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 226

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 226

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JAMES GARFIELD KERR .- The enterprising proprietor of the harness shop in Lockeford, James Garfield Kerr, is a man whose force of character and determination have overcome many obstacles in reaping the success in life that is deservedly his. He was born in Lockeford, Cal., on July 30, 1880, a son of John Crawford and Eliza Ann (Stacy) Kerr. The father, John Crawford Kerr, came to California via Panama in 1851, and his first stay in Lockeford covered the short period of about six months; he then made a trip into Idaho, but returned to Locke- ford in 1852, where he went to work for Mr. Athearn on the River place and later worked for Captain Holman. He then purchased a large piece of land in partnership with B. F. Langford on the south side of the Mokelumne River just west of Lockeford; later this property was divided and John C. Kerr took the upper 328 acres. This piece is now the property of N. H. Locke, whose sketch is also in this volume. John C. Kerr ran a thresh- ing machine from 1867 until 1886; he also owned 160 acres in Calaveras County above West Point, and at Blue Mountain he controlled 1,700 acres of range land and had from 300 to 400 head of cattle on the ranch. There were four children in the family: James Garfield; John Alexander resides at Corcoran; Harriett Elizabeth died in 1920; and Joseph Thompson died in 1915. John C. Kerr was extensively engaged in stockraising and operated a dairy ranch for many years; he also raised large quantities of potatoes on the rich bottom land. He passed away in 1909 at the age of seventy-seven years. Mrs. Kerr died in 1919.

James Garfield Kerr was educated in the gram- mar school of Lockeford and when he was sixteen years old started out for himself and decided to learn the harnessmaker's trade. He served his ap- prenticeship in Lockeford for one year and the bal- ance of it at Valley Springs; for eighteen months he worked for Van Voorhies & Company in Sacra- mento, then opened a shop of his own at Valley Springs, which he ran until 1904, when he located in Lockeford and engaged in dairying with his father until his father passed away. In 1911 he opened a harness shop in Lockeford, which he has continued to the present and has worked up a fine trade, all work being of the best grade and fully guaranteed.

The marriage of Mr. Kerr occurred at Valley Springs, Cal., on March 12, 1902, and united him with Miss Ella McCann, a native of Sacramento, Cal., a daughter of James and Julia (O'Hare) Mc- Cann. The father of Mrs. Kerr came to California from Canada in 1887, and after living in Sacramento for some time removed to Campo Seco, where Mrs. Kerr received her education. They are the parents of two sons, William and Raymond. Politically, Mr. Kerr is a Republican, and fraternally is a mem- ber of Progressive Lodge No. 134, I. O. O. F., of Lockeford and is past grand; a member of the Ves- per Lodge No. 94, Knights of Pythias of Lockeford and is past chancellor of that order. Mrs. Kerr is

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

past noble grand of the Rebekah Lodge of Locke- ford and is also a member of the Pythian Sisters and of the Native Daughters. Mr. Kerr is also identified with the Woodmen of the World of Stockton.

ABRAHAM KLINK .- Since 1893, Abraham Klink has resided continuously in San Joaquin County, where he worked on different ranches until 1904, when he purchased his present ranch of twen- ty-five acres four and a half miles west of Lodi. He is a native of Bavaria, Germany, born December 2, 1864, a son of Adam and Philipina (May) Klink. They were the parents of six children: Katie, at home in Germany; Philipina, Mrs. H. F. Beckman of Lodi; Abraham; Lena, deceased; Elizabeth, Mrs. Coyer, deceased; and George, a blacksmith residing in Germany. The father passed away in Germany in 1872; the mother still lives in that country.

Abraham received a good education, and when in his seventeenth year left home and came to Amer- ica, where he became a cowboy, riding the range through Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming. In 1881 he made his first trip to California, working for wages as a cowboy until 1896, during which time he drove cattle on the trail across the plains five different times. In 1893 he settled in San Joaquin County, where he worked for wages on various ranches throughout the county; then in 1904 he invested his savings in twenty-five acres of unimproved land about one-half mile north of La- fayette Ha11; fifteen acres of this ranch he has set to vineyard and also has a small orchard. He has built a new house and there are other farm build- ings on the place. Mr. Klink is a good judge of horses and for a number of years was engaged in buying and selling horses; he also teamed to the mines from Grizzly Flat to Stockton and Sacra- mento. He has never regretted his change of resi- dence from the old world to the new, for he has found opportunities here whereby he has prospered and has gained a good home and the favorable re- gard of many friends.

