer families of California and was represented by five brothers who came to the state in early days: Fred, a captain in the Civil War; and Daniel, Christian, Peter, and Jacob. Peter Rothenbush went back to Germany and brought his younger brother, Jacob, back in 1853 via the Isthmus of Panama.

Jacob Rothenbush spent his boyhood days in So- nora, Tuolumne County, where he followed the butcher business and cattle raising. In 1860 he settled in Stockton and entered the employ of Gerlach & Wag- ner, butchers, and after long years of service he was employed as meat cutter at Stockton State Hospital, and in 1912 retired from active business cares. Being of a thrifty and economical turn of mind, he saved his money and purchased one-half block of land on Oak Street, between Stanislaus and Grant streets, and erected three houses; this was bought from Cap- tain Weber, and a portion of this property is still in the possession of the family. Jacob Rothenbush joined the Stockton Lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 11 fifty-eight years ago; when he had been a member fifty-five years, the lodge presented him with a jew- eled pin in token of the long years of service; he was also a charter member of Oak Lodge, Knights of Pythias. He passed away in Galt, Cal., on March 18, 1922, an honored and respected California pioneer. The mother, Philopena (Zimmer) Rothenbush, was born at Bozenbach, a Rhine province, Germany, and came to California with her three sisters when she was sixteen years of age, only one of the sisters now surviving, Mrs. Philip Schmidt. Mrs. Rothenbush passed away at the age of sixty-nine, the mother of three children: Mrs. F. W. Stroud; Fred C., of Galt, Cal .; and Walter P., our subject.

Walter P. Rothenbush was educated in the public schools of Stockton and after finishing learned the machinist's trade. In 1905 he entered the employ of the New Method Laundry, remaining with them until 1911; then for the next six years was in the employ of the Home Laundry; then for a year and a half was with the Sampson Motor Company, during the time of the World War; later with the Exclusive Laundry. Mr. Rothenbush then became the steward of Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W., and has been one of the leading members of this order for many years; he served as third vice-president in 1913, and during the years of 1914-15 was president

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being steward, he holds the office of marshal of the lodge; he has also been a delegate to the meetings of the Grand Parlor held in San Diego and Oakland. Mr. Rothenbush is popular in business and social circles, and is a strong believer in the future of Stock- ton, the metropolis of Central California.

EDWARD NIES .- More than a century ago George Washington said that "Agriculture is the most useful as well as the most honorable occupa- tion to which man can devote his energies," and the truth of this saying stands today as it did then. Farming is the basis of commercial activity and is one of the great departments of labor without which the human race could not maintain an existence. Ed- ward Nies is known in San Joaquin County as an enterprising agriculturist, making his home in Victor, but in partnership with his brother, owns forty acres in. vineyard. He is a native of McIntosh County, N. D., born near Lehr on August 8, 1896, and is a son of Henry and Christina Nies, both of whom were natives of southern Russia. About thirty-five years ago, Henry Nies left his home in Russia for America and on arrival settled in North Dakota, where he homesteaded a tract of land and engaged in farming for sixteen years, when he disposed of his land holdings in North Dakota and came to Cali- fornia, where he bought a ranch of eighty acres south of Victor, which he set out to vineyard and farmed for seventeen years and then retired to Lodi, where he resides. There were ten children that grew up in the family: John, of Lehr, N. D .; Barbara was the wife of Henry Frey and resided in Salem, Ore. She and her husband died only four hours apart, leaving six children: Andrew, Ida, William, Allina, Walter and Eldon, who now make their home in San Joaquin County. Katie, Mrs. Adolph Bechthold; Jacob, Christ, Edward, Adolph, Emil, Mrs. Martha Lee, and Albert, all reside in the vicinity of Victor.

