San Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM MONTGOMERY BAGGS
WILLIAM MONTGOMERY BAGGS,
deceased. The subject of this sketch was born on the eastern shore of Maryland,
May 30, 1824, a son of William P. and Mary (Nicols) Baggs. Both parents died
comparatively young, the father November 18, 1834, and the mother July 22,
1842, in the forty-third year of her age. They had nine sons and one daughter,
of whom the only survivor is Nicholas Baggs, born June 6, 1835, now a resident
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The subject of this sketch was possessed
of a good general and business education, largely supplied by his personal
industry in that line, as he became engaged while yet a mere youth in dutifully
aiding his widowed mother in the care of her large family. He worked on the
farm for several years and afterward learned the trade of cabinet-maker.
Wm. M. Baggs was married in Philadelphia,
December 7, 1848, to Miss Anna Nairn Malseed, a native of that city, born in
1829, a daughter of John and Mary (McDonald) Malseed. The father, born in Ireland,
became a shoe and leather merchant in Philadelphia and lived to the age of
seventy-five. The mother, a native of the State of New York, of Scotch
parentage, died in 1868, aged also seventy-five. Grandfather John McDonald
reached middle age, and his wife, by birth Anna Nairn, was over seventy at her
death.
After his marriage Mr. Baggs went to work
at his trade, being employed by a manufacturer of Philadelphia in making piano
frames. In the spring of 1849 he opened a shop on account but set out for
California the following year, leaving New York in April, by the steamer
Republic, and arriving in San Francisco August 28, 1850, having come around the
Horn or rather through the Straits of Magellan. He came to Stockton and engaged
in the business of contractor and builder. In 1852 he went into the lumber
business on the levee. In that year he was rejoiced by the arrival in Stockton
of Mrs. Baggs and their oldest child, John, born in Philadelphia, March 19,
1850, who died in Stockton in January, 1866. Mr. Baggs continued in the lumber
trade several years and was afterward in the saddlery business about three
years. He then went to Oregon and was there engaged in merchandising two years,
when he returned to Stockton and re-entered the lumber trade. In 1873 he built
a warehouse and embarked in the grain and storage business. This he carried on
until 1884, when he was compelled through ill health to retire from active
business. An operation of lithotomy in 1887 gave him a relief that was only
temporary, and he died some two years later, on October 17, 1889, universally respected
in the community, sincerely regretted by those who knew him best and deeply
mourned by his wife and surviving children. He has been a member of the First
Presbyterian church of Stockton for twenty years and an Elder of the same for
about ten years.
Mr. and Mrs. Baggs have had six sons and
two daughters, of whom all but the oldest, already referred to, were born in
this city. Of these, five grew to maturity: (1) Montgomery, born January 22,
1854, married to Miss Hattie Electra, a daughter of Dr. Asa Clark of this city
(see sketch of Dr. Clark). They are residents of San Francisco and have one
child, Geraldine, born October 13, 1882. (2) James King, born January 18, 1857,
passed through the public schools of Stockton, including the high school. He afterward
studied law for two years in the office of Judge Patterson, then of this city,
and then entered the Albany Law School, at which he was graduated with honor
and admitted to the bar. He had been an ambitious student, and overtaxing his
physical powers in his zeal for learning he died November 28, 1882. (3) Walter
Thompson, born March 4, 1858, was graduated at the Stockton high school,
studied law for two years in the office of W. L. Dudley, entered the law
department of Yale College in 1881, was graduated at that institution in 1883,
and admitted to the bar of this State, and in 1884 was elected City Justice for
two years, commencing January 1, 1885, and re-elected for a second term ending
December 31, 1888. He died, like his brother, from over-work, in May, 1889. (4)
Harry Nicols, born January 20, 1860, was educated in the public schools and
became a book-keeper for a firm in this city before he was nineteen. He
afterward worked for his father in the grain and storage business until its
close in 1884. He was married in August, 1885, to Miss Josephine Castle, a
native of this State, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Castle, a rancher of
this county. He then went to El Paso, Texas, to fill the position of foreman on
the ranch of his uncle George W. Baggs. He returned to this State in 1887, to
become manager of several grain warehouses in Tulare, where he is still
employed. (5) Mary, born March 5, 1863, was married July 22, 1888, to William
Duncan Buckley, born in San Jose April 14, 1859, a son of John and Mary
(Williams) Buckley. (6) Maggie Bell, born May 4, 1865, died February 10, 1869.
The father died in San Jose, in 1885, aged about sixty-seven years. The mother,
born about 1822, is living. Mr. W. D. Buckley came to Stockton in 1882, and in
1884 bought an interest in the business of L. M. Woods & Co. In 1885 he
bought out his partner and continued the business alone until 1888, when he
took a partner, under the style of Buckley & Walker.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 445-446. Lewis Pub.
Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
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