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 84

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 84

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In those early days in Southern Wisconsin the opportunity for an education was limited, nevertheless Mr. Graves advanced himself in scholarship through his application, being of a studious nature. He was closely associated with his father in conducting the home farm until he reached his majority, when on November 2, 1862, at Lancaster, Wis., he took the important step which brought so much happiness to his life, when he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah C. Shanley, who had been his school- mate. She was born near Lancaster, Wis., June 5, 1844, a daughter of Thomas and Mahala Rachael (Ingraham) Shanley, natives respectively of South Carolina and Virginia, who were also descended from prominent old Southern families. They migrat- ed to Wisconsin and were pioneer farmers in Grant County. The following year Mr. Graves prepared for the long journey across the plains, his earthly possessions at that time being none other than a team of horses and wagon. He generally drove the lead team of the outfit captained by John B. Harel- son, the party consisting of thirty-five wagons and 140 persons. They began their journey on May 2, 1864, but it was not until September that they reached their destination in the Golden State. They followed the old telegraph road all the way, a line which was also followed by the engineers who made the survey for the first transcontinental railroad. Among the party were three other old settlers of San Joaquin County, David Reynolds, Nathan Harel- son and John McKinsey. David Reynolds was also from Grant County and was a schoolmate of Mr. Graves and the warm friendship that sprang up has continued pleasantly all through life. It was not an uncommon sight on their journey across the plains to see primitive Indian camps, but luckily the travelers were not molested; in fact no complaining was done on the part of the emigrants. Their first night in California was at the Tower House in Salt Spring Valley and pushing on they arrived at Dutch Point, seven miles south of Stockton on the French Camp Road on September 2, 1864.

Mr. Graves' first experience in the San Joaquin Valley proved to him the fertility of the soil here but prices for freighting were so high that after one season of farming he decided to engage in freighting. He was so occupied from 1865 to 1867, his outfit con- sisting of eighteen horses with a span of mules in the lead, hauling five wagons loaded with supplies from Stockton for the Southern mines. On his return trip his wagons were loaded with copper ore from the Copperopolis mines, which he brought to Stockton. In those early days there were no bridges nor graded roads so everything depended on the abil- ity of the teamster to bring the valuable cargo to its destination, and as a teamster Mr. Graves had well qualified himself. He has a picture in his home showing his freighting outfit taken at Madam Felix's roadhouse near Tower Hill, in 1865, and it is one of his most cherished possessions.

In 1868 Mr. Graves purchased his first land, a tract of 320 acres which remained in his possession until 1888. By subsequent purchases he added to it until he had over 800 acres. In the meantime he also farmed in connection 1100 acres near Banta for six years and also owned a desirable farm of 560 acres of river bottom land two and a half miles south of Ripon on the Stanislaus River, a portion of which was heavily timbered. The timber was cut and sold for fuel in Stockton and six years later he sold this ranch to good advantage. Each of these enterprises was attended with signal success. In 1885 he moved his family to Stockton on account of the better school facilities. In 1890 he started a subdivision of his farm, selling it off in forty acre tracts and at the present time there are located twenty-five splendid ranch homes within the boundary of the original grain farm of 800 acres. This sub- division was completed in 1911. Mention must be made of the plan by which Mr. Graves made a suc- cessful disposition of these choice acres. The tracts were sold to desirable people and on terms so lib- eral that not one purchaser failed to carry out the terms of agreement.

Mr. and Mrs. Graves after coming to Stockton first resided on Magnolia Avenue. This place they sold on the completion in 1907 of their present spacious and comfortable home at 922 North Edison Street. Mr. Graves is deeply interested in good roads and has devoted much valuable time in the interest of county highways, among others the Aus- tin Road, which with Engineer Brush he helped to survey and improve. Mr. Graves was a promi- nent member of the Union Grange and in politics he is a Republican.

Six children blessed the union of this worthy pio- neer couple: Fannie Ellen is the wife of Frank Graves of Ripon; Luvenia Rachael is wife of Charles Norman of Manteca; Lillie Ann mar- ried George Fox of Stockton, and their son, Louis, is the managing editor of the Stock- ton Independent; Henry Thomas İŞ a mer- chant of Stockton; Sarah Etta died when twen- ty-three; Virdie is the wife of Robert Reed of Stockton. A quiet celebration of their golden wed- ding was held at the home of their daughter, Mrs. Frank Graves, at Ripon, November 2, 1912, and again at her home November 2, 1922, they cele- brated their sixtieth anniversary or diamond wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Graves are now enjoying the free- dom from care which they sustained so many years

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in managing their extensive ranch interests. Every movement for the upbuilding of Stockton and San Joaquin County has received Mr. Graves' hearty cooperation, and public and private charities have reason to be thankful to this highly esteemed and honored couple for their many benevolences.

