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 74

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 74

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There were eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis: J. K. P. Lewis, of Ashland, Ore., is the eld- est; Arrena J. became the wife of Cyrus Moreing and died in 1884; Flora Ellen was the wife of Joseph Parrish and is deceased; Lydia died at the age of eighteen; Thomas H. died when he was thirty-three years of age; Mary E. is the widow of C. C. Frank- lin of Stockton; William died at the age of twenty- six; Caroline is the wife of L. S. Pazneski. She began her education in the Greenwood school, then spent two years in high school; took a business course in a commercial school in Stockton, at the same time that she pursued her musical studies under

Mrs. Van Vlear-Ladd and other instructors. She has lived on the old Lewis ranch all her life, remaining with her parents while they lived. Her father died at the age of seventy-eight years and eight months, in 1899, her mother surviving until 1910, when she had reached the fine old age of eighty-nine years and eleven months. When her mother died, Mrs. Paz- neski received fifty acres of the home place and a strip of land two rods wide and extending from the home place to the Waterloo Road, lying on the west side of Harrelson's and the Greenwood school lot and comprising about two acres, as her portion of the estate; later thirty-one acres were purchased and this acreage constitutes the home place of Mr. and Mrs. Pazneski. Here Mr. Pazneski has set out a vineyard and orchard and farmed to grain with con- siderable success. On this place stands one of the largest mission fig trees in the state, measuring over fourteen feet in circumference at the base and the shaded area is over 300 feet in circumference. It was planted by Mr. Lewis in 1856 and people from all parts of the country come to see it. Mr. Lewis was a trustee of the Greenwood school for many years, was a Democrat in politics and always ready and willing to do his share to make the county a better place in which to live and always extended the old California hospitality to all who visited their ranch home. This spirit is being kept alive by his daughter who is fol- lowing in his footsteps and takes a great interest in community affairs as well as politics.

BASILIO LAOGIER .- Among the pioneers of this western commonwealth, the late Basilio Laogier was a native of France, born in Nice, March 6, 1820, the son of Charles and Josephine (Moisin) Laogier, also natives of that country, the father maintaining a wholesale and retail mercantile establishment and also managing a hotel at Nice. There the son was reared and educated and soon after leaving school he secured a position with the French government in the arsenals and for three years his duties kept him in Algiers. At the end of this time he remained there three years longer on his own account during this time carrying on a profitable business as lock- smith and gunsmith. Thereafter he returned to France, and during the month he spent in Marseilles he made preparations to start on an extended tour of the world. From Marseilles he shipped to Rio Janeiro, Brazil, and after stopping there for a time resumed the voy- age, rounding Cape Horn and finally reaching the port of Valparaiso, Chile, in safety. From this South American port he continued his travels to San Francisco, arriving at that port January 22, 1850. He had not been in that city, long, however, before he was attracted to the mines, and going to Mokelumne Hill, he mined there with average success for a few months, and then returned to San Francisco, reaching that city the day following the disastrous fire. Six months later he again went to the mines, but after seven months more of this life he gave it up altogeth- er and thereafter settled in Stockton, where for a time he conducted a locksmith establishment. Believing that a lucrative business could be established in haul- ing supplies to the mines, he embarked in the pack- train business in 1858, hauling goods to Murphys, Virginia City, and other mining camps in that vicinity. In the course of a few years interest in the mines there began to lessen, and at the same time the cost of fod- der for his mules had increased to such an extent as

Jesse S. Lewis.

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to make continuance at the business almost prohibit- ive. Some idea of the cost may be gathered from the fact that during the year 1864 the feed for his pack mules cost him at the rate of $300 per month. This condition of affairs made it necessary for him to change his location, and from there he went to the mining region about Sacramento, hauling, supplies to Red Bluff, Colusa, Tehama, and Yreka. He also attempted to take the Indian trail to Klamath Lake. but the Indians resented the intrusion and drove him away, and he then journeyed by way of the lava beds, Warm Springs and Fort Dalles to Dalles. From that point he sent his pack-train overland to Umatilla, while he himself took the steamer for that point, and from there took a cargo to Bannock City. The ex- pedition proved sufficiently profitable to warrant two more similar trips. He then proceeded to Placerville, Centerville, passing through Oregon on his way to Walla Walla, Wash., which city he reached on Nov- emer 25, in the midst of a heavy snowstorm. From that point he took a steamer for San Francisco, reaching that city January 10, 1865, and after having his gold coined at the mint, continued his journey to Stockton. Here he entered the brokerage business and real estate and still later he opened a grocery store. Finally, however, in 1870, he retired from act- ive business altogether and thereafter lived retired until his death, May 3, 1897.

