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 II > Part 16
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In 1885 W. Harrison Holt sold his stock to his brothers, and in 1889 Charles H. Holt and Benjamin Holt purchased the interest of the estate of A. Frank Holt, then deceased.
In the early part of 1883 Holt Brothers rea- lized the necessity of a wheel built in California. and with that idea in view established at Stock- ton The Stockton Wheel Company, the manage- ment of which was vested in Benjamin Holt, who had recently come from the east.
The Stockton Wheel Company occupied a single building on the northeast corner of Aurora and Church streets, the present site of the main office of The Holt Manufacturing Company.
Two years after the foundation of The Stock- ton Wheel Company they decided to take up the manufacture of combined harvesters. These ma- chines had been constructed previously, the power being transmitted almost entirely by gears. See- ing the demand for a more economical and more easily repaired transmission, Benjamin Holt ap-
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plied the idea of a link-belt drive to harvesters, and this, more than any other feature, has made the Holt harvester so successful.
The Holt harvester has been a success from the start and at the present time there are more than twenty-five hundred of these machines in actual use. Horse harvesters require from eight- een to thirty-two animals, and with the aid of four men, can cut, thresh, clean, re-clean and sack a strip from fourteen to twenty-four feet wide, making the capacity in acres per day from twenty to fifty.
In 1892 Benjamin Holt, who has always been the mechanical head of the company, made the first successful side-hill combined harvester. The side-hill combined harvester is built to level up on a twenty-eight degree slope, and thus the farm- er has been able to cultivate land which had be- fore been considered worthless.
In the year 1890 the company took up the manufacture of traction engines, and have since built the most powerful and successful traction engines ever built anywhere in the world. One of their freighting engines is hauling loads of forty-three tons up a twenty per cent grade in Tuolumne county.
On the advent of their successful traction engine they conceived the idea of a steam harvester. The steam harvester is built along the same lines as a horse harvester, and is pulled across the field by means of a large traction engine. With the aid of seven men and four horses the farmer is able to cut, thresh, clean, re-clean and sack in one operation a strip thirty-four feet wide, harvesting from seventy-five to one hundred and twenty-five acres per day.
Their steam plowing outfits followed somewhat later and these successful rigs have been able to plow, seed and harrow in one operation a strip twenty-five feet wide, covering from fifty to sev- enty-five acres per day. This outfit requires but four men and two horses to haul fuel and water.
The business of The Stockton Wheel Company was carried on under this name until the year 1892, when it was incorporated as The Holt Manufac- turing Company, with the following officers : Ben-
jamin Holt, president; Charles H. Holt, vice- president ; George H. Cowie, treasurer; G. L. Dickenson, secretary.
The Stockton Wheel Company was very suc- cessful in the manufacture of wood hub and Sarv- en patent wheels. The material for these wheels was brought out in carload lots from the east and allowed to become thoroughly dry and sea- soned before being worked up into wheel stock, this being necessary on account of the long, dry seasons in California. The wheel factory is still a very important part of The Holt Manufactur- ing Company.
The death of Charles H. Holt, in July, 1905, removed the financial and business head of the corporation. For thirty years, in good times and bad, his sound judgment and clear headed busi- ness ability had carried the company steadily on- ward. His place was taken by his son, C. Parker Holt.
In December, 1906, Benjamin Holt bought out the interest of the estate of Charles H. Holt, and Ben C. Holt and Pliny E. Holt, sons of W. H. Holt, became vice-presidents of the company.
In 1903 Benjamin Holt conceived the idea of an endless belt platform wheel to replace the ordinary round wheel on traction engines and combined harvesters, when these machines were to operate on soft or sandy land. The company has since carried on, under the direction of Mr. Holt, some very extensive experiments with this type of wheel, and at the present time there are three successful steam outfits of this type in operation. There are twenty-eight of the gaso- line Caterpillar traction engines at work on the Mojave Desert and adjacent mountains, hauling rock and supplies for the construction of the Los Angeles aqueduct.
