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 240

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 240

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was owner of the Olympia Oyster Grotto, and in 1918 he purchased the business and his uncle returned to his old home in Greece.

On June 5, 1922, Mr. Trachiotis was united in mar- riage in Greece with Miss Athanasia Eiconomou, a daughter of Constantino and Helen (Radous) Eicon- omou, and the young couple returned to their Stock- ton home on September 1, 1922 Mr. Trachiotis re- ceived his U. S. citizenship papers and served in the Army in the cooks and bakers school as mess ser- geant at San Francisco; his service covered a period of eight months and he received his honorable dis- charge; he is now a member of the Karl Ross Post of the American Legion in Stockton and also the W. O. W. In April, 1921, Mr. Trachiotis organized the Hellenic Mutual Society, a Greek-American frater- nity, and served as its first president for one term; this society now has a membership of 120.

JOHN VERNON THOMPSON. - Since 1908 John Vernon Thompson has been actively identified with the agricultural interests of San Joaquin County, with the exception of three seasons spent in Alberta. He was born in Exeter, Ontario, December 27, 1868, a son of Smithson and Elizabeth (Wahn) Thompson, natives of Ontario and Germany respectively. The father was in the lumber business in Ontario, where he owned and conducted a sawmill until 1882, when he moved to Barnes County, N. D., where he preemp- ted a stock and timber claim of 480 acres. There were twelve children in the family: Caroline, Mrs. James Howden, deceased; Jennie, Mrs. William Howden re- sides in Tacoma, Wash .; Edward resides in Sanborn, N. D .: Alfred G. resides at Lodi; Anna, Mrs. Ben- jamin Howden, resides at Cooperstown, N. D .; John Vernon of this sketch; Millie, Mrs. Charles Reichard resides in Lodi; Minnie P., Mrs. Wheeler, resides at Porterville, Cal .; William H. resides at Carpio, N. D .; Clara May, Mrs. William Remick, resides at Lodi; Arthur A. resides at Ontario, Cal .; and James A. in Saskatchewan. Both parents are deceased, the father at the age of seventy-four and the mother at the age of fifty-seven.

John V. Thompson had very little opportunity for an early education as their home was located in the woods and schools were scarce in that section. He was fourteen years old when his parents located in North Dakota and there he attended the grammar school; later he attended three terms at the normal and business college at Dixon, Ill. Returning to his parents' home in North Dakota he was a teacher in the grammar schools of Barnes County for four years. In 1895 he made his first purchase of land, consist- ing of 160 acres of wheat land in Barnes County, N. D., adding to this from time to time until he owned 700 acres; this he farmed to wheat for thirteen years when he disposed of 320 acres and removed to Cali- fornia, arriving on January 1, 1908. He came direct to San Joaquin County and bought a thirteen-acre ranch on Kettleman Lane south of Lodi; this ranch was in a six year old vineyard and Mr. Thompson stayed there for two years when he sold it and went back to his native country, where he took up 640 acres of script land near Brooks, Alberta; he remained there for three seasons breaking the soil and putting in crops and proved up on a half section of this land. The call of California proved too inviting, however, and in 1913 he returned to Lodi, where he established in Lodi the Variety Bazaar on Oak Street, which he conducted for three years when he disposed of it. He

then purchased a business lot on School Street where he erected a store building which is leased by his successors to the Variety Bazaar.

On September 12, 1920, in Lodi, Mr. Thompson was married to Mrs. Myrtie (Green) Shattuck, born at Cambridge, Vt., a daughter of Julius Warner and Emily S. (Raymore) Green, both natives of Vermont. Her father owned a 270 acre farm in Vermont and engaged in general farming until 1908. He first came to Lodi, Cal., and since then has divided his time be- tween his old home and his city. The mother passed away in Lodi in June, 1920. Mrs. Thompson is the eldest of a family of four children and the only daugh- ter; her three brothers are Frank, J. W. Jr., and Pearl. Miss Myrtie Green was first married to Merton C. Shattuck on October 22, 1890, and in January 1907 they removed to California and purchased a vineyard near Lodi, but Mr. Shattuck was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his labors, for he passed away in 1909. In October, 1920 Mr. Thompson purchased forty-five acres one mile north of Acampo, thirty- seven acres of which is in vineyard and eight acres in a cherry orchard, a part of the old Peter Jahant ranch. In politics, Mr. Thompson is a Republican and fraternally he was made a Mason in Sanborn Lodge, No. 14, A. F. & A. M., and is also a member of the Royal Arch of Valley City, N. D. He is now a member of Lodi Lodge. Mrs. Thompson is a past matron of Harmony Chapter, O. E. S., of East Fair- field, Vt., and is a member of the Lodi Woman's Club.

