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 97

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 97

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Rebecca J. Tredway received her first schooling in the school at Lancha Plano. Every morning her two brothers and two cousins, children of James Tred- way, and herself were ferried across the river from their home at Winter's Bar to school and returned home in the same manner in the evening. A school- house was finally built at the place now known as the Burton Town Corners, south of Woodbridge, and Rebecca used to ride eight miles horseback to school; a few years later the Henderson school was built and still later the Lafayette school was built and she only had about three miles to go to school; she also attended school in Stockton and finished her education at Hunt's Seminary in Stockton.

On November 1, 1870, Miss Rebecca J. Tredway was married to Charles Oscar Ivory, a native of Smithville, N. Y., born March 8, 1834, a son of Hor- ace and Marilda Ivory, a pioneer New York family.

In 1853 Charles Ivory came to California and settled in Stockton where he remained until 1867 when he removed to Woodbridge and engaged in business with John M. Burt. In 1868 the business was moved to Lodi, where he built the first business block and was the first merchant; later the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Ivory continued in the general merchandise business until in 1886, when he sold out. He passed away in 1889. Mr. and Mrs. Ivory owned a beautiful home, consisting of a half block on Elm and School streets, on which was a fine two- story house, surrounded by a rose garden and all kinds of flowering shrubs and for many years was a show place of Lodi. Mrs. Ivory disposed of her home when her husband died, although she has con- tinued to live in Lodi. Mr. Ivory was a charter member and past master of the Masonic Lodge in Lodi and belonged to the Royal Arch Chapter in Stockton, and was also a charter member of the Odd Fellows in Lodi. Mr. and Mrs. Ivory were the par- ents of the following children: Sylvester Horace died at the age of two years and two months; Carrie Bell, Mrs. Warren Hull, resides in Hoquiam, Wash., the mother of three children-Beatrice Ivory, Doro- thy, and Charlene; George Oscar; Edith King is Mrs. Frank Henning, who makes her home with her mother; and Edna Lovisa, a trained nurse, died in 1918. Mrs. Ivory is a charter member of the Eastern Star and Rebekah lodges of Lodi and is a past noble grand of the Rebekah lodge, and served as treasurer for nineteen consecutive years and has filled all the other offices of the lodge except secretary; she was also the first treasurer of the Lodi Chapter of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Ivory has reached the age of seventy-six years, alert in mind and agile in body, and it is indeed a pleasure to hear her relate experi- ences of early days.

GEORGE CLINTON TURNER .- On his retire- ment from active work in 1913, the late George C. Turner left behind him a record of more than thirty years of faithful and efficient service with the water department of the city of Stockton. Mr. Turner was born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., August 30, 1851, the son of David Clinton Turner, who came to California in the fall of 1850. In 1855 Mrs. Turner came to California to join her husband, bringing with her George C., who was then four years old, and from that time until 1866 he made his home at Springfield, Tuolumne County. He then spent four years in Carson City, Nev., and was at White Pine when gold excitement ran high, coming to Stockton in 1871, where he first worked for the Globe Iron Works and then spent two years under Mr. Thresh- er for the water company and next in the flour mill of R. B. Lane. In 1882 Mr. Turner re-entered the employ of the Stockton Water Company, which was later taken over by the Pacific Gas & Electric Com- pany, and for many years was the chief engineer of the water department of the company. Entering the service in its earliest days, he superintended the dig- ging of many of the first water wells and from that time until he retired on February 12, 1913, he gave long years of conscientious constructive service and was numbered among the company's most trust- worthy employees.

On February 12, 1872, Mr. Turner was married to Miss Rebecca Bevan, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to California in 1863. Four children were born to them: Frank Clinton Turner is engineer of

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

the Stockton high school; Mrs. Luella May Wentzel resides in San Francisco; Mrs. Cora Smith lives in Stockton; George Chester passed away some years ago. Public-spirited in his interest in local affairs, Mr. Turner served as a member of the Stockton Board of Education for six years, and in his death on September 23, 1921, the community lost a ster- ling citizen. Mr. Turner was prominent in Masonry, as were his ancestors for generations before him, and was a member of Morning Star Lodge No. 68, F. & A. M .; Lodge of Perfection Scottish Rite Ma- sons, and was a past patron of Homo Chapter, O. E. S., of Stockton. One of the family's cherished heirlooms is a Masonic apron, bearing the date of 1818, which belonged to Mr. Turner's grandfather.

