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 17
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Mr. Koch's marriage occurred in 1846, in Illinois, and united him with Miss Elizabeth Gott, who though a native of Indiana was reared and educated in Illinois. Five children were born to them, three daughters and two sons, all of whom have attained years of maturity and are settled in homes of their own. John E. Koch is in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad in San Francisco, where with his wife and eight children he makes his home; Alice, the wife of Irwin Wright, is also a resident of
San Francisco and the mother of four children; Ada became the wife of James Messinger of Bakersfield, who is superintendent of the large cattle interests of Miller & Lux; Lottie is the widow of Henry B. Knight and the mother of two children; Jacob Roswell, the youngest child, is cashier of the San Joaquin Valley Bank of Stockton; he is married and the father of four children. Among the people of the county where for many years Mr. Koch has made his home he enjoys a reputation for honor, resourcefulness as a rancher, trustworthiness as a friend and progressiveness as a citizen. For a number of years he served as school trustee in his dis- trict.
JACOB R. KOCH.
The assistant cashier of the San Joaquin Val- ley Bank at Stockton is a member of a pioneer family of California and traces his lineage to Germany through his paternal ancestry and to Scotland through his maternal progenitors, rep- resentatives on both sides having immigrated to the New World during the colonial era of our civilization. His parents were Isaac and Eliza- beth (Gott) Koch, the father a native of Pennsyl- vania, and the mother a native of Indiana. (For full details of the parental history refer to the sketch of Isaac Koch, which precedes this.)
The old homestead near Ripon was the birth- place of Jacob R. Koch, who was born Septem- ber 3, 1867, being the youngest son of his parents. For a time he was sent to the country schools, and then took a commercial course in the Stock- ton Business College. Upon leaving college he was employed by G. Hart, a grain merchant. Two years later he resigned that position and then clerked for one year with J. D. Peters, after which he was connected with the Stockton Milling Company as superintendent for a num- ber of years. During that time he served for two terms as a member of the city council, repre-
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senting the fourth ward, and in that position gave his influence and support to movements for the permanent benefit of his home town. During 1893 he resigned as superintendent of the mill in order to accept a position as assist- ant cashier of the San Joaquin Valley Bank, with which he has been identified ever since.
The comfortable home of Mr. Koch at No. 145 West Flora street is presided over by his hospitable wife, whom he married November 28, 1888, and who prior to that event was Miss Mary Joyce. Her parents, Alfred and Marga- ret Joyce, were pioneers of 1862 in San Joaquin county, and here she was born, reared and edu- cated. The children of the marriage are as follows: Joyce R., (a clerk with the Stockton Milling Company), Alzoe, Gladys and Robert Baldwin. Mr. Koch acts as a director of the South San Joaquin Chamber of Commerce and is deeply interested in all movements for the development of the city and county. Promi- nent among his activities may be mentioned his association with the securing of the right of way for the San Joaquin Valley Electric Railway through the southern part of San Joaquin coun- ty, from Stockton to Modesto. The new road will cover about thirty-three miles and will pass through some of the richest lands in the state. Besides the interests mentioned Mr. Koch has become a vineyardist and with R. B. Teefy he has bought one hundred and sixty acres, one-half of which is being planted to grapes of the varie- ties particularly adapted to this soil and climate.
EDWARD DUANE ELDRIDGE.
The fact that Mr. Eldridge became a resi- dent of Stockton as early in its history as 1855 gives him a rightful claim to the title of pioneer. During all the years that have come and gone he has not been an idle witness of the transforma- tion that has taken place, but on the other hand
has been one of the most active factors in bringing about the present flourishing conditions. As are so many of Stockton's residents, he is a native of the east, his birth having occurred in Sharon, Schoharie county, N. Y., August 6, 1830, on the paternal farm. Rural life, however, did not ap- peal to him and he determined to fit himself for a calling more in accord with his tastes. Acting upon this idea he went to Cortland county, N. Y., and apprenticed himself to learn the printer's trade under Seth Haight, a well-known pioneer of that section of the Empire state, and the pub- lisher of the Cortland Democrat for many years. Having mastered his trade Mr. Eldridge followed it for a number of years in the cast, when he awakened to the idea that the west held forth larger opportunities for a young man and he at once made arrangements to come to California via the water route. From New York City he set sail on the steamer Sierra Nevada bound for Aspin- wall, and reached the Isthmus without serious difficulty ; a number of the party were fortunate in having mules with which to make the journey across the Isthmus, but the others were obliged to make the entire distance on foot; they en- countered a number of cases of cholera while making the trip across the Isthmus, but all were fortunate in escaping contagion. Having reached Panama the party set sail on the steamer Uni- corn with San Francisco as their destination, and all went well with them until within a few miles of port, when, their fuel giving out, they were obliged to burn pork to complete the journey.