LAWRENCE L. VENTRE .- Among the enter- prising business men of the younger generation may be found Lawrence L. Ventre, who is the secretary of the Monarch Foundry Company, as well as a director and stockholder. A native of Stockton, Cal., he was born on November 23, 1892, a son of Augus- tine and Caroline (Deveggio) Ventre, the former native of Italy and the latter of Angels Camp, Cala- veras County, Cal. His father was an early settler in Stockton, locating here some forty years ago; he bought land east of town and engaged in truck farm- ing for many years, this property now being within the city limits, and he still makes his home on a por- tion of this property. There are seven living children in the family.

Lawrence L. Ventre received his education in the Fair Oaks grammar school, the Stockton high school and Heald's Business College, where he took a com- mercial course. After finishing school, his first posi- tion was as a bookkeeper for the Cyclone Iron Works and during 1912 entered the employ of the Monarch Foundry Company, as stenographer and typist; four years later he became the secretary of the company and through good management and economy has be- come a stockholder and director of the company.

Mr. Ventre's marriage united him with Miss Kath- erine Fregulia, born in Jackson, Amador County, Cal., a descendant of a pioneer family, and they have one daughter, Lois Mae. Fraternally, Mr. Ventre is a member of the Stockton Elks, No. 218; past com- mander of the Maccabees; Stockton Lodge of Odd Fellows. He is a charter member of the Progressive Business Men's Club, now known as the Exchange Club, and was the seventh man to join the organi- zation. His ideas are of a progressive nattile and when called upon to support any measure for the betterment and advancement of his native city and county, he never fails to respond.

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FRED H. VILLINGER .- One of the best and most representative agriculturists in San Joaquin County, is Fred H. Villinger, residing on his ranch of 165 acres west of Lodi on the Perrott Road, which has been his home and the center of his operations since 1915. He was born in Santa Ana, Orange County, Cal., May 11, 1884, a son of Leon and Mary (McCoy) Villinger, the father born in San Joaquin County, the mother in Iowa. Grandfather Villinger was a native of Germany and his wife, who was Miss Mary Perchia, was a native of France. They came to California in 1850 and settled in San Joaquin County. The father, Leon Villinger, was married to Miss Mary McCoy in 1876; and they were the parents of six children, three of whom are living: Charles L., of Lodi; Fred H., our subject; and Mrs. Edith Ray, of Clements. The father was reared on his father's farm near Lodi, and for several years after his mar- riage farmed about two miles south of Lodi, after which he moved to Southern California and engaged in stockraising. In 1892 he returned to his native county and began grape culture with most gratifying success. He is residing at the present time in Lodi.

Fred H. Villinger began his early education in the Santa Ana and Covina district schools; then, when his parents returned to San Joaquin County, he at- tended the Salem grammar school in Lodi. He is to be considered among the self-made men of the county, for he was but seventeen years old when he started to make his own way. His first position was with the J. A. Anderson Fruit Company, and he was also with the Earl Fruit Company, of Lodi; then he con- cluded to take up agriculture on his own account, and during the subsequent years has prospered in all branches of this industry. After improving and dis- posing of two different ranches, he located on his present ranch of 165 acres, six miles west of Lodi, formerly known as the Keller ranch. Sixty acres of this ranch is in bearing vineyard, and Mr. Villinger has set out a young vineyard of forty acres. There is also a twenty-four acre orchard, and the balance is in alfalfa. Mr. Villinger has further improved the ranch with a modern residence and other farm build- ings; the ranch is irrigated from the Stockton-Moke- lumne ditch.

On June 7, 1911, in Stockton, Mr. Villinger was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Keller, born on the ranch where they now make their home. She is the daughter of John and Doretta (Brack) Keller, pioneers of the county. Mrs. Villinger received her education in the Turner district school and Lodi high school, and finished at Mills College, Oakland. Mr. Villinger is affiliated with Stockton Lodge, No. 218, B. P. O. E., and is also a member of Lodi Aerie No. 848, Fraternal Order of Eagles.

CHARLES W. VOLLBRECHT. - A valuable ranch of twenty-five acres on East Pine Street, about a mile east of Lodi is the property of Charles W. Vollbrecht, who is engaged in the culture of grapes. He was born at Riceville, Iowa, on March 26, 1890, a son of William and Anna Vollbrecht. William Vollbrecht was born in Germany and came to Amer- ica with his parents when he was three years old. Charles W., our subject, is one of a family of twelve children; Martha, deceased; Herman; Amanda; Jen- nie; Emma is Mrs. Merrill; Minnie; Charles, our sub- ject; Lillian; Clara; Cora; Jack and Robert. William Vollbrecht and his wife now live retired in Riceville, Iowa.