CHARLES KNUDSEN .- A resident of Califor- nia since 1895, Charles Knudsen was born on the Isle of Fyen, Denmark, on May 30, 1869, a son of Knud Lars and Eda Knudsen. The father was born in Upsi, Schleswig, Germany; later removing to Denmark, he became a prominent educator, and the greater portion of his life was spent in instructing the young of his native country. He reached the ripe old age of eighty-two, the mother living to be the same age. They were the parents of six chil- dren: August; Marie resides in San Francisco; Ida; Charles; Sophie and Helga.

Charles received a good education in the gram- mar schools of his native land, and at the age of twenty-two he came to the United States, going at cace to Nebraska; in 1895 he came to Lockeford. San Joaquin County, Cal., and has since resided there. He secured work on the ranch of Dr. Bar- tour, where he remained for two years caring for an eighty-acre orchard; he then continued working for wages on various ranches until he had acquired a fund of useful knowledge regarding agriculture, then he rented eighty acres of land near Lockeford, which he farmed for several years. He then pur- chased twenty acres of open land about two miles from Lockeford on the Stockton Highway, thirteen

acres of which he set to vineyard, being among the first to plant vines in this district.

The marriage of Mr. Knudsen occurred in the city of Stockton and united him with Miss Helen Bos- son. Mrs. Knudsen is a native of Schleswig, Ger- many, and her father was one of the first soldiers drafted into the army in 1871 and lost his life in that war. She attended school in her native land, and when she was seventeen years old came to Iowa alone, remaining there about eight months; then re- moved to Nebraska, where she remained four months; then to California in 1886. She remained three years, then returned to Nebraska, and later came again to California. They are the parents of two sons: Lawrence is a bookkeeper with the Standard Oil Company at Lodi. During the late war he enlisted in the Marines and was sent to the Island of Guam, where he served for three years; then was released for reserve duty. He mar- ried Miss Bernice Brierly of Lodi. Arthur Knud- sen is a student of dentistry in the University of California Dental College in San Francisco. Polit- ically Mr. Knudsen is a Democrat.

ISAAC G. KRIEGER-The owner and proprie- tor of a fine, modern garage at Lodi, Isaac G. Krie- ger has the agency for the Ford and Lincoln auto- mobiles for Northern San Joaquin County. He is a progressive, enterprising and thoroughly up-to- date man of affairs, especially in his chosen line. He was born in Hastings, Neb., March 11, 1883, a son of George and Elizabeth (Miller) Krieger. The father was a stockraiser on a large scale. When Isaac was a small boy, the family removed to Kan- sas, where he attended grammar and high schools and later the Southern Normal College in Okla- homa. Isaac G. and a sister, Rachael, were the only children of this worthy couple. Both parents reside near Lodi at the present time. The family removed to Hitchcock, Okla., when Isaac G. was a young man, and during the eighteen years of his residence there he became a prominent and highly esteemed citizen, serving as mayor of the city, director of the school board, and during the World War was chair- man of the Liberty Loan drive committee, as well as the chairman of the county Council of Defense. For eleven years, Mr. Krieger conducted a grain, insur- ance and mercantile business; then he went into the automobile business, owning and operating stores in four different places in Oklahoma, one at Fairview, one at Watonga, one at Hitchcock and one at Okeene.

The marriage of Mr. Krieger occurred at Hitch- cock, Okla., on February 8, 1907, and united him with Miss Matilda Weitz, a native of that city, a daughter of G. B. Weitz, a machinist by trade, who is now deceased. Her mother is still living. There are six children in the family: Reuben, Manuel, Otto, Charles T., Andrew, and Matilda. Mrs. Krie- ger. Mr. and Mrs. Krieger are the parents of three children, Woodrow. Isaac Glen, Jr., and Thelma, and the family reside on South Cherokee street. Lodi. In 1919, Mr. Krieger removed with his fam- ily to Glendale, Cal., where he purchased a sixty- acre vineyard, but later sold it and removed to Lodi, where he soon established an agency for the Maxwell, Chalmers and Overland automobiles; then he purchased the automobile business of Mr. Seebe, which he has come ! ! 1

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

house, having a floor space of 90x150 feet for the display of Ford and Lincoln automobiles, and his business is steadily assuming very satisfactory pro- portions. He is a Republican and a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Lodi.