The Holt Manufacturing Company has been very successful in the manufacture of boilers and tanks, the boiler shop being exceptionally well equipped to handle all kinds of sheet metal work. Stockton Improved and Fresno scrapers are manufactured and shipped out of here in carload lots. The hardware, iron and steel departments, which are entirely separate from the manufactur-
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ing departments, handle each year a large amount of wholesale business throughout the entire Pa- cific coast.
The northern interests of the company have been under the charge and able management of Ben C. Holt for a number of years, he main- taining offices and store room both in Walla Walla and Spokane, Wash.
In January, 1909, Pliny E. Holt and George H. Cowie retired from the active management of the business. Their places as vice-president and treasurer were filled by C. Parker Holt and C. A. Bachelder, who maintain an executive and purchasing office in San Francisco.
Since 1885 the company has steadily grown ; a great amount of land has been acquired each year and the number of buildings increased, un- til the plant now covers sixteen acres of ground. The manufacturing end is divided into nineteen distinct and separate departments, employing about three hundred and fifty men. Starting with a capital of but $3,000, the business has steadily grown, until The Holt Manufacturing Company alone, irrespective of its associated com- panies, has a business considerably in excess of $1,000,000 per year.
LESTER E. CROSS, M. D.
In point of years of active professional labors Dr. Cross is the oldest physician in Stockton with the single exception of Dr. Asa Clark. Upon removing to California in 1873 he settled in Stockton and rented an office which he continued to occupy for a period of twenty-five years. Finally during 1908 he removed into the Elks' building, where he has a handsomely-fitted suite, including a large reception hall, and private offices for himself, his son and his brother, all of whom are prominently identified with
the medical interests of the city. As a physician he has always shown great skill in diagnosis and corresponding accuracy in treat- ment. Many difficult cases confided to his care have responded rapidly to his treatment and thus added testimony to his skill.
The doctor's father, Lester Cross, a native of New York, received exceptional advantages in youth and became a resourceful and able lawyer, being admitted to the bar in New York. There he married Miss Alma Sloane and there, in the city of Lockport, a son was born to whom was given the name of Lester E., and whose birth oc- curred March 24, 1842. During 1848 the father removed to Michigan and engaged in the practice of law at Port Huron, but during 1856 he went to Saginaw, the same state, where he became known as one of the most able attorneys in the town. Upon retiring from an active profession- al career he came to California in 1876 and settled at Stockton, where he remained until his death in 1890. His wife passed away some years ago.
Upon having completed the course of study in the grammar and high schools at Saginaw, Mich .. Lester E. Cross took up medical studies and matriculated in the Homeopathic Medical Col- lege of St. Louis, Mo., from which institution he was graduated in 1873. After a short ex- perience as a Missouri practitioner he went to Florida and continued in practice at Pensacola. From there he came to California, where he has resided for more than one-quarter of a century. Meanwhile he has become actively identified with the San Joaquin Medical Society, the American Institute of Homeopathy and the California State Medical Society. The principles of home- opathy have in him an ardent disciple and his personal success has been also a tribute to his favored department of medical science.
At the outbreak of the Civil war Dr. Cross was a young man living in Michigan and he at once offered his services to the government. On the organization of Company E. Twenty-third Michi- gan Infantry, he was chosen second lieutenant and soon afterward received promotion to the rank of first lieutenant, resigning in 1863, owing
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to ill-health. Always stanch in his loyal devotion to the nation, he is equally devoted to the wel- fare of California and no one maintains a deeper interest than he in the progress of his chosen home town. Here he is the possessor of valuable real estate, including a comfortable residence at No. 207 Acacia street. During December of 1866 he was united in marriage with Miss Imo- gene Lyon, a native of New York state. Four children came to bless their union. The eldest son, Henry N. Cross, M. D., a graduate of Coop- er Medical College in San Francisco, has en- gaged in practice for some years, principally in Stockton, and has performed some remarkable surgical operations. The only daughter, Eliza- beth H., is the wife of Dr. Frederick P. Clark, superintendent of the state hospital at Stockton. George L. is engaged in ranching. Walter A. is superintendent of a ranch of sixty-five hundred acres on Cross island. A portion of this large estate is under cultivation, but the greater part is used for the pasturage of cattle and draft horses, which business is conducted on an ex- tensive scale upon these ample grounds.
