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 243

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 243

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In 1920, Mr. Green bought a Tokay vineyard of twenty acres which in a short time he sold at a hand- some profit; and at present he owns another ranch of twenty acres northeast of Lodi, where he has seventeen acres in Tokay grapes, and three acres in Muir peaches. He was made a Mason in Water- man Lodge No. 83, A. F. & A. M. at Johnson, Vt., demitting to Lodi Lodge No. 256, F. & A. M.

MRS. ELLEN GRIFFIN .- By no means all the pioneer citizens and successful characters have been men, and to omit the part which the women played in the development and the civic progress of this western country would be indeed a serious oversight. Among such women was the late Mrs. Ellen Griffin, a pioneer of the county, who after her husband's death managed with admirable executive ability and sagacity the large ranch located about eleven miles east of Stockton on the Sonora Road. She passed to her reward on May 29, 1909, mourned by her fam- ily and a host of loving friends. She was born in County Kerry, Ireland, January 4, 1831, a daughter of Patrick and Bridget (Ford) Commins, both natives of Ireland. When she was twenty-one years old, in 1852, Ellen Commins took passage on a sailing vessel and after a long and tedious voyage of six weeks and three days she landed in New York City. There on the twelfth day of the following October, she was united in marriage with John Griffin, who was born in County Kerry, Ireland, April 29, 1829, and who had preceded his betrothed to America by only a few months. The happy couple remained in New York until early in 1856, and then once more considerations of their own material welfare separated them for a

short time. In that year Mr. Griffin came out to California, and after having decided upon a suitable location in San Joaquin County, he sent for his wife. She came around by the Panama route, and from San Francisco arrived in San Joaquin County in the same year of 1856.

Mr. Griffin with keen foresight purchased in San Joaquin 'County 480 acres of land at the site of the present ranch, which has been the home of the Griffin family since 1856, but this tract was only the nucleus around which his diligence and fine business manage- ment built up, by subsequent purchase, a large estate of 1980 acres, some of which has been sold since his death; and the well cultivated ranch of which his daughter Anna F. Griffin is now the owner and manager still comprises 1430 acres. Mr. Griffin was a stanch Democrat in politics, and he and his wife were very public-spirited and favorable to anything pertaining to the upbuilding and welfare of their community. Mr. and Mrs. Griffin were members of the Catholic Church as were also their two daughters, Anna F. and Nellie C. The latter passed away five months after her mother, October 14, 1909. Miss Anna F. Griffin, the only survivor of the pioneer couple, is classed with the progressive, enterprising and successful agriculturists of San Joaquin County.

JOSEPH E. HALL .- A successful business man known throughout San Joaquin County for his pro- gressive methods, is Joseph E. Hall, the managing director of Hall Bros. Company, the well-known gro- cers, whose place of business is at 28 North El Dorado Street. He was born on a farm in Monroe County, Mich., on February 6, 1852, the son of Thomas E. and Azuba (Eckley) Hall, both natives of Rutland, Vt., and both now deceased. The Hall family emigrated to the woods of Michigan in 1818, and Grandfather David Hall cleared away the trees from land for his seven sons, who later became Michigan farmers. They lived seventeen miles from a white family, and friendly Indians were their only neighbors.

When Joseph was fourteen years of age his folks removed to Ringwood, McHenry County, Ill., and in that place he clerked in a grocery; and from there, in 1871, when he was about nineteen, he came west to California and settled in San Joaquin County. He arrived in Stockton with fifty dollars in his pocket; and realizing that this small capital would not permit him to remain idle long, he went to work on John Moore's dairy farm, at forty dollars a month in wages and his board. Mr. Moore was a member of the grocery firm of Hammond, Moore & Yardley on East Weber Avenue, opposite the court house, at Stockton, which became Hammond & Yardley; and after young Hall had worked on the ranch for a month, Mr. Moore gave him a position as clerk in his Stockton store. For twenty years he held that position, and during that time he never drew a dollar in advance, nor had a dollar deducted from his pay for absence from the store-a record of which any man might justly be proud. In course of time, on the other hand, his wages were advanced, and during the last seven years he received $100 per month with- out asking for an increase.

