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 92

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 92

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NATHAN MORETON STRONG .- A veteran of the Civil War who has been a resident of California since 1876 and a highly respected citizen of Stockton these many years is Nathan Moreton Strong, who was born in Adrian, Mich., December 25, 1844, a son of Nathan Strong, who was born in Ohio in 1813, and married Mrs. Mary A. (Inglehart) Quackenbush, who was a native of New York state. They removed to Lenawee County, Mich., where the father fol- lowed his trade of cabinetmaking at Adrian and also owned and operated a farm. They had a family of eight children and although over military age when the Civil War started he volunteered his services in the 18th Michigan Infantry as fifer and bugler and was the chief musician for three years. In the same regiment, also serving as a musician, was his son Nathan, our subject. The father was taken prisoner and was confined in the rebel prison at Cahaba for nine months, until the close of the war, when he was set free. After the war the elder Mr. Strong fol- lowed farming until 1875 when he moved to Stanis- laus County, Calif., spending his last days in Mo- desto. The mother's first marriage resulted in the birth of three children and two of these sons, Isaac and James Quackenbush, served in an Ohio regi- ment in the Civil War from 1861 for three years. Isaac was nine months a prisoner in Andersonville while James was severely wounded.

Nathan Moreton was the next to the youngest child born of the mother's second marriage and spent his childhood on the farm near Adrian, receiving a good education in the local district school. When seventeen years of age, in August, 1862, at the sec- ond call for 300,000 men, he responded to the call and enlisted as a private in Company C, 18th Michi- gan Volunteer Infantry, mustered in August 26, 1861, and was a drummer in the drum corps of the regi- ment; later, when the Regimental band was formed, he was the drummer in the same band in which his father was chief musician. So father and son were with the colors for three years.

He was engaged at Danville, Ky., against Pe- gram's forces, then against the same at Buck Creek, Lebanon, and at Decatur, Ala., held the pontoon bridge and thus headed off General Hood and de- layed him on his march to Nashville; he was also in engagements at Pond Spring Court House, School Creek, and others, serving until the close of the war he was mustered out at Nashville June 26, 1865, and received his honorable discharge at Jackson, Mich.

On his return to Lenawee County, he followed farming, and in that county near the city of Adrian,

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nathan M Strong

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

September 20, 1869, occurred his marriage to Miss Susan Thayer, a native of Jefferson County, N. Y., the daughter of Augustus and Eliza (Talbott) Thay- er, who brought their family to Adrian, Mich., where they resided on a farm until they passed away. This worthy couple had twelve children, of whom Mrs. Strong is next to the youngest. Two of her broth- ers, William and Charles, also served in the Civil War in Company C & B, respectively, 18th Michi- gan Volunteer Infantry, both were taken prisoners and kept at Cahaba until their discharge and were returning north up the Mississippi River on the ill- fated steamer Sultana, when it blew up. Charles perished, for his body was never found, while Wil- liam, thrown into the Mississippi, caught a door and floated down the river for miles, working his way toward shore, until he found a tree leaning into the river to which he lashed himself before he be- came exhausted and unconscious, when he was found and rescued. Two other brothers of Mrs. Strong were in the South as railroad engineers when the war broke out and were forced into service as engin- eers for the Confederacy.

In 1876 Mr. and Mrs. Strong came to Stockton and engaged in ranching near town until Mr. Strong entered the employ of Moore & Smith, lumber deal- ers, continuing with them and others until February, 1901, when he entered the employ of the Rural Cem- etery Association and has continued with them ever since, for many years serving efficiently as general office man. Mr. and Mrs. Strong's union has been blessed with three children: Nathan C., superinten- dent of the Rural Cemetery; Percy M., in employ of the street railway in Stockton; and Gertrude, who died in 1909. Mr. Strong is a prominent member and past commander of Rawlins Post No. 23, G. A. R., while Mrs. Strong is a member of Roosevelt Circle, Ladies of the G. A. R .. Mr. Strong and his estimable and devoted wife are a very interesting couple and in their liberal and kindhearted way dis- pense old-time Californian hospitality to their many friends who appreciate their generosity and love them for their many attributes of mind and heart.