JAMES JOURNEAY.
This pioneer of 1849, now living retired from business activities in his comfortable home at No. 1028 North Commerce street, Stockton, was born on Staten Island,New York, April 22, 1825, being the son of David Journeay, a soldier in the war of 1812 and by trade a blacksmith. In line- age he traces his ancestry to France, but several generations have lived upon American soil and have displayed the utmost loyalty to our govern- ment and its institutions. Under the careful oversight of his father, he learned the trade of a blacksmith and at the age of twenty started out as a journeyman. For one year he worked in
Alabama. Later he followed his trade at Gal- veston, Tex., and thence went to Brownsville, where he and a brother, Stephen, were among the earliest white settlers. They started the first brickyard in the new town and had an order from the United States government for brick, but could not fill the order on account of lack of wagons. In meeting the emergency they bought a government wagon at a sale and used the same until the two hind wheels were stolen. By a strange coincidence, when they were traveling to California later, they encountered a party of In- dians and found in their possession the two lost wheels.
As members of a party of twenty-four men, the Journeay brothers outfitted at Brownsville for the trip to California shortly after the dis- covery of gold in the west. The Mexican war had closed a short time before, but the Mexicans were still hostile, and the plan of travel through their country to Mazatlan involved grave dangers. When they had gone as far as Durango the Apaches attacked them and endeavored to drive them back. In the conflict Stephen was wounded in the eye and this delayed the brothers for two weeks, James carrying the wounded man to Santiago for treatment and later taking him to Durango. It had been the fortune of the party to capture from the Indians fourteen Mexican children who had been stolen, and the return of these children delighted the people to such an extent that every courtesy was extended to the Americans.
Finally, by passage on a sailing vessel from the Mexican coast, the brothers reached San Fran- cisco and from there came to Stockton, thence proceeding to the Jamestown mines, where they remained during the winter, meeting with un- usual difficulties on account of the heavy rains. Eventually they found gold and felt repaid for their arduous efforts. Next they tried their luck at Mariposa, where they had many hardships and discouragements. From there James came to Stockton, a canvas town crude in appearance and insignificant in dimensions. Setting up a camp on the Mormon channel, he secured em-
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ployment shoeing horses and during boom times made $16 per day. Soon he was joined by his brother and the two continued together for a time, but eventually the brother returned to the east and soon afterward died.
Grass on the Calaveras was free to all, but hay was high-priced, and James Journeay began to cut the grass and make hay, for which he was paid $100 per ton. With the money thus made he bought a team of oxen and began to haul to the mines, using also for this purpose a team of mules he had brought here with him. On selling his teams he opened a blacksmith shop at the present site of the Eagle drug store and this he conducted personally at great profit. Meanwhile with Mr. Congdon he had bought property opposite the court house, built a corral, and established a livery stable and hay yard, also opened a hotel. Mr. Congdon carried on the hay yard, Mr. Phelps conducted the hotel, Mr. Journeay devoting him- self to the blacksmith's shop, and the three made large profits between 1852 and 1854, when Mr. Phelps sold out and Mr. Journeay returned east to be married. During his absence Mr. Congdon disposed of all their holdings, or put mortgages on such land as could not be sold, and disap- peared with the money, so that when Mr. Jour- neay returned he found that he had practically nothing left out of his large holdings. Going out to the mortgaged ranch on the Calaveras, he suc- ceeded in paying the mortgage off in two years, and then returned to the blacksmith's trade in Stockton. Five years later he left the shop for a ranch of three hundred acres on the Copperop- olis road.
After having improved the land Mr. Journeay sold the same and purchased other land, continu- ing in this way until his final retirement in 1901, since which time he has made his home in Stock- ton. In the early days he bought the first harvester in Sacramento county and this he used on large areas of leased land where he conducted extensive grain operations. While in the shop he made the first large wagons used in the town of Stock- ton. From the time of coming to this county he has been interested in movements for the bene-
fit of the people and the development of the ranches. As trustee of his district he had charge of the building of a schoolhouse on the Copper- opolis road and contributed generously to the same. Politically he always supported Republican principles. In the early days of Stockton he served as a member of the Volunteer Hook and Ladder Company. He enjoys the distinction of being the oldest initiated member of Charity Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F., and always has main- tained a warm interest in lodge work. Churches and charities have received such aid as his means permitted.
