San
Joaquin County
Biographies
FRANK N. CORNWELL
Prominent among the industries of
California that have proven of great benefit to San Joaquin County and so have
added greatly to its wealth, prosperity and progress, must be rated that of well-boring,
and one of the pioneers in the business is Frank L. Cornwell. He was born in the city of Lodi on December
27, 1889, a son of Thomas A. and Sarah E. (Taylor) Cornwell. His father was a native of Illinois and came
to California in an early day and followed farming for a short time; he then
removed to Lodi and worked for Knox Thorpe for three years as a well driller;
he then went into business for himself and was a pioneer in the business, going
through the period from hand tools to machine tools. His mother was born on the old Taylor ranch
in San Joaquin County; her father was a farmer who came to California in 1849;
he is now deceased. There are four
children in the Cornwell family:
Charles, John M., Frank L., the subject of this review, and Mrs. Ida
Burke. The father passed away in 1919.
Frank L. was educated in the public
schools of Lodi; when he was fourteen years old he began clerking in the store
of M. Newfield & Sons and remained with them until he was nineteen; he then
bought the Irey Transfer Company and changed the name to the City Transfer
Company; later he sold this business and became a partner with his father in
the well drilling business. When his
father passed away he was thoroughly capable of carrying the business and is
now full owner of same. Some of his
recent operations in well drilling are as follows: a 767-foot well at Victor; a 787-foot well on
the old Trethaway place, five miles east of Lodi; a
515-foot well on the Charles Costa ranch at Clements; also installed a pump
with a flow of 1,600 gallons per minute; a 20-inch well for Hunt Bros. at
Linden, 990 feet deep with a flow of 1,600 gallons a minute; two wells for the
City of Lodi, one of 155 feet and the other 275 feet; a 260-foot well on the W.
E. Shipman ranch southeast of Lodi with a flow of 500 gallons a minute; one on
the John C. Bewley ranch in Christian Colony with a
flow of 1,000 gallons a minute. Mr.
Cornwell is thoroughly conversant with the water channels and the depth to
drill. West of Cherokee Lane water in
any amount is found at a depth of from thirty to seventy feet; while east of
Cherokee Lane one will have to drill from ninety to 800 feet for water. Mr. Cornwell is fully equipped for his work
with all modern machinery; he owns and operates two Keystone steam drilling
machines and one Star gas drill; he employs from ten to fifteen men. Besides his well drilling, he is agent for
the G. W. Price turbine and centrifugal pump and installs many of them in
connection with his work.
Mr. Cornwell’s marriage united him
with Miss Florence Ethel Bailey, a native of England, and they are the parents
of five children, four of whom are living:
Daisy E., Harriet, Louis, and Florence Louise; Frank is deceased.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1367. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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