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 236

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 236

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Mr. Forbes is a live wire in the Chamber of Com- merce, and equally so in the newly-organized Lions Club, of which he is chairman of the executive com- mittee. He is also a most welcome member of the Masonic lodges.

FRANK FRANCESCONI .- A well-known citizen and prosperous business man of Stockton, Frank Francesconi is the owner and proprietor of a grocery and soft drink establishment located at 204 West Main Street. He has lived in this state since 1903, and during these nineteen years has gained an honorable and substantial place for himself in the business life of the city of Stockton. He was born in Lucca, Italy, July 6, 1880, where his father, Guiseppi Francesconi, was engaged in general contracting; he had married Carolina Marsili, and they had six children, of whom Frank is the oldest. He received his education in the local schools, after which he assisted his father until twenty-three years old. Then in 1903 he came to the United States and settled in Portland, Ore., where he remained for one year, working for wages; then he removed to San Francisco and worked there until 1906, when he settled in Stockton and found employment in the cannery of the California Fruit Association, now the California Packing Corporation. His first independent business venture was the pur- chase of the Hotel De Italia, at the corner of El Dorado and Lafayette streets, which he conducted for three years with success; then he purchased the Roma Liquor store on South El Dorado Street, with Dave Battilana and A. Massi as partners. After seven years in this business he sold out his interest and bought a building on the corner of Pilgrim and Hazelton streets, and there he and his wife conducted a grocery store for a number of years. In 1921 he was burned out and he immediately rebuilt the corner with store and flats at a cost of $15,000, which he now rents. About four years ago he bought his present place of business at 204 West Main Street; and here, in con- junction with his grocery store, he conducts a soft drinks parlor.

The marriage of Mr. Francesconi united him with Miss Theresa Mori, a native of Jackson, Cal., and they are the parents of one son, Joseph. In 1913 Mr. Francesconi and his family visited the old home in Italy, the trip covering a period of eleven months. Mr. Francesconi in partnership with Nick Copello, G. B. Garibotto and G. B. Puppo have just completed a $60,000 apartment house located at the corner of Cali- fornia and Lafayette streets. Mr. Francesconi also

owns other valuable real estate, including two resi- dences at Hazelton and Pilgrim streets. Coming to the West early in manhood and with very little capi- tal he has taken advantage of his opportunities and has met with gratifying success. Fraternally he is a member of the Italian Club, the Eagles and Moose of Stockton.

HENRY SIDNEY FRENCH .- As field inspector of the grading, packing and standardization of fruit shipments for the Woodbridge Fruit Company, Henry Sidney French has demonstrated his enterprise and capability and his expert knowledge along this line is the means of putting on the market a better quality of fruit, thus enabling the company to command better prices and the public to receive better fruit. He was born at Sunol, Cal., November 19, 1883, a son of Henry Lathrop and Carrie (Ballard) French, the former a native of Fayette, Iowa, and the latter of Niles, Mich. Henry Lathrop French was an educator and taught in various places throughout the East and in the early sixties came to California, and at San Jose, April 28, 1881, was married. In 1890 he removed with his family to Corvallis, Ore., and engaged in the orchard business until his death at the age of fifty- two years, June 20, 1910. There were ten children in the family: Margaret resides in Portland, Ore .; Henry Sidney, the subject of this sketch; James re- sides at Dallas, Ore .; Charles A. is a graduate of the Agricultural College of the University of Oregon and at present is a Lieut .- Colonel in the Regular Army stationed in Honolulu; Anna, deceased; Frank L. re- sides in the state of Washington; Phoebe, Mrs. George Steffey, also resides in Washington; Ernest L. is a contractor and builder in Lodi; Susan, Mrs. Carl Moore, resides in Portland, Ore .; and Louis Van Roe resides in San Jose, Cal. The mother resides in Lodi.

Henry Sidney French began his education in the grammar school in Corvallis, and after finishing the grade work entered the high school, majoring in hor- ticultural lines, then entered the agricultural school; however, before finishing, he took up display adver- tising, using the natural farm products to make the picture displays. In 1905 he was awarded the blue ribbon for his display at the Lewis and Clark . Expo- sition at Portland, Ore., and he has the record of six blue ribbons for seven years running for the best county displays in that state.

