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 201

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 201

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DONALD M. BIGGS .- One of the most notable and successful stockmen of San Joaquin County may be found in Donald M. Biggs, who has been for over thirty years actively connected with the sheep and cattle industry of the Coast states, and is known throughout California, Oregon, Washington and Ne- vada as one of the best posted along these lines. Being a native son of California has been no small factor in the success of Mr. Biggs, his native city being San Francisco, where he first saw the light of day on August 29, 1874. His parents, John H. and Mary (Bowen) Biggs, natives of England, were both California pioneers and both came around the Horn in sailing vessels, landing in San Francisco in 1848, and for many years Mr. Biggs followed mining throughout the northern part of the state; later he became a trusted employee of the Baker & Hamilton Company of San Francisco, and both spent the re- mainder of their days in that city, having been among the first settlers in the Mission district. This worthy pioneer couple were blessed with five children, four boys and one girl. The sons were all engaged in the stock and butcher business. Donald M. was the youngest of the family. He attended the public schools of San Francisco and while still a lad learned the butcher business with J. G. Johnson and Son of the same city. At the youthful age of sixteen he became a stock buyer for Eugene Aby of San Fran- cisco; later served in the same capacity for J. G. Johnson and Son. For a number of years he has been chief buyer for the Union Sheep Company, owned by H. Moffatt and Company of San Francisco, among the largest dealers in sheep and cattle in the West; their extensive Ione Ranch situated near Ione, Cal.,

consists of 34,000 acres on which range their thou- sands of sheep and cattle. They ship from 10,000 to 20,000 head of sheep monthly to the Eastern markets. Mr. Biggs's buying operations for this large company take him from Bakersfield, on the south, north through California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Arizona and New Mexico, where he buys thousands of head of sheep and lambs each month, shipping them to the San Francisco and Eastern markets. In his line of work there are few equal to Mr. Biggs, for his years of practical experience, coupled with an intelligence surpassing that of the average citizen, have made his efforts tell so that he is, without doubt, one of the best-posted stock buyers in the West. During the thirty years that he has been actively connected with this industry, he has covered the Coast states many times a year.

For over twenty-five years Mr. Biggs has made his headquarters and resided in Stockton. He was one of the early members of the Stockton Lodge No. 218, Elks. His love for California in general and Stockton and the San Joaquin Valley in particular has never waned through the years.

CHARLES H. MILLER .- Since coming here in 1914, Charles H. Miller has done his full share in the upbuilding of Stockton in his high-grade work as a brick contractor, thereby contributing to the per- manency of the city's development. Mr. Miller is a native or North Carolina, born in Davidson Coun- ty, April 14, 1883. He learned the trade of brick- mason in his home neighborhood and followed it in his native state, then in Tennessee and Missouri. In 1913 he came to Los Angeles, Cal., and for a year was with the F. O. Eckstrom Company, contractors, coming to Stockton in the fall of 1914, where he en- tered the employ of Cowell & Son, brick contractors. While with them he worked on the brick work of many of the large buildings of Stockton, including the Belding Building, the new Weber school, the Lincoln school and many others.

In 1917 Mr. Miller started in business for himself as a brick contractor and among the buildings on which he has done the brick work are the following: Elmwood school, Greenwood school, Everett school, Georges Building, Hobbs-Parsons Building, Deneen Block, French Laundry Building, Davis Iron Works, Superior Manufacturing Company's Building at Lodi; ten tile houses in Modesto, the Noble Block on North Hunter Street, Stockton, Parisian Cleaning and Dye- ing plant, Black Package Company Block on East Weber, C. G. Call Block, Clay Street Methodist Church, Armanino apartment house, an addition to the Smith Building in Tracy, Pennant Cleaners on South El Dorado, and a cottage for Gardella on Sierra Nevada. In Sonora he did the brick work on a store building and apartment house, and he has made a specialty of artistic mantels and fireplaces, in- stalling them in many of the fine homes of Stockton, his work being of the highest order.

Mr. Miller was married on October 12, 1905, at Lexington, N. C., to Miss Ellen E. Yarbrough, also a native of North Carolina, and they are the parents of four children: Hubert D., Viola Veigh, W. Franklin and Charles H., Jr. In fraternal life Mr. Miller is a Modern Woodman and since set- tling in Stockton he has taken an active interest in all movements for the city's improvement.