Edward Nies came to California with his parents when seven years of age and received his education in the Alpine district school east of Lodi and assisted his father on the home place until he was twenty-one years old. He worked for wages on farms in the neighborhood of his home until he and his brother Adolph purchased the forty-acre vineyard together. which is well improved and highly cultivated, visible evidence of their thrift and industry. This vineyard is about two miles northwest of Lockeford on the Lockeford-Christian Colony highway and is in full bearing; a fine irrigation system has been installed by which they pump water direct from the Mokelumne River. In 1922 Nies brothers sold their ranch and purchased an orchard and vineyard one and one-half miles south of Victor. They also bought a store building in Victor and established a general mer- chandise business. He is a stockholder in the Victor Fruit Growers, Inc., and during the season buys and ships grapes.

Mr. Nies was married July 20, 1919, at Lodi, to Miss Bertha C. Kammer, also a native of North Dakota, a daughter of Phillip and Christina Kammer, engaged in farming in San Joaquin County. Mrs. Nies received her education in Franklin district, Sac- ramento County. They have one son, Lloyd Edward. Recently Mr. Nies purchased a new modern bunga- low in Victor, where they reside. He and his wife are members of the Evangelical Church of Lodi and politically are Republicans.

CONRAD O. BAUMBACH .- A native of the Island of Krem, Russia, Conrad O. Baumbach has been since 1906 a continuous resident of San Joaquin County, where he has demonstrated what industry and enterprise can accomplish. He was born on June 8, 1866, and is the eldest of a family of eight children of Conrad and Mary (Olenborger) Baum- bach, the others being as follows: Lenhardt, Karl, Mary, 'John, Louisa, Lydia and Robert. When eight years old, Conrad accompanied his parents to the United States and the family settled near Yankton, S. D., where the father homesteaded a quarter section and preempted a quarter section and also a quarter section timber claim, which was devoted to the rais- ing of grain. Both parents died when about sixty- four years old. When his father located in the Northwest there were no public schools, and the education of Conrad O. Baumbach was therefore limited; but he was well versed in the best methods of cultivating the land, kinds of soil, and the most profitable crops.

On March 28, 1886, Mr. Baumbach was married to Miss Elizabeth Bechthold, a sister of Abraham Bechthold, also represented in this work, and a daughter of Henry and Lottie (Baumbach) Becht- hold. For the first three years of their married life the young couple remained at home with his parents and farmed land Mr. Baumbach had rented; he then removed to Kansas and worked at his trade of stone mason, bricklayer and plasterer at Hillsboro, which occupied him for nine years, when he came to Cali- fornia. He purchased his home place, consisting of nine acres in two-year-old Zinfandel grapes; and then bought a ten-acre vineyard, which he held for eight years and sold at a good profit, and purchased a twenty-acre vineyard south of Kettleman Lane de- voted to Tokay and Zinfandel grapes. On his home place, Mr. Baumbach has installed a four-inch pump driven by a four-cylinder Overland automobile en- gine which his son installed for him, and on his twenty-acre vineyard he has installed a deep-well Byron Jackson turbine pump with a capacity of 700 gallons a minute. Mr. and Mrs. Baumbach became the parents of five children, all of whom are de- ceased. The first three died in infancy and the fourth child, George, died at the age of two years; Fred, who was a skilled mechanic, was killed in November of 1920 by a traction line car. He was married to Emma Reimche and had a child, Elmer Elton. In politics, Mr. Baumbach is a Republican. He is a member of the Church of God in Lodi.

NICK PULICH .- Since his earliest years devoted to the cultivation of flowers and plants, Nick Pulich is enjoying a well-deserved prosperity as the proprietor of the City Park Nursery at 1438 Oxford Street, Stockton. A native of Dalmatia, then a part of Austria, but now of Jugo-Slavia, Mr. Pulich was born at Ragusa on April 15, 1886. In this district flowers are grown in profusion and from the time he was a young lad he worked in the garden there, so that by the time he came to America, in 1903, although he was only seventeen years old, he had already ac- quired an extensive experience in nursery work. After arriving here his first work was on a fruit and vineyard ranch on the Copperopolis Road, and then for two years he worked in the gold mines in Cala- veras County. For a time he was employed in Stockton and then went to Watsonville, where he

Mr and mrs C. O. Baumbach

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

was in the fruit business for two years. Returning to Stockton he was for two years a gardener in the city park, and after taking the civil service examina- tion was gardener at the State Hospital for a year.