BENJAMIN A. GOODWIN .- A man who has taken a very prominent and important part in irriga- tion matters, so that he is known as the father of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, is Benjamin A. Goodwin, a native of East Charleston, Vt., born June 29, 1853. His father, Darius Goodwin, was born in Lewiston, Maine, and Captain Benjamin Goodwin, the grandfather of our subject, sailed around Cape Horn in his own vessel in the twenties or thirties, coming north along the coast of California, and he traded merchandise and notions for hides and tallow which he took back to Massachusetts. He died at East Charleston, Vermont.

Darius Goodwin was a successful farmer in the East, but in 1869 he left his old home and with his wife and son Benjamin came to California via Pan- ama. An older son, Daniel, had come to California in 1867 and settled at Modesto. On his arrival here Darius Goodwin located on a farm near Ripon and there they spent the rest of their lives. Of their two children Benjamin is the youngest and he received his education in the schools at Woburn, Mass. He was sixteen years old when he accompanied his par- ents to California and he assisted them to get settled and started in agricultural pursuits in their new home. He then went to work on the large ranches in the neighborhood, driving the big teams in the grain fields. It was not many years until he began farming for himself, leasing land and raising grain.

On November 24, 1878, Mr. Goodwin took an im- portant step when he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Eleanor Clapp, born in Wilmington, Mass., the daughter of Noah and Louisa (Stickney) Clapp, both natives of Massachusetts, Mr. Clapp be- ing a prominent man of affairs, owning a sawmill and engaging in the manufacture of lumber. In 1873 the Clapp family migrated to California, locating near Lathrop, where Mr. Clapp purchased a part of the ranch belonging to his brother Peter, who had been one of the very earliest settlers there. He was one of that hardy band of Argonauts, coming around Cape Horn in '49 in an eighty-ton schooner which he tied up in Stockton Channel, rushing from there to the mines. However, he soon saw that greater op- portunities for him lay in farming so settled at Lathrop, and was extensively interested in ranching until he retired, removing to Stockton, where he spent his last years. He and his wife had six children, all girls, of whom Mary E. or Nellie as she was called by her friends, was next to the youngest. She re- ceived a good education in the schools of her native state and was well fitted to preside over their home which was destined to be the center of much whole- hearted hospitality.

After his marriage Mr. Goodwin enlarged his oper- ations in grain raising, leasing 2,000 acres and using four big teams on his ranches, meeting with good success. In the meantime he purchased 320 acres three miles east of what is now Manteca on the Esca- lon road, his first purchase having been 160 acres for which he paid $1,500 and a few years later, land hav- ing increased in value, he paid $4,000 for the other quarter section. He was the pioneer orchardist of that section, setting out sixty acres of almonds and ten acres of olives, which have been for many years in full bearing and good producers. He installed a pumping plant, planted alfalfa and established a dairy that he ran for many years. He finally sold 160 acres of his ranch and on the remainder is his pioneer orch- ard as well as an eleven-acre vineyard which was set out in 1910. After installing two pumping plants it was not long until Mr. Goodwin saw the need of more water for irrigation and so he began planning for an irrigation system that all might have an ample water supply; after working to that end for several years he succeeded with others in organizing the South San Joaquin Irrigation District in 1910. He was a member of the first board of directors and upon its organization became president of the board, hold- ing the office for six years during the construction of the dam and canals, until the system was in good running order. With the members of the board he saw to the voting of bonds and securing the water from the Stanislaus River, the dam being named Goodwin dam in his honor. They built the main canals, a distance of thirty-five miles, and the lat- erals, making over 200 miles in all. At the end of six years of incessant work, having given nearly all his time to the district and bringing it to a complete success, although he was requested to continue as president he declined to accept the office.

In 1907 Mr. Goodwin was one of the organizers of the Farmers' Mutual Protective Fire Insurance Com- pany of San Joaquin County formed to provide fire insurance for the farmers with the object of reducing the rates. Mr. Goodwin was elected a member of the board of directors and was selected by the board as its president. To the success of the company he gave the same care and attention he always manifest- ed in all matters undertaken by him. The result to the farmers has been very gratifying, for it has great- ly minimized the cost of insurance, as it is only half the rate they formerly paid the old companies. At present there is over $6,300,000 of insurance in force. After nine years of active work Mr. Goodwin refused further election as president but has consented to re- main a member of the board of directors. He worked faithfully to make the insurance company a success and can naturally take much pride in having had a part in this saving of insurance to the farmers.