After reaching San Francisco Mr. Eldridge proceeded to the mines, but the hardships of this life soon began to tell on his health and he was compelled to give it up. Returning to San Francisco he remained there a short time then went to San Jose and became associated with Emerson & George in the publication of the Santa Clara Register; he had been in the office only a few days when a man came in to have fifty in- vitations printed ; after asking the price and be- ing told it would be $50 he threw out a gold slug and walked out entirely satisfied. This work would have been done in New York for about
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seventy-five cents. His health again becoming impaired, Mr. Eldridge decided to return to New York, making the voyage to that eastern me- tropolis via Panama ; soon tiring of the east, how- ever, we again find him in San Francisco in 1855, and the same year he came to Stockton, which since that time has been his home. In partner- ship with his brother Samuel he established a produce business which was carried on for many years to their mutual profit and pleasure, and after the retirement of Samuel, who is now a resident of Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo county, Mr. Eldridge carried on the business alone for some time. During the war the brothers were associated in the conduct of a brokerage business, with offices in the Eldridge building, making a specialty of buying gold, silver and greenbacks. In 1895 Mr. Eldridge retired from active business and has since devoted his time almost entirely to the care and management of his real estate, which has accumulated from year to year as his means permitted. Among the buildings which he has erected are the Eldridge building, the Alta house, the Cortland house, and the Eldridge and Buck building.
Much credit is due Mr. Eldridge for the part he bore in effecting improvements to the city dur- ing the early days. It was largely due to his efforts that the city is able to boast its fine pave- ment on Main and other prominent streets. After trying several processes of paving he finally suc- ceeded in having the city authorities carry out his idea of using the bay salt blocks, which have proved the most durable and economical of any roads in the city. Although Mr. Eldridge is keenly interested in the welfare of his home city, he has never cared for public office, and politically is not bound to either of the great parties, casting his vote for the man best fitted for the office in question, irrespective of party name. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to San Joaquin Lodge No. 19, and also to Stockton Lodge No. II, I. O. O. F.
Mr. Eldridge was married in Ithaca, N. Y., and is the father of three children, viz., Edward E., of Stockton; Mrs. Ella Louise Cruse, of San
Francisco; and Charles A., also of the latter city. Since coming to California for the first time in 1852 Mr. Eldridge has made three trips to New York City, but each time he has experienced a satisfaction in returning to his adopted home on the Pacific coast. His first business in Stock- ton was carried on in the levee district in a canvas tent built for the purpose. This later boasted a wooden roof and was unique in that it was the first building of its kind in this vicinity. It was built without the permission of the city council, but was later approved by that body.
Mr. Eldridge has just had a book published en- titled "A Voyage in the Motive Ship Pelican to the North Pole," Captain Solomon, commander. This book was written by him about twenty years ago and is based on sound fiction. This is one of the most exciting and thrilling narratives ever written on the subject and shows the advanced ideas he had at that time on navigation of the air that is being developed today, and also sets forth the idea that the motive power of these various crafts will be generated in transit. He has the book for sale and it is well worth the price asked for it.
WILLIAM H. GROVES.
