San
Joaquin County
Biographies
HENRY B. BUDD
One of the esteemed and helpful
citizens of Stockton is Henry B. Budd, a representative of the distinguished
family of that name. His father and
grandfather won distinction as prominent jurists in San Joaquin County; and an
uncle, Hon. James H. Budd, was governor of California. Henry B. Budd was born in Stockton,
California, on January 12, 1877, a son of John E. and Mary (Haste) Budd,
natives of Wisconsin and California, respectively. John E. Budd was born in Janesville,
Wisconsin, in 1853, being the second son of Hon. Joseph H. and Lucinda (Ash)
Budd, descendants of eastern ancestors.
John E. Budd came to California in early life and received his education
here, and was graduated from the University of California in 1874. He studied law in his father’s office, and in
1876 was admitted to the bar, and at one time was associated with his brother,
Hon. James H. Budd, ex-governor of California, in the practice of his
profession. He became well known and
influential in his practice and in politics.
Mr. Budd married Miss Mary Haste, of Berkeley, in 1887, a daughter of J.
H. Haste, an honored pioneer of the state and for many years a public-spirited
citizen of Berkeley. They were the
parents of three children. Both parents
are now deceased, Mrs. Budd having survived her husband until May 1, 1921.
Henry B. Budd, the only son of his
parents, was educated in the Stockton grammar and high schools, and in 1898 was
graduated from the University of California with the B. S. degree. After his graduation, he became associated
with the chemical department of the State Mining Bureau in San Francisco, and
during the two years of his connection with this department, devoted his time
to the study of assaying. He then
located in Sierra County and became surveyor of the mine belonging to the
Croesus Mining & Milling Company, engaged in operating the Plumbago Mine, a
gold mine in that county. Later he
operated a gravel mine of his own. From 1901
to 1905 he was deputy United States mineral surveyor, appointed by President McKinley,
his operations extending throughout Sierra and Plumas counties; he also engaged
in private practice there.
Upon learning that the Delta lands
of San Joaquin County were to be reclaimed, Mr. Budd removed to Stockton and
engaged in land surveying on the islands.
In 1906, when the Western Pacific Railroad was constructing their line
through the valley, he was transit man in the survey of the road. During 1911 – 1912 he was city surveyor of
Stockton, and he has also been engineer for a number of reclamation districts
in the valley. His close study of
conditions and his years of practical experience relating to the reclamation of
land, have made him an authority on the subject, on which he is conceded to be
one of the best-posted men in the county.
Mr. Budd has engaged in real estate
operations, making a specialty of subdivisions.
The following are some of the properties that he has subdivided and put
on the market: Lomita Park, twenty-five
acres northwest of the city; Merryvale, a subdivision
of twenty acres east of Stockton; City Park Garden, a tract of twenty acres,
and the Budd Addition to Manteca, consisting of five acres, now a part of the
city of Manteca. As manager of the Budd
estate, he has erected the Budd Apartments on East Channel Street,
Stockton. Aside from his real estate
business, he is the active senior member of the firm of Budd & Widdens, civil engineers and surveyors, of Stockton,
California, which firm is favorably known throughout central California. The consensus of opinion is they have the
largest practice in their profession among the landowners of the fertile
section embraced in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. Mr. Budd’s partner, Mr. Charles H. Widdons, is the grandson of John Herd, one of the pioneers
of the reclamation of the famous San Joaquin Delta.
The marriage of Mr. Budd united him
with Miss Marion R. Browne, of Berkeley, California. Fraternally Mr. Budd is a member of Parlor
No. 7, N. S. G. W. He is secretary and
treasurer of the San Joaquin County Society of Civil Engineers.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
575-576. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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