San
Joaquin County
Biographies
DONALD M. BIGGS
One of the most notable and
successful stockmen of San Joaquin County may be found in Donald M. Biggs, who
has been for over thirty years actively connected with the sheep and cattle
industry of the Coast States, and is known throughout California, Oregon,
Washington and Nevada as one of the best posted along these lines. Being a native son of California has been no
small factor in the success of Mr. Biggs, his native city being San Francisco,
where he first saw the light of day on August 29, 1874. His parents, John H. and Mary (Bowen) Biggs,
were natives of England, were both California pioneers and both came around the
Horn in sailing vessels, landing in San Francisco in 1848, and for many years
Mr. Biggs followed mining throughout the northern part of the state; later he
became a trusted employee of the Baker & Hamilton Company of San Francisco,
and both spent the remainder of their days in that city, having been among the
first settlers in the Mission District.
This worthy pioneer couple was blessed with five children, four boys and
a girl. The sons were all engaged in the
stock and butcher business. Donald M.
was the youngest of the family. He
attended the public schools of San Francisco and while still a lad learned the
butcher business with J. G. Johnson and Son of the same city. At the youthful age of sixteen he became a
stock buyer for Eugene Aby of San Francisco; later
served in the same capacity of J. G. Johnson & Son. For a number of years he has been chief buyer
for the Union Sheep Company, owned by H. Moffatt and
Company of San Francisco, among the largest dealers in sheep and cattle in the
west; their extensive Ione Ranch situated near Ione, California, consists of
34,000 acres on which range their thousands of sheep and cattle. They ship from 10,000 to 20,000 head of sheep
months to the eastern markets. Mr. Biggs
buying operations for this large company take him from Bakersfield, on the
south, north through California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Arizona and
New Mexico, where he buys thousands of head of sheep and lambs each month,
shipping them to the San Francisco and eastern markets. In his line of work there are few equal to
Mr. Biggs, for his years of practical experience, coupled with an intelligence
surpassing that of the average citizen, have made his efforts tell so that he
is, without doubt, one of the best-posted stock buyers in the west. During the thirty years he has been actively
connected with this industry, he has covered the Coast states many times a year.
For over twenty-five years Mr. Biggs
has made his headquarters and resided in Stockton. He was one of the early members of the
Stockton Lodge No. 218, Elks. His love
for California in general and Stockton and the San Joaquin Valley in particular
has never waned through the years.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1416. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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