USA > California > San Joaquin County > History of the State of California and biographical record of San Joaquin County; containing biographis of well-known citizens of the past and present. Volume I > Part 45
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Good buildings with pleasant surroundings are a necessary condition in child education, but the most essential item is first-class teachers. In the first schools it was difficult to obtain even low-grade teachers and V. M. Peyton had to al- most beg Mrs. Woods and Dr. Canders to take charge of the schools. Several of those engaged were incompetent, especially the male teachers. One was a tobacco chewer who had his cuspidor by the side of his chair; a second would fre- quently take a nap during school hours, and woe to the boy that woke him; another would con- stantly walk about the room whistling and talk- ing to himself; while another one day kissed a pretty girl and immediately resigned.
The completion of the overland railroad in- creased the number of teachers in the state. Laws were passed by the state, county and city regarding the qualifications of teachers; they were licensed and granted certificates if found worthy. In the selection of teachers the trus-
tees of 1895 drew the line very closely and as- serted: "While the claims of teachers hereto- fore employed deserve consideration-it is the- imperative duty of this board to select and re- tain those teachers who from character, ability,. training and natural fitness for teaching, are best qualified to train the minds of those intrust- ed to their care." The standard of qualification was gradually raised and as a result Stockton now has eighty-two teachers, in all grades, from the primary to the high school, the equal of any in the state. In fact, several teachers have left the Stockton schools to accept positions in other schools and two of them are now University teachers.
If long service is any indication of faithful and satisfactory work then the Stockton teacher may well be crowned, for forty have been teaching over five years, thirty have taught ten years, eighteen have been in service fifteen years; five have been in the schools for twenty and two for twenty-eight years and are now instructing the children of their former pupils. Marriage would occasionally deprive Stockton of a good teacher and F. H. Myer, the teacher of free-hand draw- ing, having accepted a position in the University of California "drew" to him in marriage Letitia Summerville, a graduate, and the teacher in writ- ing. She was appointed to the position made va- cant by the death of W. A. Houghton. From' 1872 until 1892 he faithfully and successfully taught writing in the schools, and when death called him home, none grieved more than his former pupils. One of them in writing of his. funeral said: "As a testimonial of the grief at his loss and respect for the man, flags were float- ed at half mast on all the school buildings. At the hour of the funeral service, the long line of children assembled at the home of their old friend and escorted his body to the Baptist church. Passing into the church, each child de- posited beside his casket a bouquet, until it was buried beneath the floral offerings. Following the cortege to the cemetery, seven hundred pu- pils fulfilled 'Uncle Billy's' last request by drop- ping into the grave a steel pen, the instru- ment by which he had won his way into the hearts. of all."
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In every profession, trade or calling, first-class work demands first-class pay, and the trustees realizing this have always paid first-class wages. This was shown a few years since by superin- tendent J. M. Barr, who corresponded with every large city in the United States and found that less than a half dozen were paying on an average higher school salaries than Stockton. The teach- ers were first paid $75 to $100 a school month, re- gardless of their scholarship, experience or the grade of school. The sliding scale was adopted in 1874, and the high-school principal received $2,000 a year; the first grade teacher $100 a month, and the sixth grade $70 a month. Five years later, experience in teaching was an im- portant factor and the teacher of one year re- ceived only $500, while the one of three years received $700. In 1894 none but Normal school graduates were encouraged to apply for positions and with one year's experience they received $550 a year, the amount increasing with their experience as teachers up to $850 a year. The teachers since July 1, 1907, have been paid for every month in the year, school and vacation, and an all-important fact is that they receive their salary monthly, without any discount, and have never been deprived of a dollar, as in some of the larger cities. The salaries of the high school range much higher than those of the lower grades and the principal now receives $2,508 a year; the teacher of physics, chemistry and of business methods $1,500; and those of history, English, Latin, Greek, mathematics, botany and zoology, $1,320, a twelve-month year. German, drawing, stenography and typewriting also form a part of the high school course.