GEORGE H. LOCKE .- It is an unusual occur- rence for one who has been born and reared under the sunny skies of California to seek a home in any other part of the country upon reaching years of maturity, as almost without exception they remain in the midst of familiar scenes and take up their life work. This has been true of the life of Dr. Locke, who has never been outside of his native state ex- cept for three years during his service in the United States Army in the Philippines. Not only is he proud of his nativity as a Native Son, but he also takes pride in the fact that he is a son of one of the state's sturdy pioneers, to whose bravery and in- domitable spirit this greatest of commonwealths owes its existence.

With the other children, George H. Locke at- tended the schools of the village, from which he graduated with honors in 1895. As he had been con- sidering his future course in life while a pupil in the grammar school, by the time of his graduation he had his future plan of action well formulated, and without loss of time he continued his studies in the veterinary department of the University of Califor- nia, preparatory to becoming a veterinary surgeon. After the completion of the course he returned to 31

Lockeford and opened an office for practice, follow- ing it with considerable success for one year, when the breaking out of the Spanish-American War broke in upon his plans and for three years he served as a veterinary surgeon in the United States Army in the Philippines. With the close of his service he came back to Lockeford and resumed his practice, and also again gave attention to his livery business, which during his absence had been in charge of his brother.

Dr. Locke's marriage occured in January, 1906, and united him with Miss Estelle Walsh, of Linden, San Joaquin County, the daughter of H. W. Walsh, a well-known resident of that place. Two children have been born of the marriage of Dr. and Mrs. Locke, Olga and Georgiana. Fraternally Dr. Locke is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the California State Veterinary Medical Association and North San Joaquin Valley Veterin- ary Medical Association. Politically, he is a stanch Republican, and has been state fire warden for Lockeford since 1918. Since the second year of the organization of the local center of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau at Lockeford, Dr. Locke has been secretary one year; since then he has been a director of the local Center or a director at large of the county organization. During his service he was at the front from 1899 until 1902 under Gen. Funston.

ANSEL S. WILLIAMS .- In preparing our com- ing citizens by training their minds and hands and bodies for maximum effectiveness Stockton's public schools are doing wonderful work. At their head is Superintendent Ansel S. Williams. Trained at Stan- ford and Yale Universities, Mr. Williams has inaugu- rated and carried out a constructive upbuilding of the public school system that began in the adoption of a $596,000 bond issue two years after he took office. Hence Stockton pioneered in the erection of brick and reinforced concrete edifices for her children, steps in which most California cities have since followed. This distinguished educator is a native of California, born in Tuolumne County August 20, 1876. He is the son of Alvaro and Mathilda (Georges) Williams, the for- mer a Californian and the latter an Iowan.

Grounded educationally as a pupil of the Stockton schools, Mr. Williams was graduated from the Stock- ton high school and from Leland Stanford Univer- sity, graduating from Palo Alto's great institution of learning in 1903. Then Mr. Williams took a post- graduate course in Yale University in 1904. He spe- cialized in history and economics and history at both of these universities. From 1904 to 1909 he was head of the history department of Stockton high school, and in 1911 was appointed superintendent of Stockton's schools. The enrollment has doubled since then and mounts steadily. As the municipality had faith and vision, its school buildings were put on a modern basis at no special hardship, financially, to the tax- payers. This was done by issuing 498 grammar school bonds at $1000 each, falling due from the third to the thirty-fifth year, successively, and ninety-eight high school bonds, falling due from the third to the twenty- second year. Three new grammar schools and five four-room additions to present edifices, the best of heating and ventilating systems for all, and manual training and domestic science departments as well as gymnasiums were authorized by the bond issue of 1913. The result has been that the number of boys

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enrolled has been greatly increased as compared with the preponderance of girls. The course of study gives practical preparation early for the pupils on which to build for the future; it holds the youths in the schools longer and turns them out better equipped, while the physical training gives a well-rounded devel- opment rather than making specialized athletes.

Mr. Williams in a fraternal way is associated with Morning Star Masonic Lodge, and is also a member of the Rotary Club. His wife was Miss Edna Marion Small, a native of Stockton, and descended from an historic pioneer family of Stanislaus County. They have two children, Ansel S., Jr., and Marian Yale.