C.H. Miller

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

GILBERT D. KEITLE .- An assistant managing secretary of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce Gilbert D. Keitle is doing valuable and important work, his efforts proving directive forces in promot- ing the development and prosperity of this district along commercial and agricultural lines. He is a member of one of the old pioneer families of Stock- ton and was born in this city February 23, 1896, his parents being Albert W. and Nettie (Hamlet) Keitle, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Stockton. In the early days the maternal grandfather crossed the plains to California, settling in Stockton, where he established a soap manufactur- ing plant, which he conducted for many years.

Gilbert D. Keitle acquired his education in the schools of his native city and was graduated from the Stockton high school with the class of 1914. Before completing his studies he started a newspaper, which he conducted under the name of the Weekly Tribune, and for some time he continued to publish that paper, meeting with success in the venture. Journalism had always attracted him and following his graduation from high school he entered the em- ploy of the Daily Record, with which he was con- nected until the United States entered the World War. He enlisted in the Medical Corps but was transferred to the aviation section and sent to Waco, Texas, going from there to North Carolina. He next entered the officers' training school at Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga., maintained in connection with the in- fantry department, and was there stationed when the armistice was signed. He received his discharge at the close of eighteen months' service and returned to Stockton, resuming his work with the Record. In October, 1919, he was appointed assistant managing secretary of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce, serving as acting secretary for a period of seven months during 1920, and he was also secretary and treasurer of the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau, making an excellent record in each connection.

Mr. Keitle is a member of Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W., and he is also connected with the Ameri- can Legion and the Elks Lodge, No. 218. He is an enterprising, wide-awake young man whose progres- siveness and public spirit prompt him to put forth earnest and effective effort in advancing the welfare of his city, county and state, and that his life has been an exemplary one in all respects is indicated in the fact that those who have known him from boyhood to the present time entertain for him the highest regard and esteem.

HARRY MARTIN .- In connection with the agri- cultural interests of San Joaquin County, and more especially seed growing, no name is more familiar than that of Harry Martin, whose industry has brought him rich returns. He was born at Newark, N. J., January 14, 1880, and his earliest recollections were of farming, for his father was a truck gardener in New Jersey. At the age of twelve years he left home to shift for himself. He made his way to New York City and among his various jobs was that of selling papers on the streets; then he worked in the Gansford Market and in the seed gardens and farms of Long Island until 1906, when he removed to Cali- fornia and found employment in the lumber camps of Sierra County. He worked at the Weber Lake summer resort in the mountains east of Stockton and there met with people who were farmers of the Delta

lands. At the end of the season he returned to Stock- ton and secured work on ranches in the Delta district and while thus engaged conceived the idea that vege- table seed could be grown there for commercial pur- poses. While working on the Sargent-Barnhart tract as a laborer he began his seed experiments when he first planted three-quarters of an acre owned by John Moore. In 1911 he went on Roberts Island and still owns his property there. He was not the first man who had tried seed producing here, but he is the first man to succeed in his undertaking and some of those who had tried it and failed tried to discourage his experiment, but to no avail, and his perseverance and industry won for him not only financial success, but also the satisfaction of knowing that he had accom- plished the purpose for which he strived. The return from the first acreage planted was very encouraging and year by year more acres were devoted to seed growing. Mr. Martin was the first to produce the true type of Golden Self Blanching celery seed in Cal- ifornia. From his first experiment on his three-quar- ter-acre tract he had $2,700 worth of this celery seed as a result of his labors, thus demonstrating what was possible in this line in San Joaquin County; he also raises onion, beet, carrot and other seeds, which find a ready market all over the country, for he has made a careful study of seed growing and does nothing by guess, but knows what kind of soil and climatic con- ditions will produce the best seed and he has become an authority on the subject. Mr. Martin's real estate holdings consist of 570 acres in Clifton Court, Contra Costa County, and fifty-four acres on Roberts Island in San Joaquin County, on which he grows seed, which he sells direct to the seed houses and jobbers in all parts of the country, some of them being among the oldest and most reliable firms in the United States.