LEWIS M. CUTTING .- A pioneer of Stockton who has had much to do with the building up of the city along substantial lines and whose optimism for its future greatness as a commercial city is Lewis M. Cutting, who at the advanced age of ninety-one years, after over sixty years of leadership in the realty field, still confers daily in the transaction of important deals in the conducting of the affairs of the firm of L. M. Cutting, realtors, of which he is the senior member, while his son, Francis Cutting, is the junior member and is actively engaged in the management of the firm.

Lewis M. Cutting was born in Lowell, Massa- chusetts, September 1, 1831. His father, Lewis Cutting, was a native of Weston, while his grand- father, John Cutting, also of Weston, married Cynthia Warren, a niece of General Joseph Warren of Revo- lutionary fame, who fell at the battle of Bunker Hill while in command of the American forces and died on the battlefield. In his will he left his niece, Cyn- thia, one of his farms at Weston, Mass., where Gen- eral Warren had built a flour mill which was run by water-power. John Cutting and his wife were engaged in farming the place while their son, Mar- shall, ran the mill. Lewis Cutting, the father of our subject, was married in Lowell, Mass., to Miss Susan Julia Morrison, who was born in Derry, N. H., of an old and prominent New England family which took an active part in the early days of its Colonial history. The Morrison family dates back to a time in Norway when two younger sons of the then King of Norway settled in Scotland and established the Morrison fam- ily in that country. After many generations, mem- bers of the family settled in New Hampshire and were counted among the most highly respected families, some of its members serving in the Colonial and Revolutionary wars. Lewis Cutting was the super- intendent of the cotton mills in Lowell, Mass. when his wife, who passed away three weeks after his son, Lewis M., was born, was buried in Derry, N. H. He married a second time and had six children-four of whom grew to maturity-but none are now liv- ing In 1862 he came to San Francisco and estab- lished the Cutting Packing plant, which he con- ducted for many years; it was in that city that he spent the remainder of his life.

Lewis M. Cutting was reared in the city of Low- ell, Mass., being graduated from the Lowell high school at the age of thirteen years. He then worked for a time in the cotton mills until he entered the employ of Burbank, Chase & Company, hardware merchants in Lowell. He left Lowell on Christmas Day, 1851, and going by way of the Isthmus of Pana- ma he arrived in San Francisco February 7, 1852. For a few months he was employed in San Francisco, and then came to Stockton in June, 1852. Like most of the early pioneers, he was attracted to the mines, and for about three years he engaged in mining at Red Mountain Bar and vicinity in Tuolumne County, meeting with success. Returning to Stockton, he was employed in a hardware store on the corner of Main and El Dorado streets.

Having worked during vacations in his grandfather's flour mill at Weston, Mass. Mr. Cutting was solicited by the Sperrys to take charge as superintendent of their mills in Stockton. This place he accepted, and in his usual thorough way he made a success of the business and placed it on a substantial basis. He then again was employed in the hardware store until he accepted a position as superintendent of the flour mills at Knights Ferry for Hestres & Magendi, a position he filled for two years. While living at Knights Ferry he formed the acquaintance of Captain U. S. Grant, who was visiting his sister and brother- in-law, Mr. and Mrs. John Dent, and this resulted in a warm friendship.

In 1860 Mr. Cutting founded the business that today continues to bear his name so honorably. To prepare himself to be more able as a realtor he studied law for a time and few men had a better understanding of drawing up contracts and realty transactions. In the same year he became asso- ciated with Captain Charles M. Weber, the founder of Stockton, and at one time the principal owner of the land where Stockton is now located. A short time thereafter, President Abraham Lincoln con- firmed Captain Weber's patent to the grant El Campo de los Franceses, a great property of some 48,000 acres. Mr. Cutting acted as Captian Weber's agent for twenty-seven years, and he continued in that capacity for six years after Captain Weber's death. He then closed up the estate, selling thous- ands of acres of land, which is now the most valuable aggregation of properties in San Joaquin County. The sale and deeds to practically all but the six cen- tral blocks of Stockton were handled by this able realty dealer, noted as an authority on land values in this county. Mr. Cutting was really one of the principals in the organizing of the Stockton Savings and Loan Association. Starting the first subscrip- tion for stock, in two hours he had enough sub- scribed to start incorporation.

