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 232

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 232

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Elnathan G. Williams married Mary Ann Delilah Landrum in 1863. Five children, all living, were the result of this marriage, Robert Georgia, Noah Vesper, Mary Etta (Moore), Elizabeth Jane (Cook), and Eugene Bloom. Mrs. Williams came with her par- ents from Georgia in 1861, traveling by ox team. She died in 1899 aged sixty years. The Landrum families in the United States, so far as known, are all de- scended from two brothers who emigrated from Scot land to Virginia and South Carolina about 1750. A number of them still live in and around their old home near Spartanburg, S. C., which was a part of the battlegrounds of the Revolution in which members of the family took part.

The history of the Williams family began to be written when the Roman legions arrived in England in the year A. D. 55. Through the institution of her- aldry in England and Wales, an unbroken record of the generations of the family from this date and end- ing with individuals now living, has been preserved. Genealogists agree that the greater number of fam- ilies of the name in England and America owe their origin to this source.

Many famous characters in the history of England and America are of this ancestry. One remarkable genealogical record is that of Oliver Cromwell, whose correct name was Williams. Richard Williams, great grandfather of Cromwell, assumed the name of Crom- well in order to inherit the estate of his maternal uncle, Thomas Cromwell, Secretary of State, under Henry VIII. According to Burke's genealogy he is supposed to be descended from Carradoc of Glamor- gan, Wales, who was a son of Brutus, the first king of the Britons.

Robert Williams was the father of Cromwell and James Williams of Northhampton, Mass., was the grandson of Oliver Cromwell and the father of Tim- othy Williams, chairman of the "Boston Tea Party." James Williams was also the great-grandfather of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine, author of the "Age of Reason." Roger Williams was also a friend and relative of Cromwell. Other relatives of Crom- well in America were Robert Williams, who came to Long Island in 1653, and a Rev. Williams of Hadley, Mass., who was a cousin of Cromwell. He secreted the Judges Goffe and Whalley of Charles I and pro- tected them for many years.

Jonathan Williams, said to be one of the most bril- liant of the name, was a nephew of Benjamin Frank- lin, and resembled him in manner and talents. When Franklin went to France and induced that country to send her armies to the rescue of the colonies, Jona- than was his private secretary.

William Williams, signer of the Declaration of In- dependence, is wrongly placed by Burke as a cousin 97

of Franklin. He was a descendant of Robert Wil- liams, who came to Roxbury, Mass., in 1638. He lived 100 years and is the ancestor of a great number of the noted men and statesmen of the United States.

The name of Williams is probably of German origin, and exists with them in its purest form "Wilhelm," meaning something like "strong warrior." With the movement of the Franks westward it was carried to France and Normandy, and with the conquest, to England and Wales. The use of the plural or pos- sessive form of Williams as a surname, came into vogue in Wales after the visit of William of Nor- mandy to the country, which took place in A. D. 1081. Different descendants of the reigning princes of Wales assumed the name and became the ancestors of the numerous families of the name in England and Wales. The history and genealogy of these people are well preserved, and date authentically back to the time of the Roman occupation of the island. Their assump- tion of the name of Williams took place at a period when the custom of using surnames as a means of indicating lineal descent was being substituted for the primitive nomenclature of the Celtic races. From the period of the Romans to the conquest of Wales by Edward, Wales was ruled with varied success by the princes who were descended from Rhodra the Great, who was king of all Wales in A. D. 850. Occa- sionally, one of these more resourceful than the oth- ers would unite the country and become ruler. Owain Gynedd and Llywelyn the Great were of these.

Rhodra Mawr had several sons. Two of these live in history: Anarawd, as the ancestor of the rulers of North Wales, and also of generations now known as Williams, and the other, Cadell, the ancestor of the rulers of South Wales, and the Tudor family of Eng- land and the Stuarts of Scotland. Owain Gynedd, ruler over all Wales, was of the ninth generation from Rhodra the Great. He married twice. The second time to Christina, his cousin, who was of the seventh generation from Cadell. Sir John Wynn, who died in 1553, and who wrote a history of his family, was of the fourteenth generation from Gynedd, and was founder of the family of Williams-Wynn.

Marchud ap (son of) Cynan, Lord of Abergeleu. lived in 850, and was the father of Edneyfed Vychan. a powerful noble who married twice, first to the daughter of a lord of Anglesey (Mon). This marriage was the ancestry of the Lloyds. He married secondly, Gwenlian, daughter of Lord Rhys of South Wales, who was of the ninth generation from Cadell. This marriage was the ancestry of Owain Tudor, who mar- ried Queen Catherine of France, widow of Henry V, and founder of the royal house of Tudor. From this union descended Henry VII, second removed and father of Henry VIII, Margaret and Mary. Henry VIII was father of Queen Elizabeth, last of the Tu- dors. Margaret married James of Scotland and was grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots.