In 1890 Mr. Hall bought the grocery of J. Pet- singer at 28 North El Dorado Street, which he con- ducted under the name of J. E. Hall, and later he took in his two sons as partners, and then the firm was styled J. E. Hall & Sons. In 1910 he turned

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the business over to his sons, and the firm is now Hall Bros., and they have a branch store at 533 East Weber Avenue. In early days he erected a home on Weber Avenue, at the corner of Aurora Street, and there, where his three sons were born, he lived for many years. Mr. Hall is president of the J. C. Smith Company, which formerly owned 2,200 acres on the Lower Sacramento Road, the property of the late J. C. Smith, his wife's father; 800 acres of this prop- erty was sold to the syndicate which opened up that fashionable subdivision, Tuxedo Park, and the com- pany gave forty acres as a donation to the College of the Pacific, for the new site of the college, still retaining almost 1,400 acres, which is leased to tenants for farming fruit and vegetables.

In 1879 Mr. Hall was married to Miss Minnie J. Smith, born in Stockton, the daughter of J. C. and Melissa (Boone) Smith, the former a pioneer and large landowner and farmer, who crossed the plains to California in 1853. Mrs. Smith was the grand- daughter of Daniel Boone, the pioneer of Kentucky; she died in 1907, especially mourned in the circles of the Methodist Church, South, and the Order of Rebekahs. Three sons sprang from this union, and two are still living. Eckley B. became an Odd Fel- low, and is now deceased; Clarence E. is also popular in the lodges of the Odd Fellows; and Lynwood E., who married Miss Vera Sackett, is not only an Odd Fellow, but he belongs to Lodge No. 218 of the Elks. Joseph E. Hall now owns a residence costing $10,000 on North Monroe Street. He is a Republican; and he served one term in the city council from the Third ward, and in 1888 one term as police and fire commissioner. After he turned the store over to his sons, he became active in the Chamber of Commerce, and in 1915 he gathered the exhibits from all parts of the county for the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, and also for the San Diego Fair; and for thirteen months he was in charge of the county exhibit at the Fair in San Diego. He also furnished the county exhibit for the Fair in Denver, Colo., and sent it there to be exhibited. He gathered the exhibit, placed it in shape at the State Fair in Sac- ramento for three years, and supervised it. He be- longs to Charity Lodge of the Odd Fellows, which he joined in 1873, and he is one of only four members of that lodge now living that were members when he joined. He has passed through all the chairs, and is a member of all branches of the Odd Fellows, and has attended many meetings of the Grand Lodge.

DANIEL H. GRUBB .- Among the agriculturists who gave the best years of their life to the develop- ment of Central California's resources was the late Daniel H. Grubb, who was born near Madisonville, Tenn., September 12, 1837, a son of Darius and Sarah (Heiskell) Grubb, both natives of Virginia. Daniel H. was only eight years old when his father passed away and he continued to make his home on the farm until his marriage to Miss Sarah E. Carson, who was born at Madisonville, Tenn., October 30, 1840. At the breaking out of the Civil War, he left his farm to enlist in the Confederate army in Company G, 63rd Tennessee Volunteer Infantry. His company surrendered at the battle of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, and he returned to his home in Tennessee. Later he became interested in the mercantile business, meeting with good success, but in 1868 he determined to seek the more promising future offered in California. Leav-

ing New York December 28, 1868, with his wife and two children, for Aspinwall, they crossed the Isthmus of Panama and arrived in San Francisco on the "Golden State."

Mr. Grubb at first went to Stockton, then removed to Oakdale and for two years farmed in Stanislaus County. Next he spent some time in Fresno, then returned to Stanislaus County, where he farmed until 1883, when he purchased 500 acres near Snelling and became one of the well-known grain farmers of that vicinity. Here Mrs. Grubb passed away on Septem- ber 6, 1902, the mother of the following children: Elizabeth D., the wife of James L. Allen; Charles F., George, James, Daniel H. and William. Mr. Grubb passed away on November 8, 1912, at the age of seventy-five, retaining his faculties unimpaired to the last.

GOTTFRIED HANDEL .- A valuable ranch of fifty-eight acres on Harney Lane, five miles south- east of Lodi, is the property of Gottfried Handel, who is engaged in both agricultural and viticultural pursuits. A native of South Dakota, he was born at Menno on May 27, 1892, a son of Gottfried and Louisa Handel. When Gottfried was ten years of age the family removed to California and settled in the vicinity of Harmony Grove school, San Joaquin County, where the father acquired a quarter-section of land. He passed away on this home ranch and the mother later became the wife of Lot Lachenmaier, a native of Southern Russia. Mr. Lachenmaier came from Russia and settled in South Dakota, being a pioneer of that section of the country. He acquired considerable land and in time became among the largest and most successful grain growers and cattle raisers in the state. He was the first merchant in Lehr, S. D., and helped to build up the community, remaining there until 1910, when he came to Lodi. His first constructive work in San Joaquin County was the starting of the town of Victor, where he built a store building and conducted a store for the convenience of the rural residents. He was one of the organizers and is now the vice-president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Lodi, and is an esteemed citizen of the community.

