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 61

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 61

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The Lodi Brass Bands

Lodi has always been a musical city and not lacking in brass or military bands. As early as 1876 a band was organized with George E. Lawrence one of the promoters of the movement. He told at one time how they decided to organize a band although they did not have an instrument, no music, no director, nor the money to pay for any of the necessi- ties. Finally they saw an advertisement in a paper when an eastern company was selling out a complete set of instruments at a reduced price. With no money on hand they signed a note, there being eighteen members. Several philanthropists were found and $300 paid down.

This band, with a strong determination to succeed, now advertised for a leader, and as it happened, the Forepaugh circus was winter- ing on the Pacific coast and the band leader came to Lodi. His surprise was a terrific one when he found that not one of the eighteen members had an instrument or knew a note. He was pursuaded to stay and after the arrival of the instruments they moved out to a little shack south of the city to practice. At that

time, according to Mr. Lawrence, the city was a little strip along the railroad tracks. South from School Street was a forest primeval, and to the east an even worse tangle of brush, while live oak trees literally dotted the "busi- ness section."

This band organized in 1876 was a great success for the next two years, but finally died in 1878. There were several bands organized during the past years but they were not a suc- cess for some reason. At one time Edward Houseman, Joseph Condy and Jabez Harris of Stockton were band leaders. John Bauer, a competent band instructor, located in Lodi in 1897 and organized a band. He continued his residence in Lodi up to the time of the Allied war and at that time he had an excellent band of musicians.

The Lodi Prohibition Movement

Never in the history of Lodi has there been so much interest taken in an election as that of April 14, 1914, over the question of high licensing the saloons. The contest, actually commenced April 4 over the election of a school trustee. Their were two candidates in the running, John H. Davies and Otto Weihe. No particular interest was taken in the elec- tion until about noon. At that hour a number of the "dry" workers got out their automo- biles and began carrying Davies voters to the polls. Then the wets became alarmed, think- ing that Davies was a dry candidate and, get- ting out their automobiles, began working for Weihe. It was a false alarm, for neither man was interested at the time in the saloon move- ment. It gave the wets a good scare and it brought out an unusually large vote. Weihe. who had formerly been a school trustee, polled 416 and Davies 270 votes.

It was a hot campaign up to the time of the election. Meetings were held in public halls and the opera house which was crowded to hear such speakers as J. Stitt Wilson of Berke- ley, Rev. A. C. Bane, then the president of the Anti-Saloon League of Northern California, Rev. F. A. Keast and Rev. E. J. Dennett of Stockton, in favor of high license. The first mayor of Lodi, then president of the Grape Growers Association, published letters in the press arguing that a high license was a foolish ordinance. Another prominent grape grower threatened, that if the business men voted for high license the association would no longer trade in Lodi. Early in the morning of the 14th the voters were at the polls, and by noon half of the registered vote had been cast. Auto- mobiles were everywhere in sight carrying voters to the polls. Each party had about twenty-five automobiles at work. When the polls closed it was found that the drys had won by a small margin, 655 to 648. A com- mittee of wets then went to the dry committee

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of twenty-five and requested them to let the raising of licenses rest until after the fall elec- tion, as the agitation was hurting business. They agreed. When the State election came on November 4, in which there was an amend- ment to the constitution prohibiting the sale of all intoxicating liquors, Lodi, in her four precincts, including Elkhorn and Live Oak, polled a heavy majority against prohibition, 559 to 337. The women voting for the first time evidently opposed prohibition, but fa- vored the red light abatement act, which car- ried, 462 to 320. We all know what happened, the state went dry, including Lodi and in the exclamation of the old Methodist, "Glory to God."