A descendant in the fifteenth removed, of Edneyfed Vychan, by his first marriage, assumed the name of William Williams. The female ancestor of this line was the daughter of the brother of Oral (e) who was the ancestor of the Withan. Wien-

Of the ancestry previous to the time of Rhodra, the record is not so clear, but both Rhodra and Marchud were descended of a long line of regal ancestors. Marchud ap Comma ved Brutus, first ling at the Fix

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

CHARLES W. HOAG .- A native son of Califor- nia, who is now being substantially rewarded for many years of active work in the culture of grapes, is Charles W. Hoag, born in Lake County on February 6, 1894, a son of Charles and Anna (Shaver) Hoag. The father, Charles Hoag, was born in Iowa, came to California during the year 1862, and settled near Yuba City, where he took up a homestead; later he removed to Lake County, and Charles W. Hoag re- ceived his education in the district schools of that county. The family removed to Chico, Cal., remained there for one year, and then located in Lodi, where the father bought a twenty-acre vineyard near the town. Twelve years ago he sold this property and purchased 160 acres near Bellota, Cal .; later this property was sold to one of his sons, who now runs it. Mr. and Mrs. Hoag were the parents of ten children: Lilly, Rose, Daisy, Victor, Myrtle, Amiel, Violet, Charles W. (of this review), Esther, and Delia.

At the age of nineteen years, Charles W. Hoag be- gan to make his own way in the world, working for wages as a farm hand for the next two years, when he purchased eleven acres in vineyard near Victor; later he sold this property and bought twenty-five acres planted to almonds, which he has recently re- moved preparatory to setting out grape cuttings. A comfortable and modern residence is nearing comple- tion. Mr. Hoag also owns a ten-acre vineyard set to Tokay grapes. The ranches are equipped with pump- ing plants for irrigation. He has recently purchased a tract of 160 acres at Chowchilla, upon which he is now planting thirty-five acres of peaches and thirty- five acres of grapes. Mr. Hoag is also in partnership with J. J. Schmiedt in a seventy-acre vineyard east of Victor.

The marriage of Mr. Hoag occurred in Oakland on December 26, 1920, and united him with Miss Wally Poser, born in Perham, Ottertail County, Minn., a daughter of Carl and Francis (Horn) Poser. Her father died when she was eight years old. The mother resides at Lodi. They were the parents of eight chil- dren, Mrs. Hoag being the sixth in order of birth. Politically, Mr. Hoag is a Republican; and fratern- ally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen and the Red Men.

K. PETER HOLM .- A well-known citizen of San Joaquin County who was a continuous resident of the county for forty years, was K. Peter Holm, who was born at Hasla, Bornholm, Denmark, December 22, 1862, a son of Peter and Karen (Due) Holm, both natives of the same province in Denmark. Grand- father Due was a man of fine character and was well known in his locality, where he reared nine children, Karen, the mother of our subject, being the second eldest. Peter Holm, the father of our subject, was a successful leather merchant and was also the manu- facturer of shoes in his native country. Two sons, who grew up, were born to this couple, our subject and F. Julius, the postmaster and merchant at Avena, Cal. The father passed away in 1889 at the age of sixty-nine, and the mother also passed away that same year.

K. Peter Holm received his education in the pub- lic schools of his native land and at the age of thirteen was confirmed in the Lutheran Church. In 1882 he got the consent of his parents to accompany his cou- sin, Jens Hansen, to America. They boarded a vessel bound for Glasgow, Scotland, and from there took a

vessel bound for New York, completing the voyage in eleven days. On the sixteenth of May, 1882, they arrived in Stockton and the next day Mr. Holm got a job on the Henry Minge farm near Atlanta, sixteen miles southeast of Stockton. He knew nothing of the English language, but applied himself to the task of learning it, and within a few months was talking like an old-timer; later he worked for his uncle, Esper Due, who came to San Joaquin County in the early '50s. About 1895 he leased land from his former em- ployer, Henry Minge, and farmed for about twelve years, then for three years had the P. G. Chalmer ranch near Avena, then for six years he farmed the Munson ranch of 320 acres, raising the largest quan- tities of barley ever produced on that ranch. For some years he was superintendent of the Guernsey Grain Company warehouse at Atlanta and handled the greater part of the grain raised in that section. After his retirement in 1917 he purchased a lot in Atlanta and erected a modern bungalow on it, where he has since made his home. He received his U. S. citizenship papers at Stockton and was a Republican, serving on the election boards of his district. He was a liberal contributor to all worthy causes and was deeply interested in all that tends to promote the social, intellectual and moral welfare of the com- munity. Mr. Holm died in December, 1922.