GEORGE E. CATTS .- For thirty-four years the Lauxen & Catts Furniture Company has held a lead- ing place in business circles of Stockton and theirs is the pioneer enterprise of this character in the city. George E. Catts, president of the firm, is a native son of Stockton and was born June 20, 1860, his parents being Samuel and Margaret (McDonald) Catts, the former a native of Maryland, while the latter was born in Ireland, and both are deceased. The father enlisted in the Mexican War and served under Col. J. D. Stevenson. He rounded Cape Horn in 1846, landed in San Francisco in March, 1847, and in 1848 he arrived in Stockton, where he engaged in freighting, taking the first load of supplies that went from Stockton to the Southern mines, using ox teams for this purpose. He estab- lished a freight line first to Sonora and afterwards to Mokelumne Hill and other points in the mines, and later, while a resident of Stockton, he pur- chased a vessel and engaged in transporting freight by water between this city and San Francisco.

George E. Catts was graduated from the Stockton high school with the class of 1879 and from St. Mary's College in 1881 and in 1888 he established the Lauxen & Catts Furniture Company. This is the oldest firm of the kind in the city and the business methods of the house have ever been characterized by integrity, enterprise and reliability, winning for them the confidence and support of the public. Mr. Catt is president of the firm and for many years he has been prominently identified with financial af- fairs. He was a director of the Stockton Savings Bank and the organizer of the City Bank of Stock- ton, of which he served as president for several years, while he is now acting as vice-president.

Mr. Catts married Miss Susan F. Hicks, a native of Merced County, Cal. She is a member of one of the old pioneer families of the state, her father crossing the plains to California with the gold seek- ers of 1849. Three children have been born of this union: Georgie, Susan and Letitia. Mr. Catts is progressive and public-spirited in matters of citizen- ship and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he has been president. He has always taken an active part in civic affairs and from 1901 until 1903 served as mayor of Stockton, being elected to that office on the Democratic ticket. He is con- nected with the Native Sons of the Golden West and the Lions Club and is also identified with Stock- ton Lodge, No. 218, B. P. O. E. He is a Knights Templar Mason and an exemplary representative of the craft. He has won success through industry and ability and these qualities unite to make him an upright man and useful citizen.

HERBERT E. WILLIAMSON .- For over forty years a resident of Stockton and closely identified with its business life, the late Herbert E. Williamson was an active factor in the upbuilding of the city, aiding liberally with his time and means movements for the benefit of the place and the welfare of its people. One of the leading realty men of Stockton during his lifetime, he was recognized as a man of excellent judgment, keen intuition and broad infor- mation, and his judgment of property values was considered authoritative.

Born at Pontiac, Mich., March 25, 1851, Mr. Wil- liamson came to California in his youth, and as a young man he worked for the Matteson & William- son Harvester Works, which was later absorbed by the Holt Manufacturing Company. His father, Tru- man P. Williamson, a pioneer of California of 1855, was president and one of the founders of the com- pany, and here he worked as machinist in his fath- er's plant. On the death of his father he assumed the management of the plant, continuing until it was sold to the Holt Manufacturing Company. Later he entered the real estate and brokerage business and soon became an important factor in this field, so closely identified with the progress of any com- munity, and did much to promote the development of the Stockton of early days to its present size and importance among California cities. He opened his office on South San Joaquin Street, where the office building he erected still stands, and it was his privi- lege to live -to see the completion of the handsome pressed brick business block, which he built on San Joaquin Street next to the Farmers and Merchants Bank, and which added an improvement of great value to this district. A keen business man, Mr. Williamson was very successful in his investments in both city and country lands, and in his passing away on December 17, 1917, Stockton lost one of its most dependable citizens, and one who commanded the respect and confidence of all with whom he came in contact either in business or social life.