In 1917 Mr. Goodwin rented his ranch to his son, A. D. Goodwin, and in 1920 moved to Stockton, pur- chasing a comfortable home in Lake Park tract where he resides with his wife, who presides gracefully over his home, and there they are enjoying life to the fullest contentment. When they first located at what is now Manteca they went to Stockton, seventeen miles away for their mail, and when the roads were bad it was an all-day trip for a team of horses. Now at the ranch they have a daily mail, electric lights, electric power for many machines, good roads, and of course automobiles for comfort and speed in their trips about the country, some contrast to the old

HARTsDOK PHOTR · CALIF

B. A. Goodwin

Mary E. Goodwin

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

boggy roads, slow-going horses, candle dips and ker- osene lamps.

Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin had five children: Irvin A. is engaged in the automobile business at Ripon; Arthur N. died in his twenty-first year; May is the wife of L. L. Miller, a rancher at Manteca; Elmer is farming a part of the home place; Alfred D. is oper- ating the home place. Mr. Goodwin has always been greatly interested in the cause of education and served as trustee as Atlanta school district and later of Calla school district, twenty years in all. He is prominent in the Odd Fellows, being a member of Mt. Horeb Lodge No. 58, at Ripon, of which he is a past grand, of Modesto Encampment, and with his wife is a mem- ber of the Rebekahs in which his wife is past noble grand. Mr. Goodwin is also a member of Stockton Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. E., and in politics he has always been an ardent Republican. Mrs. Goodwin has been a very active worker and member of the W. C. T. U. for many years, serving as county president of San Joaquin County for two years. In 1907 he and Mrs. Goodwin made an extended trip through the East, spending some time in their native states of Vermont and Massachusetts, and June 13, 1919, they crossed the continent by automobile, again visit- ing the old home places and many others of interest en route, returning to their California home in Octo- ber after a pleasant and profitable time.

LAUREN E. WILKINSON .- A native son of San Joaquin County, where he has spent his entire life, is Lauren E. Wilkinson, a representative citizen of Lodi, engaged in the wholesale tobacco business. He was born near Elliott, San Joaquin County, in the Telegraph school district, February 20, 1893. His father, Thomas Edgar Wilkinson, was born in Grant County, Wis., June 1, 1849, his parents being Thomas and Emma M. (Carlow) Wilkinson, the former of English extraction. The grandfather of our subject, Thomas Wilkinson, was born on the high seas during his parents' journey to America on April 29, 1809. He was reared in Albany, N. Y., and in 1850 came to California, via Cape Horn, and for a time after his arrival was engaged in gold mining; later he worked at his trade of brick-laying, plastering, etc., making his home near Woodbridge, where his death occurred on June 4, 1865.

The father of our subject, Thomas Edgar Wilkin- son, crossed the plains to California with ox-teams in 1861, with his mother and other members of the family, joining the father in San Joaquin County, and afterward the family took up their abode near Woodbridge. He was educated in the schools of San Joaquin County and from the age of fourteen has made his own living. His fine homestead farm consisted of 160 acres of rich and productive land, all under cultivation, twenty acres of which was de- voted to vineyard, while the remainder was used for general farming; he also owned 160 acres near Acam- po. On August 31, 1873, he was married to Miss Clista Dustin, a native daughter of California born in San Bernardino, February 14, 1855, and they had six children: Emma, Mrs. Albert Stokes; Evaline, Mrs. C. F. West; Edgar; Ira Ivan; Lauren E., the subject of this sketch, and Willis A., deceased. The father passed away on August 31, 1917, at the age of sixty-eight, and the mother is still living in Lodi. The father was a Republican in politics and for sev- eral years was a member of the San Joaquin County

Republican Central Committee. For ten years he served as deputy county assessor; for twelve years served as a member of the board of trustees of the Telegraph school district, and for eight years was road overseer of Liberty township. He was a Mason and an Odd Fellow, holding membership in the Woodbridge lodges.