Mr. Cutting's marriage occurred in San Francisco, where he was united with Miss Catherine Howland, a native of Vermont, an estimable woman. Their marriage proved a very happy one. She passed away in October of 1922, mourned by her family and friends. Their union was blessed with four chil- dren: Lewis H., a farmer; Francis, Mr. Cutting's partner; Maria, who is an artist and has a studio in this city; and Mrs. Grace Stewart, who presides over her father's home.

Associated in the firm of L. M. Cutting & Com- pany is his son, Francis Cutting, a native son of Stockton who is following in his father's business footsteps. Reared in this city he has watched its steady growth, personally familiar with locations and land values in the city and farming communities; it is the consensus of opinion that he is one of the best informed land and investment authorities in Central California. Lewis M. Cutting served under two dif- ferent governors as a director of the State Hospital at Stockton. He is one of the oldest members of Stockton Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F.

Always keenly interested in current affairs, Mr. Cutting is well informed and keeps abreast of the times. He is precise in his habits, friendly in his association, and, being a liberal man, he has been help- ful to others. He has ever been loyal to the advanc- ing interests of Stockton, having watched the city

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grow from a mere hamlet to a city of more than 50,000 inhabitants-a community of great manufactur- ing and industrial enterprises, and a distributing cen- ter for the agricultural products of Cenral California.

MARY A. TREDWAY .- One of the pioneer families in the Golden State is that which now finds a worthy representative in San Joaquin County in Mary A. Tredway, herself a pioneer of 1868 and the widow of William H. Tredway, a pioneer of 1854. Mary A. Tredway in maidenhood was Mary A. Ring, who was born in the state of New York, February 15, 1845, a daughter of Green- leaf and Betsey (Bunker) Ring, her father a native of New Hampshire and her mother of Vermont. Greenleaf Ring was a farmer in his native state who moved to New York state shortly after his marriage and remained there until after the birth of our subject. She was ten weeks old when her parents removed to Illinois, and the father purchased a quar- ter section of land west of Wheaton, which he farmed. For the benefit of his growing family, they lived in the town of Wheaton on account of the good educational advantages. There were six chil- dren in the family: Orvis was a member of the first graduating class of Wheaton College. He came West and settled in Nevada, where he became prom- inent in educational affairs and for twenty years was state superintendent of schools. Although unmar- ried, he has to his credit the education of several young men and left a lasting memory of the early days of that pioneer country. He was a thirty- second degree Mason and an Elk and died at the age of seventy-seven. Austin Ring died at the age of seventeen; Angelia, Mrs. Batchelder, was the wife of a Civil War veteran who gave his life for his country; Susan, Mrs. Hicks of Nevada, Iowa, passed away January 19, 1922; Mary A, is the sub- ject of this sketch; Henry Sylvester is deceased. Greenleaf Ring was born April 11, 1808, and died December 30, 1877, and the mother was born May 3, 1810, and passed away February 15, 1875.

Mary A. Ring received her education in the gram- mar schools of Wheaton, Ill., and finished with a course in the Wheaton College and in 1868 came out to California, making the journey via the isthmus route. On May 19, 1870, she was married to Wil- liam H. Tredway, who was born in Steubenville, Ohio, September 30, 1844. When he was ten years old, he accompanied his parents and other children across the plains from Ohio to this state. His fa- ther, Sylvester V. Tredway was a California '49er, who was born December 21, 1820, and crossed the plains to California in 1849, and after his arrival mined gold for some time. In the fall of 1853 he returned to Ohio via the Isthmus of Panama, and in March, 1854, brought his family, consisting of wife and three children, of whom William H. was the second child, across the plains to the Pacific Coast. His route was by way of St. Joseph, Mo., and he brought along a band of cattle and horses, arriving in San Joaquin County on September 10, 1854. For a time the father mined for gold in Cala- veras and Amador counties, and also established and conducted several trading posts in those two coun- ties. He located on the ranch in San Joaquin Coun- ty in the year 1852, and was among the first set- tlers, and resided there until the day of his death. He was a member of the San Joaquin Society of California Pioneers, a Republican in politics, and was

affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Stockton and also with Jefferson Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Wood- bridge. He married Miss Isabella Mclaughlin, a na- tive of Ohio, by whom he had three children: George W., William H. and Rebecca J.