In Stockton, March 27, 1869, Mr. Laogier was united in marriage with Miss Dionisia Ponce, Mrs. Laogier was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and is the daughter of Nemesio Ponce, a merchant and trader in that Mexican city. They were the parents of one daughter, Mrs. Ysabel L. Young, the wife of the late William J. Young, a prominent physician and surgeon of Stockton. Mrs. Laogier, too has passed away. She was a woman of fine public spirit and generous to those less fortunate than herself; she was a member of the Catholic Ladies Aid and for many years was grand director of the order; she was also active in the work of the Children's Home in Stockton. Mr. Laogier was a well-educated man, his extensive travels giving him an unusual opportunity to exercise his ready observation, a faculty which added to a keen intellect resulted naturally in a fund of information. His early residence in the state made him eligible to the San Joaquin Society of California Pioneers, of which body he was a prominent member.

HON. FRANK S. BOGGS .- An eminent represen- tative of the California realty world whose wide and valuable experience as a man of public affairs has enabled him to become of especial service in the rapid development of the Golden State, is the Hon. Frank S. Boggs, state senator from the Tenth Dis- trict. He was born on his father's farm near Colusa, Cal., on October 28, 1871, the son of John and Louise E. (Shackleford) Boggs, both of whom are now de- ceased. John Boggs was a California pioneer who crossed the great plains in '49 from Howard County, Mo., and farmed in Colusa County for many years; and he long represented Colusa and other northern counties in the State Senate. He was able, therefore, to give the subject of our story many opportunities. and so to start him well in the world.

Frank Boggs attended the district schools of Co- lusa County and boarding schools in both Benicia and San Francisco, and in 1894 he was graduated

from the University of California with the degree of Bachelor of Letters. He located in Stockton in the fall of the same year, and began the development of 1314 acres of land in the Delta district owned by his father. The land had been flooded several times, and Frank Boggs began a reclamation campaign; and since that time he has been actively engaged in de- veloping the property known as the Boggs Tract. He has also sold a part of the land, 900 acres now re- maining. He has cultivated some of it as farm land, and the remainder has been subdivided into lots known as the Boggs Tract Subdivision or the Yo- semite Subdivision, each containing half-acre lots. This property adjoins Stockton on the west, and a portion of it is within the city limits.

Mr. Boggs was also engaged in the real estate and insurance business in Stockton while making these subdivisions, being associated with the Union Safe Deposit & Loan Company, and he was always suc- cessful in that field. He has other real estate hold- ings of his own in the county, and he has been a director in the San Joaquin County Fair Association and also of the County Farm Bureau since their or- ganization. It is not surprising, therefore, that he was elected to the office of state senator of the Tenth District, which includes San Joaquin and Amador counties in 1918, for a four-year term, nor that it has often been remarked that he was the best Senator the district ever had. He has looked after the inter- ests of the farmer in particular, and the latter every- where has found in him the most faithful of repre- sentatives. He was also chairman of the committee on public morals in the session of 1921, and a member of the following committees: navigation, commerce and education, elections, finance, governmental effi- ciency and economy, irrigation, reapportionment, rev- enue and taxation. A Democrat in national political parties, he was elected by a large majority in a strong Republican district, and has no opposition for re- election in 1922. When the World War broke out, he was made chairman of the Stockton City Exemption Board, and served from the beginning to the close of the war, making a fine record, so that he was highly complimented by the Governor and U. S. officials for the manner in which he carried on the work com- mitted to him. He is a d'rector in the . Stockton Chamber of Commerce, and also a director in the Morris Plan Bank of Stockton.

