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 82

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 82

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On February 27, 1888, Mr. Stark was married in Stockton to Miss Louise Elbrecht, a native of Biele- feld, Germany, born August 25, 1866, a daughter of Frederick and Amelia (Meier) Albrecht, well-to-do German farmers. Mrs. Stark accompanied her sister, Mrs. Lena Kuckuk, to California in 1887, arriving in Stockton on Christmas Day of that same year. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Stark: William became the manager of the large ranch after his father's death and was so engaged until his death on November 7, 1918, aged twenty-nine years; Julius, deceased in infancy; Fred, Jr., was also engaged in ranching on the home place until he passed away on November 14, 1918, aged twenty-seven; Margaret Dorothea is a graduate of the public schools and is at home with her mother; Louise, now Mrs. J. P. Murray, has one son, John Stark Murray; Herbert died in infancy; Elinor is at home; Theodore, a grad- uate of the public schools and of the College of Com- merce, has charge of the ranch work for his mother and is successfully handling same; Minnie, a gradu- ate of the College of Commerce, is the bookkeeper for the extensive ranching operations of her mother; Carl is a student. Mr. Stark added to his original purchase of land in 1901 until at the time of his death on November 25, 1917, he had accumulated 1,500 acres of choice Delta land. Mr. and Mrs. Stark were always interested in the affairs of the Lutheran Church of Stockton and for many years Mr. Stark served as school trustee of the Union Island school district and in his political faith was a stanch Repub- lican. He was a public-spirited citizen, favoring every movement calculated to improve his locality and advance the interests of the state.

4 Ined Stark

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

JOHN EDWARD JORY .- Born in the same dis- trict in which he now resides, John Edward Jory, since reaching manhood's estate has been prominent and public-spirited. He was born on a ranch a half mile south of the Harmony Grove schoolhouse on February 24, 1875, a son of James and Elizabeth (Tretheway) Jory, the parents both natives of Corn- wall, England. The father, James Jory, came to Cali- fornia when he was eighteen years old, going direct to Contra Costa County where he worked in the coal mines until 1874, then he came to the Harmony Grove district, San Joaquin County and obtained work with Heath & Boody. The following year, 1875, he bought the home place, which, at that time, was heavily cov- ered with timber. From time to time he acquired more land until he had 540 acres which he cleared and farmed to grain. The mother, Elizabeth Tretheway, was the daughter of John Tretheway, who was born in Cornwall, England, and came to the United States in 1868. He located near Harmony Grove Church, raised grain and as he succeeded he became the owner of valuable property in San Joaquin County. The children born to James and Elizabeth Jory are: James Alfred of Fruitvale; Nellie, married George Harris of Stockton; John Edward; Walter; Susan is the wife of C. F. Faber of Harmony Grove; Bessie is Mrs. Winfield Ryland of Stockton; Bertha is Mrs. William Biddick also of Stockton; Lila is Mrs. Earl Bruml of Modesto; and Edna married Albert Beckman of Stockton. Mr. Jory, after many years of active work at ranching sold off part of his ranch to his son in 1906 and moved to Stockton with his wife and is now living retired.

John Edward Jory received the greater part of his schooling at the Harmony Grove school, and after his school days were over he began preparations for his future. In 1898 he went to Dawson, N. W. Ter- ritory, where he spent four years working for wages and prospecting, then returned to California with about $5,000 he had saved and located at Tracy where he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific as fore- man of the car shops, being located at Tracy most of the following six years. With the money he had made in Alaska he bought from an uncle the old Tretheway ranch of 187 acres and set twenty-five acres to vines; later he was able to purchase 176 acres of the old home place for which he paid $14,080. With characteristic thrift and industry, inherited from his forebears, he improved twenty acres of his land, setting eight acres to vines, and sold this for $500 per acre. In. 1919 he bought 160 acres east of his home place and sold it at a good profit; he also bought seventy acres of the old Farley ranch about two years ago. Mr. Jory bought the 160-acre ranch for $10,000, and not long afterwards sold it for $26,600, thus showing the rapid increase in land values in San Joaquin County. Mr. Jory has recently developed thirty acres of his ranch, planting ten acres to vine- yard and eight acres to alfalfa with the intention of putting it on the market. He has farmed as much as 800 acres and was equipped with the necessary ma- chinery for handling grain on an extensive scale, but during the World War, he disposed of all of his machinery and now only farms in a small way, own- ing and operating but 130 acres altogether, which he has improved with a modern home.

