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 86

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 86

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Mr. Lorenz is the secretary and treasurer of the Lodi Investment Company which built and own the beautiful Lodi Hotel and the Lodi theater. In 1913 he purchased an eighty-acre vineyard near Youngstown, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation; an arch at the entrance to the pro- perty reads "Vista Del Monte Vineyard." In part- nership with John C. Bewley, he recently subdivided a forty-acre tract south of Lodi into one-acre lots. Mr. Lorenz has been city treasurer of Lodi since its incorporation in 1906. Fraternally he is a member of Lodi Lodge No. 256 F. & A. M. Masons; and be- longs to all branches of that order in Stockton, and to the San Francisco Consistory and Shrine; he has passed through all the chairs of the Lodi Lodge of Odd Fellows.

Mr. Lorenz's marriage united him with Hedwig Ruhl, a native daughter of California born in Stock-

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

ton; she is the daughter of the late Fred Ruhl, a Stockton pioneer, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Lorenz are the parents of one daughter, Bernice, a graduate of the University of California in 1921. She married P. A. Ritchie of Lodi and they have a little daughter. A man of fine character, a clear thinker, broad-minded and progressive, Mr. Lorenz has a keen desire for the community's betterment, morally, educationally and commercially.

MRS. JOHANNA BROUND .- An honored resi- dent of San Joaquin County, Mrs. Johanna Bround resides on the old Robert Stewart homestead situ- ated on the Lincoln Highway about one-half mile south of the Henderson distrct school. She was born on this ranch in 1864, a daughter of Robert and Catherine (Callahan) Stewart, the former a native of County Antrim and the latter of Cork, Ire- land. Robert Stewart was a young boy when he left his native land for American in 1849 and came direct to California in an ox-team train via the Salt Lake route, the journey consuming six months. Arriving in California he went to the mines at Placer- ville and Coloma where he spent three years and there met with fine success in his mining ventures. He then came to San Joaquin County and bought a squatter's title to a tract of land about nine miles north of Stockton on the Stockton-Woodbridge Road. Besides paying for his squatter's title, he later paid the railroad company for the same land. He thus acquired a quarter section of land, where he spent the remainder of his life. Three children were born to this pioneer couple, Mrs. Johanna Bround, the subject of this sketch; Mary Jane, Mrs. Bollinger and Robert, who died at the age of fifteen years.

Johanna Stewart received her education in the Henderson district school and remained at home with her parents until her marriage to Jacob Bround, which occured January 17, 1888. He was a native of Denmark, whose father died when he was a babe. At the age of thirteen he left home and came to the United States and found employment in Chicago, where he remained for ten years, when he came to California and settled in the Wakefield district where he engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Bround then removed to Eastern Oregon and homesteaded a quarter section of land and also preempted a quarter section of land in the same county; he also pur- chased additional school land and their residence there covered a period of fifteen years. On account of failing health, Mr. Bround sold his Oregon land and returned to San Joaquin County and bought a quarter section of land about five miles southwest of Lodi on the Davis Road, but was not permitted to enjoy his new home, for he only lived seven months after his return to California. He passed away on November 7, 1903. Mr. Bround was an active factor in all matters pertaining to the betterment of his locality and was also an active lodge man. After her husband's death, Mrs. Bround lived in Lodi until 1920 when she removed to her eighty-acre home place, a portion of the ranch owned by her father. Ten acres of this has been set to young vineyard and the balance is in grain and there is a comfortable concrete block residence on the place where Mrs.

Bround makes her home. Mr. and Mrs. Bround have three children; Mary, Mrs. J. Louis Perrin, resides near Kingdon; Ethel, Mrs. Fred Sanguinetti, resides near Acampo; Howard married Miss Ger- trude Krebs and they have one child, Audrey Marie. Fraternally Mr. Bround was a member of the Ione Lodge I. O. O. F. in Morrow County, Ore, as well as a Mason. Mrs. Bround is a past noble grand and past district deputy of the Rebekahs in Lodi.

WILLIAM J. YOUNG, M. D .- A most skillful surgeon, William J. Young gained prominence in his profession and was recognized throughout the state among physicians and surgeons as among the fore- most in the medical profession. He was not only a Native Son of the Golden West, but also a native of San Joaquin County, his birth having occurred on the Sonora Road, four miles west of Farmington, August 30, 1869, the son of an old time resident and pioneer of San Joaquin County, David Young, a native of Canada and a farmer of San Joaquin Valley for many years.

