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 73

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 73

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County, paying $100,000 for it, which included the crop of grain and this he harvested and sold for $80,- 000 in 1879. He was the first man to set out a vine- yard in this section of the county and he also had an orchard of several varieties of fruits and nuts, show- ing that almost everything would grow if given half a chance. It was he who broke the first furrow in the land and he sowed the grain by hand and covered it by dragging brush over the ground, there being no harrows here then. He harvested a crop that ran thirty sacks to the acre and sold it for five cents a pound. When he was working away on his place trying to get in his crop people passing were often heard to make disparaging remarks about the futility of such labor, but Mr. Jones persevered and reaped his harvest.

In 1857, Mr. Jones made a trip back East and bought a band of cattle and drove them back to Cali- fornia to raise the standard of the California stock. On his return trip he fell in with a party that included John W. Dunlap and his family, who were on their way to California. In this party was a young lady who bore the name of Catherine Martin Dunlap, born December 25, 1832, in Springfield, Ill, and their wed- ding occurred in California on September 7, 1857. Settling on the old home place, in 1861, Mr. Jones erected a commodious two-story brick house contain- ing eleven rooms, the bricks having been made nearby. This colonial style house was the scene of many a social gathering and is still standing on its original site. It was donated to the Woman's Improvement Club of Escalon by Miss Alice D. Jones and was used for the sessions of the first high school of the town until a suitable school building could be built. Of the second marriage of John W. Jones there were eight children born, all now deceased except one, Miss Alice D. Jones, of Stockton. In order of birth they are: Caleb Franklin; Lucinda Caroline married Joseph Dolan and lived near Montpelier, Stanislaus County; William Joshua lived four miles east of the old home place; Emeline N. married Romaine Moll and lived on the Blue Tent Place; David Lincoln settled on the Stanislaus; Miss Alice Deborah, of Stockton; James Wesley, who had the home place; and Albert Wheeler, who died aged seven years.

In 1870 Mr. Jones distributed some 15,000 acres of land equally among the three living children by his first marriage. They were Levi J., who had married and lived in Stanislaus County; Mrs. E. A. (Hall) Humphrey, who also lived in that county until her marriage with Mr. Humphrey, when she located in Sacramento; and Mrs. Willis Bledsoe, who lived in Modesto. The son Electus, who was brought from Missouri, died aged fifteen years.

In 1878 Mr. Jones built a small schoolhouse on his ranch and hired a private teacher for his children, although others were permitted to attend and their parents paid their share of the teacher's expenses. Mrs. Catherine Jones died in Dent township in 1880, and Mr. Jones survived until September, 1893. He made one trip East after the death of his second wife but soon returned to his home. Mr. Jones was a hard worker, honest in all his dealings, ready and ever willing to lend his aid to those in distress and was one of the stanch upbuilders of the county. He mct with many reverses and discouragements in his early life here and at one time offered to let a navi- gation company have his ranch and possessions for a ticket East, but they would not accept and he had to

John w Jones

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

hang on till with the passing of years he became one of the wealthy men of the county. He was a Repub- lican in his political affiliations and during the Civil War found conditions about him full of sectional hatreds, when a man's life counted for but little. The large property he accumulated was divided among the heirs and 1,000 acres of the home place were sold by his son, James Jones, part of which is now the Escalon townsite. Miss Alice D. Jones has platted ten acres as the Pioneer Addition to Escalon and the streets are named after her brothers and sisters; she has also subdivided 1,200 acres into five-acre tracts and upwards to eighty acres and is bringing into the district south of Escalon a very desirable class of ranchers. She is doing her part as the daughter of the pioneer to continue to build up from the firm foundation laid by her worthy father.

WILLIAM PAYSON MILLER .- During his life- time numbered among the leading business men and manufacturers of Central California, the career of William Payson Miller records an instance of a rise from the bottom of the ladder to a place of prestige and prosperity, due alone to his indomitable perse- verance and integrity. A native of Maine, Mr. Miller was born at Windsor, October 8, 1825, his parents being Thomas and Jane (Pratt) Miller, born at Little Cambridge and Vassalboro, Maine, respectively. His maternal great-grandfather, John Taber, was said to be the first banker of Portland, Maine; Mrs. Jane (Pratt) Miller's parents were Nathan and Mary (Taber) Pratt, the former born at Little Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the latter at Vassalboro, Maine.