JOHN R. HUMPHREYS .- A man of scholarly attainments, ambitious and capable, John R. Humph- reys is carrying on a most successful work as one of the owners and principal of the Stockton College of Commerce. He is eminently qualified for the im- portant work in which he is engaged, the greater part of his life having been given to educational work of one character or another. He was born in Honaker, Va., March 7, 1867, the son of Ward C. and Nancy J. (Jackson) Humphreys, both of whom were also natives of Virginia. John R. grew up on the parental farm in the South, attending the public schools in the neighborhood during his boyhood, and later becoming a student in the Old Dominion Col- lege of Honaker. When only sixteen years old, Mr. Humphreys was installed as teacher in the public schools of his native town, filling this position for three years. At the end of this time, in 1886, he went to Greenup, Ky., teaching in the public schools there for six years, and then until 1895 he was asso- ciated with a lumber firm. Mr. Humphreys had be- come interested in the reports of the West, so in 1895 he set out for Washington, but after- remaining one week came south to California, locating at Han- ford, where for seven months he was employed on a ranch and also in a packing house. On New Year's day, 1896, Mr. Humphreys arrived in Stockton, where he has since continuously resided. Having determined to resume educational work he refreshed his mind by taking a four months' course in the Stockton Business College, reviewing his school work. Six months later, June 1, 1896, he became a teacher in the same school and remained there until August 1, 1901, as a teacher in the normal department. In September of that year, in partnership with T. H. Wolfenbargar, now deceased, he purchased the plant of the old Gas City Business College, which had not been in operation for one year, and he also took over their lease of the old location, in the Salz-Bours building, on Hunter Street. The new proprietors opened their business, shorthand and normal school September 30, 1901, with

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

a corps of three teachers and an attendance of three pupils for the first day, at the end of the first year having an enrollment of forty pupils. The school was incorporated under the name Western School of Commerce and Mr. Humphreys became president. In 1909 the commercial department of the school was sold to Heald's Business College, the Western School of Commerce being devoted entirely to normal work. In 1917 Mr. Humphreys became associated with A. V. Faight in Heald's Business College and in 1920 pur- chased a half interest in the business and the name was changed to the Stockton College of Commerce. This college is a direct successor of the Stockton Business College and the Western School of Com- merce and has an unbroken history back to 1874, the founding of the first business college in Stockton. A very large percentage of the leading business and professional men of Stockton have received their business training in this institution. Since Mr. Faight and Mr. Humphreys have been associated in the Stockton College of Commerce they have given their best to place the school on a high educational plane.

On August 30, -- 1899, at Michigan Bluff, Placer County, Cal., Mr. Humphreys was married to Miss Lena Mannelin, a native of that county, and four children have been born to them: Mary V., Jean, John, Jr., and Elizabeth. Mr. Humphreys was elected a member of the Stockton board of education in 1920, and in January, 1923, was elected its president; fra- ternally he is a past grand of Charity Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F .; past master Morning Star Lodge No. 68, F. & A. M .; is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter; and of the Woodmen of the World and Sciots; and is also a past patron of the O. E. S., of which his wife is also a member. His contribution to educational affairs on the Pacific Coast has brought him to the forefront as an educator, and to his un- tiring efforts are due the popularity and high standard of excellence attained by the Stockton College of Commerce.

GEORGE W. JACOBS .- Numbered among the promoters of the substantial upbuilding and progress of California is George W. Jacobs, one of the leading bridge building contractors of the state. He was born and reared at Hartland, Mich., his birth having oc- curred March 12, 1863. His education was obtained in the public schools of Hartland and at the age of seventeen he left his home for Wisconsin and found work in the lumber camps of that state; then he went to Minnesota and engaged in well boring in La Crescent; then he went to St. Paul, Minn., and there did his first bridge building work. His first work was on the construction of the Seventh Street bridge from St. Paul to West St. Paul, a fine piece of engineering work, the bridge being 2,785 feet long and 205 feet high. Following this, in 1888, he came to the Pacific Coast and first located at Spokane Falls, Wash., and was employed in the construction of the Washington Water Power Works. He worked on the first bridge over Mon- roe Street; then he received the contract for building two bridges over the Knootsac River at Seattle. Mr. Jacobs removed to San Francisco in 1894, where he was employed by the San Francisco Bridge Com- pany, who had the contract for building the founda- tion for the Ferry building at the foot of Market Street; he also had charge, as foreman, of the con- struction of the first cylinder wharf in San Francisco.