William J. Young was educated in the public schools of Stockton, St. Mary's College of Stockton, and pursued his medical course in the Cooper Medi- cal College of San Francisco, from which institution he graduated with the M. D. degree. During 1902 he took a trip abroad for the purpose of taking a post-graduate course in Vienna and England.

Dr. Young was married about sixteen years ago to Miss Ysabel Laogier, a native of Stockton, daugh- ter of the late Mrs. Basilio Laogier, and they were the parents of two daughters, Dorothy and Margaret. Two brothers, J. M. and David E. Young, both live in Stockton, while two sisters, Mrs. Tim Minihen and Mrs. Margaret W. Williams, have passed away. Dr. Young was a member of Stockton Parlor, N. S. G. W., Young Men's Institute of Stockton, and of Stockton Lodge No. 218 B. P. O. E.

Dr. Young enjoyed one of the largest practices in this section of the state, was greatly beloved for his frank manner and sincerity and respected for his professional skill. During the last three years of his life, Dr. Young was associated with Dr. J. W. Barnes. For several months before his demise, Dr. Young had been seriously ill and on September 26, 1921, he passed away. As a physician and surgeon, Dr. Young ranked among the leaders in his profession, but overshadowing even this was the real man whose big heart went out to the poor and the afflicted and whose deeds of generosity and kindness have bright- ened many homes. Liberal to a marked degree, Dr. Young's charities were all done quietly and in an unostentatious manner, not for worldly praise but for the good and the relief he could give to his fellow- men. But now the voice that soothed is stilled and the eyes that shone with kindness and inspiration are closed and the skilled hands folded forever. The devotion to friends, faithful remembrances of favors received and love of family, the recognition of civic duties, all these contributed to form a character that may well be pointed at as that of an ideal physician. It can be said of Dr. Young that he was a good man, able physician and wise counsellor, a true friend and kind to the poor. His soul has gone to claim a just reward, but in the hearts of Stockton people his memory will ever remain as a truly good man.

w. J . Young

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

GEORGE SAMUEL LADD .- For a period cov- ering only a little less than fifty years George Sam- uel Ladd was actively identified with the interests of Stockton, where he arrived January 14, 1853, and was from that time associated with educational, real estate and commercial enterprises until his death, April 25, 1902. Not only does this era cover almost the entire period of the American occupancy of Cali- fornia, but in addition it represents the epoch of progress and development of the Pacific coast re- sources, which prior to the discovery of gold had been unknown to the world. Shortly after the dis- covery of gold, he started for this region, full of courage and ambitious to make his own way in the world, unmindful of hardships and perils by the way. He never regretted his decision to leave New Eng- land for the more fruitful regions of the West, but rather rejoiced in the privilege of aiding in the up- building of this great state.

Descended from an old New England family, George Samuel Ladd was born in Danville, Vt., May 28, 1832, being a son of Seneca and Pamelia (Esta- brook) Ladd, and a brother of John S. and Ira W. Ladd, also pioneers of California. His earliest edu- cation was obtained in the seminary at Sanbornton Bridge and there he was fitting for college when he heard of the discovery of gold in California. At once all of his plans for the future were changed and he began to prepare for the long journey to the new gold fields. With his father he took passage in 1851 on a vessel which made the trip by way of Cape Horn to San Francisco, where they landed after an uneventful voyage. They at once set out for the mines in Tuolumne County, where they met with fair success, but finally returned to Danville, Vt., arriving in July of 1852.

A few months later George S. Ladd, accompanied by his youngest brother, Ira W., came to California by the Panama route, and reached Stockton on Jan- uary 14, 1853. In addition to mining interests he became interested in the freighting and commission business with his brother, John S .; later he became a partner of George West and Sidney Newell in the manufacture and sale of products from the West Vineyard. From time to time he had bought and sold farms in various counties of California, as well as in Oregon, and his ventures had proved of finan- cial benefit to him and had enabled him to accumu- late a considerable property. At the time of his death he left, in addition to his business property in Stockton, land in Fresno and San Joaquin counties. and property in Oregon, all of which has greatly increased in value. Fraternally he was a member of the Odd Fellows, which he joined in 1856, and belonged to Stockton Lodge No. 11 and was also a member of the Pioneer Society of San Joaquin County. He was a stanch Republican. For three years he was a member of the city council of Stock- ton and also officiated as state commissioner of the Yosemite Valley. For more than twenty years he was a member of the choir of the First Presbyterian Church of Stockton.