The golden wedding of James Journeay, cele- brated at Stockton in 1904, commemorated his marriage in 1854 to Miss Amanda M. Osborn, who was born in New York City in 1828 and came to California in 1855. They became the parents of six children, all born in California. One of these died in childhood and another at the age of twen- ty-five years. The eldest son, William E., is a prosperous farmer at New Hope. The only daughter, Mary, is the wife of G. C. March, and resides at Crockett, Contra Costa county. The second son, J. Walter, lives at Washington, Ne- vada county, and owns a home near the race tracks. The youngest son, Joseph G., is engaged in business at San Francisco.
GEORGE SAMUEL LADD.
For a period covering only a little less than fifty years George Samuel Ladd was identified with the interests of Stockton, where he arrived January 14, 1853, and afterward continued to be associated with educational, real-estate and com- mercial enterprises until his death, April 25. 1902, at the family residence No. 927 North Eldorado street. Not only does this era cover almost the entire period of the American occupancy of Cali-
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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 memorable event that changed the entire subse- quent history of California he started for this region, full of the courage and dauntless purpose of youth, ambitious to make his own way in the world, unmindful of hardships and perils by the way. His decision in leaving New England for the more fruitful regions of the west he never regretted, but on the other hand rejoiced that it was his privilege to aid in the upbuilding of this rich commonwealth.
Descended from an old family of New Eng- land, George Samuel Ladd was born in Danville, Vt., May 28, 1832, being a son of Seneca and Pamelia (Estabrook) Ladd, and a brother of John S. and Ira W. Ladd, also pioneers of Cali- fornia. During boyhood he was sent to the seminary conducted by the New Hampshire con- ference at Sanborton Bridge and there he was fitting for college when he heard of the discovery of gold. At once all of his plans for the future were changed and he began to plan 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 a tedious but uneventful voyage. Without any delay they started for the mines in Tuolumne county, where they met with fair success, but finally they returned to Dan- ville, Vt., arriving in July of 1852.
A few months later George S. Ladd, accom- panied by his youngest brother, Ira W., came to California by the Panama route, and reached Stockton, as previously mentioned, on the 14th of January, 1853. In addition to mining inter- ests he became interested in the freighting and commission business with his brother, John S., and after closing out that concern he became a partner of George West and Sidney Newell in the manufacture and sale of products from the West vineyard. Meanwhile he had invested from time to time in land and had bought and sold farms in various counties of California as well
as in Oregon. The rise in land valuations had proved of benefit to him financially and enabled him to accumulate 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 Oregon property. Fraternally he was identified with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, which he joined in 1856, and at the time of his death he was con- nected with Stockton Lodge No. II, and was a member of the Pioneers Society of San Joaquin county. In politics he voted with the Republican party. For three years he was a member of the city council of Stockton and under the adminis- tration of Governor Perkins he officiated as state commissioner of the Yosemite valley. For twenty years or more he was a member of the choir of the First Presbyterian Church of Stockton, and his wife still retains active identification with that denomination.
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 he served as a school trustee. In 1867 he was appointed sup- erintendent of the schools of Stockton, and this position he held by appointment until the first elec- tion under the new charter, when he was duly elected to the office, holding the same until 1880. Under his administration the local schools were brought to a high standard of excellence. Sys- tematic courses of study were adopted and every- thing was done to secure for the children the best possible advantages preparatory to their life duties. Perhaps no work he accomplished in the position was more important than that of recom- mending a revision of the school law and manual outlining the duties of pupils, teachers and sup- erintendents, which recommendation was adopted.