When William P. Miller was three years old his parents removed to Vassalboro and later to Palmyra, then to Augusta. William attended school only dur- ing the winter terms, working out in summer on the neighboring farms, for there were six children in the family to support and all that could had to lend a helping hand. When he was sixteen years old he went to work for an uncle, Thomas Partridge, learn- ing to make wheels and the woodwork for farm wagons, and later he engaged in business for himself at North Vassalboro, running his shop for about two years. There, in 1847, he was married to Miss Phoebe Roberts, who died September 17, 1849, leaving a son Edward, who came to California when he was twenty- one and made his home in Stockton for many years. The following year Mr. Miller decided to come to California, and leaving New York on the old ship Clarendon in the fall of 1850 he spent 196 days on the trip, reaching San Francisco April 6, 1851. Un- able to find work in his trade of wheelwright, he finally secured a place as a carpenter on a little church being erected, his wages to be paid when the job was completed. Many were the hardships of those days and for some time his only food was a loaf of bread and water, for which he paid ten cents a pail. Through a chance meeting with John R. Corey, a carriage maker for whom he had once worked in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Mr. Miller later came to Stockton and secured employment at the wagon shop of J. W. Smith of Channel Street, at seven dollars a day. In the spring of 1852 he established a woodworking shop of his own, and working in con- junction with two blacksmiths from New Bedford, Massachusetts, named Skiff and Tucker, he began turning out wagons, one of the first being a freight wagon which was sold to Sam Foreman for $900.

During the first summer the shop had no doors nor a floor; a few boards were laid overhead and there he slept However, this humble beginning was the foundation of the splendid carriage building estab- lishment which he built up at Stockton, a model fac- tory at that time, with a reputation for superior work- manship second to none on the Pacific Coast.

In June, 1855, he was married to Miss Pamelia Tilton, a native of Easton, N. Y., who came to Cali- fornia in 1853. They adopted a daughter, Millie Louisa Franklin, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Miller passed away August 17, 1891, and on November 10, 1892, Mr. Miller was mar- ried to Mrs. N. Jane Neill, whose death occurred November 20, 1894, Mr. Miller surviving her until May 8, 1897, his passing away removing from the ranks of Stockton's early settlers one of her most honored and trusted citizens, whose life was one of the highest integrity. A firm supporter of the Re- publican party from its earliest days, he was an abol- itionist by principle and took an active interest in all movements for the putting away of slavery. He was a friend of temperance and liberally donated funds for temperance work, never using either liquor or tobacco in his entire life, and after the organiza- tion of the Prohibition party he became an active worker in its councils. He was a member of Weber Engine Company No. 1 and took an active part as an exempt fireman in later years. In 1854 he was a member of the city council. He was a director of the Stockton Savings & Loan Bank for many years.

MRS. MILLIE L. FRANKLIN .- The only repre- sentative of one of Stockton's honored pioneer fam- ilies, Mrs. Minnie L. Franklin today resides in the old home erected by her father, but at that time it stood alone in a large grain field, while now it is on one of Stockton's busy streets. A native of San Francisco, she was reared and educated at Stockton and at the College of the Pacific at San Jose. Her adopted parents, William Payson and Pamelia (Til- ton) Miller, both came to California in the early days, the father in 1851 and the mother in 1853, the latter being a native of Easton, N. Y. William Payson Miller was born in Windsor, Maine, and when twenty- five years old he left his native state and journeyed to California on the old ship Clarendon, which re- quired 196 days to make the trip. After many hard- ships in those early days, and with no capital but what he earned by his daily toil he was able to estab- lish at Stockton one of the large carriage manufac- tories of the Pacific Coast. One of Stockton's most honored citizens, an account of his life will be found in more detailed form on this page.

Mrs. Franklin's first marriage, on May 1, 1894. at Stockton, united her with F. H. Scofield, and they later removed to Montesano, Washington, returning to California in January, 1896. Her second marriage, which occurred on May 12, 1904, at San Rafael, Cali- fornia, united her with Frederick M. Franklin, from whom she separated in 1912. She has one son, who was born at Stockton, May 17, 1896, who after attend- ing the Stockton high school took up automobile work, soon becoming superintendent for E. Allen Test of Stockton. His proficiency gained him a pro- motion to the Dodge Company branch at Oakland, where he has charge of their shop.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

WILLIAM MORAN .- A resident of California since 1862, William Moran is one of the state's most worthy pioneers, for he has contributed much to the improvement and building up of this great common- wealth. He was born at Carrick, on the River Suir, in County Waterford, Ireland, March 1, 1833, the son of Edmond and Hanora (Barton) Moran. The father, who was a farmer, passed away in his na- tive land and after his death Mrs. Moran came to Massachusetts where she resided for the remainder of her life. They were the parents of eight child- ren, only two of whom are now living, William Moran of this sketch, and Edmond Moran, who re- sides in Charlestown, Mass.