In 1917, in partnership with C. R. Armstrong, Mr. Pulich started the City Park Nursery in City Park Terrace, and after a year and a half together Mr. Pulich bought his interest and has since been the sole owner. An authority in landscape gardening, Mr. Pulich has developed the grounds of many of Stock- ton's finest homes-those of Walter Hansel, Carl Ortman, Mrs. Charles Ortman, Eli Blanchard, F. J. Viebrock, E. Allen Test, George P. du Bose, A. H. Patterson, R. L. Darter and Bruce Martin. The Griffith ranch on the Lower Sacramento road, and many places in Yosemite Terrace, Tuxedo Park and Northcrest show his artistic skill. Mr. Pulich raises all varieties of ornamental potted plants and has a large business in cut flowers. He experiments with all the new varieties of roses and has propagated forty new ones since 1913. He has 200 bushes of a new rose that is very popular, orders being given for them in advance.

On February 2, 1913, Mr. Pulich was married to Miss Stella Pulich, who was born and reared in the same place as her husband, going to school together when they were children; they have one son, Martin. Loyal to the interests of his adopted land, Mr. Pulich was made a citizen of the United States in 1913.

JAMES B. PRENTICE .- For over half a century James B. Prentice has resided in San Joaquin County and is one of the best known contracting plumbers of the Lodi section of the county. He is a native of Australia, being born in Melbourne, on October 12, 1857, a son of Thomas and Christian Prentice, both natives of Scotland. The father was a steam engineer by trade and removed from his native coun- try to Australia, where he resided until 1861, when he came to California in a sailing vessel with his mother and sister, Mrs. Christina Eichelberger, and engaged in mining two years. While working in the mines the father contracted mountain fever from which he never fully recovered and which caused his death at the age of forty-seven years, and the mother survived him about ten years. James B. and Thomas, Jr., were the only children in the family.

James B. Prentice received his education in the public schools of Stockton, attending the old Vine- yard school and Jefferson school, and at the age of seventeen took up the plumbing trade, serving an apprenticeship under Dixon brothers. His first work was in the north wing of the state asylum; he then went to San Francisco, where he entered the employ of Dixon Bros., and remained there for four years; then for two years he worked for Mr. Lane and in 1880 returned to Stockton and established a plumbing business of his own, remaining there for sixteen years. In 1896 he removed to Lodi, where he pur- chased six and a half acres lying just south of the city limits on South School Street. On this property he built a house and established his plumbing busi- ness, where he has resided ever since.

The marriage of Mr. Prentice occurred at Stock- ton on January 25, 1885, and united him with Miss Martha Post, a daughter of William Post. Her father was a hoisting engineer employed in the mines at Railroad Flat, and here Mrs. Prentice was born, reared and educated; later the family removed to

Modesto, and there the father passed away at the age of seventy-five, while the mother preceded him about ten years. Mr. and Mrs. Prentice are the par- ents of twelve children, six of whom are living: Martha, Mrs. Call of Lodi; Grace, Mrs. Biggs of Fresno; James M. is also a subject of this history; Harry; Harriett is a student in high school; and Kenneth. In politics Mr. Prentice is a Republican, and fraternally he is a member of the W. O. W. of Lodi. Mr. Prentice was once an active member of the Knights of Pythias and has passed through all the chairs of the order; he was also a charter mem- ber of Truth Lodge, I. O. O. F., Stockton.