Gottfried Handel received his education in the Harmony Grove district school and until he was twenty-two years old worked on the home place. In October of 1914 he was married to Miss Bertha Wiederrich, a daughter of Jacob and Katherine Wie- derrich, farmers of South Dakota. There were nine children in her father's family and Mrs. Handel is one of the three that are living today. Her brother, John R. Wiederrich, is represented in this work and is a vineyardist of the Lodi district. Bertha Wiederrich was educated in the Harmony Grove school and was reared on a ranch in that vicinity. Her father passed away when she was a small girl and she came to California with her mother, who now resides in Lodi. Mr. Handel inherited forty acres southeast of Lodi on Harney Lane, eight acres of which was in vineyard and the balance a stubble field, which he planted to vineyard and alfalfa; later he added eigh- teen acres, making in all fifty-eight acres. Of the eighteen acres, ten acres have been set to vineyard, while the balance of eight acres is in alfalfa; he has installed one of the largest pumping plants in the country. Mr. and Mrs. Handel are the parents of four children: Dolores Katherine, Herbert Richard,

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Donald Jacob and Robert Gottfried. Mr. Handel is a Republican in politics and is a member of the German Reformed Church of Lodi.

EMANUEL HANDEL .- Among the prominent and leading viticulturists of San Joaquin County is Emanuel Handel, who owns 1191/2 acres and operates ninety acres in vineyards and orchards located in the Lodi section of the county. He is one of the stanch- est advocates of irrigation, and his labors have proved its effectiveness as an agent in agricultural activity. He is a native of Hutchinson County, S. D., where his birth occurred January 5, 1878, a son of Gottfried and Margaret Handel, both natives of southern Rus- sia, their birthplace being near the city of Odessa. They left their native country for America and settled in South Dakota, where the father took up three claims, homestead, timber and pre-emption. When Emanuel was six years of age his mother died and his father later married again. About fifteen years ago his father passed away and the stepmother is now the wife of Lot Lachenmaier of Lodi. The schooling of Emanuel Handel consisted of a grammar school education.

In South Dakota on November 13, 1903, Mr. Han- del was united in marriage with Miss Katherine Neu- harth, also born in South Dakota in the vicinity of her husband's birthplace. She is the daughter of Phillip and Katherine Neuharth and her education was obtained in grammar school. Shortly after their marriage the young people came to California and settled near Lodi, where Mr. Handel purchased a sixty-five acre vineyard about five miles east of Lodi on the Kettleman Lane Road, which he has improved with a modern bungalow, garage, barns and all neces- sary equipment for carrying on grape culture; he also owns a half interest in a thirty-five acre vineyard east of Lodi with his brother-in-law, Mr. Neuharth. Each ranch is amply supplied with water from a four- inch pump driven by a ten horsepower motor, thus insuring the best of crops. Mr. and Mrs. Handel are the parents of ten children: Edwin Emanuel; Gideon, deceased; Gideon Benjamin; Emil Arthur; Rachina Katherine; Matilda Louisa; Lenora Pavlina; Leon Eigin; Ida Magdaline; and Viola Bertha. The family are all members of the German Reformed Church of Lodi. Mr. Handel is a Republican in his political affiliation.

GROVER C. IREY .- For the past seven years Grover C. Irey has been a resident of Lodi and since 1921 has been associated with Lyon & Irey, sporting goods, auto accessories, etc., and brings to the firm a thorough and practical knowledge of the business in every detail. He was born near Versailles, Mo., January 23, 1892, a son of William T. and Almira (Robertson) Irey, natives of Pennsylvania and Mis- souri, respectively. There were eight children in the family: Alfa, Mrs. E. M. Paxson, resides in Fortuna, Mo .; Frank resides at Lodi; Roy resides at Lodi; Maremma resides in Lodi; Estella, deceased; J. Wash- ington resides at Youngstown, Cal .; Grover C. is the subject of this sketch; and Cynthia. Grover C. re- ceived a grammar school education in Akinsville, Mo. When nineteen years old he was earning his own way in the world and first worked at any job he could get to do to earn a livelihood, working through the states of the Middle West, and spent a year and a half at Delhi, La .; he spent one season in the harvest