William Moran grew up on the farm in Ireland and remained there until nineteen years of age, leav- ing there in 1852 to come to America where he felt that greater opportunities awaited him. He located at Chelsea, Mass., and went to work on a farm where oxen were still being used to carry on the farming operations. On July 8, 1860, at Chelsea, he was married to Miss Hannah Linskey, who was born October 14, 1840, in County Galway, Ireland, the daughter of John and Mary (Mitchell) Linskey, farmers in Galway. The mother died there and the father came to Pennsylvania but passed away soon afterward, leaving four children, of whom Hannah was the eldest. She came to Massachusetts in May, 1849, with an aunt and attended school at Chelsea, and it was here that she met and married Mr. Moran.

In April, 1862, William Moran started to Califor- nia by way of Panama, landing at San Francisco on May 5th, and in December of that year he was joined by his wife and their son, William B. Mrs. Moran's journey was indeed an eventful one; she was a passenger on the Aerial from New York to Aspinwall which was captured by the Confederate cruiser Alabama, as this was during the stirring days of the Civil War. The passengers were kept for two days on the Island of Jamaica before they were al- lowed to proceed on their journey. Crossing the Isthmus of Panama they took the steamer Consti- tution to San Francisco, arriving December 27, 1862. For the first year Mr. Moran was employed in San Francisco and in the spring of 1863 he went to Bo- dega Bay, Sonoma County, and began grain farming, raising a good crop of oats. In the fall of 1864 he re- moved to Santa Clara County and purchased a fifty- acre farm six miles east of San Jose and there he fol- lowed farming until the lands on the west side in San Joaquin County were opened for settlement, tak- ing up his residence there in 1867 on a homestead of 160 acres at Mohr's Landing, near Bethany. Here he built a house and made improvements, breaking the virgin soil and raising grain. He sold this ranch in 1875 and engaged in sheep raising and had just gotten nicely started when the memorable drought of 1877 left him with many others with nothing to feed their sheep and he sustained a heavy loss. He then located at Ellis, now Tracy, a few miles from his old homestead and in 1878 began farming near Corral Hollow, continuing there for sixteen years, then bought 320 acres on the boundary line between San Joaquin and Alameda counties, near Midway, all but a few acres being in San Joaquin County. He improved this place, building a residence, made a success of raising grain and hay and with the aid of his family, who were all capable and industrious, he was able to gain a competency.

Mr. and Mrs. Moran were the parents of eleven children: William B., passed away in Siskiyou Coun- ty in 1900; Mary, Mrs. Martin J. Lund, of Stockton; Anna and Katherine reside with their parents; Nancy died in infancy; Louise, Mrs. Dana Troth, of Tracy; John Edmond passed away in Stockton on April 20, 1922; Nellie, Mrs. David Lake, of Oakland; Harriett, Mrs. Thomas Mournian, resides near Antioch; Eliza- beth, Mrs. George Hicks, of Oakland; Emmet is a rancher of Stockton. In 1910, wishing to retire from active business. Mr. and Mrs. Moran rented their farm and took up their residence at 2116 Twenty- sixth Avenue, Oakland, where they reside in com- fort with their two daughters, Misses Annie and Katherine Moran, who give their parents the most clevoted care, looking after their well-being in every way. While living at Tracy Mr. Moran was a prominent member of the Grange, passing through all the chairs. In 1872 he joined Sumner Lodge, No. 177, I. O. O. F., at Ellis, now Tracy, is a past grand and now the oldest member of the lodge. He is also a member of the Rebekahs in Tracy. In poli- tics he has long been a strong Republican.

July 8th, 1910, Mr. and Mrs. Moran celebrated their golden wedding at their home on the ranch. The affair was made a great demonstration by the members of the family, their friends and neighbors. There were beautiful decorations and an abundance of flowers, and the wedding repast was delightful and much praised by those present, and many toasts were given for the health and longevity of the couple. It was a most enjoyable occasion and Mr. and Mrs. Moran were the recipients of many beautiful gifts. Sumner Lodge of Odd Fellows at the first session after the golden wedding passed an appropriate reso- lution for the honored couple, and presented Mr. Moran with a lodge emblem as a token of the high regard in which he was held by the members of the lodge. Each year since then the Morans have cele- brated their anniversary at their home and at their sixtieth anniversary the members of the family presented them with a fine phonograph. On July 8. 1922, they celebrated their sixty-second anniversary. They have been wonderfully blessed and take much pride in their devoted children.