It matters not how efficient a body of teach- ers may be, there must be a guiding and con- trolling hand, and this hand can be found in the superintendent. Stockton has had several school superintendents, good, bad and indiffer- ent, but fortunately in 1869 George S. Ladd was elected to that position. A man of only a com- mon village school education, he was of well- balanced parts, and taking a deep interest in school work, and regarding neither friend nor foe, he corrected many abuses during his term of office from 1869 to 1882, and brought the
schools up to a high standard of excellence. Assisted by the secretary, Sidney Newell, he laid the foundation for the present school sys- tem that is now the "model" of many national schools. The genius of this model, superintend- ent James A. Barr, was educated in the schools over which his tireless labors and enthusiasm for their improvement are unlimited. He was appointed to this position in October, 1891, hav- ing for several years previous been a succes- ful teacher ; he believed that the regulation sy tem of teaching could be greatly improved. Ils views in this respect were in harmony with the expressed views of the brightest National an I State educators, and in 1892 lie resolved, if possible, to place the schools of Stockton so that they would rank first, not only in the state, but in the Nation. It was a herculean task, but he had in sympathy with him a corps of teachers capable of carrying on such a task when directed by a master mind.
Such a mind was that of the superintendent and he appointed a committee of twenty of those teachers most interested and best qualified. They began studying and experimenting upen grade work with special reference to the needs and conditions of the Stockton schools, Corre,- pondence was held with all the superintendents of all the states and with the leading educators and most famous teachers, and all of the works upon the subject were carefully read. Three years passed in forming this new method or sys- tem, a system which included every grade from the primary to the sophomore in the high school. Then came several years of the practical tests of the Stockton methods. The tests rang true and in 1900 a little pamphlet, giving a full de scription of the work, was published.
It was a revolution, so to speak, of e hicational methods, and a complete exhibit of the prac- tical daily work of the scholars, neatly boun 1. was exhibited at the St. Louis and Pertland World Exhibitions, accompanied by a volume. "The Stockton Schools from Pieneer Davs." compiled by Jessie Ryan Hollenbeak, a high- school and Stanford graduate. There was a competition of several hundred exhilasts, but Stockton took among the highest prizes offerel.
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for the hundreds of educators, some from for- eign lands, agreed, after critically examining the exhibits, that none were superior.
After the close of the exhibitions, hun- .dreds of letters were received by Mr. Barr, asking if these methods could be secured in printed form. They could not, but after con- sulting with a leading eastern publisher, Rosa V. Winterburn, one of the original twenty, ed- ited the manuscript and the book was published.
Of great assistance to the schools and espe- cially the higher grades, is the free public library with its forty thousand volumes of miscella- neous works. It was established in 1880 under a state law passed in 1878 and the present hand- some marble building was erected through the donations of two of Stockton's pioneers, Frank Stewart and W. P. Hazelton. The former was a veteran of the Mexican war and came to Stock- ton in 1849; when this county became one of the banner wheat counties of California he in partnership with the late Capt. J. W. Smith en- gaged in the buying and selling of that com- modity. March 26, 1883. while examining a car load of wheat, he was terribly crushed be- tween two cars and died the following day. He bequeathed $5,000 towards the library. The council then raised $9,000 by taxation and a marble memorial building, costing over $12,000, was erected on Hunter street, on a lot owned by the city. It was opened to the public Febru- ary 16, 1889. Five years later the citizens were surprised and pleased to learn by telegraph that William P. Hazelton, who died in Tarrytown, N. Y., had willed $75,000 to the Stockton free library, not more than one-half of the amount to be used in the purchase of books. Mr. Hazel- ton was the teacher who proposed to open the free school. Later he engaged in the practice of dentistry and loaning money at one per cent a month and in this way made a fortune in a few years. He then returned to New York, where he invested his California gold. After receiving this bequest the trustees erected a hand- some marble structure at a cost of $50,000 with the Stewart building as an annex. $15,000 was used in the purchase of books and the balance in furnishing and fitting up the interior of the
building. The library was opened to the public in February, 1895, and the trustees selected the present librarian, W. F. Cloudsley, in 1888.
Stockton's pioneer newspaper, the Stockton Times, was published March 16, 1850, by John White and Dr. Radcliffe, two Englishmen. In
April, 1851, they sold the paper to John Kerr and he conducted it as a Democratic organ under the name of the San Joaquin Republican. The paper had a checkered career. The fire of May 4, 1861, nearly destroyed the plant and it ap- peared under its new name May 14, in a very demoralized condition. In 1853 Mr. Kerr died in the asylum, a maniac from alcoholic drink. The paper then passed into the hands of Conley, Kennedy, Mansfield and Patrick. In 1854 Mans- field was shot and killed by John Taber, editor of the Journal, and the following year the paper lost nearly all of its advertisers, for they had taken sides with the Law and Order party. In 1860 it supported the Breckenridge wing of the Dem- ocratic party and was suppressed in September, 1862, by General Wright because of the seces- sion sentiments expressed in its columns. It was removed to Sacramento and there the type was pied by the soldiers, after which it came back to Stockton and in two years it died, "un- honored and unsung." The first rival of this paper was the Stockton Journal, edited by John S. Robb, who supported the Whig party. He lost $30,000 in the fire, but his plant was saved and in 1851 he sold out to John Taber, who had been its editor.