The marriage of Mr. Martin united him with Miss Dorothy Dow, a native of New Jersey, and they are the parents of two sons, Henry Irving and Norman John, both native sons of California. In his business career his strong determination and indefatigable energy have been the basic elements of his success and have enabled him to work his way upward from humble surroundings to a position of prominence and affluence.

HENRY R. McCOY .- The name borne by Henry R. McCoy is indelibly connected with the history of San Joaquin County, for he was one of the pioneer farmers on Roberts Island, an eyewitness to its growth and development from a wild and desolate place, much of the land under water, to one of the most fertile districts in the whole state. He was born at Nevada City, Cal., on July 12, 1872, a son of Ham- ilton Robert and Mary S. (Gaughenbaugh) McCoy, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Penn- sylvania. The parents came to California via Panama in 1861 and engaged in mining in Nevada County until 1873, when they came to San Joaquin County, settled near Woodbridge and engaged in farming for the following six years. In 1879, Mr. McCoy went to Roberts Island, where he was one of the first to grow grain on the island; this was before the land had been reclaimed and many were the losses and discourage- ments from floods. Mr. and Mrs. McCoy had four children who grew to maturity: Hugh died in Hono- lulu in 1918; Isaac L. died in 1920 in Stockton, leaving three children; then come Henry R., of this review,

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

and Clara E., the widow of John Nassano. The father passed away in 1892 and Mrs. McCoy in 1902.

Henry R. McCoy received his education in the public schools of Woodbridge and Roberts Island and in early life gained practical knowledge of farming. After his father's death he rented land on Roberts Island and in partnership with his brother Isaac L. farmed from 400 to 800 acres of land. In 1910 he had 300 acres of celery, besides potatoes, beans, onions and grain. His farming activities were accompanied by many discouragements: For four years he lost his crops by floods, but by patience and hard work he made a success of farming and he is now considered an authority on land reclamation, having made a close and scientific study of the question. The first recla- mation work on the island was done by the Glascow California Land Company, who employed 3,000 Chi- nese and wheelbarrows; next the bucket dredgers were used, and now the clam shell dredgers.

The marriage of Mr. McCoy united him with Mrs. Edith Oard of Portland, Ore. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow, belonging to Stockton Lodge No. 11. He is a self-made man, and by his own industry has progressed steadily to his present position.

HERBERT S. CHAPMAN, M. D .- A native son of California who is steadily forging ahead in his pro- fession is Dr. Herbert S. Chapman, a member of the surgical staff of the Stockton Emergency Hospital, whose training and experience fitted him for gen- eral practice. He was born in Clayton, Contra Costa County, Cal., on April 7, 1892, a son of Charles E., also a native of Contra Costa County. Grandfather George Oliver Chapman was a native of Kentucky who came to California in 1843, while the great- grandmother, Mrs. Tarwater, residing in Contra Costa County at the age of one hundred years, came to California in 1839.

Herbert S. Chapman attended the Contra Costa public schools and graduated from the Concord high school. Entering the Stanford University he was graduated with the class of '14 with an A. B. degree; and three years later, in 1917, received his M. D. degree. While in the university he was instructor in medicine and physiology. After a post-graduate course in the Rockefeller Institute, and a special course in the Carrel-Dakin College on sterilization of wounds, he entered the Phipps Institute in Philadelphia. Later he received a commission as lieutenant in the U. S. Navy and saw active service overseas during the World War, spending two years with the mine- laying division in the North Sea; for fourteen months he was attached to the Base Hospital No. 2, a Stan- ford University unit, located at Strathpeffer, Scotland. Upon his return to the United States, he took a post- graduate course in surgery at the New York Post Graduate Hospital; then returning to California, he spent two months in the clinics at Stanford studying skin diseases, thus extending and widening his experi- ence and knowledge. Returning to Stockton, he opened offices in the Yosemite Building where he is engaged in a steadily growing practice.

Dr. Chapman's marriage occurred on July 24, 1920, and united him with Miss Luella Sibbard, a native of Santa Rosa, Cal., and they are the parents of one son, Duff Gordon. He is a member of Karl Ross Post of the American Legion, a member of the Morning Star Lodge of Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Kiwanis Club of Stockton, being a member of the board of trustees of the latter organization.