In San Jose in 1882, Mr. Williamson was united in marriage with Miss Seleni Slaughter, a native daugh- ter of San Joaquin County, born near Morada, and the only one living of the three children born to Joseph H. and Elizabeth (Speltz) Slaughter; the father, a native of Indiana, crossed the plains in 1852, and settled on a ranch near Morada, San Joaquin County, where he passed away many years ago. Mrs. Slaughter, who was born in Kentucky, was early left an orphan and came to California via the Isthmus in 1856 with Mr. and Mrs. John Ward, who located at Altaville when she met Mr. Slaughter. She was a prominent Methodist and organized St. Paul's Bible class. She died May 4, 1922. Mr. and Mrs. William- son were the parents of two children: Paul T., who carries on the real estate business founded by his father, is a graduate of the University of California and of Cornell, and a member of Theta Delta Chi. He married Miss Grace Ray and they have one child, Ellis R .; Ruth, who with Mrs. Williamson, resides at the family home, 548 North Sutter Street, Stock- ton, is a graduate of Miss Mason's School at Tarry- town-on-the-Hudson, N. Y. During the World War she was deeply interested in Red Cross Work, going overseas as head of her unit, and was stationed at Paris, France, as a canteen worker and later in charge of entertinment. She returned home after the war but in 1922 made another extensive tour of Conti-

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A.S. Williamson

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nental Europe and Turkey. Mrs. Williamson has traveled widely, visiting Honolulu and spending five months in England and on the Continent. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Philomathean Club and a trustee of the College of the Pacific. An attendant of the Central Methodist Church for many years, Mr. Williamson was promi- nently identified with the activities of that congrega- tion and for a long period was a member of its offi- cial board. He was an active worker in the Anti- Saloon League and contributed generously to that cause. Always deeply interested in the cause of edu- cation, he was one of the trustees of the College of the Pacific, and in fraternal circles was a member of Charity Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F., of Stockton. Lib- eral and charitable, his benefactions were many and Mrs. Williamson, since his death, has continued his generous support to many worthy causes.

JOHN C. HANNAN .- A native son of California whose memory reaches back to its pioneer days, John C. Hannan, the president of the Hannan Patrol and Detective Agency, was born at Stockton, Cal., January 9, 1862. His parents, both natives of Ire- land, were John and Catherine (Collins) Hannan, both now deecased. The father was a '49er and he crossed the Isthmus on his way to California and mined at Sonora, Tuolumne County. He died in 1862 and Mrs. Hannan was later married to J. W. Maher; she lived to be eighty-eight years old and was the mother of eleven children, dying March 31, 1913. By her first marriage the following children are living, James B., John C, of this sketch, Mrs. J. D. Gall and Mrs. Delia Douville, and of her marriage to Mr. Maher, William J. Maher, Mrs. Annie Hudson, Mrs. Maggie Knap and Miss Mamie Maher.

John C. Hannan attended a parochial school at the corner of San Joaquin and Lafayette streets, Stockton, for a short time but he was obliged to earn his living at a youthful age. He became a jockey when he was ten years old, at that time weigh- ing less than eighty pounds. He rode running horses all over the state, riding for Judge C. E. Creaner, Wash Trahern and Judge Terry, all well-known horsemen of Stockton in those days. When he grew too heavy for the saddle he went to Nevada where he rode the range for a number of years, and also engaged in mining, working in the Aurora gold mine in Esmeralda County, Nevada.

In 1885 Mr. Hannan returned to Stockton and be- came an attendant at the State Asylum for two years, and for the next twenty years was in business in Stockton. In 1909 he started the Hannan Patrol and Detective Agency, an undertaking that has proved very successful, and in 1913 George M. Clark became his partner and is the manager of the agency. The patrol consists of six men who patrol beats in the business and residence section of Stockton at night and through their work many notorious crim- inals have been taken up; they act in complete har- mony with the sheriff and the police department of Stockton. The detective branch of the agency works all over the state as well as in the other Pacific Coast States, and number some competent men among their personnel.

While living in Nevada, Mr. Hannan was married when only eighteen years of age to Miss Ethel Ros- cot ,a native of Minnesota. She passed away on Sep-

tember 4, 1917, the mother of the late J. W. Hannan, prosecuting attorney for the city of Stockton, who married Sadie McGintis and had one son, Murel Hannan, and Mrs. Harriett Kram, of Stockton. Mr. Hannan is a Democrat in politics and he is affiliated with the Loyal Order of Moose; while in Nevada he served as deputy sheriff of Mono County and as constable of Clinton, in that state. Blessed with an excellent memory, he can relate many interesting ex- periences of the pioneer days, when this locality bore little promise of its present progress and develop- ment. At times the town of Stockton was flooded with water in many of the streets and people went about in boats. There were many Indians, China- men and Mexicans here then and he remembers one time seeing 300 Chinamen get off the boat and tramp in single file to the mines, and also 300 to 400 mules, leaving daily in pack trains for the moun- tains. In those days the Island country was all a wilderness and much credit is due the Chinese for developing that rich soil.