Charles W. received a grammar school education at Riceville, Iowa, and grew to manhood on his father's farm. . When he was twenty-two years old he rented 440 acres (the home place) and later bought his father's stock and farm equipment, where he farmed for seven years.

The marriage of Mr. Vollbrecht occurred at Rice- ville on November 6, 1912, and united him with Miss Dorothy Peters, a native of Tama, Iowa, a daughter of John and Matilda (Lohrmann) Peters, a farmer of that state. There were five children in her family; Ella, Dorothy, Mrs. Vollbrecht, Elmer, Hazel and Irene. In 1918, Mr. Vollbrecht came to California and purchased seventeen and a half acres northwest of Victor, a full-bearing vineyard, and in 1919 sold this property and purchased the twenty-five acre ranch on East Pine Street, where he resides. He also owned another ranch near Lodi, but recently sold it for $2,600 per acre and now devotes his entire time to the cultivation and development of his home place. Mr. and Mrs. Vollbrecht are the parents of one son Earl. He and his family are members of the Lodi Lutheran Church and in politics he is a Republican. He enjoys the confidence of the business community and he has secured a good home and gained a com- fortable competence

GEORGE M. THURMAN .- One of the industri- ous, progressive and influential ranchers of the Locke- ford district is George M. Thurman, who, in 1919 became the owner of 240 acres two and one-half miles southeast of Lockeford and who is keenly interested in the cultivation and development of his property. He was born at Salinas, Monterey County, April 26, 1871, the son of John and Mary (Womick) Thurman, natives of Kentucky and Missouri respectively. The father, a carpenter by trade, came to California in 1850, the year of his marriage, and the young people first settled in San Joaquin County, but only remained for a short time when they removed to Monterey County where John Thurman plied his trade. When our subject, George M. was a small boy, his parents removed to Los Nietos, now Orange County, where they remained for a number of years; then settled in Keyes Canyon, San Diego County, and were pion- eers of that section. There were four children in the family, Sanford, John W., George M. our subject, and Mary.

George M. Thurman remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age, then went to Arizona where he homesteaded a quarter-section of land in the Yuma Valley, which he proved up on and lived there for twenty-three years, with the exception of two years that he spent in the Imperial Valley of California near Heber.

On July 26, 1892 at Valley Center, San Diego County, occurred the marriage of Mr. Thurman and Miss Mary Huckaby, born in Santa Ana, Cal., a daughter of David and Adelissa Huckaby. The Huckaby family were pioneers in California who came from Arkansas in the early days and stopped for a few years in Santa Ana, then moved to Bear Valley, San Diego County, and Mrs. Thurman received her education in the schools of Valley Center. Mr. Thur- man's Arizona ranch was bottom land along the Col- orado River and was entirely devoted to the raising of stock and bees; of late years cotton is being raised to advantage on it. Mr. Thurman still owns eighty acres of this ranch. In 1917, he left the Yuma Valley and settled at Buena Park, Orange County, where he

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farmed for two years, then purchased a twenty-five- acre ranch at Buena Park and a six-acre place near there. Two years later, or in 1919, he traded his Orange County property for 240 acres southeast of Lockeford where he has since resided with his family. Besides general farming, Mr. Thurman is equipped to do leveling and grading of land throughout the county. He has recently installed an eight-inch By- ron-Jackson deep well turbine pump with a twenty- five horse-power engine, which will furnish sufficient water for irrigation purposes.

Mr. Thurman's family consists of his wife and six children: Agnes is Mrs. Horn of Buena Park and they have three children, Paul, Leona, and Harold; Mrs. Ethel Moss of Somerton, Ariz., has one son, Eugene; Ralph is married and has three children, Alta, Eva, and Dorothy; Clyde is married and has one child, Mae; Harold and Ernest are the youngest of the family. While residing in Yuma Valley, Mr. Thurman served as judge of the justice court and was also deputy sheriff for many years. He is a Dem- ocrat, and he and his family are members of the Con- gregational Church of Lockeford, where Mr. Thur-, man serves as one of the trustees of the church.

GIACOMO FREGGIARO .- A successful Califor- nia rancher whose progressive enterprise and substan- tial and profitable results speak well for his industry and thrift is Giacomo Freggiaro, who owns about twenty choice acres on the Waterloo Road, nine miles northeast of Stockton. He came to the Waterloo district in 1915, and during the intervening years he has never regretted his choice of a permanent home.