At Stockton, in 1899, Senator Boggs was married to Miss Katherine Cunningham, the youngest daugh- ter of the late Thomas Cunningham, sheriff of San Joaquin County; and three sons have blessed the union-John C., who is at the University of California, Thomas W. and Frank S. Boggs, Jr. Mr. Boggs has beeen treasurer of the San Joaquin Blue Lodge of Masons and also of the Knights Templar for twenty years, and has passed through all branches of the Scottish Rite, Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco, and is a past commander of the Stockton Commandery. He was a member of the building Committee having charge of the erection of the new Masonic Temple, recently completed on Market Street, Stockton, representing the San Joaquin Lodge; and he belongs to Lodge No. 218 of the Stockton Elks, and to the Stockton Lions Club. He is an ex-president of the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau, and ex- officio member of the board of directors. He is a very active worker in the interest of the Bureau, and

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devotes much time to it. He is a member of the University of California Club, and is active in Boy Scout work; being ex-president of the Boy Scouts; and a member of the Stockton Y. M. C. A.

B. C. WALLACE .- It is interesting to chronicle the story of the successful man, one who, by his own ability, energy and industry has accomplished his ambition, and by his generosity, integrity and honesty of purpose has acquired the esteem of his fellowmen and become highly respected and influential. Such a career is that depicted in the biography of B. C. Wal- lace, the head of the oldest funeral director establish- ment in Stockton, a prominent and progressive citizen who has long been identified with San Joaquin Coun- ty's affairs and people. He was born near Lockeford, twelve miles northeast of Stockton, on May 24, 1876, and comes of the Civil War inflow of settlers in Cali- fornia. His parents are M. Turner and Martha (Har- rington) Wallace, the former born in Randolph Coun- ty, Mo., May 27, 1842, and Van Buren County, Iowa, July 26, 1844, respectively. They were married in Davis County, Iowa, September 24, 1863, the cere- mony being performed in Bloomfield by Rev. Peak, a Baptist clergyman. The year after the marriage the young couple decided to come to California. On April 6, 1864, they left their old home in Iowa in an ox team train, making the overland journey without any serious mishap, except having their cattle stam- peded by the Indians, but were fortunate in their recovery. They crossed the Nevada line into Cali- fornia September 2, 1864, remaining in Honcy Lake Valley, Lassen County, until May, 1865, when they crossed the Placerville grade and arrived at Chinese Camp June 1 and in Stockton June 5. Here they remained until September, 1866, when they removed to Sonoma County and followed farming. On July 4, 1874, they moved to Harmony Grove, San Joaquin County, and on November 14, ten years later, they went to Lodi, residing there for seventeen years. M. T. Wallace was a well-known and reliable man, serv- ing six years as justice of the peace in Lodi.

In 1901 M. T. Wallace with his wife removed to Dinuba and soon afterwards was elected justice of the peace and has been re-elected every four years, the last time in 1922, without opposition and is now entering his seventeenth year in that office in Dinuba. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace in 1913 celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary and expect to celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary in 1923. They are de- vout Methodists and Mr. Wallace is a local minister of no mean ability and has preached throughout this section of California. This worthy pioneer couple were blessed with eleven children, five of whom are living, our subject being the oldest son; the others are Mrs. Laura Pope, Mrs. B. F. Patterson, Earl E. Wallace and Miss Pearl Wallace.

B. C. Wallace attended the schools of Harmony Grove and Lodi up to the age of thirteen years, when he started out to make his own livelihood. His am- bition from a youth was to become a funeral director and he began the study under Andrew Ruttaige, the Lodi funeral director, and making rapid progress he was soon his able assistant, continuing with him for a period of five years. He then formed a partner- ship with F. O. Hale under the firm name of Hale & Wallace, in Lodi for a year at the close of which Mr. Wallace sold out and dissolved partnership. In 1900 he went to San Jose where as embalmer he worked

for the W. B. Ward Undertaking Company for one year when he returned to Stockton and in 1901 he began business in Stockton as Rogers & Wallace, but in 1906 Mr. Wallace purchased Mr. Rogers' interest and since then has built up one of the largest and most complete funeral director establishments and he is now the oldest in his line of business in Stockton. Mr. Wallace is a licensed embalmer, having taken a course. with the Hennessey School of Embalming in San Francisco, from which he was graduated in 1899. He believes in being abreast of the times and in 1912 he was the pioneer in securing the first auto- mobile equipment for conducting funerals in Stockton. Seeing the need of a larger and more modern ceme- tery for the rapidly growing city he was one of the organizers of Park View Cemetery, located about seven miles southeast of Stockton. Mr. Wallace has taken a most active part in its development and is secretary of the corporation. Individually he built and owns the crematory and also a community mauso- leum with 312 crypts, both located in Park View Cem- etery. The funeral chapel is located at the corner of Stanislaus and Channel streets in their own building, formerly the residence of John N. Woods, which was purchased by Mr. Wallace in 1910.