At Lockeford on June 25, 1902, Mr. Jory was united in marriage with Miss Mary Inglis, a daughter of Alexander and Jeanette (Wilson) Inglis, both natives

of Scotland. Her father was reared in Scotland, and during his young manhood followed occupation of gardener. Mrs. Jory is the sixth child in a family of ten children, four having been born before the family left Scotland. The father brought his family direct to San Joaquin County, at the present time resides about one mile west of Lockeford. Mrs. Jory received her preliminary education in the Lockeford school; later taking a teacher's course in the San Jose State Nor- mal School; after graduating she returned to San Joaquin County and taught in the Dry Creek school and the Lockeford school until her marriage to Mr. Jory. They are the parents of four children: Verel Deane, Dorothy, Ruth, and Robert.

JOSEPH MINER FOWLER .- Among the hon- ored pioneers of San Joaquin County was the late Joseph Miner Fowler, who for many years was ac- tively associated with the development of this por- tion of the state, and was always noted for patriot- ism and public spirit, industry and integrity. He was born in Westfield, Mass., July 25, 1825, his par- ents being Royal and Harriet (Smith) Fowler, the former a native of Massachusetts, and the latter of Connecticut. Royal Fowler was a farmer by occu- pation and a contractor and builder as well. He was one of the builders of the Erie Canal and one of contractors on the Boston and Albany railroad; he died in Westfield, Mass., August 27, 1875, at the age of eighty-six years. In tracing the genealogy of the Fowler family we find that they are of Scotch des- cent. They emigrated first to England, where they were the inventors of the first steam plow used in England, thence came to America.

Joseph M. was reared on a farm and remained at home until he was about eighteen years of age, when he went into a machine shop as an apprentice, re- maining three years, at the expiration of which time he took a contract for building power and hand plan- ers. After finishing this contract he joined a com- pany for California. They sailed from New York February 28, 1849, on the schooner John Castner, which was chartered by a party of eighty and took them to Point Isabel, about five miles from the Rio Grande River. There they took passage on a Gov- ernment steamer for Port Brown and Hamargo, landing on Mexican soil; and there they were delayed a week by cholera, which took the lives of two men. Fifteen of the party, including Mr. Fowler, pro- cured riding mules and left for Monterey, Mexico. They went by El Paso and Saltillo, camped on the field of Buena Vista, following General Taylor's line as far as it extended, and through Chihuahua and Tucson, the eighty-mile desert, down the Gila River to the Colorado River, across the Colorado desert. Here they had trouble with the Indians, who threat- ened them with destruction. At that time they were waiting for a pack-train of provisions, and had been out of food for two days. On several occasions on the journey they were without food from three to five days at a time. Their route from Chihuahua through was without a road or guide. From Los Angeles they took the coast route for San Juan, where they spent the Fourth of July. They arrived at the mines at Jamestown on July 8, 1849. There they spent about two months in the mines; then mined in other places, following that occupation for several years, until 1856. In the meantime Mr. Fowl- er's brother, William, had taken up land and he helped

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him harvest during the harvest season. He was very successful in mining. In 1856 he returned East via Panama, but in the fall of the same year returned to California to work on the ranch of his brother.

In August, 1857, Mr. Fowler went East and was married to Miss Eliza Brumley, a native of Massa- chusetts. In the spring of 1858 he returned via the Isthmus, bringing his wife and from that date to the day of his death he resided on his ranch in San Joa- quin County. In 1863 he purchased his brother's interest. He owned a section of land located about twelve miles from Stockton on the Davis Road; he also owned 1440 acres situated about five miles east of Merced. He was engaged in a general farming business and was a director of the Granger's store in Lodi and also of the Lodi Bank. Mr. and Mrs. Fowler were the parents of twelve children: George B. deceased; Royal R. resides in Stockton; Joseph Warren died at the age of fifty-three; Charles E. died when nine years old; Ellen L. Mrs. T. A. Jordan died at the age of fifty-two; Mary E., Mrs. Wilson H. Thompson, died in 1900, aged thirty years; Myrtle Mrs. E. E. Thompson, resides in Stockton; Hattie died at the age of three years; Addie, Mrs. D. K. Woods, resides at Kingdon; Ernest, the youngest, is a salesman for the Harris Manufacturing Company at Stockton; two children died in infancy. Mr. Fowler was a member of the Lodi Grange and the Pioneer Society. He passed away in 1896 at the age of seventy-three years and his wife was sixty- eight when she died in 1906.