JOHN BURGESS HARELSON .- Typical among the interesting stories of worthy California pioneers always likely to engage the attention of the historian and to inspire the American youth, is that of the late John Burgess Harelson, a native of Kentucky, where he was born in 1818, who long was highly regarded by his associates and contemporaries as a representa- tive of the Blue Grass State. In 1836, when still a young man, he made an adventurous trip to South America, where he stayed, however, for only a short time; and soon after his return, he migrated to Wis- consin, where he settled at Lancaster, in Grant County. In 1850 he first visited California, crossing the great plains to get here; and after mining along the Sacramento and the American rivers, he went in for teaming and hauled provisions to the mines.

In 1852 Mr. Harelson returned to Wisconsin and there he married Miss Candace Graves, who was a native of Missouri but had accompanied her parents to Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Harelson, in 1864, made

Willians Moran

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

their way over the continent to the Golden State, and it is not surprising that, with Mr. Harelson's knowledge of Northern California, they should settle in San Joaquin County, whither a brother, Edmund Harelson, had preceeded him. In 1865, he bought from Captain Weber 120 acres of land on the Water- loo Road, six and one-half miles northeast of Stock- ton, and there he continued to live the balance of his natural days. He attained the fine old age of 84. years, and his dear wife, who had so devotedly shared hard work, hardships and even dangers, as well as joys and comforts with him, when she passed away, in 1918, was then 87. Mr. Harleson breathed his last on December 10, 1901, esteemed as a successful grain farmer and beloved as a good provider for his family, and widely honored as a public-spirited citizen.

Five children blessed the family life of Mr. and Mrs. Harelson. Ella, the eldest, became Mrs. J. B. Worley of Hanford; Martha L. is Mrs. Henry Irvine, and resides at Henry, Nebraska; Lucy, the third- born, is Mrs. S. B. Overhiser of San Diego; Flora became Mrs. J. L. Fulton of Waterloo; and there her sister, Miss Effie Burgess Harelson, also resides. Ella and Martha and Lucy were born in Wisconsin, and the other two girls entered the family circle under the sunny skies of California. Mrs. Worley has a family of eleven children; Mrs. Irvine has one daughter; and Mrs. Overhiser has one son.

Flora, who lives with her sister on the old home place, was married on March 12, 1904, to John L. Fulton, a native of Illinois, who was a son of Levi Fulton, a New Yorker, and his, good wife Cynthia. In 1903, Mr. Fulton came to California as a drug- gist; and after their marriage they moved to Watson- ville, and during their seven years there Mr. Fulton conducted a drug store. He also owned a ranch at Willows. He sold the store in 1910 and then they took up their residence on his ranch of 80 acres in Glenn County; but he soon also sold the farm, and after that they lived at Oakland, where he was taken with pneumonia. He did not improve, and a trip to Arizona was undertaken in the hope that he would find the change of climate just what he needed; but even there he failed to mend, and to the sorrow of all who had come to admire and love him and had found in him the best of advisers, the most helpful of friends, he died, in December, 1911, preceeded by the death, in November, of their only daughter, Lois, who died in Arizona.

A portion of the old Harelson ranch is a souvenir of the days of '65; and when Candace Graves Harel- son died the ranch was divided, and now the two sisters referred to as residing there own some fifty- nine choice acres. They had attended the Green- wood grammar school and the Stockton high school, and there laid the foundation for that education to which they have ever since added by wide, broad reading and study; and one could not wish for a more enjoyable hour than in their company, their culture adding to the charm of the old-time Harelson hos- pitality, now the more to be appreciated since in other sections the once famous welcome of the Cali- fornians has become a tradition.

MRS. SUSAN JANE JACK .- An honored pioneer of San Joaquin County is found in Mrs. Susan Jane Jack, who was brought to California by her parents in 1852. She was born near Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas, May 12, 1848, the eldest daughter of Robert Foster, a native of Alabama, who removed to Arkansas in the early '40s, where the family became large planters and slave owners. He married Caro- line Hargrave, a native of Arkansas, and in 1852 started across the plains with ox-teams, with a num- ber of other families, to California, bringing with them stock and supplies. Arriving in California, the father settled on the Linden Road about eight miles east of Stockton and followed farming until he re- moved to Merced County and engaged in grain farm- ing. From there he went to Fresno County, where he became well known as a sheep and stock raiser; then disposing of his California holdings, he removed to Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1884, where, in partnership with a brother, he acquired large land holdings and engaged in stock raising. There he passed away in 1886, the mother preceding him in 1865. Our sub- ject is the second eldest of a family of ten children, five of whom now survive.