A record of the career of George Samuel Ladd would be incomplete were no mention made of his association with the educational development of his county and state. From early manhood he held a life certificate as a teacher and during his residence in Tuolumne County served as school trustee. In 1867 he was appointed superintendent of the schools 31

of Stockton, and this position he held by appoint- ment until the first election under the new charter, when he was duly elected to the office, holding same until 1880. Under his administration the local schools were brought to a high standard of excellence and the building of modern structures begun. Perhaps no work he accomplished in the position was more important than that of recommending a revision of the school law and manual outlining the duties of pupils, teachers and superintendents, which recom- mendation was adopted.

The marriage of Mr. Ladd took place in Stockton May 28, 1856, and united him with Miss Abigail Bourland, a native of Arkansas, born January 30, 1840. Her parents, Alne and Rebecca (Cook) Bour- land, were born, reared and married in Alabama, but shortly after their marriage removed to Arkansas and settled at Fort Smith, where they remained for a number of years. During 1854 they started for California across the plains and proceeded as far as Surprise Valley without misfortune, but while camp- ing there the mother died of heart disease. The survivors arrived in Stockton September 22, 1854. A brother, Lafayette Bourland, now of Woodland, Yolo County, aged ninety years, had come in 1853, and met the family and conducted them to Stockton. The maternal grandmother, Mrs. Abigail Bourland, lived to be ninety-six years old. Mr. and Mrs. Ladd were the parents of four sons. The eldest, George Edwin, was born May 11, 1857, and married in Stock- ton November 26, 1884, Miss Mary Evaline Van Vlear, who was born in Stockton in 1860. They were the parents of two children, Jeanette and Edwin Hubbard. George Edwin is now deceased. The second son, Walter Eugene Ladd, born May 27, 1859, and his marriage, which occurred February 5, 1885, united him with Miss Lucy Estella Ayers, who was born in San Joaquin County, December 9, 1862. They were the parents of six children, four of whom grew to mature years; George Allen, Walter E., Elmer A. and Juliette. Walter Eugene is now deceased. The two youngest sons of the Ladd family are Joseph Marshall and Dr. Ira Bourland. Joseph M. was born December 31, 1864; he is a resident of Stockton, where, August 17, 1905, he married Louise Poppelwell, a native of England, but a resident of Stockton since she was five years of age. Ira B. Ladd was born May 28, 1868; after his graduation from Cooper Medical College he practiced his pro- fession in Stockton and held the position of county health officer. He married, first, Mrs. Mollie E. (Grattan) Cross. His second mariage united him with Miss Mabel Elliott and they had two sons, Ira M. and Bourland E. Ira B. Ladd is now deceased.

In the passing of George S. Ladd the city lost a citizen who had been ever alert to promote her educational, civic and commercial interests, and whose name will long be remembered as that of an honored pioneer. Mrs. Ladd resides in Stockton and is an active worker in the First Presbyterian Church; and is a member of the Kings Daughters, Red Cross and other kindred societies; she is a mem- ber of the Philomathean Club of Stockton. Like her respected and esteemed husband, she too is generous and kind and leaves no opportunity unheeded to assist those less fortunate than herself or to help promote the best interests for Stockton and her citi- zens. Mrs. Ladd owns the property in California accumulated by Mr. Ladd.

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

JOSHUA COWELL .- It is generally known that Joshua Cowell originally owned nearly all the land on which the thriving town of Manteca now stands, and the appellation "Father of Manteca" is well applied; he was also the first mayor of Manteca after its in- corporation in May, 1918. In 1910 Mr. Cowell was harvesting grain from the land where now stands the modern city of Manteca with her 1,200 inhabitants. He has been most active in the upbuilding of this city, having erected a number of Class A buildings in the business district. He is now interested in general farming and is one of the leading advocates of irriga- tion, having proved in his own farm operations the value of this method in enhancing the productiveness of the land. So widely and favorably is Mr. Cowell known that his record cannot fail to prove of interest to our readers.