One of the pioneer settlers in Stockton is Will- iam H. Groves, who has not only witnessed the marvelous changes that have taken place in the past half century, but has himself been a factor in bringing them about, and is now living re- tired' from business cares and responsibilities at the family homestead, No. 1122 Monroe street, Stockton. A native of Massachusetts, he was born in New Bedford, Bristol county, No- vember 7, 1833, the son of Philip and Susan Deane (McFarlan) Groves, the latter also being natives of New England. When he was a child of nine years William H. Groves was sent to a
G. W. Haines
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boarding school conducted by Quakers, and at the age of seventeen he had completed the course in the East Greenwich (R. I.) College. At school he was especially proficient in mathe- matics, drawing and music, performing on sev- eral instruments, including the guitar and banjo. While he was in college (1849) the father went to California in search of a fortune in the mines, and soon afterward was followed by his wife and children, with the exception of the son Will- iam. It was the expectation that he also would follow as soon as he graduated from college, but instead he joined the first minstrel company that ever performed in the New England and middle states, including as members, Campbell, who afterwards became a noted opera singer under the name of Campobello; Briggs, who had his own company; and Ben Cotton and Billy Rice; with the two last mentioned he always kept up an acquaintance.
The father did not approve of his son's choice of a profession and therefore sent for him to join the family in California, and accordingly he made the voyage by way of the Isthmus in 1852. From San Francisco he came direct to Stockton and embarked in the lumber business, which proved a very renumerative venture, but as he did not like the climate he gave it up and re- turned east. Going to Fall River, Mass., he be- came interested in the shoe business with an uncle.
While in the east at this time Mr. Groves met the lady who was to become his wife, and Feb- ruary 7, 1854, they were united in marriage. Two years later Mr. Groves set out for Califor- nia, coming to Stockton, where he became asso- ciated in business with his father, his wife join- ing him later. Before her marriage Mrs. Groves was Henrietta Crighton, the descendant of a his- torical family in Scotland, and the daughter of Robert Crighton, member of the firm of Cluny & Crighton. Many generations of the family had lived and died in the Land of the Heather, but after the removal of the great-grandfather to Manchester, England, his estate in Scotland was confiscated by the government. Mrs.
Groves was born in Manchester, England, and can trace her descent from the ill-fated Queen, Mary of Scots. Her ancestors on the paternai side are silk and iron manufacturers in Manches- ter and Birmingham. On the maternal side she is a Canavan, and through her great-grandfather descended from the House of Dudley. Her great-uncle, William Henshaw, built the asylum for the deaf, dumb and blind on his estate just out of Manchester. Mrs. Groves is also con- nected with the House of Navarre of France.
Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Groves, three sons and two daughters, namely : Oscar B., member of the firm of Perryman & Groves, of Stockton; William F. C., with the First National Bank of Stockton; Robert H., a rancher at Manteca; Emma, wife of Louis Barney; and Gertrude, a school teacher of Stockton. Personally Mr. Groves is quiet and reserved, having few interests outside of lis family and a few friends. After losing the mon- ey which he invested in his father's business lie accepted a position as bookkeeper with the firm of Owens & Moore, and still later was employed in the treasurer's office. For sixteen years thereafter he was collector for the First National Bank of Stockton, but on account of failing health he was obliged to give up active duties and for the past four years lias lived retired.
GEORGE W. HAINES.
One of the most enterprising citizens of Stockton is George W. Haines, vice-president of the Houser-Haines Manufacturing Company. manufacturers of harvesters and other farming machinery. Mr. Haines is a native of the middle west, and was born in Medina county, Ohio. September 16, 1838. He was a child of about eleven years when his parents, Henry and Re-
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becca (Erwin) Haines, left their Ohio farm and located in Illinois, making their home in that state for five years. Their next move took them to the adjoining state of Iowa, and from there they set out to cross the plains to the Pacific coast in 1861. Behind slow-plodding oxen their journey was destined to be a long one, and on the way Indians on several occasions threatened to make trouble for them. They passed a num- ber of abandoned wagons, showing that the In- dians had succeeded in attacking some of their predecessors on the road, but they were fortunate in reaching Stockton without any serious mishap. They reached Stockton, October 15, 1861, and after resting a while from their long journey went in search of a suitable location to settle on a ranch. This they found about fourteen miles south of this city, where the father bought a ranch upon which the family lived for many years. It was here that the earth life of the wife and mother came to a close in 1880, and in the year 1883 the family moved to Stockton. The father survived until February, 1899. Be- sides George W., two children survived their parents, Mrs. Fianna Bitzer and Miss Nancy Haines, both of whom are residents of Wood- land, this state.
