Jesse
Walton Wooldridge, who has been connected with the bond department of the California National Bank of Sacramento since
1921, is an author of much more than local renown, a recognized authority on California
history and a public speaker of marked oratorical power. He was born in
Hopkinsville, Kentucky, May 28, 1885, his parents being Jesse W. and Catherine
(Nelson) Wooldridge, the former also a native of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, while
the latter was born in Boonville, Missouri. He comes of English Ancestry in the
paternal line and of English-Scotch descent on the maternal side.
Excellent
educational advantages were afforded Jesse W. Wooldridge in his youth. He
attended the Polytechnic College of Fort Worth, Texas, the Kemper Military
Academy of Boonville, Missouri, and the University of Missouri, being graduated
from the last named institution with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Civil
Engineer in 1905. Thereafter he entered the United States Army and he was made
a major of the Thirty-eighth United States Infantry. During his service in the
World War he was wounded eight times, seven times by gun-shot and once by
bayonet. He has received five decorations from three governments: Distinguished
Service Cross (U.S.A.), Distinguished Service Medal (U.S.A.), Croche al Merito de
Guerro (War Cross for Merit) (Italy), Officer of the Legion of Honor (France),
and Croix de Guerra with Palm (France). Prior to identifying himself with the
California National Bank of Sacramento in 1921, Major Wooldridge owned and
conducted The Bank of Maricopa in this state, and his comprehensive experience
in affairs of finance has proved a valuable asset to the former institution.
Fraternally
Major Wooldridge is affiliated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks in
Berkeley and also with various Masonic bodies, in the interests of which he has
appeared on public platforms throughout the Sacramento River Valley. He is a
member of Berkeley Lodge, F. & A. M.;
Berkeley Chapter, R. A. M.; Berkeley Commandery, K.T.; and Islam Temple, A. A.
O. N. M. S., of San Francisco. His name is also on the membership rolls of the
Disabled American Veterans of the World War, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the
American Legion, the Army & Navy Legion of Valor of the United States of
America, the Union League Club of San Francisco, the Sutter Club of Sacramento
and the Del Paso County Club of Sacramento. In the field of literature he has
won merited recognition as the author of the following works: “Few of Us Can
Drive It Over the Fence,” “Mormonism---Past, Present and Future,” “Baser
Metals,” “La Roche de la Marne” and “The Giants of the Marne.”
Source: History of the
Sacramento Valley California Vol. III J. W. WOOLDRIDGE 1931. Page 305-306.
© 2004 Marla
Fitzsimmons.