field in Arkansas. He then removed to Texas and worked at harvesting, gradually working his way northward until in the fall he was in North Dakota. Returning home, he took a course in the Kansas City Automobile Machine School. During 1915 he came to California and directly to Lodi, where he worked as driver and mechanic for the City Transfer Company. During' the World War he was employed at the Moore-Scott shipyards in Oakland as a driller, where he remained for a year and a half. After the war he returned to Lodi, where he established an agency for Federal trucks, which occupied him for one year. He then turned his attention to viticulture and purchased twenty acres in vineyard, three miles southwest of Lodi, but later sold it.

On September 5, 1917, Mr. Irey was married to Miss Hazel R. Ham, born near Woodbridge, a daugh- ter of W. J. and Anna L. Ham, the former a native of Iowa and the latter of Pennsylvania. Her father, W. J. Ham, who was an attorney in Des Moines, Iowa, first married Miss Ella Ventura, who passed away leaving one child, Mathias Fenton Ham. After Mr. Ham's second marriage the family removed to California, in 1891, and Mr. Ham was one of the instructors in the San Joaquin Valley College at Woodbridge. He passed away at about sixty years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Irey are the parents of three children: William Harold, Charles Grover, and Rob- ert. Mr. Irey purchased the home of Mrs. Ham in Lodi, where the family has since resided. Mr. Irey is a Democrat in politics, and fraternally is a member of the Modern Woodmen, and with his family is a member of the Methodist Church of Lodi.

GUS M. HANSON .- Prominent among the enter- prising and successful leaders in the busy industrial life of Stockton is Gus M. Hanson, the proprietor of the Aurora Welding Works, one of the city's important concerns. Mr. Hanson was born in Hel- singborg, Sweden, on January 5, 1886, and although commencing life under comfortable circumstances he was destined to leave home at the early age of nine years, since which time he has made his way alone in the world. At first he became a blacksmith's helper, and he worked in the smithy in his native country for four years. He then followed the machinist's trade in different parts of Sweden, and in his seventeenth year, in 1903, he crossed the ocean to the United States and, pushing westward, located at Wausau, Wis., where he found employment at his trade; and later he removed to Omaha, Neb. There he added an accomplishment, for he learned the locksmith trade and also became a safe expert. He was engaged by the Deright Company, and sent by them to different cities to open safes; and in that service he succeeded in opening no less than 110 safes, and thus became one of the best workmen in that field in the country. This actual ability, with its attendant reputation, brought about his removal to San Francisco, where he was in the employ of the Herman Safe Company, and afterwards of the Carey Safe Company; and while there he took up the work of welding.

In 1912, Mr. Hanson located at Lodi and entered the employ of the Lodi Machine Shop and Welding Works, conducted by Earl Van Buskirk; and two years later he formed a partnership with Van Buskirk and they opened a welding shop in Stockton under the firm name of Van Buskirk & Hanson. Later, Mr. Hanson bought out his partner and changed the firm

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name to the Aurora Welding Works; and he is not only the oldest welder in point of service in Stockton, but he very naturally does the largest business. The Aurora Welding Works, in fact, turn out more fin- ished work and transact more business than all their esteemed competitors in the same line. Mr. Hanson is especially popular in Masonic circles, being a mem- ber of San Joaquin Lodge No. 19, F. & A. M.

Not long ago the Seventh Booster Edition of the Byron Times devoted half a page to a write-up of the Aurora Welding Works, which it pronounced one of the important institutions of Stockton operating as an industrial factor in development fields. One powerful electrical machine is devoted to electrical welding, and this features the new and important methods in vogue under Mr. Hanson's own system. A splendid acetylene welding equipment is also an exponent of the progressive mechanics observable in this establishment. A specialty is also made of hand- ling tractor repairs, a well-equipped mechanical de- partment being supplied for this important branch of the industry; and much casting repair work is done for industrial concerns of Stockton and Central Cali- fornia, the high-class efficiency of the plant having attracted much favorable comment. Quick work is made an important feature in repairs, and work on all makes of tractors, automobiles, trucks, and imple- ments of all kinds is handled with highly satisfactory results. If a casting breaks, for example, instead of replacing it with a new one, at heavy cost and possi- bly great delay, it can be repaired here at nominal cost and the saving of much valuable time. Building up worn-out parts is another special feature in this wide-awake plant, bringing into play one of the really constructive departments, and means much to the owners of costly or highly-prized machinery. Every- thing that is weldable has its place in this well- equipped establishment so well directed by Mr. Han- son, and a prestige has been established for handling skilfully any kind of metal, with the result that the firm's trade extends into the rich San Joaquin Valley country as far as Tulare. During recent years, also, Mr. Hanson has done much special work for mining companies, and has won high standing with these great organizations.