HENRY ELLIS SANDERSON, M. D .- Bearing a family name that was linked with California's earli- est days, Dr. Henry Ellis Sanderson has made a name for himself in his chosen profession of medicine, and has the distinction of having been a member of the medical staff of the State Hospital at Stockton for more than twenty-five years. Born at Stockton on June 27, 1858, Dr. Sanderson is the son of George H. and Sarah (Rowe) Sanderson, the father a native of Boston, Mass., while the mother was born in Maine, both being descended from old New England families. George H. Sanderson came to California in 1850, sailing around the Horn, and he became a member of the Territorial Society of the state, arriv- ing here before California's admission to the Union. Locating at Stockton soon after his arrival, he opened a grocery store with H. O. Matthews as a partner, conducting it for a number of years. He was num- bered among Stockton's most energetic business men of that period and was engineer of the Volunteer Fire Department, a famous organization of the town's early days.

In 1865 George H. Sanderson took up his residence in San Francisco, where he became one of the lead- ing merchants of that city, establishing a wholesale merchandise business there under the firm name of Weaver, Wooster & Co., and when that firm dis- solved he went into partnership with E. M. Root as Root & Sanderson, wholesale grocers, which was very successful. A stanch Republican, he became active in politics and was mayor of San Francisco in 1891-92, passing away there in 1893, prominent in the ranks of the Odd Fellows. Four sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. George H. Sanderson: George Rowe, Edward Hall, William W. and Henry Ellis, twins.

The only surviving member of the family, Henry Ellis Sanderson was educated first in the public schools of San Francisco, graduating from the Uni- versity of California in the class of 1879. He then entered Cooper Medical College at San Francisco, receiving his M. D. degree there in 1885, after which he went to New York and spent two years as an interne in the Mt. Sinai hospital in New York City. Going abroad for study, he took a post-graduate course in Germany, remaining there for two and a half years and establishing himself in private practice when in 1891 he returned to San Francisco. In January, 1895, he was called to Stockton to fill a vacancy on the staff of the State Hospital here, a post that he has since continuously filled with fidelity and marked ability. A physician of broad and com- prehensive training, Dr. Sanderson is accounted one of the substantial men of the community and in his long years of service he has attained a high place in the confidence and regard of those with whom he has

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been brought in contact in his various relations.

At San Francisco, December 12, 1894, Dr. Sander- son was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Gill, a native daughter of the Golden State, born in Peta- luma, whose father and mother were natives of Con- necticut and New York City respectively. Two sons were born to Dr. and Mrs. Sanderson: George Henry Sanderson, M. D., graduated from the Medical De- partment of University of California in the class of 1922, and is now assistant surgeon at University of California Hospital, in San Francisco; Henry Ellis, Jr., a graduate of West Point, is now first lieutenant of Artillery, U. S. A., and is stationed at Fort Benn- ing, Georgia. In fraternal circles Dr. Sanderson is a member of Stockton Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. Elks.

JAMES W. WAGERS .- A realty operator with twenty-five years of successful experience in this field in different parts of the West, James W. Wagers is one of Lodi's most enthusiastic boosters, hav- ing chosen this for his permanent home after look- ing over many other districts in the state. Mr. Wagers spent his early life in Wisconsin, where he was born in Grant County, August 22, 1852, remov- ing to Holt County, Nebr., when he was twenty years old. This part of Nebraska was just being developed and for several years he followed well boring there. later being engaged in the mercantile business for nine years, in Page, Neb., and when he had rlisposed of this he entered the real estate business at Page. He dealt in farm lands, making many large sales, owning a number of places, and' on one ten-acre tract he erected his home, highly improving the pro- perty and thus adding to the city's development.

In 1909 Mr. Wagers removed to Eugene, Ore., and for the next four years engaged in the real estate business there, coming in 1913 to Lodi, after travel- ing over a good part of California seeking a good location. Here he formed a partnership with Dan W. Bird as Dan W. Bird & Company, three years later trading his half interest for an eighty-acre townsite thirteen miles from Eugene, Ore. Going north, Mr. Wagers laid out the town, which he called Veneta, and sold off the lots, and on his return to Lodi he and C. F. Stumpf organized the realty firm of Stumpf & Wagers, continuing as partners until 1919, when Mr. Wagers sold out his interest and formed the firm of J. W. Wagers & Company, taking in his two sons as partners. With many years of experience behind him in other fields, Mr. Wagers has been most suc- cessful in his operations here, and has sold over 150 pieces of property, among them the Max Leetzow ranch of 178 acres for $30,000, the Cooper place of twenty acres at $20,000, a thirty-acre ranch south of Lodi for $12,000, now worth $40,000, showing the rapid rise in values in this favored district. He is the owner of a ten-acre vineyard which he has im- proved, thus greatly increasing its value. He has said that he never expected to find so desirable a place to locate in as Lodi, and so expects to make this his home permanently.

