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 238

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 238

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This worthy pioneer couple were blessed with five children, Melinda being the third oldest and the only one now living. Her education was completed at Mrs. Cooper's Academy, Sonora, and there she grew to womanhood. She had an aunt residing in Virginia City and while visiting her she met Mr. Charles Hild, the acquaintance resulting in their marriage in 1875. Mr. Hild was born in Alsace-Lorraine of the promi- nent family of Von Hild, but his father dropped the title. Charles came to New York City, when a boy of ten years and there received his education in the public schools. In 1872 he came to California and was a successful traveling salesman for barbers' sup- plies, traveling over different portions of the state until his death in San Francisco in December 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Hild had five children. Susan is Mrs. Pardee of Merced; Josephine is Mrs. Scally; William is an electrician; Maud is Mrs. Kennedy, of Stockton; Pearl is dead. In 1897 Mrs. Hild purchased the resi- dence in Stockton, where she has since resided, sur- rounded by her children and numerous friends. She is not only a native daughter but is now one of the pioneers of the state. She is a member of St. Gert- rude's Church and politically, like her pioneer father, she is a Democrat.

JOSEPH P. CUNDELL .- A business man of practical and progressive ideas, the late Joseph P. Cundell was well equipped by years of experience in the dairy business and took an active interest along these lines in San Joaquin County as the manager of the Stockton Dairy Product Distributing Company, a branch of the California Central Creamery Com- pany. He was born in Butler County, Kans., on March 24, 1885, on his father's farm, where he re- mained until he was eighteen years of age; then he found employment with R. H. Hazlett of Eldorado, Kans., a large breeder of thoroughbred Hereford cattle; after three years he removed to Independence. Mo., and entered the employ of Gudgell & Simpson, the leading breeders of thoroughbred Hereford cattle in the United States, and was in charge of 1,000 head of cattle. In 1911, he removed to Honolulu and be- came the manager for an 80,000-acre cattle and sheep ranch. In 1915, he located in San Joaquin County and purchased fifty acres of the old Sa'mon ranch on the French Camp Road near Stockton. This he de- veloped into a first-class dairy and alfalfa ranch, having a herd of thirty milch cows. He was a mem- ber of the advisory committee of the Milk Producers Association of Central California, Stockton branch, and in the summer of 12I was made manager of the local Stockton branch, established som fai Fer ago. As a member of the executive committee of the air department of the San loggain Count: Tip Bureau, Mr. Cundell contributed progressive plans

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and experience, and he is considered an authority on the subject of milk products, and dairy management.

Mr. Cundell's marriage united him with Miss Ethel Higinbotham, a native of Kansas, and they were the parents of four children: Lois and Ruth are twins, born in Honolulu; Robert and Karma are native Cal- ifornians. Fraternally he was a member of the Ma- sonic Blue Lodge No. 181, of Lenora, Kans. Mr. Cundell passed away on August 26, 1922, at the Dameron Hospital in Stockton and was buried in Park View Cemetery.

CHARLES G. DELMEGE .- Among the ranchers of San Joaquin County who, by strict attention to business have 'been able to retire from active work, is Charles G. Delmege of Stockton. He was born in Bristol, Kendall County, Ill., on November 22, 1846, and at the age of seventeen, in company with two schoolmates, ran away from home and enlisted for service in the Civil War; he also had two brothers who served in the army, one enlisting in 1861, and all served in the same company. On February 10, 1864, he enlisted under Capt. F. W. Sowerby in Com- pany H of the Ninth Illinois Cavalry in command of Col. A. G. Brackett, with General Hatch as division commander, the brigade known as Hatch's cavalry. Three days after joining his regiment he was under fire with the Army of the Tennessee, being engaged against Forrest until ordered to cross the river to fight General Hood's army. The only two battles he was in were Franklin and Nashville. While engaged against Hood the army was under command of Gen. Schofield; later was under Gen. Thomas; although in active service all the time, he came out without a scratch. His service continued until October 31, 1865, when he was mustered out, and then returned to his home in Illinois. In 1867, removing to Iowa, he bought a farm near Afton, consisting of eighty acres; his father and one of his brothers also owned farms in that location. He spent twelve years on his place, which was devoted to the raising of grain, then he re- moved to Denver, Colo., and became interested in politics. He was appointed by the mayor and served four years as a member of the police department, and then for two years was city jailer. On account of a change in administration Mr. Delmege left the employ of the police department, and at the current election worked for a particular candidate for county sheriff, who was elected and who, in appreciation for services rendered, appointed Mr. Delmege county jailer, serving two years. Trading his Denver prop- erty for a farm, he then went to Boulder, Colo., farming near there for four years, then resided in Boulder for two years. In the fall of 1899 he was sent to Des Moines as state agent for the Anchor Mutual Fire Insurance Company, being appointed by his brother, who was president of the company; then he was in the lumber business for two years at Larimore, Iowa, and was also interested in the real estate business there. From Iowa he removed to Knox, N. D., and went into the real estate business, and while residing there took up government land, which he farmed for four years; then in 1906 he came to California and bought a ten-acre tract of land at Manteca, which he planted to wine grapes. While his vines were maturing he conducted a poultry busi- ness, and after twelve years sold out and moved to Stockton, where he has since resided.