On January 11, 1912, at Corvallis, Ore., Mr. French was married to Miss Angel Marie Jacobsen, born in Chicago and daughter of Peter Jacobsen, a native of Denmark. Peter Jacobsen left his native country for America and settled in Chicago, where he conducted a store for many years, then removed to Jackson, Minn., where he became a farmer, also had extensive city interests; he is now living retired at Lodi. Pre- vious to her marriage, Mrs. French was head fitter in a large dressmaking establishment in Chicago, and while on a visit to her aunt, who lives in Corvallis, Ore., met Mr. French. They are the parents of four children: Marie Carolyn, Henry Sidney, Jr., Richard Lathrop and Robert Howard. Immediately after his marriage Mr. French took charge of a large fruit and dairy ranch on the Willamette River, where he re- mained for one year; then he became the inspector for the Willamette Valley Fruit Growers' Association for a period of three years; at the same time having charge of the Marion County exhibits at the state fairs. He was then employed by the Government as

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

investigator in the Bureau of Markets of the Western Department, covering the northwest territory, which position he held for one year; in the fall of 1918 he removed to Sacramento, Cal., and became associated with the California Fruit Exchange; then he was sent to Lodi as assistant manager for this organization. In 1919 he went into the brokerage business and the year following became associated with J. M. Posey in the real estate business, the firm being known as Posey, French & Company; this partnership only lasted eight months, when Mr. French became deputy county assessor for the Lodi district of the county. In the fall of 1921 he was deputized as a horticultural inspector under Mr. Ladd of Stockton; then he be- came field inspector for the Woodbridge Fruit Com- pany, to which position he devotes all his time and energy. At the same time he continues as deputy county assessor. The family reside at 130 North Cordier Street, Lodi.

JOSEPH LARRANAGA .- The owner and pro- prietor of the Taft Clothing Store located on South Hunter Street, Stockton, Joseph Larranaga is one of the city's progressive young business men. His advancement in the business world has been through his own efforts, and today he is enjoying a merited success. He was born in the Pyrenees Mountains of Spain on September 20, 1888, this portion of Spain being known as the sheep country on account of the thousands of sheep raised and pastured in the hill country. At the age of nineteen years, Mr. Larranaga left his native country and worked for about a year as a laborer on the Panama Canal. In 1908 he arrived in San Francisco and from there went to Klamath Falls, Ore., where he was engaged in construction work for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company; later he returned to California and worked for the Standard Oil Company at Richmond. On account of impaired health he gave up his position and went to Nevada where he worked as a sheep herder until 1911, when he again returned to California and direct to Stockton, where he herded sheep for F. Samnario, remaining in his employ for a year. He then found employment with L. Bacigalupi, proprietor of the Taft Clothing Company, and on July 1, 1922, became one of the owners, his partner being Bacilio Aldunate. They have a large and commodious store building on South Hunter Street and carry a full and com- plete line of men's clothing, the business steadily in- creasing in volume month by month.

The marriage of Mr. Larranaga united him with Miss Pilar Aldunate, also a native of Spain, and they are the parents of two children, Trinidad and Marie Beatrice. Fraternally Mr. Larranaga is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men and the Spanish Benevolent Association of San Francisco. In matters of public concern he is progressive and is the support- er of any movements which benefit the community.

ROBERT LAUDENBACH .- A representative San Joaquin County rancher whose steady, substan- tial success has marked the progress of agriculture in this favored section is Robert Laudenbach, who was born near Atlanta, in San Joaquin County, on Octo- ber 24, 1872, the son of Henry and Barbara (Becker) Laundenbach. His father was born in Hesse-Castle, Germany, as was his mother, who came from Graven- hausen, in the Rhine section of Germany what was called Rhein Beyern; the former was an emigrant to 98

the United States in 1852, when he crossed the ocean, came inland to Kentucky, and settled at Louisville. There, being a cooper, he worked at his trade for a short time, and then he came to St. Louis, Mo., pro- ceeding from there to New Orleans, where he again worked at his trade.

In 1854, Henry Laudenbach, stirred by the reports from the new gold country, came on to California, by way of the Isthmian route, landing at San Fran- cisco; and from there he went directly to the mines on the Sacramento River, and at Placerville, follow- ing mining for the next four years. He then came into San Joaquin County in 1858 and settled at At- lanta, and he purchased a half-section of very sandy soil, which he farmed until 1875, when he sold out and moved to a point northeast of Stockton. There he settled what was known as the Murray ranch, of 200 acres, which he leased for eight years. He next purchased the ranch where our subject now resides, locally called the old Nelson rancho, situate four miles from Stockton on the Waterloo Road, and consist- ing of 300 acres, which he farmed for many years, or up to the time of his death in 1912, aged eighty- one years. Of these original 300 acres, 100 have been sold off, and the balance has been so divided that our subject now owns. ninety acres, which are devoted to grain farming.