George W. Haines continued to make his home upon the old homestead until 1883, when he re- moved to Stockton and has since made this city his home continuously. In 1880, when Daniel Houser established the Houser Harvester Works, Mr. Haines assisted him in organizing the plant, and in 1889 he became associated with him in the business under the name of the Houser-Haines Manufacturing Company. Both men are ex- perts in the manufacture of machinery, and being excellent business men as well, they have built up one of the largest industries of the kind in this part of the country. Mr. Haines is vice-presi- dent and active manager of the business and is widely known among business men generally, and especially among manufacturers of similar commodities.
Mr. Haines formed domestic ties by his mar- riage, January 1, 1890, with Mrs. Laura (Love-
lace) Brooks, a native of California and the daughter of John Lovelace, a pioneer in both San Joaquin and Tuolumne counties. Besides Mrs. Haines, Mr. Lovelace has one other daugh- ter, Mrs. Hussey, of San Diego. By her first marriage Mrs. Haines had two sons, John and Eugene, both of whom make their home with Mr. and Mrs. Haines, at the family residence, No. 345 South Pilgrim street, Stockton.
ADOLPHE F. NAHER.
Although not one of the pioneers of Stockton, Mr. Naher was successfully engaged in busi- ness in this city for some years and at the time of his death, which occurred October 26, 1907, he not only had achieved a satisfactory degree of financial success, but in addition he had won a large number of warm personal friends, who had been attracted to him by his kindly disposition and generous traits of character. Of eastern birth, he was born in New York in 1854, but at a very early age he was taken to the northwest, his parents settling in St. Paul, Minn., where he attended the grammar and high schools, receiv- ing a fair education. After leaving school he began to earn his own way in the world and his later success was achieved by his unaided exert- ions. At first he secured a clerkship in a gen- eral store and afterward he turned his hand to anything that offered an honest livelihood. Meanwhile he was gaining experience important to him in subsequent activities.
Removing from St. Paul to the state of Wash- ington, Mr. Naher settled at Seattle, where he engaged in business in the employ of others for a considerable period, but later became interested as a partner in the well-known firm of Swabacher Brothers, wholesale and retail hardware mer- chants, and in this connection he remained until
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he disposed of his interests during 1889. Three years later he became a citizen of Stockton, where he engaged in the wholesale liquor business until his death. By judicious investments he accum- ulated a fortune and thus at his death left a val- uable estate to his widow. Fraternally he was a prominent Mason, belonging to the blue lodge and chapter. Some years after coming to Stock- ton he purchased the residence and grounds formerly owned by Lee Phillips, at No. 205 East Magnolia street, and here, surrounded by every comfort, his last days were happily passed. This is now the home of his widow, whom he married in 1901, and who was Mrs. Mary L. (Woods) Allen, daughter of John Newton Woods, and a sister of Mrs. George E. Wilhoit, of Stockton.
BENJAMIN SCARLES.
Inventive genius of a pronounced degree has ever been a characteristic of this well known resident of Stockton, to whose pre-eminent talent may be traced many of the labor-saving devices and useful inventions now in use in all parts of the world. The ancestry of the Scarles family is directly traceable to a long line of English antecedents, and Benjamin Scarles was himself a native of the Mother Country, his birth occur- ring in Norwich, county of Norfolk, in January, 1843. He is a lineal descendant of Lord Chief Justice Richardson, whose remains lie buried in Westminster Abbey. The first fifteen years of Mr. Scarles' life were associated with his birth- place, where, even at this early age, he had be- gun to show marked evidence of his unusual ability. At that time wire fencing was manu- factured by hand in Norwich to supply a mer- chant in London. Believing that this laborious method could not only be shortened but cheapened as well, this boy inventor set his brain at work
to devise a machine whereby this could be done. With drawings of his machine he went to Lon- don and laid his plan before the firm who up to this time had purchased the hand-made fencing before mentioned. The plan met with favor and after purchasing the invention the firm of J. B. Brown & Co., of Cannon street, London, began the wholesale manufacture of wire fencing by machinery, and it was from this plant that the first shipment of wire fencing that ever came to America was sent. This was displayed in the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, and was the only exhibit of the kind there. Though only sixteen years of age, Benjamin Scarles was made manager of the plant of J. B. Brown & Co., and remained with them in this capacity for three years. Going to Birmingham, England, at this time, he there introduced his method of manufacturing wire fencing, which up to this time had all been done by hand.