Susan Jane Foster received her education in the Greenwood and Chartville schools and on January 14, 1866, was married to George G. Jack, a native of Tennessee, born April 17, 1833. His boyhood was spent on his father's farm and in 1850 he made a pros- pecting trip to California, spending some time in the Southern mines, returning to the East at the out- break of the Civil War. He enlisted in Arkansas as a private in the cavalry on the Confederate side; he was in the battle of Pea Ridge and served through- out the entire period of the war without being wounded. Soon after the war was over he started for California on his horse, "Old Bill," used during the war, and came overland via the Santa Fe trail, a brother, John Jack, and another comrade, Joe Looper, accompanying him to San Diego, then to Los Angeles and over the mountains to San Joaquin County, ar- riving in June, 1865. Mr Jack purchased 100 acres of choice land on the Copperopolis Road and for twenty-two years the family resided here; then the family moved to Lockeford and spent seven years; then to Waterloo, settling on the Long homestead, where Mr. Jack passed away April 13, 1905. He is survived by his widow, our subject, six sons and six daughters: Miss Lulu; George, of Lockeford; Frank, of French Camp; Wm. T., of Stockton; Albert J., of Manteca; Mrs. Alice Leisz, of Ceres ;- Harry S., of Manteca; Mrs. R. E. Minaken, of Napa; Mrs. Aaron Keppel, of Manteca; Martin E., of Manteca; Mrs. Ray Stuart, of Ripon; Mrs. George LeMoin, of Manteca. At the present time there are twenty-five grand- children and three great grandchildren. From the time of taking up his residence in the county, Mr. Jack served on the Democratic County Central Com- mittee and was a liberal contributor to public and private charities.

In 1912. Miss Lulu Jack purchased forty acres of the Carter homestead near Manteca, which has been improved and developed into a fine home place and here she and her mother reside. Miss Jack was gradu- ated from San Jose Teachers' College in 1895 and has followed her profession of teaching in the public schools of the state ever since.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

JESSE STEWART LEWIS AND LUDWIK S. PAZNESKI .- For the past twenty-eight years Lud- wik S. Pazneski has been a resident of San Joaquin County where he first worked as a well-borer, fol- lowing this line of work for three years when he began farming on the Lewis ranch which has since occupied him. He was born in Poland, about sev- enty-five miles north of Warsaw, in the state of Plosck, July 22, 1872, a son of John and Elizabeth (Jesineska) Pazneski. He was reared and schooled in his native land until his nineteenth year, when he came to the United States and found employment on a farm near Paterson, N. J .; then he worked in the iron foundries of that city until his removal to Stockton, .Cal., in 1894. Ludwik S. is the eldest of a family of four, the others residents of Poland.

On December 1, 1897, in San Francisco, Mr. Paz- neski was married to Miss Caroline Lewis, born on her father's ranch six miles from Stockton on the Waterloo Road, the present home place of Mr. and Mrs. Pazneski. Caroline Lewis is a daughter of Jesse Stewart and Mary Ann (Hobbs) Lewis, na- tives of Missouri and Indiana, respectively, of Scotch and English ancestry. Jesse Stewart Lewis was a great-great-nephew of Daniel Boone, his great- grandmother being Hannah Boone, whose sister, Anna Boone, was the grandmother of Abraham Lin- coln. The mother of Jesse Stewart Lewis was a sister of Major Archibald Sloan, of the American Revolution. Mary Ann Lewis was the niece of Ben Kelsey for whom Kelseyville, Cal., was named, and he married Nancy Roberts, the first white woman to come to California. Jesse Stewart Lewis was a farmer by occupation in Missouri, and in 1853 crossed the plains to California with his wife and family in an ox-team train and prairie schooners, the journey taking about six months. Upon arriving at Stockton Mr. Lewis engaged in freighting to the mining camps, making his headquarters on the ranch he had bought in 1853, soon after his arrival, and where Mr. and Mrs. Pazneski now reside. He first bought 120 acres, but when the Upper Sacramento Road was put through the property was resurveyed and it left 110 acres in the home place; he also owned 1201/2 acres, known as the Sam Clark ranch, later owned by Cy Moreing. In 1866, when the Waterloo Road was put through, Mr. Lewis fenced off four and one-half acres, erected a small house in which relatives lived for about seven years, then he ar- ranged to move the Greenwood school house, which is now located on the northwest corner of that small tract. With-Cy Moreing and his partner, he owned the old Harvey and Graham ranches and a half sec- tion of land at Bellota. Besides his own holdings he leased considerable land on Roberts Island on all of which he raised grain extensively.

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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 73

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