Six children made up the family of Mr. and Mrs. Laudenbach, and Mary, the present Mrs. Renner, was the eldest in the group and lives in Stockton. Fred and George are in Stockton; Robert, Eda and Henry W. The mother died in 1898. Robert attended the grammar school of the August district, where he had a solid preparation for the duties of life. Except for four years spent on a grain farm of 240 acres located farther out, on the Linden Road, he has al- ways lived on the old place, which has a house which was there when his father moved onto the farm, and which is said to be at least fifty years old. Mr. Laudenbach finds his social pleasures largely in the congenial circle of Iroquois Tribe No. 35 of the Red Men of Stockton. He has been twelve years a trustee of the August school district; independent in politics, he tries to vote only for the best men and the most approved measures.

J. LOUIS PERRIN .- A valuable farmstead of seventy-seven acres, situated about six miles south- west of Lodi, is the property of J. Louis Perrin, who is extensively and successfully engaged in viticulture and seed growing. Mr. Perrin is thoroughly progres- sive and up-to-date in his agricultural enterprises, and is considered among the prosperous and influen- tial men in the San Joaquin Valley. He was born in Bottineau County, N. D., March 2, 1893, a son of Henry and Mary (Cota) Perrin, the former a native of Quebec, Canada, and the latter of Massachusetts.

J. Louis Perrin, the second eldest in a family of twelve children, received his first schooling in the district schools of his native county and was eleven years of age when his parents removed to Mountain Home, Idaho, and he continued his studies there during their two years' residence. The family then removed to Lodi in 1906, where the father bought a thirty-acre tract of land and our subject attended the Salem and Emerson schoo's in Lodi. Louis helped his father run the ranch until 1912, when he leased

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

On November 3, 1915, in Lodi, Mr. Perrin was married to Miss Mary C. Bround, a daughter of Jacob and Johannah (Stewart) Bround. Mrs. Perrin was born in Morrow County, Ore., but received her education in the Salem and Lafayette schools of Lodi. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Perrin resided on the 160-acre Bround ranch, known as the Stratton ranch, which Mr. Bround purchased prior to his demise. In 1920 Mr. Perrin purchased a seventy- seven-acre ranch south of Kingdon, twenty-seven acres of which is set to grapes of the Tokay, Mission and Zinfandel varieties. The balance of this ranch is operated by him as a seed farm, on which was a fine stand of vegetable seeds in 1922. Mr. Perrin is a Republican, and fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America at Lodi.

FRED GRIEVES PERROTT .- A member of the Lodi Union high school board, who is highly es- teemed because of his pronounced stand in favor of better facilities for popular education, is Fred Grieves Perrott, the vineyardist of Woodbridge, who has eighty acres of fine land. He was born on the home ranch in 1866, the son of John Perrott, a native of London, England, who had married Miss Anne Jane Grieves, a native of Massachusetts. Although born in England, his father was really of Irish descent, and coming to California in the famous year of the Argonauts, he went to the mines along the Moke- lumne River. He had reached California by way of the Isthmus Route but, having returned East, he came out to California again about 1853, this time traversing the great plains. Soon after their arrival here, the eldest son, James, was born, now residing at Stockton. George, the second in the family of eight, died when he was thirty-seven years old. John lives at Lodi; Ellen passed away in her twelfth year; Belle is now Mrs. Leckebusch, and lives on the old home ranch; Frank lives at Woodbridge; our subject was the seventh child; Emma has become Mrs. Smith of Oroville.

Fred Perrott attended the grammar school at Woodbridge, and then went to the San Joaquin Valley College at the same place. After his school days were over, Mr. Perrott took work with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. He spent two years at Hanford and two years at Lodi, and there he was assistant agent.