The Times and the Journal were at war re- garding the printing of city contracts. Taber wrote a severe editorial June 22, 1854, regard- ing the opposition organ, whose editor read it carefully and a few hours later upon meeting Taber said, "Young man, I want to tell you what I think of you," and as he spoke he raised his hand as if to draw a weapon, whereupon Taber, believing his life was in danger, at once drew a revolver and fired; the ball penetrated Mansfield's left breast and he died the day fol- lowing. Taber was arrested at once and tried for murder before Judge Creaner, Samuel A. Booker and David S. Terry appearing for the defense and H. T. Huggins, John B. Hall and
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E. B. Baker for the prosecution. Taber was . them Arthur MacKewen, A. J. Waterhouse, found guilty of the crime and sentenced to be John P. Cosgrove, and Mrs. L. Claire Davis. The present editor, A. L. Cowell, is a bright young writer who has had experience as a school teacher and was educated for the minis- try. A short time after the completion of the building Mr. Colnon died and the business has since been carried on by J. J. Nunan and Mr. Colnon's widow. hanged March 16, 1855. Every possible effort was made to obtain a pardon from Governor Bigler ; prayers were offered up in the churches throughout the state and a petition was pre- sented to the Governor, signed by one hundred thousand of the leading citizens of the state. The pressure brought to bear was so great that after several months the pardon was granted and Taber was freed. He then left the state and went to Louisiana, where he died during the Civil war.
After the killing of Mansfield, William Biven, who had started the Stockton Post in 1854, pur- chased the Journal and with Henry A. Crabb founded the Stockton Argus. It supported the American party and Crabb for the United States senate. He retired within a year and then the Argus advocated the doctrines of Broderick. In 1862 it was opposing the Union and the gov- ernment suppressed its publication in Septem- ber. Three years later Biven began the publi- cation of the Herald and continued this until March, 1875, in which year he was thrown from a horse and killed, his neck being broken. The following year the paper was purchased by B. T. K. Preston and John V. Bell and published by them until 1883, when it was discontinued, as the owners both obtained government posi- tions through the influence of the Democratic party.
In 1879 Edward Colnon, a Stockton boy, who had made a success as a newspaper writer in Virginia City, was engaged to write a special New Year's edition of the Herald. From the encouragement he received he believed there was a good field for an up-to-date evening paper and after canvassing the situation thoroughly, February 10, 1880, established and issued the first copy of the Evening Mail, with Edward Colnon editor, John J. Nunan manager and Will- iam Berdine press foreman. The paper was a success from the start and in 1900, at a cost of $30,000, they erected the Mail building, this being one of the few newspapers in the state to own its own building. The paper has had on its staff some of the best writers of the state, among
The Republicans in 1860, having no press advocate, induced the proprietors of the San Andreas Independent to move to Stockton and August 16, 1861, the Stockton Independent was published by Samuel Seabough editor, and Jolin Geddes local writer. The foriner was one of the most vigorous and brilliant writers in the state and was later employed on the Sacramento Union and the San Francisco Chronicle. He sent hot shot and shell into the camp of the secessionists and the Independent became one of the leading papers of the interior. The pro- prietors were lacking in business management and lost money. It has changed hands eight times in the past twenty years. In 1883 it was heavily mortgaged, but J. Le Rose Phelps going to L. U. Shippee, the president of the Stockton Savings and Loan Society bank, said, "Mr. Ship- pee, how much do you want for the Indefend- ent?" He replied. "Well, young man, how much money have you got?" "Not a bean," sail Phelps. "Well, I like your nerve." A deal was consummated and Phelps and Lincoln Ruggles, a high school graduate and at that time a part own- er of the Herald, took charge of the Independent. With J. J. Ryan. a man of many years' experi- ence, as an editorial writer. they worked hard and along economical lines and after a few years were able to pay off the indebtednes, and put the paper on a sound financial basis and it is published as the only morning paper in the city.