It is, however, in the line of electricity that Mr. Scarles' greatest researches and inventions have been made, and as early as 1860 he had made the first subdivided armature for the gener- ation of electricity. He exhibited this before the electrical engineers of Birmingham, England. and from that time his fame spread throughout the electrical world in England, which included such names as Sir Charles Wheatstone, the in- ventor of the electric telegraph, and Hon. Fred- erick Braby, president of the British National Telegraph Company. From Birmingham he again went to London and turned his attention once more to improvements on his fence patent, and also to perfecting a number of medical appli- ances which he had under way. So confident was he that his inventions along this latter line would be a boon to suffering humanity that as early as 1865 he could be seen in the public mar- ket place in Lincoln treating disease by electricity. and from that year until 1878 he gave the greater part of his efforts to inventions bearing on this idea. He helped to wind the first armature for the Gramme dynamo, which was the first in London and was the beginning of all the dynamos of this date. He was also identified with the in-
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vention for the distribution of electricity for in- candescent lighting.
It has been stated that Mr. Scarles was a de- scendant of Lord Chief Justice Richardson, from whom also descended Sir Benjamin Ward Rich- ardson, who gained fame as the discoverer of ozone, and as the inventor of innumerable me- chanical devices. It was Mr. Scarles' good for- tune to be intimately associated with this relative for a number of years, especially from 1878 until 1882, during which time they went about with physicians and performed many wonderful cures by means of their electrical apparatus. In the year last mentioned Mr. Scarles was induced by capitalists and prominent manufacturers of Massachusetts to come to the United States and interest himself in their business, among these being the Clinton Wire Cloth Company, of Clin- ton, Mass. He practically revolutionized their plant, not only inventing a machine which sim- plified the manufacture, but also inventing a proc- ess for silver-finishing the wire. To
his inventive mind is also due credit for the wire lathing which is used at the present time, and he also designed and built the machines for the manufacture of wire used in the re-inforced con- crete buildings of today. He remained in the employ of the Clinton Wire Cloth Company until 1890, in which year he went to Australia for the purpose of devising a means for destroying the rabbit plague. His idea was to employ fencing to capture the rodents, and in order to supply the commodity it was necessary to establish a plant for its manufacture. This was the first industry of the kind in the country, as was also the gal- vanizing plant which he installed in this connec- tion. It was his plan, after placing the fences around the localities most infested, to charge the wire with electricity, but in order to produce the necessary voltage so much expense was involved (owing to the scarcity of fuel) that the method was finally given up as impracticable. Here the government stepped in and after dividing up the land and fencing it, made it possible for each owner to capture and rid his own land of the pests. About this time ambitious Americans es-
tablished a plant for canning the meat of the rabbit, and this today is one of the largest in- dustries on the island.
After eleven months spent in Australia Mr. Scarles returned to the United States and con- tinued his experiments for the different steel corporations who had employed him from time to time in the development of their specialties, both in electrical and mechanical lines. Through Mr. Halliday, of the Bay State Wire Works, he was induced to come to California in 1894 and interest himself in the California Wire Cloth Company of San Francisco, in which he also had an interest. Mr. Scarles was made vice-presi- dent of the company, filling it acceptably until his removal to Stockton, which occurred in 1897. Here he established a factory and installed special machinery for the manufacture of the Ideal wire fence, but after continuing it successfully with the assistance of his two sons the steel corpora- tion stopped the supply of the raw material and absorbed the plant into the Pacific steel corpora- tion. One of the sons, however, was retained as manager of the plant and is still filling this posi- tion. Since disposing of the plant Mr. Scarles has continued the development of electrical ap- pliances, and he has also found a secret process for smelting ore by electricity. It is conceded by all interested in agriculture that his coming to California has been a most valuable boon to the country in the solution of the fence question. By the establishment of his manufactory he made it possible to supply the ranchers with a woven wire fence at a nominal cost as compared with the prices asked for the same thing shipped in from the east, the enormous freight charges mak- ing it a prohibitive luxury. Gradually he is re- linquishing his efforts along some lines and giv- ing his attention more especially to the cure of diseases by electricity, for he firmly believes that there is no malady known to mankind that it can- not reach and cure. He is licensed by the state medical board of Examiners of California to practice as an electric doctor.
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