William H. Tredway was reared to manhood in San Joaquin County, finishing in the public schools of the county the education which he had begun in Jefferson County, Ohio, and he also attended Napa College at Napa. He taught school for a short time in Napa County, but from youth up he was extensive- ly engaged in farming. He became one of the lead- ing ranchers of the county, and at one time owned 1,100 acres, forty acres of which was devoted to vineyard, and the rest to grain and pasture. Here Mr. and Mrs. Tredway made their home and reared their five children, namely; Sylvester Green- leaf Tredway, born May 23, 1870, married Miss Grace Maddocks and they were the parents of two children, Winthrop Henry and Marjory Lucile. He died January 27, 1912, at Sebastopol, Cal., and his widow in October, 1922; Orvis Wesley Tredway, born May 6, 1872, married Miss Sarah Cook of Glenbrook, Lake County, Cal., and they had five children-Harmon, William, Bessie, Cecil and Kenneth; he died Novem- ber 15, 1913; Bessie Bell, widow of Warren Fowler, now resides in Stockton; Susie May is Mrs. Leon L. Kaiser, and with her husband resides on the home place; Ora R., Mrs. John Emde, the only one born on the old home place, resides in Lodi and has two children-George Wm. and Ora Lois.

For thirteen years Mr. Tredway served as deputy county assessor of San Joaquin County and was a stanch Republican in politics, casting his first vote for Lincoln. He was a Mason and served as chap- lain of Woodbridge Lodge No. 131 F. & A. M. of which he was a past master; he was also a past patron of Woodbridge Chapter No. 118, O. E. S .; he was also a member of the Scottish Rite Consist- ory, and was just preparing to have the Shrine de- gree conferred upon him when he died. Mrs. Tred- way is a member of the Eastern Star Chapter of Woodbridge. Mr. Tredway passed to the Great Be- yond in November, 1911, mourned by the residents of San Joaquin County for he was prominent and influential citizen of that county. The present real estate holdings of Mrs. Tredway consist of 750 acres of well-improved land, thirty acres of which is in vineyard and the balance is used for grain and pas- ture, her stock averaging about 100 head. She has seen the county emerge from wild pioneer conditions and take its place among the leading counties of the great commonwealth, and her mind is stored with many interesting reminiscences of the early days.

ASA CLARK, M. D .- The experience gained through active professional work, first in the mining section around Placerville, and later in Stockton, gave Dr. Asa Clark a broad and humanitarian outlook upon the science of medicine and also brought him a high rank among physicians in Central California and Nevada. During the years of his earlier profes- sional work Dr. Clark was greatly impressed with the fact that special care and special needs would be required to properly control and handle the large and increasing number of insane cases that came to his attention. This observation led him to make a thor- ough research into the treatment of mental diseases and was followed by his election as assistant phy-

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sician of the State Insane Asylum at Stockton where his further observations and experience brought him to rank among the foremost in this important branch of the medical profession. As proprietor for many years of the Clark Sanitarium in Stockton, he de- voted his entire attention to the care of insane pa- tients, his years of continuous practice making him competent to cope with mental diseases of all stages.

The life which this narrative depicts began in the home of Curtis and Electa (Meacham) Clark, both natives of Vermont, but at the time of the birth of their son, June 29, 1824, residents of Essex County, N. Y. , Subsequently they removed to Oswego County, same state, later settled on a farm near Park Ridge, Cook County, Ill., from there finally removing to Minnesota, where the mother died in 1862, at the age of seventy years, and the father in 1883, at the advanced age of ninety-three years. Asa Clark first attended the district schools in Park Ridge, and his academic education was received in Wilson's Seminary, Chicago. In the meantime, he had decided to follow the medical profession, and his studies thereafter were conducted under Dr. Brainerd, of Rush Medical College, Chicago. Re- ceiving his diploma in 1849, he set out that same year for California, crossing the plains, going directly to Placerville, where he opened an office for the prac- tice of his profession. Necessarily his practice was small at first, and in order to enlarge his income he became interested with others in the establishment of a general store in the town, and also was interested in mining to some extent. The year of 1850 found him in Santa Clara, and the year following he was in Santa Barbara. Two years later, however, in 1853, he returned to Placerville and resumed his prac- tice, remaining there for eight years.