While the Independent was so heavily in debt. there was a young man employed in the office named Irvine Martin who was energetic and ambitious and with high ideals of the duty of the press. He had gone from the composing room to the editorial staff an 1 become a re- porter. In June. 1888. he purchased a half in- terest in a small advertising sheet called the
19
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Commercial Record that was being published by William Denig. Six years later Irvine Mar- tin and Harry Fontecilla purchasing the plant of the Republican, that had for two years been pub- lished by J. E. Ruggles and John Dormer, is- sued April 8, 1895, the Stockton Evening Record. Their introductory letter was short and unique. "Shake, SHAKE. There has long been a clamor for an up-to-date newspaper. The Record pro- poses to stop that clamor. Good Evening." Fontecilla later removed to Oakland, the paper was then incorporated, being the first one to take that step in Stockton, and then they began the long and hard climb up the hill of adver-
sity. The paper was put on a high moral basis. and all fake, get-rich-quick and saloon adver- tising was refused, their only incentive being the approval and "God speed" of the better class of citizens. At last, with the kindly assistance of J. D. Peters, they reached the summit of their ambitions and have continued the policy of the paper advocated from the start. They have con- tinually advocated the overthrow of the saloons and a return to clean politics and with their well-equipped plant, using a Hoe press, the best in the valley, they are capable of turning off six thousand eight-page papers an hour,
CHAPTER VI. COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIES.
F OR over half a century in San Joaquin county "Wheat was King," but now he is dethroned and his handmaidens, man- ufacture and horticulture, are contending for the throne.
It will be remembered that in an earlier day one could ride day after day through fields heavy with golden grain, fields that the first set- tlers said were good for nothing but pasture, for wheat could not be grown in the hard dry soil, with six months of summer and not a drop of rain. The farmer was laughed at who had come to raise wheat. However, grain had been raised by the Mormon settlers at French Camp as early as 1846. Joe Buzzel had sixteen acres planted at Tuleberg in 1847 and W. L. Over- hiser and R. C. Sargent each had sixty acres of barley in 1851. What had once been accom- plished could be done again, for Nature knows how to provide for her own. These new ranch- ers purchased from one hundred sixty to one thousand acres and this they plowed late in the winter or in the early spring. Sowing the seed over the virgin soil, late in June there stood the harvest of ripened grain which ran from forty to sixty bushels to the acre.
As a result there was 5,145 bushels of wheat; . III,489 bushels of barley; 1,625 of
oats; 1,245 of corn; and 43 tons of pota- toes, and only a few hundred acres of land under cultivation. Figures give results. In 1860 there were raised 895,000 bushels of wheat; 912,500 bushels of barley; and 37,600 tons of hay, the largest yield ever had on the acreage under the plow. The year 1864 was a dry one, scarcely any rain and thousands of head of stock died. There were splendid crops from that time until 1872, when another dry year was experienced. From that year there was an increased acreage sowed and in 1877 the yield was wonderful; from 114,182 acres of wheat land the ranchers harvested 1,063,820 bushels of the grain; from 9,025 acres of barley land, 146,950 bushels of that cereal were gathered, and 4,250 tons of hay was cut, for it must be remembered that a promising crop of wheat is never cut for hay. In 1879 the entire upland was under cultivation and as the banner wheat county of the state we raised 3,529,511 bush- els of wheat and 796,409 bushels of barley. In the meantime the railroads were running the entire length of the valley to the south; the counties were being settled up and Stockton was the port at tide water for the shipment of the grain. Thousands of tons of grain were rolling into the city each year and warehouses with a
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capacity of 750,000 tons were being erected for storing it.
Then came a demand for steamers, barges and tug boats for the transportation of this immense harvest and the increased traffic of the county. A yard for the building of vessels had long since been started by Stephen Davis, and his first vessel was the pleasure yacht Mary Mason, built in 1850. Then came the forty-ton steamer Eureka, built for the upper San Joaquin river trade. Later came vessels ranging in size from the two hundred and fifty-ton steamer Chin du Wan, built by Davis, to the six hundred-ton steamer City of Stockton, built by the California Navigation Company, which company built all their own ships. Of the many vessels built in the four ship yards, only one was a side wheeler, the Cora, built by Davis in 1866 for Philip Caduc of San Francisco to be used in the transportation of copper ore. The largest and finest stern wheel steamer ever built in the state was the H. C. Corcoran, costing $75,000 and in- tended for the passenger traffic of the San Joa- quin Valley Railroad; she was two hundred and twenty-five feet long, thirty-three feet wide and in deep water could run twenty-two miles an hour. Dredger building has been an industry of con- siderable importance and John C. Grant has just completed a $75,000 dredger.