During the period of nine years of his connection with construction work for the San Francisco Bridge Com- pany he had the opportunity of overseeing extensive operations in bridge building and other large con- struction work. He then joined the forces of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and was put in charge of the bridge construction in the Los Angeles division and remained with this company for four years, when he located in Stockton, where he entered the employ of the Clark & Henery Construction Com- pany. He built steel tanks for the Benicia Water Company, also tanks at Antioch and Burlingame, and a drawbridge over the Sacramento River at Kechival Landing. He then organized his own com- pany, the George W. Jacobs Company, and among his most outstanding work has been the building of bulkheads. He has, in fact, constructed a majority of the bulkheads along the Stockton Channel. Re- cently Mr. Jacobs built a bulkhead for the Western Pacific Railroad Company. After the earthquake Mr. Jacobs spent ten months in San Francisco engaged in wrecking work.

The marriage of Mr. Jacobs united him with Miss Kathryn Manion, a native of Grass Valley, Cal., whose father, a pioneer of California, came from Ireland by way of Panama in 1852. Fraternally Mr. Jacobs is identified with the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Khorassan, the Woodmen of the World, and the Moose of Stockton.

THEOPOLD KIRSCHENMANN .- An industri- ous rancher and self-made man, Theopold Kirschen- mann is the owner of thirty-three and a half acres northwest of Christian Colony, San Joaquin County. Cal., twenty-four acres of which is in vineyard, two acres in pears and the balance in open land around the house and outbuildings. He was born in South Russia on January 30, 1886, a son of Theopold and Magdalena Kirschenmann, both natives of Russia, where they reared a family of five children. The father passed away in his native land at the age of fifty-four years, and the mother at the age of forty- one years. Their five children are as follows: Christ, Christina, Magdalena, Theopold, of this sketch, and Fred.

Opportunities for an education were very meager in Russia, and consequently Theopold Kirschenmann received very little schooling. At the age of nineteen he left his native country for the New World, arriv- ing at Lodi, Cal., on December 16, 1905. He began work on the ranch of John Mettler, south of Lodi about two and one-half miles, remaining there for three years; and then he worked on various ranches throughout the county until he rented eighty acres. five acres of which was in grapes and the balance grain land. This he farmed for two years, and then leased the forty-one-acre ranch owned by Mr. Hart- man west of Acampo and ran this for four years. In the spring of 1921, Mr. Kirschenmann purchased thir- teen and one-half acres northwest of the Christian Colony, and a short time later bought a twenty-acre tract in the same vicinity, which is yielding him a fine income. Mr. Kirschenmann is a well driller by trade, and when he can be spared from his ranch work he takes his well drilling outfit to all parts of the county. thus adding to his income materially.

Mr. Kirschenmann's marriage occurred at Sacra- mento on November 10, 1909, and united him with Miss Elizabeth Becker, & nature of For

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

and a daughter of John and Katherina Becker, resid- ing at Victor Station, San Joaquin County, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. Theopold Kirschenmann are the parents of eight children: Fred, Theopold, Bertha, Rudolph, Edwin, Emma, John, and Katherine.

JOHN DANIEL LAGGAS .- One of the old-time residents of Stockton is John Daniel Laggas, who is also a veteran of the Civil War. He was born in Poros, Greece, September 26, 1842. His father Daniel was a sailor, as were all of his sons, the father having been a boatswain in the Grecian Navy. John D. is the third-born of five children and the only one in California. He attended the local school in his na- tive place and when fourteen years of age, as was the custom with the young men in that seaport town, he went to sea, following the life of a sailor until he came to the port of New York, January 23, 1865, when he volunteered and enlisted in the United States Navy, for which he has come to have a great admira- tion. He served on the gunboats Periwinkle and Stepping Stone and the monitor Miantonomah, in which he crossed the Atlantic to different foreign ports in Russia, France, Spain, Italy, England, Nor- way, Sweden, Denmark, and Belgium and saw all the kings and queens of Europe, except in Turkey and Greece, which they did not visit. On his return to the United States he went on the receiving ship Po- tomac, from which he was honorably discharged as petty officer in January, 1868.

