San
Joaquin County
Biographies
DAN W. BIRD
An enthusiastic advocate of the
superior possibilities of Lodi and San Joaquin County, and a man whose opinions
carry weight in development circles is Dan W. Bird of Lodi. He was born in Whitley County, Kentucky,
January 21, 1855, and when he was fifteen his parents moved to Greene County,
Missouri, where the father engaged in farming and where Dan W. lived until he
was eighteen. He received an education
sufficient to enable him to obtain a certificate to teach and for ten years he
followed pedagogical pursuits in the schools of Missouri. During his residence in that state he was a
county school commissioner in Dade County; later he turned his attention to commercial
pursuits and became a traveling salesman for a hardware concern, finally
engaging in that business at Lockwood for fifteen years. His next venture was in the dry goods
business at Greenfield, the county seat of Dade County. Three years later he came west and in 1901
located in Aberdeen, Washington, remaining one year, then spent 1902 in
Portland, Oregon, and the following year came to California and located at
Lodi, where he found very satisfactory business connections as a bookkeeper and
salesman for the Northern Hardware Company.
In 1904 Mr. Bird became associated
with John Bewley in the real estate business and
later engaged in the real estate, loan and insurance business independently
under the firm name of Dan W. Bird & Company and with the passing of the
years he has been very successful. He
has been a witness of many changes in this section of the county; vineyards
that sold in 1903 for $300 per acre now easily bring $2,000 per acre; grain
land sold from $100 to $150 per acre.
When he landed here Lodi had no depot, no paved streets, nor cement
walks; now there are twenty miles of walks and sixteen miles of macadamized
streets within the corporate limits.
Well satisfied with the general
conditions in Lodi, Mr. Bird erected a modern and costly home in the city and
is content to spend his remaining years in the valley he has helped to
develop. Fraternally he is a Mason,
holding his membership at Lockwood, Missouri.
Active, progressive and successful, Mr. Bird has been a most energetic
worker in the county and brought to bear in all his dealings those principles
of honesty and integrity that are the real fundamentals of success.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
751. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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