JAMES A. HYMER .- As sales manager of the Holt Manufacturing Company of Stockton, an estab- lishment with an international reputation, James A. Hymer is making good and becoming firmly in- trenched in the business world. A native of Nebraska, he was born at Sacramento, Phelps County, on Janu- ary 10, 1882, and until his twelfth year was reared and educated at Holdredge, later finishing his schooling at Lincoln. Being of a mechanical turn of mind, young Hymer became an apprentice in the locomotive shops of the C. B. & Q. Railroad at Havelock, where he began the trade of machinist, finishing his appren- ticeship in the shops of the C. & S. Railroad at Den- ver. He continued to follow his trade as machinist, later as foreman, and still later as division foreman with the Northern Pacific Railroad. In fact he had a wide experience in the various roads of the West. Afterwards he was in the employ of coal and gold mining companies in the northwest as master me- chanic.

Mr. Hymer decided to give up the branch of me- chanical work he was following to take up the study of the internal combustion engines in the automobile

world and in a short time he became proficient in that trend of mechanics. Being attracted to Los An- geles, he was employed in a large shop of that city. After a few years in the mechanical end of the auto- mobile industry he concluded he could use his knowl- edge to very good advantage in selling machines, and going to Salt Lake City he became connected with the firm of Randall, Dodd & Company as a salesman. In spite of the fact that it was in December and that there was two feet of snow on the ground, Mr. Hy- mer sold three cars the first two weeks, thus meeting with success from the beginning. He remained with this company in Utah and Idaho until coming to San Francisco in 1911. Mr. Hymer soon entered the employ of Don Lee as a salesman, and under his leadership sold the .Cadillac with success. From the retail department he was soon advanced to the whole- sale department and remained with Don Lee four and one-half years.

While engaged in the automobile industry he made a study of the Holt Tractors, and thinking there was a greater field for advancement in that line he con- sidered making a change; at considerable sacrifice to himself, at the time, in 1916 he became connected with the Holt Manufacturing Company as their rep- resentative in Southern California, with headquarters in Los Angeles. In a short time his prophecy came true and he met with phenomenal success in handling the tractor in that territory. His thorough mechani- cal training well fitted him for his work and advance- ment came to him when he was called to Stockton and appointed assistant sales manager on December 31, 1919; just one year from that date he was made sales manager, the position he now holds in a con- cern that covers half the earth with their products from the Stockton office.

At Los Angeles, in 1910, Mr. Hymer was united in marriage with Miss Eva Turner, a native of Indi- ana, and they have two daughters, Helen and Jane. Mr. Hymer is a charter member of University Lodge No. 394, F. & A. M., of Los Angeles, also holding membership with the Scottish Rite Consistory in Los Angeles, where he also is a member of Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is a member of the Yosemite Club and the Golf and Country Club of Stockton. All in all, it will be seen that in whatever field of activity Mr. Hymer has become active he has attained to an enviable success.

JOHN K. WEBER .- Among the farmer folk who have recently become residents of the Lodi vicinity of San Joaquin County is John K. Weber, who came to the county in 1920 and purchased a ten-acre vine- yard three miles west of Lodi on the Sargent Road where he resides with his family. He was born in Morristown, Minn., August 26, 1881, a son of Jacob and Louise (Oehler) Weber, early farmers of the Morristown vicinity, where the father took up a home- stead and engaged in farming there for the remainder of his life. The mother also spent her last days there, passing away in 1893. This worthy couple were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom are now living: Louise; Mrs. Katie Neubauer resides at Lodi; Emma, now Mrs. J. Wagner, lives at Lodi; John K. is the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Amelia Switzenberg, lives in Morristown, Minn .; Christina lives in Morristown; Mrs. Hilda Turner resides in Lodi; Mrs. Lena Rosseau lives in Morristown; Mrs.

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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 243

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