The marriage of Mr. Delmege occurred at Afton, Iowa, on November 8, 1870, and united him with

Miss Amanda Keating, a native of Ohio, and they are the parents of two sons: Clarence A., of Sheridan, Wyo., is married and has three girls, one of whom has a daughter; and Louie J. is married and lives at Manteca. Mr. Delmege is past commander of Rawlins Post No. 23, G. A. R., of Stockton, while Mrs. Delmege is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps and the Ladies' Circle of the G. A. R., and during the World War was an active Red Cross worker. Both Mr. and Mrs. 'Delmege attend the Christian Science Church of Stockton.

JAY P. COWEN .- A native of Illinois, Jay P. Cowen has been a resident of California since his seventh year. He was born at Quincy, January 7, 1872, and in 1879 came with his parents to Oakland, Cal., where he received his education. At the age of sixteen he started to learn the baker's trade with Bowles & Wilson at San Jose, and from that time he has been engaged in this business. He first worked in different parts of the state, then in 1907 located in Tracy and opened a bakery of his own, on a capital of $150, which he had borrowed. Later he came to Stockton, built an oven and conducted the Independent Bakery on Fair Oaks avenue, and when he sold this out in 1917 he went to Vacaville, and then to Chico; in each he had a bakery. On his re- turn to Stockton in the fall of 1919, he bought out the Polly Ann Bakery, and here he has built up a splendid business, both wholesale and retail; he has made many improvements in the plant, installing modern machinery, and now has a capacity of 3,000 loaves per day, his products being very popular.

At San Francisco, Mr. Cowen was married to Mrs. Susie (Tripp) Brown, born in Massachusetts, and they are the parents of five children: Harold L., who was born in San Jose, October 26, 1891, attended the Fremont and Lafayette schools at Stockton, after the family removed here. He first went to work as a clerk in Hall Bros. grocery, then was with his father in the bakery, and since 1919 he has been a partner in the business. Ralph and Ray, twins, are also associated with their father; the two youngest members of the family are Sadie and Grace. Mr. Cowen is a member of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants Association, and in every way tries to aid all movements for the building up of the city and county in which he has spent the greater and successful portion of his business career.

LOUIS DE FERRARI .- Among the progressive pioneer merchants of Stockton in Louis De Ferrari, who was born near Genoa, Italy, on August 18, 1848, and at the age of four years was brought to America by his parents, who located in New York City. There Louis attended school and learned the trade of shoe- maker, which occupied his time until August 20, 1868, when he arrived in San Francisco and plied his trade there for the next five years. During February of 1873 he removed to Stockton and opened a shop of his own on Center Street; later he worked for John Feley as shoemaker, then became interested in a restaurant on Weber avenue near Eldorado street, these various occupations covering a period of four years. In 1877 he became the proprietor of the American Exchange Hotel on Center street and in 1880 bought the southeast corner of Center and La- fayette streets and erected the Garibaldi Hotel; with his wife he conducted this hotel until 1893, when he sold the business, but retained the building. For the

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next sixteen years he was engaged in various kinds of business, in which he prospered. In 1909 a part- nership was formed with John Ghiglieri and together they purchased the clothing store owned by Joe Ca- purro, now called the Plaza Clothing Store, at the corner of Main and Eldorado streets. The business has steadily increased under their management until it has reached a satisfactory and lucrative stage.

