San
Joaquin County
Biographies
GEORGE E. CATTS
For thirty-four years the Lauxen & Catts Furniture
Company has held a leading place in business circles of Stockton and theirs is
the pioneer enterprise of this character in the city. George E. Catts, president of the firm, is a
native son of Stockton and was born June 20, 1860, his parents being Samuel and
Margaret (McDonald) Catts, the former a native of Maryland, while the latter
was born in Ireland, and both are deceased.
The father enlisted in the Mexican War and served under Col. J. D.
Stevenson. He rounded Cape Horn in 1846,
landed in San Francisco in March, 1847, and in 1848 he arrived in Stockton,
where he engaged in freighting, taking the first load of supplies that went
from Stockton to the southern mines, using ox teams for this purpose. He established a freight line first to Sonora
and afterwards to Mokelumne Hill and other points in the mines, and later,
while a resident of Stockton, he purchased a vessel and engaged in transporting
freight by water between this city and San Francisco.
George E. Catts was graduated from
the Stockton high school with the class of 1879 and from St. Mary’s College in
1881 and in 1888 he established the Lauxen & Catts Furniture Company.
This is the oldest firm of the kind in the city and the business methods
of the house have ever been characterized by integrity, enterprise and
reliability, winning for them the confidence and support of the public. Mr. Catt is president of the firm and for
many years he has been prominently identified with financial affairs. He was a director of the Stockton Savings
Bank and the organizer of the City Bank of Stockton, of which he served as
president for several years, while he is now acting as vice-president.
Mr. Catts married Miss Susan F.
Hicks, a native of Merced County, California.
She is a member of one of the old pioneer families of the state, her
father crossing the plains to California with the gold seekers of 1849. Three children have been born of this union: Georgie, Susan and Letitia. Mr. Catts is progressive and public-spirited
in matters of citizenship and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, of which
he has been president. He has always
taken an active part in civic affairs and from 1901 until 1903 served as mayor
of Stockton, being elected to that office on the Democratic ticket. He is connected with the Native Sons of the
Golden West and the Lions Club and is also identified with Stockton Lodge, No.
218, B. P. O. E. He is a Knights Templar
Mason and an exemplary representative of the craft. He has won success through industry and
ability and these qualities unite to make him an upright man and useful
citizen.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
552. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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