He was born at Alessandria, in Italy, on June 13, 1885, the son of Angelo Freggiaro, who had married Miss Angela Porta; they are still living, being respec- tively sixty-seven and sixty-five years of age. They had five children: Pete and Giacomo, both on the Freggiaro farm, and Maria, Bambina and Rosie.

Giacomo attended the grammar school of his native Italian district, and when only sixteen years of age, had had his ambition aroused to leave both the com- forts of home and the attractions of his country to cross the wide ocean in hope of finding here still more enhancing prospects. On reaching San Fran- cisco, he made his way to Vallejo, where he worked for a short time in gardens; and then he moved over to San Mateo and, being better acquainted with Cali- fornia conditions, found no difficulty in getting first- class garden work there. At the end of a year, he went to Redding and put in a year in that locality, following mining in Shasta County; but, returning to San Mateo, he had a store for a year. Selling out, he went to Truckee and packed ice for the winter. He next worked for the Western Pacific Railroad, but having the misfortune to get his leg broken, he returned to Truckee and for seven years continued in the ice business. He once more tried gold-mining for two years, near Placerville, and after that sold vege- tables in San Francisco for a year; and during the World's Fair, he worked for six months at the car- penter trade.

One June 8, 1914, Mr. Freggiaro was married to Miss Theresa Cabrio, who came from the same dis- trict in Italy in which he had first seen the light, and was a daughter of Vincenzio and Anosiata (Biglieri) Cabrio. Miss Cabrio had come out to California the previous year. They are the parents of two children, 99

Angelo and Italo. After his marriage Mr. Freggiaro came to the place where he now resides and bought twenty acres of the old Dodge ranch, considered by experts very choice San Joaquin County land, devoted to cherries, peaches and grapes; and amid these well- laden trees, he has lately erected a fine bungalow. He belongs to the Giardenieri lodge of Stockton; he enjoys the esteem of all who know him.

CHARLES F. RICH .- Starting in life for him- self at the age of sixteen years, Charles F. Rich now occupies a position of leadership in business circles of his community, being proprietor of the Stockton Tile Company. He was born in San Francisco, May 3, 1893, a son of Curtis W. and Mary (Wilcox) Rich, the former born in Philadelphia, Pa., and the latter in Lincoln, Nebr., where her father was one of the founders and the first peace officer .. They were mar- ried at Lincoln and settled in California in the late eighties. The father died in 1897, but his widow is still living, the mother of two children, Curtis W., of San Francisco, and Charles F., whose education was acquired in the grammar schools of his native city and the high school at Redwood City. When six- teen years of age he became a wage-earner as an em- ploye of the wholesale dry goods house of Moore & Watson of San Francisco. He next entered the em- ploy of the Lowry & Daley Company, contractors and dealers in that city, and for six years continued in their service, during which period he gained val- uable experience in connection with the tile business. He was employed on many Jarge contracts, doing the tiling in the San Francisco City and County Hos- pital, a job which required twenty-two months to complete and which was the largest job of the kind west of the Mississippi River; he also worked on a number of other hospital jobs; installed the tiling and the Turkish baths in the St. Francis Hotel; in the Morsehead Apartments he installed the tiling in the swimming pool, roof garden and billiard rooms; and the mantel in the Washington Dodge residence in San Francisco, a very beautiful and artistic piece of work, an inscription in the Morse code, reading "Welcome to our Home" being set in the tiling with abalone shells. Mr. Rich also worked on many beau- tiful homes in Burlingame and San Mateo, Cal., and became recognized as an expert craftsman.

In March, 1916, he came to Stockton and estab- lished the Stockton Tile Company, which has since enjoyed a prosperous existence. He specializes in exterior tile decorations and did the work on the Dawson fireproof storage warehouse on North Cali- fornia street, the tiling being all made by hand. He also placed all of the new tiling in the Frederick Rindge residence in Stockton, one of the finest homes in the county, and executed the exterior tile decora- tions on the building housing the Stockton Mineral Baths, a very beautiful piece of work, which attracted much favorable attention. He put in the first ex- terior tile decorations in Stockton, these being on the Brueck Block on East Market street; and he was the first man in the city to install tile sinks in resi- dences, having done much of this work. He has laid the tiling and marble work in the Masonic Building and tiling in the Merced Theatre at Merced; in a theatre at Pittsburg, Contra Costa County; and in the Lodi Theatre. He has placed the tiling in a number of vaults and mausoleums in cemeteries in

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San Joaquin County and has also installed a large amount of magnesite flooring, a material that har- dens, becoming like wood, and having none of the coldness of stone or cement. He- has installed this class of work in the halls, bathrooms and kitchens in the Tretheway Apartments, and in apartments and residences throughout the county, the United States Government school at Rough and Ready Island, and the City and County Hospital at Modesto. This material is rapidly gaining in popularity, and during September and October of 1920, Mr. Rich laid 16,000 square feet of magnesite in Stockton. He also placed the tiling in the mantel, veranda, stairway and bath- rooms of the home of J. Brichetto at Banta, in San Joaquin County. In 1922 he opened a branch busi- ness in Modesto.