VICTOR N. LEONARDINI .- An enterprising real estate dealer in Stockton is found in the person of Victor N. Leonardini, member of the firm of Leonardini and Gatelli, with offices in the realty building on South San Joaquin Street. A native son, born on a ranch near Stockton on December 29, 1897, Victor N. Leonardini is a son of Domenico and Madeline (Stagnaro) Leonardini, both born and reared 'in Italy and who located in San Joaquin Coun- ty in 1884. Mr. Leonardini worked on ranches in the county and was one of the organizers of the Ital- ian Gardners' Association, serving as its president for- nine years. He accumulated property and is now living retired in Stockton. Mrs. Leonardini is the owner of 148 acres of valuable ranch land lo- cated near Stockton on the Calaveras River and de- voted to peaches, cherries and apricots. There are seven children in the Leonardini family and the sons manage the orchard property for their mother.

Victor N. attended the grammar school in Stock- ton and at the age of eleven began working on the home ranch; later he took a course in Heald's Busi- ness College in Stockton, and then with the aid of his two brothers, Albert and Leo, managed the home acres. In March, 1921, he formed a partnership with Fred Gatelli under the name of Leonardini and Ga- telli to conduct a general real estate and insurance business; specializing in country property. Both are good judges of values and by their square dealing have met with gratifying success. They also do a commission business, handling produce and fruits, and deal in sulphur and orchard spray, which is being successfully used in the orchards and vineyards in this district. After having become thoroughly or- ganized, the firm of Leonardini and Gatelli, in four- teen months handled nearly a million dollars of property and each month sees their firm more strongly intrenched in the business circles of the county.

Mr. Leonardini was united in marriage with Miss Winifred Anderson of San Francisco. He is a member of the Athens Club of Oakland; the Stockton Italian Club and of Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W. As a progressive business man and citizen there is much to commend Mr. Leonardini to the public for he has won the high regard of all with whom he comes in contact.

FRED GATELLI .- The junior member of the realty firm of Leonardini and Gatelli, located in the Realty Building on South San Joaquin Street, Stock- ton, Fred Gatelli was born in San Francisco on Au- gust 28, 1897. He is a son of Antonio and Marie (Camacia) Gatelli, natives of Italy, but who have been citizens of the Golden State for many years. In 1903 Antonio Gatelli came to San Joaquin County and bought 150 acres of land in the Weber Tract and planted it to a vineyard and met with success in his venture as a vineyardist. . In 1915 he retired and spent the remainder of his days in Stockton. Mrs. Gatelli is still living and is the mother of eight chil- dren. The home ranch is still in possession of the Gatelli family.

Fred was educated in the schools of the Bay City and followed various lines of business until he formed his partnership with Mr. Leonardini; since then he has met with the most gratifying success as a realty dealer. His marriage united him with Miss Marie Mantovain, a native of Italy, and she died, leaving a

Victor Leonard

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

daughter Eleanor Marie. Fraternally Mr. Gatelli is a member of Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W. He is always ready to do his part to promote the best interests of Stockton and vicinity and by upright deal- ings has won the confidence of all with whom he has business dealings.

WILLIAM LORD .- Those who have business dealings with the American Railway Express Com- pany's office at American Avenue and Market Street, Stockton, appreciate the experience and foresight and untiring efforts of the ever-accommodating general agent, William Lord. A native son-having been born in Colfax, Placer County, on June 17, 1871-he has had the commendable pride to make Stockton's express service second to none in the country; and that he has pretty well succeeded, the satisfaction of the average citizen will testify.

His father, Thomas J. Lord, was a native of Massa- chusetts, and his mother, who was Miss Caroline Thorn before her marriage, was a native of England; and it. thus happened that in this blending of Old and New England inheritance and force, the lad was par- ticularly fortunate in his parentage. William at- tended the public schools of Colfax, meanwhile keep- ing his eyes wide open and greatly enlarging his knowledge by observation and occasional practical experiment; and when, at the age of seventeen, he was offered a chance to enter the service of the Wells Fargo Company, it was found that he was able, from the start, to assume responsibility. He learned all the branches of the business, taking one after another up in rotation, for he was by turn driver, clerk and messenger, and after awhile he became route agent. He was the agent at the Ferry office in San Fran- cisco, then he was agent at Salt Lake City, and then at Denver; and at other times' he was at Tonopah, Nev., and in various places in Oregon and Washing- ton. He may be said to have followed his line of work all over the Western States, and he is particu- larly well-known on the Pacific Coast. When the express companies were consolidated in July, 1918, he was sent to Stockton to take charge of the express office; and he has made it of increasing importance. Mr. Lord is married, and has one son, Harold J., of San Francisco. He belongs to Lodge No. 944, B. P. O. E., at Ashland, Ore., and also to the Maccabees.