While a resident of Nebraska Mr. Wagers was united in marriage with Miss Alta Mills, a native of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and six children have been born to them, four of whom are living: Ernest I. and Ger- ald J. own a cattle ranch in Siskiyou County: Lonel is associated with his father in business; Mary is Mrs. Siegalkoff of Lodi.

LEMUEL P. NEWCOMB .- A very interesting chapter in the history of pioneering in San Joaquin County is revived in the story of Lemuel P. Newcomb, the vineyardist, and his worthy family, enviably iden- tified with the planting of some of the first vineyards, and long active in laying broad and deep some of the foundations of the California commonwealth. He was born near Huntington, W. Va., on December 2, 1869, the son of George and Louisa (Flowers) Newcomb. His mother was descended from old settlers in West Virginia, while his father, who was one of four chil- dren, was from Tennesee. He was a farmer, and died in Oklahoma in 1896, survived by his devoted wife, who is still living in Montana at the age of seventy- three. Lemuel was one of a family of eleven children, he being the eldest. The others were named: Luella, Ambrose, Mary, Lena, Isaac, Flossy, John, James, Dela and Andy.

Lemuel P. Newcomb lived with his parents in West Virginia until, at the age of eighteen, he struck out for himself. Then he went to Illinois and spent six months in Ashley, and six months at Mount Pulaski. After that he removed to Kansas and leased a farm in Republic County, which he operated for a year. Leaving there, he took a westward trip to the State of Washington, but after a short time came south to California. This was in 1890, when he settled in the Acampo district and worked for wages for a short time, first for Mrs. Foster and then for Mrs. Northrop.

He next rented the Thorn grain ranch of 160 acres and farmed it for a year, and then tried his hand on Roberts Island, where he cultivated some sixty acres for nine years. For eight years he farmed the Will- iams place. After that, he went back to Washington, and at Montesano worked in a logging camp for two and one-half years, when he returned to the Acampo section. In 1907 he bought fifty acres, known as the Mowry Ranch, but soon after returned it to the es- tate and received back his money. This was after wards divided among the heirs. Mrs. Newcomb re- ceived eight and one-third acres. Mr. Newcomb re- ceived the same, for the amount he had paid down on the ranch, and then he bought another eight and one- third acres, making his entire holding twenty-five acres. He had been married at Acampo, on August 17, 1892, to Miss Etta Mowry, born at Lockeford, and the daughter of George and Molly (Smith) Mowry. Her father was a merchant and farmer, the son of Lazarus and Electa (Morgan) Mowry. She was one of four girls, the eldest of whom, Mina, is now de- ceased. Ollie was the next; then came Mrs. New- comb; and the youngest was Ada, also deceased. Lazarus Mowry, the grandfather, came to California on March 18, 1873, and bought fifty acres on the Mokelumne River, where the Southern Pacific Rail- road crosses, the land lying on the north side of the river at this point. It was a dense undergrowth, and Mr. Mowry cleared it and planted the first vineyard north of the river in the vicinity of Acampo, in the early eighties. Mrs. Mowry died in 1906, at the age of seventy-eight, an event of more local interest be- cause many of the Mowry family are laid away in the family plot in Lodi cemetery. Lazarus Mowry was born in Ohio, on January 27, 1825, and died at Lodi on October 8, 1908. The name, of German origin, was originally Mourrer, and was changed with the passage of years and the migration of its bearers. Lazarus enlisted in the Civil War as Lazarus Mouer, and the change to Mowry was doubtless made in the hope that that form would be easier to pronounce.

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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 179

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