The machinery of all the Stockton steamers is home manufacture. The engines of the pioneer steamer Eureka were made in the Globe foundry, which was established in 1858. In 1868 the Stockton Iron Works was founded. Today the city numbers over a dozen establishments manu- facturing steam and gas engines, ore cars, struc- tural iron and nearly everything that enters into the construction business.
Iron and steel are all important materials that enter into the manufacture of tools, agricultural implements, etc., and the early-day blacksmiths were kept busy making horseshoe nails, horse- shoes, shovels and picks, also iron doors and shut- ters for buildings and irons used in the making of wagons and carriages. There were hundreds of plows to be made. The inventive mind of Don Carlos Matteson was at work and he rapid- ly increased his business by the invention and
manufacture of a gang plow that would cut a furrow three times the width of a single plow. Later he invented and began the making of a hay fork and derrick whereby a load of hay could be lifted from the header bed to the stack and from stack to thresher. Steam had super- seded the horse power and three times the amount was threshed than by the old method. Then cante the straw burners. Wood was becoming expensive, for the forests had nearly all been consumed by the mills, steamers and as fuel in the homes in the city.
In August, 1869, William Martin made a trial of an invention of his that would cut and thresh the grain at the same time and was styled a combined harvester. This was a great stride in the harvesting of large fields of grain as well as a saving of grain, for the high win ls would shake out the ripened kernels and a great deal would be lost. This machine was crude and imperfect and was a failure, but these defects were improved upon by others and now the Holt Manufacturing Co. and the Houser-Haines Co. are sending to all parts of the world hundreds of combined harvesters that do perfect work in every detail. These are drawn by steam en- gines, which is a saving of many thousands of dollars to the large farmer, both in labor and the keeping of so many animals, for it required thirty-two horses or mules to draw one of these machines. Even with this saving there was no money in wheat, as twenty years ago the coun- ty had to look to the world for its market and the opening of the Indian lands cut the price .. The rancher then began raising fruits and vege- tables and grapes and as they then had rail- road transportation the county found a market throughout the state and nation for these prod- ucts.
For many years the county had her vegetables brought in from the Sacramento valley. her grapes from Los Angeles, apples from Oregon and canned fruit from the cast and England A few individuals grew sufficient fruit for their own needs and in 1858 the Rev. Mr. Kroh had a lot 50x150 feet upon which he had one thousand and twenty-one trees and vines and from these he raised some very fine fruit that he sold for
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splendid prices. Then the home market began to be supplied by men who had planted orchards on Roberts Island along the river banks, and from "Rough and Ready," a spot of reclaimed tule land that began sending out fruit and vegetables as early as 1858 to San Francisco. Today there is an abundance of both these products grown and thousands of pounds are daily shipped to the markets of San Francisco, nearly enough to supply the coast trade. In 1906 over six hun- dred tons of garden truck were sent from the county. In 1908 more than three hundred and sixty car loads of grapes were shipped to eastern markets. Potatoes grown on the reclaimed tule lands are a greater source of income than was the wheat, one producer selling over $500,000 worth and another raising enough to fill eight hundred cars. The acreage and money value of the following vegetables for 1907 were: pota- toes 175,000 acres, valued at $2,187,500; grapes 18,835 acres, $1,720,000; onions, 1,715 acres $643,000 ; beans 6,210 acres, $450,000; trees planted on 26,400 acres and valued at $508,000; and asparagus has been gradually coming to the front as a product of the reclaimed land. These products on the islands are grown without irrigation, but upon the upland there must be plenty of water used to insure a crop. This is easily done, for the Mokelumne river canal ir- rigates thousands of acres and pure water is found fifty feet below the surface. At one time Stockton was called "the city of windmills," for there were hundreds used to bring the water to the surface and irrigate the land, but now the city is well equipped with a system of water supply and the windmills are relegated to the country gardens and vineyards and hundreds are used by the Italian gardeners. In many cases gasoline engines are being installed to pump the water.
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