The marriage of Mr. Ladd took place in Stock- ton May 28, 1856, and united him with Miss Abigail Bourland, a native of Arkansas, born January 30, 1840. Her parents, Alne and Re- becca (Cook) Bourland, were born, reared and
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married in Alabama, but shortly after marriage they removed to Arkansas and settled at Fort Smith, where they remained for some years. During 1854 they started for California via the overland route and proceeded as far as Surprise valley without misfortune, but while camping there the wife and mother died of heart disease. The survivors arrived at Stockton September 22. 1854. The grandmother, Mrs. Abigail Bourland, attained the age of ninety-six years, and other members of the family also were spared to great ages.
Four children now living form the family of Mrs. Ladd. All are sons. The eldest, George Edwin, born May II, 1857, married in Stockton November 26, 1884, Miss Mary Evaline Van Vlear, who was born in this city in 1860. They have two children, namely : Jeanette and Edwin Hubbard. The second son, Walter Eugene Ladd, born May 27, 1859, lives in Stockton and is a member of Truth Lodge, I. O. O. F. His mar- riage, February 5, 1885, united him with Miss Lucy Estella Ayres, who was born in San Joaquin county, December 9, 1862. Of their union three sons and one daughter are now living, namely: George Allen, the survivor of twin brothers; Walter E., Jr., Elmer A. and Juliette. The two youngest sons of the Ladd family are Joseph Marshall and Ira Bourland. Joseph M. Ladd 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; since his graduation from Cooper Medical College he has been a practicing physician in Stockton. He married Mrs. Mollie E. (Grattan) Cross. The death of George S. Ladd came after he had passed through six strokes of apoplexy; the seventh proved fatal, bringing to a termination a career that had been filled with useful activities in behalf of his family and his home town. In his passing 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.
His generosity and kindness were proverbial, for he let no opportunity pass to assist those less fortunate than himself.
ISAAC KOCH.
Twenty miles southeast of Stockton lies the thriving post village of Ripon, and it is with this part of San Joaquin county that Mr. Koch is most familiar, having located on his present homestead in this vicinity in 1858. A native of the east, he was born in Union county, Pa., in 1825, and up to the age of twenty was reared in his native county, in the meantime attending a private school, as well as gaining a good insight in agricultural life through hiring out to farmers when not in school. As the outlook did not ap- peal to him as being especially attractive lie de- termined to learn a trade, and at the age of fourteen he apprenticed himself to a blacksmith for two years, and thereafter followed his trade in the east for four years. The fact that he had a half-sister living in Illinois was a strong incentive in bringing him to that then western state in 1845. There he had no difficulty in find- ing work as a blacksmith, but he had followed it only a short time when the call for volunteers for service in the Mexican war found him en- listing in the United States army. After the ex- piration of his term of enlistment, during which time he had taken part in the battle of Buena Vista under General Taylor, February 22 and 23, 1847, he returned to Illinois and opened a blacksmith shop of his own, an undertaking which he followed with eminent success for six years.
The reports of larger opportunities west of the mountains induced Mr. Koch to give up the business which he had established and followed so successfully and in 1853 he came across the
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plains with an ox-team and a drove of cattle. Tuolumne county was then attracting many min- ers on account of the rich diggings there and thither Mr. Koch drove his cattle, selling them to good advantage. With the proceeds of the sale he established a blacksmith shop in the vicinity and carried it on until 1856, when he disposed of it in order to return to the east, where his wife and family were still located. Leaving San Francisco he made the voyage by water, landing in New York City after an uneventful passage. From New York he went to Philadelphia, Har- risburg and Union county, thus visiting the scene of his boyhood days, and finally joined his family in Illinois, where they had made their home during his absence in the west. Disposing of his property in Illinois he made further prepara- tions for coming to the west by purchasing a band of cattle and mules, which he drove across the plains as he had done on his first trip to the state several years previously. This time also he went direct to Tuolumne county, but he re- mained there only long enough to dispose of his stock, when he came to San Joaquin county and located on the ranch which he now owns and oc- cupies, adjacent to Ripon and not too far from Stockton to be deprived of the advantages of a large business center. Here he originally pur- chased three hundred and sixty-three acres in 1858, and the same year added two hundred acres of adjoining land, which aggregates nearly six hundred acres of as fine land as can be found in the county. He notes with pride the marvel- ous improvements of passing years, no little of which is due to his own enterprising efforts.
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