The Women's Improvement Club

Go where you may throughout San Joaquin County and you will find that in the smaller cities and towns the women are taking the lead in improving and bettering the conditions of affairs in their localities. In Lodi the women have made a splendid success of their work, especially in erecting a splendid two- story brick club house, the finest in the county. The club was organized in 1906, the year of the city's incorporation. Its object was to as- sist in the progress and betterment of the city along civic, literary and other lines. The movement as a local organization was for some reason not a success. Mrs. John S. Mont- gomery, who was strongly interested in the movement, suggested that the club join the State Federation of Clubs. The suggestion was adopted and in 1908 it joined the Fed- eration of clubs, and was placed in the Ala- meda district which included Contra Costa, Solano, Alameda, Calavaras, Tuolumne - and San Joaquin counties. The uniting with the State body put new life and energy into the club and they did some fine local work in planting trees along the highway, inaugurating a clean-up day every year, placing signs upon the street corners; petitioning the board of trustees to lay cement sidewalks, and other things that might be mentioned. In order to raise money to carry out many of their im- provements they gave vaudeville and concert entertainments, gave social teas and dancing parties, and annually held a Jinx day. By these different plans of money making in one year they cleared over $1,500. Each mem- ber paid an initiation fee and dues and this money was also devoted to civic improve- ments. The club today has nearly 500 mem- bers and is in a flourishing, growing condi- tion. The following ladies have been elected as presidents : Mrs. Emma Witte Humphreys, Mrs. Belle Cooledge, Mrs. Dora Clark, Mrs. John S. Montgomery, who was the first presi- dent under the Federated Clubs, Mrs. G. L. Meissner, Mrs. J. E. Nelson, Mrs. Cecil B.

Clancy, Mrs. Harry D. Sharp, Mrs. O. S. New- man. In 1913 the name was changed to the "Woman's Club of Lodi."

The Woman's Club House

The crowning work of the club is the erec- tion of a splendid club house 45x100 feet, cor- ner of Pleasant and Pine street, at a cost of $40,000. Up to this time they had been as- sembling in the homes of their members and in public halls, and the idea of having their own club house was voiced soon after their uniting with the state clubs, and with that object in view in 1915 the Women's Build- ing Association was incorporated with a capi- tal stock of $20,000 with shares at $5.00. They soon found that their capitalization was too small and they then increased the amount to $50.000. As incorporated the officers were Mrs. John S. Montgomery, president; Mrs. W. R. Thompson, vice-president; Mrs. Cecil B. Clancy, secretary; Mrs. C. M. Ferdun, treasurer, and those already named, with Miss Anna Brack, Mrs. Edward Hutchins, Mrs. Mamie Jahant, Mrs. A. J. Cook, Mrs. Theo- dore H. Beckman, and Mrs. Oliver S. New- man, were directors. Purchasing the lot at a cost of $16,000 at the annual stockholders' meeting and luncheon in the Hotel Lodi, April, 1922, it was decided to proceed immediately with the building of the club house. Work was commenced in November and completed in March, 1923. The building is of the colonial style and is not only fitted up in every way convenient for club purposes but it contains a fine auditorium seating over 600 persons and a large banquet hall.

The Carnegie Library

Lodi's first library was established in 1885, the citizens at that time fitting up three rooms in the Heald building for library purposes. Money was freely subscribed toward the li- brary fund by Congressman J. A. Louttit, Ben F. Langford, Ross C. Sargent and many oth- ers, and about $1,500 was subscribed. The record states that the library was formally opened October 24 "with a concert by the lo- cal brass band and vocal and literary exer- cises." The library was supported by dona- tions and entertainments, and February 4, 1887, an entertainment under the direction of Cyrus B. Newton was given in Barnhart hall for the benefit of the free reading room. The program comprised a vocal solo by Eva Cus- ter; recitation, Mary Stevens; instrumental solo, Carrie Ivory ; essay, Wm. B. Piper; reci- tation, C. B. Newton; cornet solo, George E. Lawrence; recitation, Nellie Shattuck. Was this library closed? There is no continuous record of the library until May, 1904. At that time says the State Library report, a library

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was established in a rented building with a rental of ten dollars per month. The Lodi Public library and free reading room in that year was on Sacramento Street near Pine, and Harvey S. Clark was the librarian. Rev. W. P. Grant of the Methodist conference was sta- tioned in Lodi. Interested in library affairs, he conceived the idea of the library having its own building and he suggested the South- ern Pacific Railroad Company that they give the citizens the old depot as soon as their new depot was completed. They agreed, pro- vided the citizens would remove it from the railroad reservation. A few years later it was learned that a gentleman living in Lodi was well acquainted with Andrew Carnegie and his library-giving donations. In every dona- tion he required that the city trustees or those in charge of the library movement must first select and have a clear title to the library site. It was now up to the Women's Improvement Club, and purchasing a lot at the corner of Pine and Pleasant streets an entertainment and dance was given June 5, 1909, and the money was used in completing the payment for the lot for a library. The plans were drawn for a handsome library to cost $10,000 and the cornerstone was laid that year, April 17, by the Grand Lodge of Masons, the cornerstone being laid with appropriate ceremony by W. Franklin Pierce, grand master. There was singing by the Masonic quartette and an ora- tion by County Judge C. W. Norton. The library building was completed early in the following year and opened to the public Feb- ruary 12, 1910, with Jaison Swallow as the librarian. The Women's Improvement Club gave an entertainment in the opera house May 6, 1911, for the benefit of the library book fund. Donations of books were given by many different individuals, the writer gave quite a number of books, and the public Li- brary of Stockton donated several hundred volumes.