At Woodland, on October 25, 1895, Mr. Perrott was married to Miss Mamie Bourland, who was born near Stockton, the daughter of F. L. and Emma Bourland, both early settlers in California. Mrs. Perrott had also attended the San Joaquin Valley College. After their fortunate marriage, Mr. Perrott leased his father's ranch for a short time, until his father divided that part of his estate among his sev- cral children, when our subject received some eighty acres as his share. About 1905 his mother died, and four years later the elder Mr. Perrott followed his devoted wife to the grave, aged seventy-five years. These eighty inherited acres were devoted to wheat, but Mr. Perrott gradually converted the land to vineyard purposes, all under irrigation. A Republican in national political affairs, Mr. Perrott has been on the Lodi Union high school board since the new high school was built in 1912. From 1911 to 1919 he served under J. W. Moore as deputy county assessor for the Woodbridge district.

Mr. and Mrs. Perrott have a family of three chil- dren, Margaret, Mildred and Fred. He is a member

and a past grand of Woodbridge Lodge No. 98, I. O. O. F., and his father was also an Odd Fellow,. and in 1879 served as the noble grand of the lodge. Mr. Perrott was made a Mason in Woodbridge Lodge No. 131, of which he is a past master. He belongs, to the Rebekahs, and Mrs. Perrott also is an active member, and of the Eastern Star, and is a past noble grand of the Rebekah Lodge. Mr. Per- rott years ago enjoyed popularity as a professional baseball player, and as one of the pioneers of the national game, he will go down in history. From 1885 to 1890 he played professional baseball and in 1890 was pitcher for the Stockton club of the Califor- nia League. That year Sacramento won the pennant, the clubs of Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento and Stockton making up the organization.

OSELLUS POOL .- An excellent representative of the agricultural element and the public-spirited citi- zenship of San Joaquin County is found in Osellus Pool, who has been a resident of the Lodi section since 1904. He was born at Williamsburg, Ohio, on November 25, 1862, a son of John and Sarah (Allen) Pool, natives of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, re- spectively. The father, John Pool, was a farmer in Ohio and passed away in 1915, at the age of eighty- two years, and in 1919 the mother passed away. They were the parents of eight children, Osellus being the second.

Osellus Pool in boyhood was obliged to assist with the farm work, consequently had little opportunity to attend school. When he was twenty years old he went to Franklin County, Neb., where he worked for wages for a number of years. He then rented a quarter-section of land for a year, and decided to purchase it.

At Upland, Neb., on November 24, 1887, Mr. Pool was united in marriage with Miss Cora B. Griswold, a native of Towanda, Pa., and the eldest of the four children of Charles A. and Martha M. (Arnout) Gris- wold, natives of New York and Pennsylvania. Her father was a veteran of the Civil War, having served in the Ninth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, and he and his wife.are residents of Lodi. Cora Griswold is the eldest of a family of four children. Mrs. Pool received her education in the Franklin County, Neb., schools and was reared on a farm in that vicinity. Mr. and Mrs. Pool resided in Nebraska seventeen years, during which time he farmed his quarter sec- tion and was active in the development of his district, where he was a school director for many years. They are the parents of eight children: Rosa Belle died December 2, 1908, at the age of twenty years; Carrie M., Mrs. J. E. Baker of Lodi, has two sons-Robert and Harold; Edith G., Mrs. Dr. W. C. Adams, of Oakland had three children-Clarice, deceased, Wal- ter, Jr., and Doris; Frances A., Mrs. Lawrence F. Hosmer of Lodi; Robert E .; Charles A., deceased; Edna B., the wife of Alvin H. Pelton, and Allen G., at home with his parents. Robert Pool enlisted on May 3, 1917, in the U. S. Navy and from May until February was at Goat Island; then was sent to the University of Minnesota and attended the Hospital Corps School at Minneapolis; then was sent to Norfolk, Va., and placed on the transport Martha Washington, later transferred to the transport Arcadia. He made eleven trips across the Atlantic Ocean Ocean as a member of the hospital corps of the transport. At one time, during the influenza epidemic, there were 400 cases

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

of the disease on board the ship. He was discharged as a pharmacist's mate, first class.

Arriving in California in 1904, Osellus Pool pur- chased twenty acres just off the Kettleman Lane, about two miles southeast of Lodi, ten acres of which was in vineyard and the balance unimproved. He set six acres to vineyard, one acre to alfalfa, one acre to orchard, and the balance was used for build- ing space. Here he erected a fine, two-story house and ample outbuildings, and has installed a fine irri- gation system. Mr. Pool has always been most keenly interested in educational affairs; he and his wife are both stanch Republicans and are active members of the Congregational Church of Lodi.