JOHN B. O'MALLEY .- One of the successful, honored and highly respected citizens of San Joaquin County, where he located in an early day when pio- neer conditions existed in this part of the state, was John B. O'Malley. As the day with its morning of hope and promise, its noontide of activity and its evening of accomplished and successful effort, ending in the grateful rest and quiet of the night, so was the life of this worthy man, who in his business career directed his labors so carefully and intelligently that he gained prosperity, and so honorably that he won the unqualified confidence of all with whom he came in contact. He was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, May 15, 1830, and when a lad of eight was bereaved of his father, Michael O'Malley. Being the oldest in the family he was obliged to begin at a very early age to help with the support of the other mem- bers of the family, but meanwhile he was able to acquire a fair education. When he was seventeen, in 1847. he brought his mother, Bridget O'Malley, his sister Margaret, and his brother Martin, to America. They embarked on a sailing vessel and after a six weeks' voyage, during which very stormy weather was encountered, they landed in this country, going direct to Norwich, Conn., where they located.

Two years later, on October 29, 1849, John B. O'Malley was married to Miss Ann E. Brennan, also a native of County Roscommon, born on June 29, 1831, the fourth child in a family of seven. She was educated in a private school and accompanied her parents to America in 1847, and she proved just the right kind of a helpmate and companion for her hus- band, and during her whole life exemplified the won- derful character that made her loved by all who ever knew her. Mr. O'Malley was employed on the S. S. Commonwealth, a passenger steamer plying between Norwich and New York until 1853, when he became

enthused over the news of the gold discovery in Cali- fornia, so made arrangements to leave his family in the East and set out to seek his fortune in the est. He arrived in San Francisco, via Panama, and caine direct to Stockton and found work at the Weber House, a leading hotel of that period, and soon he became the manager and held that position for four years. In the meantime, in 1856, he sent for his wife and their two children, Elizabeth A. and John, who reached Stockton in due time. Soon a home was established in the new city and they remained here until 1862.

Mr. O'Malley had his turn at mining with some Stockton men, among whom was Michael Carroll, who eventually became his neighbor and lifelong friend. In 1862 Mr. O'Malley bought 400 acres of land from George Castle, located seventeen miles southeast from Stockton on the French Camp Road and here he built a cabin for his family and there they resided until he was able to complete a large and commodious residence. This house is still stand- ing and has been the family home ever since. In order to have a good neighbor, Mr. O'Malley sold to Michael Carroll half of his original purchase and these two men worked together to make their part of the county a desirable place in which to live. Mr. O'Malley was very successful as a grain and live stock raiser and in time came to own 1,300 acres of good land; 640 acres of this property he later sold to the Stockton Vineyard Company. He was a philanthro- pist in the truest sense for he helped a man to help himself and was ever ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate; he was likewise a devoted hus- band and father and their home life was ideal.

There were eight children born to this worthy couple, namely: Elizabeth A., died aged eight years; John died aged two; Sarah entered the religious life and for thirty-one years was a teacher in St. Agnes College in Stockton, also for seven years was in San Rafael. She was known as Sister Mary John of the Dominican Order and died July 10, 1920; William B., of Stockton, married Louisa Denny of San Francisco and they have two children, John Raymond and Mary Ines; Mary, married W. L. Brennan and has four liv- ing children, Clare, Cyril, William Leland and Regi- nald; Miss Margaret makes her home on the ranch; Ellen is a registered nurse; and Miss Jane makes her home on the ranch and with her sister Margaret man- ages the home estate; both are graduates from St. Agnes College in Stockton, and they have shown marked ability in carrying on the ranch work and the memory of their father and mother are the incentives to maintain the highest standard on the ranch and to preserve the old California hospitality that has made their home a gathering place for all their friends.