The Heroic Dead

In the hallway of the Clyde Needham me- morial school there is set in the wall a large bronze plaque and upon it is inscribed the fol- lowing : "In Memory of Clyde Needham." He was the first young man from the Lodi district to die upon the French soil, his face to the enemy. Needham, who was twenty-two years of age when the Allied War broke out, was living with his grandmother, Mrs. M. F. Fu- qua, 316 West Locust Street. After entering the army he rose to the rank of corporal, and was killed July 15, 1918, in action in the Champagne offensive. Upon the same plaque is inscribed the names of twenty-seven boys who made the supreme sacrifice, namely : James B. Anderson, John G. Anderson, Har-

old E. Cary, Joseph Drabkin, August Frey, Ralph Gillespie, Herbert Hovard, Wilbur Hu- gill, Alexander Linde, George Mauch, Clyde Needham, James Miller, Virgil Pearce, Charles R. Patten, Wm. C. Rossi, Arthur J. Setzer, Roy Spencer, Clyde Stamper, Martin Troy, Henry Trimberger, W. I. Tredway, Arthur Vincent, Charles E. Walther, Vernon White, Henry Wittmeier, Ora Wynn and Henry Wisthoff. The solemn impressive ceremony of unveiling the plaque took place February 22, 1922, in the front of the school building. After the singing the "Flanders Requiem" by Mrs. Mary McAdam Yerbury, Major W. A. Ma- son, Clyde Needham's first commander, brief- ly related that terrible battle that began on the Fourth of July and as the Tokay band played the "Star Spangled Banner," and the large crowd stood with uncovered heads, the Major slowly drew aloft the flag, unveiling the plaque.

Armistice Celebration

After many months of anxiety and worry bedlam broke loose in Lodi, when the news was received about 1 o'clock in the morn- ing of November 11, 1918, that the German army had surrendered. The fire whistle was blown, the church bells were rung, and in a short time everybody was on the streets, the automobilists blowing and tooting their horns. About 4 o'clock the Eagles' drum corps was upon the street and leading a procession the happy throng marched over the town, hurrah- ing, shouting and singing. During the fore- noon hundreds of citizens went to Stockton to the impromptu celebration of victory. They returned to Lodi and about three o'clock a procession was formed at the Eagles' Hall on North Sacramento Street and after march- ing over the town they halted at the Tokay arch. At that point a platform had been erect- ed, and a meeting of jubilee was held. C. C. Woodward was elected to preside. Then fol- lowed a patriotic song by the quartette com- prising Wm. Brown, Floyd Lyon, J. C. Fergu- son and Rev. J. W. Schwimley, patriotic ad- dresses, Hilliard E. Welch and Rev. E. J. Bradner.

In the life of a parent there is no event more thrilling than the return of the boy from a terrible war, this case upon the field of France. There were tears of grief when they marched to the front and tears of joy upon their re- turn, alive, but many of them crippled in limb and with health destroyed. Such an event oc- curred in Lodi June 4, 1919. In preparation for the "home coming" the streets were beau- tifully decorated with evergreens and red and white and blue and that night the town was in a blaze of color. The celebration began with a parade led by the Tokay band of over

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600 soldiers, marines, Spanish and Foreign Wars veterans under the command of Maj. W. E. Garrison, Hartford Post, G. A. R., Boys Scouts, Women's Relief Club, Women's fra- ternal and religious societies and over 2,000 children of the public schools. Several closed cars were in line, each auto with a Golden star upon the door panel. And in the cars rode Mrs. H. R. Hugo, who lost her boy in Bel- gium; Mrs. L. Rossi, whose son died early in the war; Mrs. P. M. Pearce, her soldier

boy dying at Fort Douglas, Arizona, and Mrs. L. M. Spencer, whose son died on Angel Isl- and. The parade formed at the Eagles' Hall on Sacramento Street and after marching through the principal streets they halted at the Tokay arch, and address of welcome was given the returned soldiers by H. E. Welch and there was community singing led by the Rev. W. A. Schwimley. The soldiers were then honored by a barbecue which was held in the Municipal Park.