JACOB KURTZ .- Classed with the representa- tive horticulturists of San Joaquin County, Jacob Kurtz was born in Bon Homme County, S. D., Oc- tober 10, 1888, a son of Henry and Helen (Unruh) Kurtz. Henry Kurtz was born and reared in Ger- many, where he learned the harness-maker's trade. In young manhood he came to the United States and settled in South Dakota, where he homesteaded land. There he married and reared a family of eleven children, our subject being the fifth in order of birth. In 1903 he brought his family to Cali- fornia, and, settling in San Joaquin County, he bought a ten-acre ranch near Woodbridge, where he resided until his death at the age of sixty-seven years. The mother is alive and resides in Lodi at the present time. Following are the names of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz: Henry, living in Montana; Carrie, Mrs. Geo. Moran, a widow, residing in Stockton; Edward, of Lodi; Anna, Mrs. Wm. Ditton of Fowler, Ind .; Jacob, the subject of this review; Mary, Mrs. G. A. Brown of Rio Vista, Cal .; Ruth, Mrs. Wm. Stitt of Stockton; Bertha, Mrs. Thomas Churchill of Yreka, Cal .; Al- bert, of Palo Alto; Herman, of Lodi; and Minnie, of Lodi.

Jacob Kurtz began his education in South Da- kota, and after coming to California attended the Woodbridge public school. From youth up he has known no other business activity than general farm- ing and fruit raising, and has gained a very large degree of success in this line.

The marriage of Mr. Kurtz occurred May 19, 1919, at Modesto, Cal., and united him with Miss Marie G. Lange, born in Lodi, Cal., and a daughter of John Lange. Her father was a farmer who owned a tract of land southeast of Lodi in the Beck- man tract, and Mrs. Kurtz received her education in the Lodi grammar school and the Stockton Busi- ness College. Mrs. Kurtz is one of a family of seven children: William, Herman, Meta, now Mrs. Zomig of Lodi; Albert, John, Emma (deceased), and Marie G. Seven years ago, Mr. Kurtz bought his present place of sixty acres near Woodbridge, on which there is an apricot orchard of ten acres, six-year-old trees, well cared for and heavy pro- ducers; the balance of the land is in bearing vine- yard. The ranch is under the Stockton-Mokelumne irrigation system. Mr. Kurtz has further improved his property with a fine modern bungalow. In pol- itics he is a Republican, and with his wife he be- longs to the Lutheran Church of Lodi.

THOMAS LANE .- A representative ranchman of San Joaquin County, prominent among the most successful stockmen in California, is Thomas Lane, a native son proud of his association with the Gol- den State, who was born near Kelseyville, Lake County, on October 8, 1875, the son of William and Anna (Rich) Lane, the former a native of England, who had the hardihood to come to California as a forty-niner, first going into the mines in Nevada County. He later came into Lake County and took up government land, acquiring 160 acres, which he used for the raising of stock. It thus happened

that, under the careful guidance of his father, our subject thoroughly learned the stock business, while and after attending the Lake County schools.

When Thomas was fourteen years of age, his father removed to Amador County, where he bought a quarter-section of land; and Thomas finished his schooling at Ione. The lad remained at home with his parents until they passed away-both at Ione, and both at the age of sixty-two-and then he went to work for Charles Swift, who was the largest rancher on Dry Creek, having some land in San Joaquin County, and some in Sacramento County. There he remained for seventeen years; and when he left the Swift service, he was the head man on the rancho. Mr. Swift raised grain, stock, mules, etc., all extensively; and during this time, Thomas Lane learned the butcher's trade, and for a couple of years he was government instructor at the Pres- ton school.

He then settled at Clements, leasing the ranch of sixty-three acres owned by George Chrisman, and he also farmed the Gillies Ranch, due east of Clements. In addition, for a number of years, he cultivated over 100 acres of vineyard, although at the present time he has only twenty-five acres of vineyard, leased from Gillies, the vineyard lying at the edge of Clements on the east. Just now, Mr. Lane has leased 150 acres of land near Clements of Mr. Magee, and he has a pasture and range-land of 800 acres leased near Comanche. He engages in the stock business, and runs about 100 head of cattle in Calaveras County. Three years ago, he bought twenty-four acres, due east of Clements, and put down a well 514 feet deep, and lately his pump tested out to throw 1,200 gallons a minute for irri- gation purposes. This is the first deep well ever sunk with success in the Athearn district. He has built a barn on this ranch, and as soon as possible he intends to erect there a commodious, comfort- able and attractive home. His pump, by the way, is driven with electricity, and this is only one of many modern appliances of this up-to-date ranch.