In 1899 Mr. and Mrs. J. B. O'Malley celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at their country home, surrounded by children, grandchildren, rela- tives and friends, and was a most enjoyable occasion for all. Mr. O'Malley handled his extensive interests up to the day of his death, on September 26, 1909. On June 29, 1921, at the family home was celebrated the ninetieth birthday of Mother O'Malley and a large company enjoyed a genuine hospitality under the roof of this honored pioneer woman, who always had been an inspiration to all who ever came under influence. She died on September 10, 1921, mourned by the en- tire countryside, as well as her immediate family and intimate friends. She was laid to rest in St. Patrick's

Ann Cillalley John O'Malley

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

churchyard at Atlanta, which she loved so well and which she and her husband had helped to maintain. Mr. O'Malley and Michael Carroll will always be given credit for putting in the blast that brought the water at the Lane Springs resort; and at the time of his death Mr. O'Malley was the oldest naturalized citizen in the county, receiving his papers as early as 1852. His mother came to California in later years and lived with her son, dying at his home at the age of seventy-seven years. The names of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. O'Malley are enduringly inscribed upon the records of the early pioneer settlers of San Joaquin County and it is with much satisfaction we present their portraits in this history.

CHARLES I. LEACH .- In connection with the agricultural interests of San Joaquin County the name of Leach is a familiar one, for both father and son, Charles I. Leach, have long been identified with this industry. He was born in Walworth County, Wis., in the village of Eagleville, August 18, 1852, a son of Charles Isaac and Martha J. (Tupper) Leach, natives of Vermont and Wisconsin, respectively. In 1853 Charles I. Leach, Sr., crossed the plains with an . ox-team to join his brother, James B. Leach, who had come West a few years previous and had settled in Rogue River Valley, Oregon. Learning of his brother's intentions to come West, he sent a courier with the message for Charles I. not to come to Ore- gon, as the Indians were liable to cause trouble, and also instructing him to turn south and come on to California. The following fall the terrible. Rogue River massacre occurred when every white settler was killed. Mr. Leach came on to California and settled on the Calaveras River at a place known as the Leach and Frost bridge on the Upper Sacra- mento Road; this was a stage coach station, where drivers changed horses enroute to Sacramento. James B. Leach had acquired 400 acres of land, which was afterwards purchased by Charles I., Sr., and this he farmed for many years. In 1868 he disposed of this ranch and bought the chinatown property in Stock- ton. For many years he was president of the San Joaquin Valley Bank in Stockton and although many opportunities came for him to hold public office he never accepted them, but preferred to live quietly. Charles I. is the only living child of this pioneer couple. James N. died in 1916, Helen died at the age of one year, John died at the age of a year and a half and Frank lived to be seven years old. The father lived to be eighty-two while the mother was sixty years old when she passed away.

Charles I. Leach attended the Live Oak, Davis and Fairchild district schools and finished his education at the Washington school in Stockton. He began to earn his own money when he was sixteen years old, but remained with his parents until he was twenty- five years old. His marriage occurred in June, 1877, in Stockton, which united him with Miss Fannie Hamilton, a native of Canada, a daughter of James and Jane Hamilton. Her father was a stonecutter and contractor in Canada where he passed away. After his demise the family came to Stockton. After his marriage, Mr. Leach removed to Portland, Ore., and conducted a flour mill for fourteen years, then sold out and returned to Stockton and later moved to the ranch which was left him by his father; 100 acres of this ranch was later sold, the balance of 155 acres being devoted to the raising of grapes, alfalfa 29

and grain and it is irrigated from the Stockton-Moke- lumne ditch. Ten years ago a new house replaced the old one built so many years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Leach were the parents of two children: Cornelia E., died in 1920 and Charles Frank is on the home place. While living in Oregon Mr. Leach was a member of the Knights of Pythias, and in politics he is a Republican.

JOHN C. DUTTON .- Among the agriculturists who have reaped the usual rewards that fall to the pioneer in any practical industry may be found John C. Dutton, the owner of a ranch of thirty-nine acres on the Cherokee Lane, about eight and a half miles from Stockton, where he has continuously resided for the past forty-eight years. A native of Illinois. he was born in Lawrence County on August 17, 1842, a son of William and Eliza (Bryan) Dutton, the for- mer a native of Somerset, O., and the latter of North Carolina. Early in young manhood, the father re- moved to Illinois and was a pioneer farmer of that state. John C. Dutton is one of a family of eight children. The mother passed away in 1861, when she was about fifty years old and the father survived her until 1864, passing away at the age of sixty years.