Mr. Laggas then came on the clipper ship Davy Crockett around Cape Horn to San Francisco, arriv- ing that same year. He then ran on the Golden Age from San Francisco to Panama until he came to Sac- ramento, where he was steamboating between the capital city and Red Bluff for several years, becom- ing mate. In 1879 he came to Stockton and continued steamboating and was pilot with the California Navi- gation Company, Hamilton & Gray Company, and Cornwall, Brooks & Peters Company, continuing until 1921, when his ill health necessitated his retir- ing, and now resides with his family at 1115 South Center Street, a place he built in 1880.

Mr. Laggas' marriage occurred in Sacramento, January 20, 1875, when he was united with Miss Mary Sexton, born in Michigan Bar, Sacramento County, a daughter of Charles and Margaret (Fulton) Sexton. Her father crossed the plains in an ox-team train in 1850, arriving in California September 9 of that year, the day California was admitted into the Union. He followed carpentering and helped build the dome as well as to place the ball on top of the dome of the capitol building. He died in 1914 aged eighty-seven. Mrs. Sexton crossed the plains in 1852. She was the mother of eight children, all living up till 1922, when one of her sons died. Mrs. Laggas was the oldest of the family, receiving her education in the Sacra- mento public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Laggas had five children, as follows: Mrs. Ellen Tucker of Stockton; Mrs. Florence Jameson of Berkeley; Andrew died at the age of four and a half years in 1884; Jessie is Mrs. Seppi of Stockton, and Alice, also Mrs. Seppi, died at twenty-three years of age, in 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Laggas have seven grandchildren and two great- grandchildren. Mr. Laggas is a member of San Joaquin Lodge No. 19, F. & A. M .; Truth Lodge No. 55, I. O. O. F., and with his wife is a member of the Rebekahs. He is a member of the Foresters and

of Rawlins Post No. 23, G. A. R., while Mrs. Laggas is a member of Rawlins Post No. 20, W. R. C. He is a staunch Republican and is proud of having cast his first vote for General Grant, as well as having had the honor of shaking hands with President Lin- coln.

HERMAN ANTHONY LANGE .- Twenty-two years ago Herman Anthony Lange cast in his lot with the Californians and has never had any occasion to regret this decision. Depending upon his own re- sources from an early age he has steadily advanced until he is now the owner of a fine twenty-five-acre ranch, located four miles southwest of Lodi on Kettle- man Lane, one-half of which is devoted to vineyard and the other half to raising alfalfa. He was born at Grand Island, Neb., March 16, 1882, a son of Henry and Katherine (Hake) Lange, both parents natives of Indiana. Henry Lange was a woodsman by trade and on September 27, 1861, he enlisted in Company K, 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, where he served for three years. He was in eight major en- gagements during the Civil War, including the Battle of Gettysburg, and he was twice wounded. During his service he contracted scurvy, from which he never fully recovered. There were nine children in the family: Anna and Mrs. Elizabeth Engles are de- ceased; Mrs. Margaret Roche now residing in Sacra- mento; Joseph B. of Sacramento; Mrs. Mary Specht of Sacramento; John William lives in Marysville; Herman A., the subject of this sketch; Harry C. lives at Marysville; and Katherine, the widow of F. A. Zimmers, resides in North Platte, Neb.

Herman A. Lange received but little education, for he was obliged to walk five miles through the cold and sleet to school, and when eleven years old he started to earn his own way, his first job being to herd cattle on the plains of Nebraska. At the age of seventeen he went to Colorado and worked for a year at Boulder and then in 1900, with his brother John, came to California and worked for a year in the fruit at Roseville; then the brothers went to Sac- ramento and worked for a year for Castle Brothers. He then made a visit to his old home in Nebraska, remaining during the summer, and returned to Cali- fornia in the fall with his brother Harry, this time settling in Sacramento. Here they found employment with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, where Herman A. served an apprenticeship as a machinist. Completing his apprenticeship he then worked for the Moran Ship Building Company at Seattle for a year; then returned to Sacramento, where he took a course in a business college. He then became oper- ator at the power station for the Pacific Gas & Elec- tric Company at Sacramento; later he went to Brem- erton, Wash., where he was employed as an electri- cian and helped to rewire the battleships Tennessee, Colorado and Pennsylvania. Once more he visited his old home in Nebraska and from there went to Schenectady, N. Y., where he worked in the testing department of the General Electric Company; next he went to New York City, where he had charge of the testing department for the Third Avenue Rail- way Company, and then went to Toronto, Canada, and found employment with the Buick-McLaughlin Auto- mobile Company. Returning to California he helped lay 6,000,000 feet of conduit with wires in the city of Sacramento. He then returned East and was em- ployed by the Hudson Motor Company at Detroit.

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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 232

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