A native of Tioga County, N. Y., he was born on January 2, 1842, and is a son of Henry and Elida (McMaster) Cowell, also natives of the Empire State. The paternal grandfather, Joshua Cowell, was a sol- dier in the War of 1812. About 1845 the father, Henry Cowell, removed with his family from New York to Grant County, Wis., and there he lost his wife nine years later. Joshua Cowell was reared in Grant County, where he made his home until 1861, when at the age of nineteen years he came to the West, making the journey across the great plains with a train of emigrants. He drove an ox team all the way, reaching his destination after four months of travel. He left the train, however, at the Carson River in Nevada and remained for a time in that state. Subsequently he continued his journey to California, where he arrived in January, 1863, crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains on foot and coming direct to San Joaquin County. He then took up his abode at the place where he now resides and it has been his home continuously since. He had two brothers, Henry W. and Williston Cowell, who also located with him on the ranch and for some time they conducted farming operations there.

On November 25, 1868, Joshua Cowell was united in marriage with Miss Vienetta Rachael Graves, born in Grant County, Wis., and who came across the plains in 1864. They became the parents of six chil- dren; Elida A. married James Salmon and died leav- ing one daughter; Mary E. became the wife of Charles L. Salmon and they have two children; Clara C. is Mrs. Clifford Wiggins and the mother of three living children; Otis M., the only son, is the father of one child. Two children died in early childhood. Some time after the death of the wife and mother, Mr. Cowell was married a second time, in September, 1884, when Miss Emily F. Sanders became his wife. She was born in New York state in 1849 and came to California in 1876. By this marriage there is one daughter, Hattie V., now the wife of Maxie Mewborn, and they have three children. There are five great- grandchildren in the Cowell family circle. In 1864 Joshua Cowell's father came to California, accompan- ied by F. Marion Cowell and Phoebe Cowell, and he died in San Joaquin County aged sixty-six years.

After his marriage Mr. Cowell took his bride to his farm, where he has since resided and has become one of the best known and most progressive citizens of his locality. He has always been a strong advocate of irrigation and with many others of the early set- tlers had the vision of water on those thousands of fertile, sandy and thirsty acres, so they dug a canal

from above Knights Ferry, a distance of forty-five miles, taking water out of the Stanislaus River and they brought it down into the hot valley. They were laughed at for their dreams. The attitude towards the project was unfavorable, and the dream was unreal- ized and many of the promoters lost fortunes in the early throes of the irrigation movement. A trace of the old canal may still be seen. Then came Charles Tulloch and his interests, with more water, taking over the defunct concern's water system, and finally the formation of the South Side Irrigation district. For a number of years Mr. Cowell was engaged as a contractor in the building of irrigation ditches and levees mainly in San Joaquin County. His ranch is devoted to general agricultural pursuits and stock- raising, and both branches of his business have proved profitable. He has also been extensively engaged in the dairy business, and for five or more years served as president of the Cowell Station Creamery, being the first incumbent in that position. Whatever he undertakes he carries forward to successful comple- tion, and while his labors have brought him pros- perity they have also been of a character that has promoted the general good. In his political allegi- ance Mr. Cowell is a Republican, but while he ren- ders unfaltering support to the party he has never sought or desired public office for himself, preferring to give his attention to his business interests. He was, however, a candidate for the office of supervisor in the '80s. He belongs to the Brethren Church and never. withholds his support and co-operation from any movements that he feels will contribute to the general good. His business career exemplifies the force of industry and energy in the utilization of op- portunity. He certainly deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, and though he started out in life empty-handed he attained a high degree of success.

ANDREW W. SIMPSON .- Prominent among the leading captains of California industry whose exemplary lives and progressive enterprise made them eminent and influential in their day, was the late Andrew W. Simpson, who passed away on June 22, 1921, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. It was truly said of him, by a contemporary familiar with his character and daily routine, that he was among those who have builded for all time, and who have so lived their lives that in the evening of their earthly journey they would be able to look back, without regret, upon work well done, and with the knowledge that they had always enjoyed the esteem and confidence of both their buisness associates and the social world at large.

A native of Maine, Mr. Simpson was born on July 15, 1831, at Brunswick, Cumberland County, the son of Thomas and Eliza (Whitehouse) Simpson, both natives of that state, and a descendant, through his father's side, of a seafaring and shipbuilding class of men. His father and three of his brothers were shipbuilders, and two of his brothers were captains of vessels, and anyone knowing the history of the early American commercial navy, will realize what an honorable and aggressive part the builder and skipper from Maine took in making our flag known in every quarter of the globe. It was natural, there- fore, that at a very early age the lad should be in- structed by his father as to the names of the various parts of a ship and their uses, and in many ways

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Joshua Cowell

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

initiated into boat building and management. One of the younger members of the family, he was given chores about the home place, while he attended the local school; and as education was highly esteemed in good old Maine, he was being prepared for college when the call of the El Dorado of the West proved too appealing to be resisted.