CHARLES E. NEEDHAM .- When Charles E. Needham passed away, San Joaquin County lost an influential and progressive citizen, one who had re- sided in the county since 1867, when he removed from his native state of Vermont to California and settled near Banta, where he took up a homestead. He was born in Vermont, December 1, 1829, a son of Charles and Minerva (Porter) Needham. The ancestry of Charles E. Needham is traced in a direct line from Anthony Needham, an Englishman, and his wife, Anna Potter Needham, who were charged as Quakers on June 25, 1658, and were duly perse- cuted. They were the progenitors of the Needham family in America, which has been traced in a direct line through succeeding generations to the present time by H. C. Needham, a well-known attorney of New York City. The Needhams were men of mili- tary habits and, despite his Quaker faith, Anthony, Sr., was corporal of the Salem Old Troop in 1665, and in 1675 he served during King Philip's War as a lieutenant under Captain Nicholas Manning of Salem. He had a son Anthony, and it is said that he was the first white settler within the present town of Wales, Hampden County, Mass., where he settled in 1726. The next in line was Jeremiah Needham, born in 1741 at South Brimfield, Mass., where he was town clerk in 1765. He was also a sergeant in Capt. Daniel Winchester's company, Col. Ruggle's Wood- bridge's regiment, serving from August 17, 1777, until November 29 of that same year, with the North- ern Army; he was also a private in Capt. John Car- penter's company of guards from June 24 to August 4, 1779, and was stationed at Springfield, Mass. Jeremiah had a son of the same name who moved to Vermont in 1805. The next in line was Charles Needham, the father of our subject, born in 1800, who moved to DeKalb, Ill., in 1854, where he en- gaged in raising Morgan horses from the famous Black Hawk stock; in 1855, with his son, he opened up Gibson's Addition of 320 acres to DeKalb, and he also played a prominent part in the early develop- ment of agriculture in that state.

Charles E. Needham married Miss Olive L. Drake, born in Crown Point, N. Y., but they both! grew up on Lake Champlain and he crossed the ice in winter to do his courting. In 1862, leaving his wife and

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three children in the East, he crossed the plains to California and engaged in ranching in Santa Clara County, but being a strong abolitionist, he deter- mined to go East to lend his aid in freeing the slaves. He did return to Illinois intending to join the North- ern forces but his three children were of tender years and he was persuaded that his first duty was to his wife and family. With his wife and family, he set out with an emigrant train for the Golden State, as soon as he could, and it was en route . that their fourth child, James Carson, was born at Carson City, Nev. They reached their destination at Mayfield, Santa Clara County, in the latter part of 1864, and Mr. Needham resumed his ranching operations. He was a strong Whig and Republican and was a per- sonal friend of Gen. John C. Fremont. It is said that he wept bitterly when he heard of the defeat of Fremont for the presidency in 1856, and he never shaved his beard thereafter. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Needham: James Carson Need- ham, a prominent citizen of Modesto, an ex-con- gressman and at present judge of the Superior Court of Stanislaus County; Harry B., employed in the U. S. Customs office in San Francisco; Cyrus H., a rancher at Patterson; Myrta L. is the wife of W. G. McKean and resides in Berkeley; Lillian V. is the wife of William E. Holman, a rancher near Farm- ington, San Joaquin County; Luella G. became the wife of James T. Holman and also lives near Farm- ington. Mr. Needham was public-spirited in citizen- ship, was trustworthy in business, faithful in friend- ship, and in his home was most devoted to the wel- fare and happiness of his family. Many were his good qualities and few his faults. He loved truth and justice and represented a high type of our Amer- ican manhood.

STEPHEN B. COATES .- The late Stephen B. Coates was born near Toronto, Canada, in January, 1847. He spent most of his career in serving the printer's craft in Canada, the States and in Califor- nia. He mastered the rudiments as a youth in In- gersoll, Canada, followed typography in Silver Cliff, Colo., in the olden days, and located in Stockton in February, 1883, growing up with the Golden State.

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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 92

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