Mr. De Ferrari's marriage united him on January 29, 1871, in San Francisco, to Miss Catherine Car- sasa, a native of Italy, and they became the parents of two daughters: Eda is the wife of John Ghiglieri and they have two children, Louis and Elvina; El- vina De Ferrari, the other daughter, passed away at the age of twenty-four years. The happy couple cele- brated their fiftieth wedding anniversary on January 29, 1921, surrounded by their family and friends. In 1875, Mr. De Ferrari joined the old Volunteer Fire Department and was, for many years, a member of the Eureka Engine company; he is now a member of the Exempt Firemen's Association. Fraternally he is a member of the Italian branch of the Foresters of America, Stockton Lodge of Odd Fellows, and the Druids.

ELBERT ALLEN COVELL .- Prominent among the well-to-do citizens of Woodbridge is Elbert Allen Covell, a native of San Leandro, Alameda County, where he was born on February 5, 1874. His father, Allen T. Covell, came to California in 1856 from New York state; he was a carpenter by trade, but like thousands of others at that time, he joined the rush to the mines. He did not follow mining long, how- ever, but turned to civil engineering, and in 1876 re- moved to Fresno County, where he helped to lay out and establish the Washington Irrigated Colony. In 1888, he came to Woodbridge, where he acquired land, which in time he set out as a vineyard. Allen T. Covell lived to be eighty-two years old; his de- voted wife, who was Mary Elizabeth Sherwin before her marriage, reached her sixtieth year. They had four children, three boys and a girl.

Elbert Allen Covell attended the Woodbridge com- mon school, and afterwards was a student at the San Joaquin Valley College. When he was old enough to do so, he took up farm work, taking charge of a portion of the vineyard which his father had set out; while his brother, George F., also took over a part of the vineyard ranch. The whole property consisted of 160 acres. Today Mr. Covell owns thirty choice acres set out to Tokay grapes, west of the town, and this trim little farm is well irrigated. He and his brother together own a ranch of 270 acres in Stanis- laus County, between Salida and Modesto, mostly set out to vineyard.

At Stockton, on August 3, 1904, Mr. Covell was married to Miss Florence McMurtry, the daughter of Lewis C. McMurtry. She was born in Gold Hill, Nev. Her father, a well-known hotel man, came to Woodbridge when she was a little girl, and here she was reared and educated. Mr. Covell was made a Mason in Woodbridge Lodge No. 131, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master. He is a member of Stockton Chapter No. 28, R. A. M .; Stockton Com- mandery No. 8, K. T .; and Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco; and with his wife he is a member of Woodbridge Chapter No. 118, O. E. S., of which he is a past patron and Mrs. Covell is a past matron. In 1922 Mr. and Mrs. Covell made a

four-month trip to Europe, visiting England, Scot- land and the Continent.

LOUIE J. DELMEGE .- A pioneer merchant who has had much to do with the development of im- portant commercial and realty interests in San Joa- quin County is Louie J. Delmege, of the Delmege Realty Company at Manteca. He was born in Den- ver, Colo., on September 30, 1886, and grew up to enjoy a good common school and business education acquired while he lived in Colorado, Iowa and North Dakota, prior to coming to California. He was as- sistant station agent at Knox, N. D., and it was there that he saw some stray copies of the Sunset Maga- zine and read of the superior attractions of the Gol- den State. In 1905 he removed with his family to the Coast, and immediately invested in a ranch two and one-half miles east of Manteca, which he later developed into a fine vineyard. Forty dollars per acre was considered very reasonable in those days for raw land, but today that type of farm-tract can- not be bought for less than $400 per acre, due for the most part to the productivity resulting from irriga- tion. Mr. Delmege has never lost a whit of his en- thusiastic devotion to Manteca, which he character- izes as the one city in this valley which is four-sided, -that is, it is bounded on all sides by fertile lands and highly-productive ranches.

One of the first important events in the early his- tory of Manteca was the establishing of "The Tog- gery," a first-class men's furnishing store on Yose- mite avenue, stocked and opened by Mr. Delmege, who had a partner, J. J. Rawleigh. They began in 1909, and were active and successful together for nine years, or until 1918, when Mr. Delmege disposed of his share of the concern. The following year he es- tablished the Delmege Realty Company, with an of- fice at the corner of Vine and Yosemite streets. There he conducts a real estate and insurance busi- ness, operating strictly according to modern business methods. He has important interests in various real estate and ranch-holdings in or near Manteca; is a member of the State Realty Board of California; and belongs to the Chamber of Commerce of Man- teca, in which he is also a live wire.