CHAPTER XXV

AGRICULTURE-HORTICULTURE-MANUFACTURES

A well-known Stockton writer in an article in 1914 very wisely divided the history of the county into three periods. The first period from 1847 to 1869; the second from 1869 to 1898 and the third from 1898 up to the present time. Defining those periods he wrote: "The first period covers the mining excitement. The city of Stockton became the clearing house for the southern miner. Going and coming the miner passed through Stockton's portals. Local commerce began to grow, and the town took on the character of a fixed settlement. The county began to produce foodstuffs suffi- cient for local demands.

"With the coming of the Central Pacific railroad the second period opens. The South- ern mines were in their decline. Wheat fields had begun to envelop the city on all sides. The railroad opened new markets and brought in homeseekers. San Joaquin County began to produce tremendous crops of grain, and the prices of cereals were high. The fields of golden grain poured their treasures into the sustaining and constructive life of the city.

"The third period opens with the decline of grain production, the dividing of the land into smaller holdings, the undertaking of diversi- fied forms of agriculture, together with the rapid development of Stockton manufacturing and commercial prestige. Transportation fa- cilities, internal improvements, modern ideal and influences superseded entirely the regime of the hardy pioneers.

"The modern Stockton is a city of 50,000 population. To its four square miles of area has lately been added one and one-half square miles of suburban territory. Its rural environ- ments are filling so rapidly that municipal boundary lines exist only on the maps. Most of the oaks are gone; but thirty-four miles of fully improved streets are lined with shade trees. The shacks and tents of the pioneers

have disappeared, but the wealth of the coun- ty is assessed at $59,823,400, and that of the city at $24,000,000." It is now, 1923, $96,917,- 879 in the county and over $55,872,573 in the city.

San Joaquin County comprises 926,720 acres of land, this including 250,000 acres of re- claimed delta or tule land. There are now 4,500 farms in the county, embracing an area of 706,308 acres, producing cereals, fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc., to the value of $140,702,- 764 in a single year, 1920, and yet most of the farmers settling in the county in early days were from Missouri, and very knowingly shaking their heads when it was suggested that they buy land and commence farming said, "You can't raise any crops on that dry land; the long summer months will dry up everything. We are from Missouri and must be shown." One pioneer writing home to his friends said : "I would advise you not to come to this county as the climate is too dry to raise any vegetable products." One of these Missourians was Silas Hitchcock. He believed the land was of no value except for grazing purposes. And as other settlers began locat- ing in the county near his ranch he declared : "Cattle raising is the only thing," and selling his ranch of 400 acres at ten dollars an acre, he emigrated to Tulare County. The ranch, six miles out on the Mokelumne Hill Road, is now valued at $300 an acre.

There were quite a number of men who had farmed in the Eastern and Middle states and foreign lands, who were quite optimistic regarding farming in San Joaquin. They knew that what had been done could be done. A few Mormon settlers planted a crop of wheat at French Camp in 1847. Joseph Buzzell plant- ed wheat in 1848 on the land adjoining the steamboat landing on Center Street. Then came the gold discovery and the crop was not

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harvested. John Green planted a crop of wheat in 1849 near the present railroad track on Sacramento Street, W. L. Overheiser in 1851 planted and harvested sixteen acres of bar- ley grown in the Calaveras River district. Overheiser the following year raised over six- ty acres of wheat. Roscoe S. Sargent, a typi- cal Yankee from New Hampshire, raised about fifty acres of wheat in 1851 near Woodbridge, and in 1852 raised the same amount of bar- ley. Barley at that time was a very profitable crop, as it was in great demand for horse and mule feed. At that time according to the census there were 3,403 horses, 1081 mules, 1,601 cows, 2,488 work oxen, 5,397 beef cattle, 1,712 sheep, and several thousand hogs. That year there was harvested 5,145 bushels of wheat, 111,889 bushels of barley, 1,627 bushels of oats, 1,245 bushels of corn, 1,400 bushels of potatoes and 4,000 tons of hay. What was the population? Only 5,029. They were classified as follows: 4,569 white citizens, only 987 fe- males; 81 negroes, 21 females; 379 Indians, 168 males.