CHARLES A. POSEY .- As a representative of the best interests of San Joaquin County from the standpoint of public-spirited citizenship and useful activity in agricultural affairs, Charles A. Posey is well known and esteemed in his community. He is a native son of San Joaquin County, having been born west of Lodi on the old Dunbar ranch, known today as the Posey ranch. His parents, John M. and Lena Posey, are also represented in this work. Charles A. attended the Turner district school and the Lodi high school. His first experience at farming on his own responsibility was when he leased a portion of his father's place, which he farmed for five years; then in partnership with his father, he purchased a forty-acre vineyard. In 1920 he built a fine, modern residence on his ranch, which is located seven miles west of Lodi.

On January 1, 1912, Mr. Posey was married to Miss Norma Stannard, also a native of San Joaquin County, a daughter of H. B. and May (Carlton) Stannard. Her father conducted a stationery store in Lodi until his death two years ago; her mother is still living, and she has one sister, Mildred. Mrs. Posey received her education in the grammar and high schools of Lodi. Mr. and Mrs. Posey are the parents of two sons, Charles De Force and James Carlton. Mr. Posey was employed by the Earl Fruit Company for one year, then became identified with the Posey Land Company of Lodi in the buying and selling of lands throughout Central California. In politics he is a Republican and fraternally is a mem- ber of the N. S. G. W. of Lodi. Having spent his entire life in this locality, he is well known and is popular with many friends, because he has displayed in his life the qualities which command regard.

JOHN EVERT POSEY .- A substantial citizen and prosperous farmer of the younger generation, John Evert Posey is a practical and successful man of affairs. He was born on his father's ranch six miles west of Lodi, Cal., August 3, 1897, a son of John M. and Lena M. (Stimpson) Posey, worthy pioneers of San Joaquin County. John Evert Posey received his education in the Turner district school and the Lodi high school, and his earliest recollections are of the old home farm, where he was trained in the work of the ranch, thus fitting him for the responsibilities that came to him later. He has always been in part- nership with his father in the extensive ranch hold- ings; one forty-acre ranch about seven miles from Lodi on the Harshner Road has been set to young vineyard, and Mr. Posey resides on a fifty-acre ranch on the same road, which is a producing vineyard, in- terset with plums, cherries and pears; this ranch has two pumping plants, while the forty-acre ranch is under the Stockton-Mokelumne irrigation system. In

October, 1918, he entered the U. S. Army and was sent to Fort Rosecrans, at San Diego, Cal., serving in the 25th Coast Artillery Corps until his discharge. December 21, 1918.

On April 23, 1919, at Lodi, Mr. Posey was mar- ried to Miss Myrtle Rond, a daughter of Nick and Jessie Rond. She was two years old when her par- ents came to California, and she received her educa- tion at the Ray district school in the vicinity of her father's farm in San Joaquin County. Her father is a well-to-do farmer on the Sargent Road west of Lodi. Mr. and Mrs. Posey are the parents of one child, Generose. Mr. Posey is a public-spirited citi- zen, a friend of schools and all enterprises for the public good, and has been able to make his influence felt for progress in all his relations with business and civic affairs; and in politics he is a Republican.

RALPH J. POST .- For the past two years Ralph J. Post has been assistant manager of the Wood- bridge Fruit Company, and has been so capable in this position that the business of the company has been continuously growing. Mr. Post is also actively interested in grape culture, owning twenty-five acres in San Joaquin County and forty acres near Herald, Sacramento County, the entire acreage being devoted to vineyard. He was born in San Joaquin County on his father's ranch east of Stockton on the Copper- opolis Road, November 25, 1892, a son of Frank H. and Cora Belle (Ralph) Post, both natives of Cali- fornia. His paternal grandfather came to California as early as 1848. The father passed away at the age of fifty years, while the mother is still living.

Ralph J. Post attended the Live Oak district school, the Salem school in Lodi and the Stockton high school; later he took a business course in Stockton. and at the age of eighteen years he became a paying teller in the First National Bank of Lodi, where he remained for seven years. He then resigned to be- come cashier of the Bank of Galt, a position he filled with efficiency for two years. He then purchased his twenty-five-acre ranch, which is in young vineyard, and both this and his forty-acre vineyard in Sacra- mento County are well irrigated. Mr. Post is a mem- ber of the Rio . Oso Fruit Company, with headquar- ters at Wheatland, Cal., and acts as secretary of the company; he is also a stockholder in the Citizens National Bank of Lodi.

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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 236

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