John C. Dutton had very little opportunity for an education, being obliged to assist his father on the farm. In 1861, he enlisted for service in the Civil War in Company H, 61st Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Capt. Daniel Grass, Colonel Fry and General Thomas. He trained for one week and was sent into action in the Army of the Cumberland and later in the Western Army; he was in eleven engage- ments, but was never wounded; he was in the battle of Murphysboro, Tenn., and the fall of Vicksburg. At the end of three years he was discharged and then reenlisted for the duration of the war and was finally discharged on December 10, 1865, at Nashville, Tenn. Returning to civil life, he worked for awhile for wages, then rented eighty acres of farming land until 1868, when he came to California via the Panama route, settling first at Santa Rosa, where he remained for six years working for wages. He then removed to San Joaquin County and pur- chased his present ranch forty-eight years ago where he has since made his home. His first purchase con- sisted of 103 acres of grain land, but from time to time has sold portions of it until he now owns thirty-nine acres, seven acres of which is set to vine- yard and the balance is devoted to the raising of grain with ample building space.

The marriage of Mr. Dutton occurred in Stockton on December 6, 1881, and united him with Mrs. Nettie Williamson Potter, born in Calaveras County, a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Lewis) Wil- liamson. James Williamson came to California in 1852 from Illinois, driving an ox-team across the plains and became a farmer in Calaveras County; later he removed to Arizona and passed away there. Mrs. Dutton was educated in the Milton and Knights Ferry schools. Mr. and Mrs. Dutton are the par- ents of two children: Chester, who died in 1919, married Miss Alma McQuator and they had one daughter, Dolly May. Edna May, Mrs. Raymond Burson, resides at Suisun and they have five chil- dren-Ralph, Floyd, Ellsworth, Zelma May and Paul. Mr. Dutton is a member of the Hartford Post, G. A. R., of Lodi, and of Charity Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F., and politically is a Republican.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

JOSEPH P. VINET .- The farming and stock- raising industries in San Joaquin County contribute a very large percentage of the prosperity and wealth of the county, for much of the land is in the posses- sion of men of marked enterprise and progressive methods. Of these men mention is made of Joseph P. Vinet, who located on his present ranch in 1897, and its appearance is indicative of his life of useful- ness and agricultural activity. He is a native son of California, born on his father's ranch in San Joaquin County, on October 17, 1862.

His father, Peter Vinet, was born in Charante, France, in October, 1820, received his education in the schools of his locality and early learned the baker's trade. In 1839 he emigrated from Bordeaux, France, to Vera Cruz, Mexico, and there followed his calling, and there found his wife, whom he mar- ried in 1845, and who was in maidenhood, Miss Re- fugio Aguirre, born in Mexico in 1830, a daughter of Joseph Aguirre, a Spaniard. Upon the discovery of gold in California in 1849, Peter Vinet came to this state and for a few years was engaged in mining in Tuolumne County, after which he went to Sonora and opened a bakery and sold bread as high as $1 00 a loaf; later he was in the mercantile business at San Jose for a number of years. In 1859 he located in Dent Township, San Joaquin County, and bought 160 acres of land, which he increased to 1,760 acres as he prospered in raising grain, that being his chief industry, although he raised some stock. He was one of the original stockholders of the Shell Ditch, which eventually became the South San Joaquin Irrigation Company, and he was one of the members of the old Agricultural Society. He was of a benevolent dispo- sition and supported all progressive movements for the betterment of general conditions in the county and state. He gave liberally to all religious denomi- nations, regardless of creed, and was a firm believer in education and the maintenance of schools. Mr. and Mrs. Vinet were survived by three children: Joseph P., of San Joaquin County; Anita, who mar- ried William Lamasney and lives in Stockton; and Marie, who became the wife of Alfred G. Baker and died at San Francisco. One son, Leopold Vinet, died at the age of sixteen, in 1869. Mrs. Peter Vinet passed away in September, 1894, followed to the grave by her husband on December 27, of that same year. Both were mourned by a wide circle of de- voted friends besides their immediate family. It is to such public-spirited men and women that Cali- fornia owes much for laying a firm foundation for its future prosperity.

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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 82

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