FRANK F. IREY .- Emphatically in accord with the true western spirit, and one whose confidence in San Joaquin County's future grows with his own ever-increasing success, Frank F. Irey has since the summer of 1904 been a prominent factor in the pro- gress of the Lodi district. He was born in the rural district of Moniteau County, Mo., on March 29, 1877, and was reared to manhood on a farm, his education being obtained from the district schools. During the year of 1898 he decided to come West and located in New Mexico where he followed mining and railroad- ing with the Santa Fe Company for two years; then in 1900 he located in Riverside, Cal., and there en- gaged in farming.

In the summer of 1904 he drove into Lodi from Riverside with a team of four horses hitched to a wagon, having $500 in his pocket and a good store of determination and perseverance, which has aided him in becoming a big factor in the development of the Lodi district. He started to do teaming, hauling grapes from the vineyards to the packing houses; his

first work being the hauling of a carload of grapes daily with a four-horse team from the El Coval vine- yard to the packing house, which was considered a record in those days. He has built up a large trans- fer, express and contract hauling business and now owns and operates eleven motor trucks. He does excavating for basements. For all the large build- ings erected during recent years, the excavating has been done by Mr. Irey; he has also donc much house moving, his record being the moving of a large house seven miles. With his partner, S. W. McCleary, he graded and did macadam work on many of the county roads; also constructed bridges and other sub- stantial improvements. He has been extremely active in the real estate line, buying, planting and improving and then selling many vineyards in the Lodi district; he has also built a number of residences in Lodi, dis- posing of them at a fair profit. At one time he owned a quarter of a block on Grand Avenue, but a greater part has been sold; a modern eight-apartment house on Grand Avenue was erected by him, and he owns a valuable corner lot on Pine and Washington streets on which he intends to erect a modern apartment house. His real estate holdings extend into Butte County, where he owns an interest in a nine-hundred- acre timber tract located near the city of Chico; he also has property in the city of Alameda.

Mr. Irey has been married three times, there being three children by his first marriage: William Leslie, Leona May, and Cecil Raymond; by his second mar- riage there was one child, Mabel Elmira; his third marriage united him with Miss Rebecca Beryman of Illinois, and they have one child, Paul Ardon. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Blue Lodge of Masons, No. 256.

WILFORD H. BURGESS .- A man who has been instrumental in the upbuilding of the city of Stockton and environs is Wilford H. Burgess, superintendent of bridge construction for the Southern Pacific Rail- road Company for the Stockton division. He was born in San Francisco, Cal., on July 10, 1870, the son of a California pioneer who came from Newark, Wayne County, N. Y., via the Isthmus of Panama in 1858, locating in San Francisco, where he remained until 1862, when he located in Sacramento and there conducted a livery stable, but was driven out by the floods of that year. In 1868 he returned East and was married to Almira C. Harmon, a native of Phelps, Ontario County, N. Y. Bringing his wife to Cali- fornia via Panama, he settled in San Francisco, but in 1880 moved to Napa County, where he had bought a small ranch in 1871.

Wilford H. Burgess received his education in the public schools of Napa and in 1895 became associated with the engineering department in constructing the Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad under George A. Atherton of Stockton. Two years later, in 1898, he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and helped in the construction of the Har- rison Street bridge over the estuary in Oakland, under W. S. Palmer, division engineer, and D. Rob- ertson, bridge superintendent. Mr. Burgess continued with the engineering force in construction work as rod man and assistant engineer, during which time he installed the fuel oil plants in the division, this being the year that the railroad changed their locomo- tives from coal to oil burners. On September 5, 1903, he became roadmaster at Tracy, and one year later, on

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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 201

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