Mr. Wallace's marriage united him with Miss Elsie Wheeler, a native of Stockton, descendant of an old pioneer family, the daughter of Lewis and Amanda Wheeler; the former is still living and the mother has passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace's marriage has been blessed with two bright children, La Verne and B. C., Jr. As an official of San Joaquin County, Mr. Wallace served two terms as county coroner from January, 1907, to January, 1915. During the World War he was active in Liberty Loan and allied war work, being captain of one of the drive teams, doing herculean work in aiding in the raising of funds. He is very prominent and popular in fraternal circles. He is past master of San Joaquin Lodge No. 19, F. & A. M .; is a member of Stockton Chapter, R. A. M .; Stockton Commandery No. 8, K. T., and as a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason is a member of San Francisco Consistory No. 1, as well as a member of Aahmes Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., Oakland. He is a past patron of Home Chapter No. 50, O. E. S., and past grand of Charity Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F., Stockton. Besides he is affiliated with Charter Oak Castle, K. of P., Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W., Woodmen of the World, Modern Woodmen. of Amer- ica, Foresters, Red Men, Junior Order of American Mechanics, Eagles and the Loyal Order of Moose, the Anteros and Rotary Clubs, all of Stockton. He is past president of the California Funeral Directors' Association, a member of the National Funeral Direc- tors and National Select Morticians' Association. He is a prominent member of the Central Methodist Epis- copal Church, has been a member of the official board and he has been chief usher and plate collector for sixteen years. He is assistant superintendent of the Sunday school, a position he has held for ten years and takes an active part in the benevolences of the church. Mrs. Wallace is also active in the Methodist Church and its societies; she is also a member of the N. D. G. W. and Homo Chapter No. 50, O. E. S. Mr. Wallace has a host of friends who appreciate him for his true worth. Optimistic for the great future of the county he is enthusiastic in his support of movements that have for their aim the development of this wonderfully rich section.

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B.b. Wallace

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

JOHN W. HANNAN .- A member of the legal fra- ternity of Stockton who had been a resident of this city practically all his life was the late John W. Han- nan, city attorney of Stockton almost up to the time of his death. Mr. Hannan was a native of Nevada, and was born there in Esmeralda County on Novem- ber 19, 1879. His parents were John C. and Ethel (Roscot) Hannan, the former born in Tuolumne County, Cal., while Mrs. Hannan, who has passed away, was a native of Montreal, Canada, but moved to Minnesota.

In 1885 Mr. Hannan accompanied his parents to Stockton and here he was educated in the public schools, St. Mary's College, and also had a course in the Stockton Business College. In 1907 Mr. Han- nan joined the Stockton Police Department, where for some time he was desk sergeant and later a patrol- man. During these years his ambitions led him to take up the law and he spent four years in the study of law under Charles De Legh, one of Stock- ton's well-known attorneys. As a reward for his years of diligent study he was admitted to the bar in 1915, and on October 4 of that year he was admitted to practice in the U. S. Circuit Court. In the follow- ing year, 1916, Mr. Hannan was appointed prosecut- ing attorney for the city of Stockton, a post he occu- pied with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituency until he resigned, January, 1922, to devote all his time to private practice, but he was not permitted to long continue in his ambition for he was stricken suddenly by death, March 10, 1922.

Mrs. Hannan before her marriage was Miss Anna Laura McGinnis, a native daughter of California, born in Santa Clara County, and one child was born to them, a son, Merlin F. C. Hannan, Mr. Hannan was always a Democrat in his political views and fraternally was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Knights of the Maccabees.

HENRY BLOHME .- The experiences of the pio- neers in a new country are but little appreciated by the younger generations for they know nothing of the soul-trying experiences encountered nor the hardships endured by those pathfinders who have blazed the trail for our present-day prosperity. Hen- ry Blohme has always done his share towards the building up and the upbuilding of San Joaquin County ever since becoming a resident here. He was born at Wulmstorf Amt Verden, in the kingdom of Hanover, Germany, on February 15, 1839, a son of Christopher and Dorothea (Meyer) Blohme, farm- ers in that country, the father having lived to reach the fine old age of ninety-seven before he answered the final call in 1893. His good wife had died many years before.