Mr. Rich married Miss Louise Phoedovius, a native of San Francisco and a daughter of William P. Phoedovius, a California pioneer now living retired in that city. He was for twenty-seven years con- nected with the San Francisco custom house, while he also established weather and telegraph stations for the government in California, Arizona and at Pikes Peak, Colo. He is a veteran of the Indian and Civil wars and was in charge of a recruiting station at Stockton after the close of the Civil War. As an an infant his wife crossed the plains to California in an immigrant train, as one of the Oatman party, which was attacked by Indians, and she was one of the few members of the party to escape with her life. Mrs. Rich was chosen the Queen's Herald of the Portola celebration, held in San Francisco in 1910 and 1912, and she is a past president of Darina Parlor of the Native Daughters of the Golden West; also past chief of the Pythian Sisters and past Poca- hontas of the Daughters of Pocahontas at San Fran- cisco.

Mr. and Mrs. Rich reside on a five-acre almond ranch on Linden Road, a mile east of Stockton. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Apollo Lodge, No. 123, of San Francisco. A self-made man, Stockton has greatly benefited through his labors, which have con- tributed to the adornment and improvement of the city and to its industrial expansion.

CHARLES FREDERICKSON .- An enterprising, successful firm, which enjoys the reputation of being the leaders in their line of work, is that of Frederick- son Bros., the cement and brick contractors of Stock- ton, so worthily represented by Charles Frederickson, a native of Northern Sweden, where he was born on January 28, 1886. He was apprenticed for a couple of years at the cement-workers' trade in his native land, and there, as a mere boy, learned the trade, and learned it thoroughly. The work was then all done by hand, and hard cobblestones were used for thirty per cent of the body of the mixture, so that whoever worked at the trade there at that time had to work very hard. .

In 1905 Mr. Frederickson came out to the United States, and located at Stephenson, Mich., where he worked at his trade during the summer, and then went into the woods in winter, to work at the getting out of lumber. He attended the preparatory school of the college at Big Rapids, Mich., and learned there the English language; and he was fortunate in being a student under President F. F. Farris, who is now serving his second term as governor of Michigan. In

1908 he came out to California to look around, and when he had canvassed the local situation, and had once seen Lodi, he decided to settle there, at least for a while. He worked with his brother Andrew, who had come from Sweden direct to California, and one of their first jobs was on the winery at Elk Grove. They also put up a cement block for Ed. Bracken- baker in Lodi. Then they entered business for them- selves, establishing the firm of Frederickson Bros., cement and brick contractors; and have done most of the large construction work in this district. In Lodi, they erected a concrete block of three stories for H. N. Madison, and then completed a $55,000 job for the city of Lodi. Then they went to the State of Washington, where they remained for thirteen months, and worked as far north as British Columbia. On their return to California, they laid miles of side- walks and curbs in Fresno, built at Lodi a garage for Fred Cary, and a structure for the Sacramento Gas Company. Frederickson Bros. then made their headquarters in Stockton, where they laid the founda- tions for the Jefferson, North, El Dorado and Lincoln Street schools, and an addition to the Stockton high school, concrete and brick work on the high school auditorium; and they also did the concrete and brick work for the Mckinley and Fair Oaks schools, and the brick, concrete and tile work on the Roosevelt school. They also did work for the new buildings at the San Joaquin County Fair Grounds; and they have done all the cement work in the Wagner Leather Company buildings put up of recent years. They laid the concrete bridge on the Waterloo Road for the county, and in 1921 they had the contract for the $90,000 concrete work on the addition to the Fresno high school. They completed the tile work in the new shed of the Anderson Fruit Company at Lodi, and also a two-story brick block for Messrs. Graffique Bros .; and they erected a pumping plant at Knights Landing, and an ornate school at Denair, Stanislaus County. All in all, Messrs. Frederickson Bros. must be regarded as among the most progressive of indus- trial leaders hereabouts in the building up of San Joaquin County.

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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 240

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