Three of Andrew Simpson's brothers-Lewis, Asa M. and Isaiah-had gone to California in the famous year of '49, and they fared so luckily here from the start, that they sent back the most favorable reports as to the opportunities here and naturally urged their younger brother to follow in their wake. This was easier said than done; for after he had arranged for his transportation, he still had to borrow $150 to defray his expenses, and even that was so inade- quate, in comparison with what was needed to reach California at a time when everybody wanted to come and there were limited facilities for travel, that on landing in San Francisco he boasted as capital the exact sum of ten cents. He took passage on the steamer Daniel Webster, as a matter-of-fact, on her maiden voyage, when she brought the first lake steamer used to convey emigrants across Lake Nica- ragua; and he was always fond of telling, in after years, the most absorbing stories of what he saw and heard, and of the amusing adventures befalling him and his fellow-travelers.

Coming of substantial New England stock, An- drew W. Simpson was fortunate in having his par- ents instill into him the precepts of honor and integ- rity as well as the habits of industry and the love of hard, manly work; and these precepts and virtues he carried with him, as the other children had done, upon leaving the paternal roof. In a sense, they were his main asset, when he began the battle for existence in the new-formed state; but they proved an asset of inestimable value urging him on progres- sively, and they assisted him wonderfully in attain- ing by steady, aggressive drives, an enviable and an almost astonishing success. After landing and look- ing around he decided not to tarry in the Bay City but to come direct to Stockton; and here he at once secured work in the lumber business established by his brother. He added to what he already knew and during the next few years gained a very thorough knowledge of the industry, particularly as to Cali- fornia's lumber conditions; and in 1853 he established a partnership with George Gray and so first struck out for himself.

They bought out the brother, Asa M. Simpson, and also a Mr. Jackson, and opened a lumber busi- ness which was carried on by them together until Andrew Simpson's retirement. It was soon demon- strated that of the two, Mr. Simpson was a very capable buyer of stock, and it came to pass that all purchases were left to him; and eventually Mr. Gray attributed much of the success of the firm to this wise division of activities. For more than fifty-five years their office was in the same location and was one of the best known business headquarters in Stockton, although at first its front faced Commerce Street; but in 1861 such changes were made that it fronted on Weber Avenue. The main yard was bounded by Commerce, Main and Madison streets and also Weber Avenue, and they had three other yards in the city to further protect their interests, doing in early days a large wholesale trade. This location and long tenure of position enabled the

authorities, by means of marks made by Mr. Simp- son on the cornerstone at the main yard, to deter- mine the record of the high water in 1906, and to prove conclusively that the waters rose higher then than during the memorable flood of 1861-62.

By conservative methods, and through strict integ- rity and a commendable liberality in dealing with patrons, the firm were able to accumulate valuable property interests in both city and county, the admin- istration of which always worked for the develop- ment on broad lines of community interests, and so was of benefit to others besides themselves; and this is of the more historic interest because, during all the years in which the wide-awake firm operated, Mr. Simpson was the recognized head of the com- pany, to whose unerring judgment the success of their ventures was invariably referred. But though devoted to business for such a long period that he was both an eyewitness and a participant in many of the great changes that took place in the growth of the state, he was ever active in civic affairs, and maintained a live interest in all that made for the expansion of the city and the welfare of the people. From its infancy, Mr. Simpson was connected with the Stockton Savings and Loan Bank; he was a member of the Weber Fire Engine Company, and cherished his affiliations with the survivors of that early organization. An. active worker in the ranks of the Republican party, he gave much thought to its platform work and contributed largely in funds towards its success; and he proudly voted for every Republican candidate for President since the stirring campaign of John C. Fremont, and in 1868, he was a delegate to the national convention held at Chi- cago, where he entertained and inspired many by his personal narrative of the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. He was untiring in his political activity, and yet never accepted other than honorary recogni- tion from his party; and his genuine Americanism was shown in his willingness to support every good local measure and candidate, untrammeled by any narrow partisanship. In all the years of his resi- dence in Stockton, attests a writer of a generation ago, his integrity was never questioned, and early in his business career he established a reputation for honesty and fair dealing.

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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 86

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