Henry was educated in the public schools of his native land and reared to farm life until 1858, when he decided he would come to the United States to make his own way in the world. He left Germany on a sailing vessel and after a voyage of sixty days landed in New York City. In Brooklyn he secured employment in a large grocery store as a clerk and after a short time he had won the full confidence of his employers who, when they found he was going West, offered to make him head clerk if he would stay. He worked there for a year, or until he had saved enough money to bring him out to California where he had a number of relatives living and who had written him to come West. They were Mrs. 25

Jacob Brack, Henry Meyer, Charles Meyer and John Meyer, brothers and sister of his mother. On his trip to California he was accompanied by an uncle, Herman Meyer, and they left New York on Decem- ber 4, 1859, coming via Aspinwall, where they had to wait a week for a ship, and they reached San Francisco on January 3, 1860, and proceeded by water direct to Stockton. Arriving here Mr. Blohme found work on ranches, receiving for his services twenty-five dollars a month; earning every penny of it by putting in long hours and working very hard. Being young and vigorous the hard work did not dampen his ardor nor dull the determination to get ahead. By the strictest economy he saved sufficient money to make a payment on some land consisting of 320 acres on the Copperopolis Road, about nine miles from Stockton. This was undeveloped land and he paid $10,000 for it and at once planted a crop of grain but only harvested about half a crop on account of a dry year. In 1871 he got nothing for his work, but he had a little experience with irriga- tion that gave him a good return on about two acres that he was able to flood with water that ran down the road from overflow on the ranch adjoining his. He worked by the day helping others to harvest and with their machine cut his own wheat and found he had about forty bushels to the acre on the two acres he had put water on. There were no improvements on his ranch except an adobe house and barn when he bought it, but he later built a modern and com- modious ranch house and this has been his home place ever since.

In 1871 Mr. Blohme made a trip back to his old home and visited his father, then returned to Stock- ton and resumed his ranch work. As he prospered he added to his holdings another 160 acres in 1882, paying seventy-five dollars per acre. He has farmed to grain all these years and has made an average yield of fifteen to eighteen sacks to the acre. He has also raised considerable stock with good success. In 1895 Mr. Blohme bought forty acres near Wood- bridge, which he set to Zinfandel and Mission grapes, for it had been demonstrated that grapes would thrive on that land. The product was sold to the winery, and the prices were from ten dollars and up per ton. He is a member of the Woodbridge Vine- yard Association. This vineyard is one of the oldest as well as one of the best producers in the county. In 1892 Mr. Blohme made a second trip back to see his father and the girl he had left behind him, and in 1893 journeyed to New York from California to meet his intended bride, who had come from the same section of Hanover as had Mr. Blohme. She was in maidenhood Betty Anna Adelung, born in Wulmstorf Amt Verden. They were married in New York and their wedding trip was the journey to California.

In 1894 Mr. Blohme bought three and one-half lots in Stockton and in September, 1908, the family moved into town in order that the children could have the advantages of the city schools. This con- tinued to be their home until August, 1922, when they returned to the ranch on Copperopolis Road, having sold the town property which is to become a part of the site for the auditorium. Mr. and Mrs. Blohme have had three daughters born to them: Dorothea, the eldest, died aged sixteen months; Hen- rietta C. R. and Betty Anna.

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The family are members of the Lutheran Church in Stockton and contribute liberally towards all pro- gressive movements that have for their object the making of San Joaquin County a better place in which to live and thrive. For many years Mr. Blchme was a member of the old Granger's Union of Stockton; and he also served as a member of the board of trustees of the Chartville school district. Take it all in all his has been a busy life and he likes to recount the stories of life and living condi- tions in the early days when he first became a resi- dent of the county. Mr. Blohme and his family have always made friends and. it is with a great deal of satisfaction that in the latter years of Mr. Blohme's life he still retains the esteem and confidence of all who knew him. Today there are but few of the pioneers still living, but they laid secure the founda- tion of the commonwealth that those who come after will be able to enjoy the comforts denied their fore- fathers and by so doing are entitled to the best there is in store for the fine old pioneers.

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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 74

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