At Sacramento, on January 16, 1904, Mr. Lane was married to Miss Anna Hodges, a native of Santa Cruz, Cal., and the daughter. of J. S. and Helen E. (Hackett) Hodges. Mr. Hodges was born in Franklin County, Mo., on September 15, 1850, the son of Daniel and Frances Marian (Vance) Hodges, who set out for California with the old- time ox-team. Mrs. Hodges died of cholera on the way, in 1852, breathing her last along the River Platte. Not less than sixty-five of the train perished en route. This train consisted of about seventy- five wagons, and six months were required for the emigrants to cross the great plains. At first Daniel Hodges settled for awhile on the Calaveras River, and then went to Ventura County, later re- moving to Mariposa County, and there he engaged in quartz mining for four or five years. He then went to Volcano, in Amador County, and mined for one year. Quitting the mines, he went to Santa Cruz, where he farmed for awhile. Later, he went north to Jackson County, Ore., and for twenty years farmed there, dying at the ripe old age of seventy- six. Mrs. Lane's father had left home when he was ten years old, and did not go on to Oregon, re- maining. in California instead, and going to work on ranches. Later he moved to Paso de Robles, and there took up cattle-raising; he had about 150

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head of cattle, and continued in that locality and field of industry about twelve years. When he sold out, he went into Santa Cruz County and conducted a dairy of thirty head of cows for five years, just three miles out of Santa Cruz City. He next came to Clements, and he has since lived here. Mrs. Lane's mother, Helen E. Hackett, was a daughter of George and Martha Hackett. She was born in Ohio, and came out to California via the Isthmus route in the sixties, and in California, in 1875, she was married. Four children were granted this worthy couple. Anna L. is Mrs. Lane; Samuel Percy is in Oregon; George Francis is in Clements; and Edwin Putnam is in Sacramento. Mrs. Lane attended the Athearn school in Clements.

Mr. Lane is also a breeder of Percheron draft horses; and he was also once in the grain, stock and timber business. When he started to work for Mr. Swift, he drove a sixteen-horse team from Stockton to the mountains, hauling general provi- sions, and he worked for seventy-five cents a day, and for long hours, in the beginning. He also teamed through Placerville, Sonora, and elsewhere, and saw much of the interesting life there in those days. Two children, . Eldred and Kenneth, now listen to his tales. He has no party affiliations, but keeps himself free and independent in political ac- tivity. He belongs to no lodge, and is content to apply the Golden Rule whenever he can in his deal- ings with his fellow-men. San Joaquin County may well be proud of such substantial citizens as Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lane.

ROBERT A. LIVINGSTON .- A successful con- tracting plumber is Robert A. Livingston, the only plumber of Lockeford, pleasantly identified with the town for a'most a decade. A native Californian, he was born in Hollister, February 29, 1884, and reared on his father's ranch near there. His parents, John and Rebecca (Higgins) Livingston, came to Cali- fornia in the early seventies from Nova Scotia, the birthplace of the father. Settling at Hollister, John Livingston acquired 160 acres, which he farmed to grain; later he removed to Tracy, and there leased a large grain farm. Six children were born to them: Collie; Benjamin; Robert A .; John; Lulu; and Cora.

Robert A. Livingston attended the Tracy school until he was fourteen years old, when he was thrown on his own resources. Deciding to learn the plumbing and sheet metal trade, he went to Newman, Cal., and there worked under Mr. Schanks; he also had the opportunity of attending school there. After working in Newman for one year, he returned to Tracy and was employed by Mr. Breman until 1902, when he located in Locke- ford, where he worked for C. A. Bacon for a num- ber of years until he opened his own shop. He draws his trade from the northeastern part of San Joaquin County and has built up a fine business.

In June, 1911, at Lockeford, Mr. Livingston was married to Miss Maude Flanders, born on the old home place near Lockeford, her parents being Clar- ence L. and Margaret (Bryant) Flanders. Her father was born in Wisconsin in the vicinity of Mil- waukee, on December 6, 1847, the son of Luther and Vilura Flanders. In 1851, when he was four years old, he was brought by his parents to California via the Isthmus of Panama, and from there via the

S. S. Tennessee to San Francisco. Upon arriving in San Francisco, the family proceeded to Sacramento County, where the father leased land in the vicinity of Walnut Grove; later, in 1860, the family moved to a tract of land four miles east of Lockeford and bought 280 acres of land; this land was thickly cov- cred with trees and underbrush so dense that a rabbit could not been seen ten feet away, and as many as 1,000 cords of wood were cut from each acre of land in clearing. Those were pioneer days when all the grain was harvested with the old-time cradle. Luther Flanders lived to be eighty-two years old, while his wife passed away at the age of seventy-six. Clarence L. Flanders still owns the old home place purchased by his father. In July, 1869, he married Miss Margaret Bryant, a daughter of James G. and Ann Bryant, and they are the par- ents of two daughters, Maude, Mrs. Robert A. Liv- ingston; and Dollie, Mrs. H. W. Francis of Sacra- mento. Mrs. Livingston received her education in the Athearn school district at Clements. Politically Mr. Livingston is a staunch Republican. He owns the building where he lives and where he maintains his plumbing shop, and he and his wife enjoy the esteem and respect of the entire community.