Land Acreage and Price

As I have already stated Captain Weber offered free of cost 160 acres of land to any person who would locate and live upon his holdings. After the gold discovery the land advanced in price from five to ten dollars an acre. As the population increased and it was found to be productive for wheat and bar- ley, the price of land steadily arose until the average price per acre was fifty dollars. It remained at that price until the railroad days.

Most of those who purchased farming lands bought not less than 160 acres, and buying more land from time to time several of them had from 800 to 1,500 acres. They would use this land for grain raising and pasture land. As the land began to wear out, that is produce a less quantity of wheat than in former years, they would summer fallow a part of the land. The farmer with a small acreage could not do this as he was compelled to raise a crop every year in order to pay taxes and make a living. Hence the desire to obtain more land. And today you may ride along the Waterloo, Linden, Sonora, Mari- posa and French Camp roads and along any one of them you will see deserted farm houses, barns and sheds miles apart, but with thou- sands of acres of grain land lying between. Any twenty acres of this land given over to diversified farming will give a good living to a moderate-sized family.

Fencing the Land

Stock was running loose all over the coun- ty. At the same time thousands of beef cattle and sheep were being driven to Stockton and

to the mountain camps for food, and horses for use under the saddle and harness. Farm- ers were compelled to protect their land es- pecially through the seedtime and harvest. On the sand plains they dug wide ditches and threw up embankments. On the black land there was an immense forest of white oak trees. They were felled, chopped into four foot lengths, and rails split out. Then placed to- gether in the form of an X a single stick was placed on top to bind them and it made an animal-proof fence. Then fence posts and lum- ber became cheaper, a barbed wire factory was established in Stockton, by the Farmers' Co- Operative Union. The rail fences were sold to keep burning the fires of the Stockton homes, the flour mills and steamer furnaces. For several years this was the only fuel of the bakeries, mills and steamers. In 1861 a 100 cords of wood piled on the levee for the use of the steamers was swept away by the flood and floated through the Golden Gate.

Plowing the Field

Thomas Gray sung in his beautiful elegy, in regard to the farmer :

Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield ;

Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke; How jocund did they drive their teams afield, How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke.

The adobe soil was indeed stubborn, tough and hard to work with the early day methods of plowing and the farmer was compelled to go into the field long before daylight in order to accomplish a fair day's work. It was a long, tiresome job, guiding and walking behind the single plow drawn by two horses and as the evening shades appeared,

"The plowman homeward plods his weary way,

And leaves the world to darkness and to me." The farmer was dependent upon the "timely rains," which sometimes began about the last of November and continued until late in the spring. His plowing and seeding must be ac- complished before the middle of January. Sometimes the early rains would be very light, or none at all, and to plow the dry soil, he could not. Then again heavy rains would fall and he could not plow until the soil dried out. After a time the double plow, drawn by four horses, was invented, and the farmer could do twice the work in the same time. Then came the gang plow drawn by eight horses, the driv- er sitting on the plow. He could do four times the work of former days, but now he had four times the acreage. Now the large gang plow drawn by a tractor engine does the plowing, working in the daylight hours only, and plow- ing the land at any time, rain or no rain.

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Harvesting the Crop

What would the harvest be? No farmer could tell because it depended entirely upon the na- ture of the soil. and the weather conditions between seed time and harvest. In the Calav- eras River section and from Stockton east and southeast for a distance of eight miles the wheat yield was from 60 to 80 bushels an acre. But after many years the soil grew aweary and the crop kept decreasing in bushels until now from 15 to 25 bushels is considered a good crop. I heard Thomas Sedwick say- his farm was six miles east-never in forty years did he get less than twenty bushels to the acre.

The seed of wheat planted was of the Mexi- can variety with small, light kernels of wheat. It was the same variety as the Mission Fathers planted. Then the farmers obtained what was · known as Chile wheat from South America, and after a time they obtained a wheat with well-filled, large heads, known as the white Australian variety. I came across the story of its introduction into San Joaquin County in January, '23. In 1877 a man from Australia was talking with J. W. Smith, a Stockton grain buyer. And during the conversation he handed Mr. Smith three heads of wheat, say- ing that they had been given to him by an Australian farmer as being of the best variety. The wheat when shelled out made about a large spoonful. Mr. Smith gave the seed to John Holt of Sonora. He planted the wheat and from a half acre of land he obtained fif- teen sacks of fine wheat. The seed was im- mediately introduced into San Joaquin and has been sown since that time.

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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 61

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