Lauren E. Wilkinson began his education in the Telegraph district school, then entered the Lodi high school, and after graduation entered the Heald's Bus- iness College in Stockton. At twenty years of age he entered active business life in Lodi, where he estab- lished a wholesale liquor and tobacco business. Since the enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment, Mr. Wilkinson has conducted a wholesale tobacco store, where he retails soft drinks. His business has grown to such proportions that it requires two automobiles for delivery. Mr. Wilkinson is also interested in the cultivation of a vineyard, being the owner of a half interest in forty acres four miles northwest of Wood- bridge, the entire acreage being set to Tokay grapes, on which is an adequate pumping plant for irrigation.

In October, 1911, in Stockton, Mr. Wilkinson was united in marriage with Miss Hazel N. Le Moin, born in Drytown, Cal., a daughter of George Le Moin. For many years her father was a proprietor of a hotel and is now living, with his wife, in Lodi, retired from active business cares. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson have one daughter, Winifred. Mr. Wil- kinson is a Republican in politics and fraternally is affiliated with the Native Sons and the Eagles, while Mrs. Wilkinson belongs to the Eastern Star of Lodi.

HENRY MABES SHARP .- Among the foremost agriculturists of San Joaquin County is Henry Mabes Sharp, born at Napa City, Cal., March 17, 1880, a son of Henry W. and Emily (Mabes) Sharp. Henry W. Sharp was born in South Lyndboro, N. H., March 28, 1850, and his father, John W. Sharp, was born in Boston in 1823. Great-grandfather John Sharp was a native of Yorkshire, England, who emigrated to America about 1820 and settled in Boston, where he was a stonecutter. Grandfather John W. Sharp also learned the trade of stonecutter and he married Miss Susan B. Cram, whose father was a soldier in the War of 1812. She died February 7, 1923, in her ninety-fifth year. The original emi- grant of the name of Cram came to America from England in 1739. Grandfather John W. Sharp came to California via Cape Horn, arriving in San Fran- cisco in 1850. He mined in Tuolumne County and afterward in Calaveras County. Henry W. Sharp, the father of our subject, accompanied his mother to California in 1852 and were joined by the husband and father in San Francisco.

John W. Sharp then went to Mokelumne Hill, where he built a hotel in 1853, which was burned down in 1855. He then turned his attention to min- ing and accumulated considerable means. He next built a fine hotel for those times in Calaveritas, which also burnt down in 1858 during his absence in Carson Valley in search of a good cattle range. He then started a small .store which he conducted but a short time, when he sold out and moved to San Andreas, where he built a store of the native rock, quarried, dressed and placed it himself, and kept a general store until about 1863; this building is still standing. From 1864 until 1868 he conducted the

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Metropolitan Hotel in San Andreas, then moved to San Francisco, where he carried on the old Barnum restaurant near where the Palace Hotel now stands, until called away by the White Pine excitement in Nevada, which proved a failure. He then carried on the Revere House in Napa until 1873, then con- ducted a general store in Darwin, Inyo County, for about two years, but was burned out. This worthy pioneer couple were the parents of three children: Henry W., the father of our subject; Charles F .; and a daughter, Harriet Sophia.

Henry W. Sharp went to school in San Andreas until about fifteen years old, when he went to San Francisco to learn the printing business. He after- ward worked on the Napa Register and later on the Yolo Mail. and for a time was the owner of the latter paper. On Thanksgiving Day, 1873, he was married to Miss Emma Mabes, a native of California. In 1876 Henry W. Sharp, in partnership with his broth- er, C. F. Sharp, bought their father's store in Darwin which they operated for about three years. Their next venture was the Ormsby House in Carson City, Nev., which they conducted for about six years; then they conducted the Andrews Hotel in San Luis Obispo only six months, when it was destroyed by fire. In August, 1886, they took charge of the Yo- semite House in Stockton, at that time one of the best hotels in Central California. In 1887 the father moved to the Lafayette district of San Joaquin County and bought 130 acres of grain land, which he has steadily improved until it is now under a high state of cultivation. He later disposed of thirty acres leaving 100 acres still in the possession of himself and son, Henry Mabes, our subject. The father still resides on sixty acres of the old home place.

Henry Mabes Sharp received his education in the schools of Stockton. From early boyhood he has been interested in agriculture, helping his father in the many duties connected with the growing and production of fruit and worked side by side with his father in the imporvement of the home ranch. Today he owns forty acres of the home place, five acres of which is in orchard and thirty-five acres in bearing vineyard.