It was in 1861 that Dr. Clark came to Stockton to assume the duties as assistant physician for the State Insane Asylum, and since that time until his demise, his entire thought and study was given to those mentally afflicted. By arrangements with the authorities of Nevada, Drs. Langdon and Clark were entrusted with the care of the insane in the territory, then numbering about thirty, and all such other pa- tients as should be committed to their care. They were first located in Woodbridge, and. four years later opened their office in Stockton, having in the meantime also formed a contract with Arizona for the care of their insane. At times the institution cared for from 800 to 1000 patients. Both contracts re- mained in force until each territory had built its own asylum, Nevada in 1882, and Arizona in 1888, although after 1880 Dr. Clark carried out the con- tracts alone, owing to a dissolution of partnership with Dr. Langdon in that year. In 1871 Dr. Clark had established his private sanitarium in Stockton, then known as the Pacific Hospital and now known as Clark's Sanitorium.

In Placerville, Cal., May 7, 1856, Dr. Clark was united in marriage with Miss Mary Elizabeth Mount- joy. Her parents were natives of Virginia, but at the time of the birth of their daughter, in 1838, were residents of Ohio. Subsequently in 1852, they brought their family to California and here they passed the remainder of their. lives. Dr. Clark and his wife became the parents of the following children:

Harriette Electa Clark of San Francisco; George Curtis, deceased; and Dr. Fred Pope Clark, the pres- ent owner of Clark's Sanitorium in Stockton.

LEON VILLINGER, SR .- The interest which at- taches to the life story of California pioneers is a visible expression of the gratitude which all men feel toward the forerunners of civilization . in the Far West, numbered among whom was Leon Villinger, Sr., who experienced all the hardships of those primi- tive days in his struggle for success. A native of Germany, with his wife and two daughters he started in 1850 on a sailing vessel for the far-off port of San Francisco, coming around the Horn. Both of his daughters died on the voyage and his eldest son Asa was born, the trip consuming eight months and filled with perilous happenings. At one time the ship was nearly lost, with all on board, as it sprang a leak off the west coast of Sonth America and all hands had to bail for their lives until they could put in at the port of Valparaiso, Chili, where they remained six weeks while repairs were being made.

Mr. Villinger, who was a jeweler and watchmaker, engaged in this line of work in San Francisco for two years, and in 1853 he came to Stockton where he opened a jewelry shop, conducting it for two years, when he took up 320 acres of Government land three miles south of Lodi. It was a hand to hand fight in subduing the wilderness in those days and Mr. Villinger worked early and, late clearing the land of brush and timber twenty acres at a time, then plant- ing it in wheat. The Indian Reservation was near his home and there were all kinds of wild animals and game in plenty in the vicinity. He cut the wood on his place and hauled it to Stockton, where he sold it for five to eight dollars a cord. This was also the market for his wheat, which brought about eighty cents per cental. There were no roads in those early days and it took three days to get to Stockton through that wild country, the mud being so deep in the winter that it was necessary to drag their loads all the sixteen miles on sleds, with six mules hitched to them. Mrs. Villinger, who was Mary Peshy be- fore her marriage, a native of France, passed away in Lodi in 1915 at the age of ninety-five; a fine type of pioneer woman, she came of long-lived ancestry, her father reaching the age of 104, while her mother lived to be ninety-six. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Villinger the following are living: Asa lives in Lodi; Lucian and John are ranchers in the Lodi district; Leon lives at Lodi, and Mrs. Kate Goodwin makes her. home at Fullerton, Cal.

Leon Villinger, Jr., was born on the old ranch near Lodi, November 5, 1854. The country was very sparsely settled then and the chances for schooling were meager, so as there was work for every one in the family, Leon started at the early age age of eight to plow the virgin soil with a two-mule team. When he was eighteen he developed a ranch of 160 acres near the river northeast of Lodi, farming it to grain for seven years. He then located in Santa Ana, Orange County, Cal., where he purchased a thirty-seven acre orange grove, making this his home for seventeen years. When he returned to Lodi he first bought a place of twenty acres on Chero- kee Lane, which he improved, planting some of it to grapes, and at the end of six years he disposed of it at a good profit. He then bought the property at

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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 84

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