At Stockton, in 1911, Mr. Delmege was married to Miss Jessie Ruby, the accomplished daughter of Mrs. H. E. Ruby, who now resides at Manteca, at the home of her daughter. Mr. Delmege is a Republi- can, and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

HERMAN O. PARKINSON .- As the live wire librarian of the Stockton public library, H. O. Park- inson has waked up many people to the fact that a library isn't meant only for book-worms, and he has shown them that real, red-blooded folks can make more money and get more joy out of life through books. He was born in Taunton, Mass., on Febru- ary 3, 1891, and as a lad attended the public schools at Waltham, Mass .; later he was graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree of A. B. with the class of 1913. After his graduation he then attended the New York State Library School at Albany; then became an assistant in the public library at Brook- lyn, N. Y., and occupied the same position in the Newark, N. J. public library.

During September of 1920 he was appointed to the position of librarian of the Stockton public library and by eficient supervising br h. itout of .

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circulation for the year 1921-22 over the preceding year 86,000 volumes. He has also introduced better methods of charging books and magazines, and has taken off the restriction on the number that can be borrowed at one time, and no longer requires that an adult have a guarantor in order to secure a card. He is president of the Fifth District, including ten coun- ties, of the California Library Association.

The marriage of Mr. Parkinson united him with Miss Constance Dyer. During the World War Mr. Parkinson joined the ambulance corps attached to the French army and saw service overseas for eigh- teen months. Both Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson are active members of the Congregational Church of Stockton, and his fine tenor voice is heard to advan- tage in the church choir. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Stockton and is the editor of the little monthly paper of that organization, the Stock- tarian. Mr. Parkinson's favorite sport is handball, and instead of poring over books most of the time, as many people imagine a librarian does, he hustles over to the Y. M. C. A. after work and makes some of the "boys" step around the handball court at a rapid rate.

JAMES L. PEARSON .- A native son of Califor- nia, James L. Pearson was thrown upon his own re- sources when only thirteen years of age, and through the years has overcome many obstacles and discour- agements, until he now occupies the responsible posi- tion of superintendent of the Charles Lamb estate of 1,330 acres, two miles west of Thornton. He was born at Fort Jones, Cal., September 21, 1884, a son of James and Rosetta (Bramson) Pearson. His father served during the Civil War in the Ninth Kan- sas Cavalry; and in 1866 he came to California, first settling in Shasta County, where he operated a saw- mill. Later he removed to Siskiyou County, where he purchased a stock ranch; and at one time he owned 2,000 acres of range land, and was an extensive stock owner. When James L. Pearson was a young lad, he had the misfortune to lose his mother, and sub- sequently his father married again. James L. is one of a family of seven children: Joseph, Alice, Thomas, Lincoln, James L., David, and Frank, the last two being deceased. The father also reared a family by his second wife. He lived to be seventy years old.

James L. Pearson was denied the privilege of a thorough education; but practical experience is a thorough teacher, whose lessons are never to be for- gotten, and the success and prosperity that Mr. Pear- son is enjoying have been acquired through his own efforts. He worked for wages on various ranches near Stockton and Lodi, and then became superin- tendent of the Charles Lamb estate, which is a grain and bean farm of 1,330 acres, two miles west of Thornton, owned by Mrs. Mary Lamb of Stockton.

The marriage of Mr. Pearson occurred at Stockton, on February 26, 1904, and united him with Miss Min- nic Peck, born at Acampo, Cal., a daughter of Na- thaniel and Mary Peck. Her father was a native of Texas, who crossed the plains to California with an ox-team in the early days and settled at Acampo, where he farmed in the Telegraph school district; and there his daughter, Minnie, received her educa- tion. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson are the parents of two children, Rosie Mac, deceased, and James Richard. Mr. Pearson is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West.