GEORGE WASHINGTON LLOYD .- As a worthy representative of one of the early California pioneer families, George Washington Lloyd is one of the highly respected farmers and citizens of San Joaquin County. The family is of Scotch-Irish origin, first represented in America by Thomas Lloyd, the grandfather of our subject, who settled in Rhode Island in an early day. He married Miss Rosa Mclaughlin, also a native of Ireland, and she and her husband removed from Rhode Island to Massachusetts, where they both died. George Washington Lloyd was born in San Joaquin County on the Lloyd ranch west of Lodi, August 12, 1877, a son of Robert Lloyd. Robert Lloyd was reared on his father's farm in Massachusetts, remaining at home until he was twenty-one years old. In 1854 he came to California, via Panama, sailing from New York and landing at San Francisco on April 13, 1854. The following two years he spent in min- ing, and during the year 1856 he settled in San Joa- quin County and took up a quarter-section of land near Lafayette, which is now the home place of his widow and son, George W. This land was covered with a dense growth of trees, but by hard work the father cleared enough land to plant the first crop in the fall of 1857, and the following year he com- menced a general farming business. He came to own 333 acres, and was busy in improving and de- veloping it, later selling off all but sixty acres, which he owned at the time of his death, November 19. 1906. On October 14, 1873, he was married in Stockton to Miss Susan B. Murray, a native of Tip- ton, Iowa, daughter of Edward and Jane (Boyd) Murray, both natives of Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd were the parents of four children. Three grew up and are living: Gertrude, George Washing- ton, our subject; and Lucretia G. The mother re- sides with our subject on the old home place where she first went as a bride in 1873. Mrs. Lloyd lost her mother when still very young. She lived on the home ranch till ten years of age. The home

She received het einesthe, in the

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1873 she made a trip to California, coming to Mok- clumne Station, where her sister, Mrs. Jane Her- ren, and also two brothers, William and Hugh Mur- ray, were living.

George Washington Lloyd began his education at the Turner district school in the vicinity of his home, and later attended the San Joaquin Valley College at Woodbridge. His earliest recollections are of the old home farm, where he was reared and where he has always lived. His practical training in agriculture has been the means of making him one of the most successful viticulturalists in his section of the county. The ranch has been devel- oped to vineyard of table and wine grapes, irrigated by two pumping plants with four-inch pumps and seven-and-a-half-horse-power motors; and in his cultivation and developing of the property he uses both tractors and horses. The first house was built by the father in 1857 and has since been remodeled into a comfortable and commodious residence. In politics Mr. Lloyd is a Republican. He is public- spirited and favors everything to improve his dis- trict and elevate society, and he has made a wide acquaintance in the county of his nativity and is well-known as a representative agriculturalist.

GEORGE T. MacGARVA .- A successful dairy farmer of San Joaquin County, George T. Mac- Garva has resided here since 1908. A man of in- dustry and enterprise, he has worked his way to a front rank among the thrifty and able farmers of his adopted country. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on September 1, 1870, a son of Samuel and Jane (MacMorland) MacGarva. His father owned and operated a grocery store in Glasgow, and he was the father of nine children: Quinten; John; Ellen; William; George, our subject; David; Samuel; Jane; and Margaret.

George T. MacGarva received a grammar school education in his native land, and when he was fif- teen years old he started to work in a grocery store. He was thrifty and economical, and as soon as he had accumulated enough money, he went into the grocery business for himself in a small way in Glasgow. His business grew and. prospered, and when he sold out after being in business for ten years, he had a flourishing trade. He then engaged in the dairy business for five years.

On March 31, 1892, in Glasgow, Mr. MacGarva was married to Miss Margaret Cameron, a native of Glasgow, a daughter of Alexander and Anna (Drys- dale) Cameron, farmers of Scotland. Mrs. Mac- Garva is the only daughter and was educated in the Glasgow schools. They are the parents of two children: Anna is Mrs. John Ross and she has three children-George, John and Margaret; they reside in Glasgow, Scotland; George MacGarva re- sides in Canada. He entered the Canadian army and was in the thick of the fighting during the late war. He had been in France six months when he was wounded, but fully recovered, when he was more severely wounded and was in a hospital for over a year. He served as a sergeant and after his discharge was put on the Canadian Secret Service, where he is employed at the present time.

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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 226

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