On April 23, 1907, in Stockton, Mr. Sharp was married to Miss Florence Nicholson, born .at Mar- tinez, Cal., a daughter of Golder and Martha (Green) Nicholson. Her father was also a native of Cali- fornia and she was only a year old when he passed away. Her mother subsequently married Alfred Wilson, and they had six children: Alfred, Jr., en- listed in the U. S. Army during the late war and has never been heard from; Cyril resides at Lodi; Mrs. Anna Nicewonger resides in the Lafayette district; and Mrs. Violet Moore in the same locality; Bert; Alice is Mrs. McCambra of Hayward. Mr. and Mrs. Sharp are the parents of two daughters, Edna May and Alice. In politics both are Republicans, and fraternally Mr. Sharp is a Mason, a member of Woodbridge lodge, and a member of the Knights of Pythias of Lodi, while Mrs. Sharp is a member of the Eastern Star of Woodbridge and is a past chief of the Pythian Sisters of Lodi; they are both mem- bers of St. John's Episcopal Church.

URBAN J. MUNSON .- A general feeling of re- gret was expressed when that pioneer of 1850, Urban J. Munson, passed away on January 31, 1898, at the old home place near Atlanta, San Joaquin County, Cal. He was born near Calais, Maine, in 1832, and in the early '50s came with his father, Moses Munson, via the Nicaragua route to California, going direct to Jamestown where they engaged in mining for a livelihood; later, in the early fifties, he and his father acquired large land holdings near Atlanta which they farmed to grain and stock. In those pioneer days, the country was wild and unsettled, there were no fences and their stock ran over the hills and valleys unob- structed. Their first house was built of logs hewn from the virgin forests and constructed with great difficulty. Growing up with the country, he became deeply interested in all matters of growth and im- provement along educational, political and social lines; he was a stockholder in the Farmers' Union in Stockton and the Grangers Union and the Grangers Bank in San Francisco.

Mr. Munson's marriage united him with Mrs. Cyn- thia Davenport Cookson, a native of Worcester, Mass., a daughter of Gary Davenport who was born in Rhode Island, where he married Catherine Pratt. The Davenport and Pratt families are of English descent, dating back to the Puritans. Mrs. Munson's maternal great-grandfather, General Trask, was an officer in the Revolutionary War. Gary Davenport was a machinist. He served in a New Jersey regi- ment in the Civil War, being mustered out as a ser- geant. He and his good wife came to California in 1871, engaging in farming at Atlanta, where they spent their last days. They were the parents of two children: Mrs. Cynthia ' Munson and Mrs. Evelyn Harrelson. Mr. and Mrs. Munson's union was blessed with the birth of one son, Arthur J., a well-known farmer of the county. He was born on his father's ranch at Atlanta on March 12, 1878, and was edu- cated in the district school located on their home ranch. During 1911 he removed to Stockton where he now resides. Fraternally he is a member of Char- ity Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F., and Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W.

On the death of her husband, Mrs. Munson sold a quarter section of the home place to the Western Pacific railroad and deeded a quarter section to her son, Arthur J., which he farms to grain, and the re- maining one-half section she still retains and leases to her son by her first marriage, Samuel T. Cookson; this home place is improved with a fine residence and farm buildings. Some eleven years ago, she removed to Stockton and invested in lots and erected four resi- dences, which she still owns and which produce a good income.

Mrs. Munson's first marriage occurred in Maine in 1870, uniting her with Capt. Samuel G. Cookson, a native of Belfast, Maine, who followed the sea for a livelihood, working up until he was master of ves- sels. His first trip to California was made in the early '60s, sailing around Cape Horn and he was so enamored of the beauties of California that he gave up his seafaring life and when he married they came to California via Panama and settled on a farm at Atlanta where he raised grain extensively. He re- tained his membership in China Lodge, A. F. & A. M., in China, Maine, up to the time of his demise. They were the parents of two children: Samuel T., born on the ranch at Atlanta and now engaged in farming.

& & munson

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

He married Miss Elsie Ritter, a native Californian and they have one daughter, Norma. The second son, Walter M., was for many years with the Holt Manufacturing Company in Stockton but now is asso- ciated with his brother, Samuel T., farming the home place of the Munsons. Mrs. Munson in 1920 built a residence at Pacific Grove, where she spends her summers.

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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 97

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