JOHN WESLEY PLATT .- A public official rep- resenting with exceptional ability the Federal Gov- ernment in San Joaquin County is John Wesley Platt, the postmaster at Manteca, who was appointed by President Harding on October 3, 1921, although he had been acting postmaster ever since the twenty- fourth of the preceding February. He was born at Berlin, 'Pa., on November 8, 1890, and in that town enjoyed the best educational advantages, being grad- uated from the Berlin high school in 1907. In Sep- tember of the same year he entered Ashland Univer- sity, at Ashland, Ohio, and for three years pursued the classical-divinity courses, when, for a while, his studies were interrupted. As a result, he did not graduate until 1912, when he received his B. E. de- gree, and was duly ordained in the Brethren Church. He had already taken up teaching, and he was oc- cupied as pastor of the Brethren Church at Cone- maugh, Cambria County, Pa., the next three years.

He next received a call from the Lathrop and Ripon charge in San Joaquin County, California, and early in 1913 came out to the Golden State. Two years ago he resigned this charge to devote himself entirely to the Manteca charge, which during the past nine years has grown steadily from a very small group of followers in the Brethren Church, and which for a while held its meetings in the grammar school building, or in such other places as could be conveniently secured. In November, 1921, the church was completed at Manteca, thanks to a large degree to Mrs. Nancy J. Salmon and Mrs. Emma Carlon, both venerable ladies of this county. The Sunday school, too, has grown steadily in proportion to the church, fortunate in continuing to have Mrs. Elliott as the superintendent. The pioneer church work to be done in this district has indicated an unworked field, and our subject has been only too glad to assist in the good cause.

Rev. John Wesley Platt has been active as a public servant, and he has witnessed the steady development of the educational, social and economic life of the people. He was elected pastor of the Brethren Church at Manteca in January, 1919, and besides car- rying on the work of his vocation, he has also become very active in local civic and business affairs. In 1914 he was employed as a rural mail carrier, when the postoffice was occupying a small room in the Wig- gins Hotel, now known as the Manteca Hotel; but three years later he resigned that position to become resident agent of the Great Republic Life Insurance Company. At the earnest solicitation of a goodly number of his fellow-citizens, Mr. Platt resumed postal work in February, 1921; and since then, under his able direction, the Manteca postoffice has entered the group of the second class, and has come to be housed in a modern, spacious building on Vine street. Mr. Platt also owns real estate and residence prop- erty in Manteca, for which he finds ready rental.

John Wesley Platt's paternal ancestors were of German birth, and as such they joined the early set- tlers of Philadelphia. On his mother's side, the Johns family were of Scotch-Irish extraction, and were living in Pennsylvania at the time of the Revo- lutionary War. He himself was the eldest of thir- teen children, ten of whom still survive. He was married at Ashland, Ohio, in 1909, to Miss Harriette Mathews, the only daughter of George B. Mathews, a pioneer of Ripon, and at that time a student at the University of Ashland, having been born near Ripon;

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and three children have blessed their union, Leland W., Enid R., and Alvar Bryce.

Just how important in the status of public officials in San Joaquin County Mr. Platt is, may be judged from the growing importance of the town which he serves. In 1910, Manteca had only eighty inhabi- tants; but since the introduction of irrigation and the consequent development of the country around the town, its progress has been rapid, as is evidenced by the fact that at Christmas, 1915, the population was 350, a year later, 570, and on May 1, 1917, there were close to 1.000 souls here. Located on the main line of the Southern Pacific railway and on the main San Joaquin Valley branch line of the Western Pacific railway, Manteca is the office town of the South San Joaquin Irrigation district of 71,000 acres and is the center of a body of 40,000 acres of deep, rich, sandy loam soil under the most dependable and effi- cient irrigation system in America. It has thus be- come the "payroll town," and an ever-increasing pos- tal business is daily transacted in the institution now directed by Mr. Platt, owing in part to the creamer- ies, canneries and packing houses.

CALIFORNIA PLATING WORKS .- One of the steadily expanding institutions of the Gateway City to the San Joaquin Valley is the California Plating Works, located at 148 West Fremont Street, Stock- ton. This industry was established in 1910 by Wil- liam A. Miller, who came to Stockton after years of experience in the plating trade throughout the United States, attracted by the many manufacturing and in- dustrial plants established in that city, which demon- strated that a substantial field existed for wide- awake enterprises. Today Mr. Miller has one of the most modernly-equipped plating works in California.

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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 238

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