San Joaquin County
Biographies
JAMES L. CARROLL.
Four years ago James L. Carroll came to Lodi from Stockton, purchased the veterinary hospital and stable on the corner of Cherokee and Lockeford roads, and constructed stock yards, known as Carroll's Live Stock Yards, where he has developed a live-stock business that covers the central part of California. A native son, he was born in Oakland on August 22, 1883, a son of James Henry and Johanna (Connell) Carroll, natives of New York and County Cork, Ireland, respectively. James Henry Carroll came to California in an early day and successfully engaged in the theatrical and advertising business.
James L. Carroll received his education at the McNally school in Oakland, and at the age of fourteen started to fight his own battles with the work-aday world. He learned the tent and awning maker's trade under Ames & Harris of San Francisco, and worked for them many years, until he established his own business in Stockton, where he maintained two places of business, one on Main Street and the other on Market Street. He continued in this line of work until 1918, when he sold his business, removed to Lodi, and began dealing in live stock, which is proving a profitable venture. He deals in horses, mules and cattle, which he also ships. He also has a number of work horses and mules which he rents to farmers for the grape industry. The community sales are held at his barns, where stock, implements, etc., are sold at auction. He has the largest barns for livestock in the county.
The marriage of Mr. Carroll occurred in Modesto on December 14, 1920. and united him with Miss Grace Ross, a native of Toledo, Ore., and a daughter of J. H. Ross, who was sheriff of Lincoln County, Ore., for many years. Her father is deceased, but her mother still lives in Oregon. Fraternally, Mr. Carroll is a charter member of Stockton Lodge, L. O. O. M., and is also a life member of the Stockton Aerie, No. 8, Eagles. While in Stockton he was deputy coroner under Frank Warren for one term.
History of San Joaquin County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1923
p 1111
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.
MRS. CLARA A. BARTON.
An admirable example of California womanhood, and a worthy representative of a San Joaquin County pioneer family long influential in the communities in which they lived, is Mrs. Clara A. Barton. who has long been successfully interested in viticulture in San Joaquin County and is now the owner of a fine twenty-acre vineyard two miles southeast of Acampo, devoted to Tokay and Zinfandel grapes. Born in San Joaquin County, not a great distance from her present home, she is a daughter of William D. and Mary A. (Fuqua) Smithson. Her father, William D. Smithson, was born in Kentucky, and later was a pioneer in Illinois. While still a young man, he came to California and spent the first seven years of his residence in the mines of Placerville and Diamond Springs; and in 1860 he settled in San Joaquin County. On February 25, 1862, on the old J. K. Moore place northeast of Acampo, he was married to Miss Mary A. Fuqua, born in Ralls County, Mo. Mr. and Mrs. Smithson were the parents of seven children, as follows: William Alfred, who died in infancy; Nathan Hayden, a rancher near Smithson Station; Clara A , of this sketch; Minnie J., now Mrs. Curtis, of Stockton; Lucy Lee, who passed away in 1895; John Clay; with the Holt Manufacturing Company at Stockton; and Melvin B., on the home place. Mr. Smithson passed away at the age of sixty-six, and the mother died in April, 1920, at the age of seventy-four.
As a girl, Clara A. Smithson attended the Telegraph district school, and made her home with her parents until her marriage to Samuel Barton, in Stockton, on October 27, 1891. Mr. Barton was born in the County of Perth. Ontario, Canada, on September 6, 1860, of Scotch-Irish parents, and received his education in St. Katherine's College in his native country. Previous to his removal to California in 1884, he taught school in Canada. Settling in San Joaquin County, he rented a ranch near Acampo and farmed to grain for a number of years. Later he purchased forty acres on the Cherokee road, two miles southeast of Acampo, and immediately set about to improve it. Twenty acres were set to vineyard and a number of acres were devoted to alfalfa; and a comfortable ranch house and other farm buildings were erected. Mr. Barton passed away on March 3, 1904. They were the parents of two children, of whom one died in infancy. The other, Ila Ruth, was married to David F. Graffigna and had one daughter, Lucile Ruth. Mrs. Graffigna passed away on January 6, 1919, and her daughter, Lucile Ruth, makes her home with her grandmother, Mrs. Barton. Mrs. Barton takes an active interest in all that concerns the welfare of the community. A firm believer in the future greatness of San Joaquin County, she has herself done her full share toward its development. She has lived a useful and self-sacrificing life, and her influence has ever been on the side of good.
History of San Joaquin County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1923
p 1111
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.
W. O. BARNHART.
A practical orchardist and poultryman of San Joaquin County, who has been a resident of California since 1873, is W. O. Barnhart, residing on his five-acre orchard home on Walnut Avenue, three-quarters of a mile west of Lodi. He was born at Williamsport, Pa., July 22, 1860. His parents were George W. and Sabina C. (Oriville) Barnhart, farmers in Pennsylvania, who moved to Rochelle, Ill., and there resided until he was eight years old. Then the family removed to Marshalltown, Iowa, and bought a quarter-section of land, which they farmed. W. O. Barnhart is the youngest of a family of four children, the others being Thomas M., who lives at Lodi; Sarah E., Mrs. Keefer, of Lodi; and Lizza Ann, Mrs. Evans, of Oakland. In 1873 the family left their Iowa home for California, and settled in Sacramento County on a grant of land northeast of the capital city; and there the son spent the days of his boyhood and youth and acquired his education in the public schools.
When Mr. Barnhart started to make his own way in the world, he found employment with the Southern Pacific Company at Sacramento, and later with the same company at the Oakland Mole, which engaged his attention for four years. In 1884 he went to Sprecklesville, Maui, Hawaiian Islands, and worked as an engineer in the sugar plantation mills, remaining there for four years. Then he went to Honolulu and became a locomotive engineer on the O. R. & L. Railroad for another four years. From 1893 to 1900 he served in the Honolulu fire department. In 1900 he formed an express company, known as the Peoples Express Company, and became manager of the company; and in 1905 organized the Barnhart Ice Company, and headed this company, the two companies commanding his full attention until 1919, when he returned to California and settled near Lodi.
While residing in Honolulu, Mr. Barnhart was married, on October 29, 1892, to Miss Florence May Giles, a native of Fonthill, Canada, and a daughter of Harold and Elizabeth Giles, who settled in Honolulu when their daughter Florence May was one year old. Her father was a furniture merchant at Wailuhu, Maui, and there were five children in the family, as follows: Florence May, Mrs. Barnhart; and Henry E., Mary E., Harold, and Arthur. Both her parents are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Barnhart are the parents of two sons: George H. W., consulting engineer for the American factories in Honolulu; and Oriville Arthur, a senior in the Lodi high school. Mr. Barnhart was a charter member of the Aloha Lodge, Knights of Pythias, which he joined in 1888 and in which he holds an honorary degree. He was also an active member of the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce, and the Oahu Country Club, and the "Ad Club" of Honolulu. When the family located in Lodi, Mr. Barnhart purchased a twenty-two acre tract in the Victor section of San Joaquin County, just north of the Mokelumne River bridge, but in a short time traded it for his present five-acre orchard of walnuts, plums, cherries, and peaches, with a cover crop of alfalfa between the trees. Mr. Barnhart is quite extensively engaged as a poultryman, having in the neighborhood of 600 chickens, and is planning to enlarge his plant until he has 2,000. He enjoys the confidence of the business community, and is public-spirited in all matters pertaining to community growth.
History of San Joaquin County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1923
p 1112
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.