Contra
Costa County
Biographies
JOHN
EDWARD BOUQUET
For the past ten years John Edward
Bouquet has been an important figure in the political world of San Pablo,
having all that time served as constable and deputy clerk, and from 1899 until
1900 as deputy assessor. Elected constable in 1894 on the Republican ticket, he
was re-elected in 1898, and again in 1902, the latter time by an overwhelming
majority, and in the face of three opposing and popular candidates. At one time
he was notary public and postmaster of San Pablo, but owning to the pressure of
other duties resigned. In addition, he is agent for the Sunnyside tract, near
the Santa Fe Station, San Pablo, and has been identified with the purchase and
sale of lands for several years. As constable his duties have not only been
arduous but often dangerous, and he has captured some of the most desperate
criminals which have infested the region comprising San Pablo and Contra Costa county.
Mr. Bouquet is a native son of San
Pablo, and was born march 23, 1866. His parents, Frederick and Theresa (Hoppl) Bouquet, were born in Bavaria, Germany, and came to
the United States in 1852. Locating in Louisville, Ky., Frederick Bouquet plied
his trade as cabinet maker, and in 1857 came to California by way of the
Isthmus, thereafter following his trade in San Francisco. After coming to San
Pablo he engaged in wood working and blacksmithing, having a small shop here
for many years, or until he purchased the Union saloon. This he ran until his
death in 1881, at the age of fifty-one years, his wife surviving him until 1897.
John Edward is the fourth of four sons and four daughters, and his youth knew
few diversions and but scant opportunity for acquiring knowledge. At the age of
fourteen his father died, and he took his place in the saloon. In 1883 he moved
to Livermore and found employment in a brewery until 1887, when an accident
resulted in his retirement from active life for seven years. He returned to San
Pablo and entered the political arena in 1894. He was married November 17,
1896, to Miss Mae Stickles, a native of Lansing, Mich. Of this union one son,
Wendell F., was born May 16, 1898.
Mr. Bouquet is one of the most
prominent fraternalists in San Pablo, being
identified with the U. P. E. C.; the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of which
he is master workman; the A. O. E., of Richmond; the A. O. F., of which he is
treasurer; and the Native Sons of the Golden West, Parlor No. 96, of Livermore,
of which he became a member in 1883. Unlike many politicians, Mr. Bouquet has
won his advancement by the exercise of integrity and fair dealing, being far
above the methods of the political trickster and government corrupter. He has
given admirable service as constable, clerk and assessor, and in positions
requiring a decided stand on one side or the other,
has made fewer enemies than the average similarly place.
Transcribed by: Cecelia M. Setty.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 849-850. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Cecelia M. Setty.
Contra Costa County Biographies