San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CHARLES G. DELMEGE
Among
the ranchers of San Joaquin County who by strict attention to business have
been able to retire from active work, is Charles G. Delmege of Stockton. He was born in Bristol, Kendall County,
Illinois, on November 22, 1846, and at the age of seventeen, in company with
two schoolmates, ran away from home and enlisted for service in the Civil War;
he also had two brothers who served in the army, one enlisting in 1861, and all
served in the same company. On February
10, 1864, he enlisted under Capt. F. W. Sowerby in
Company H of the Ninth Illinois Cavalry in command of Col. A. G. Brackett, with
General Hatch as division commander, the brigade known as Hatch’s cavalry. Three days after joining his regiment he was
under fire with the Army of the Tennessee, being engaged against Forrest until
ordered to cross the river to fight General Hood’s army. The only two battles he was in were Franklin
and Nashville. While engaged against Hood
the army was under command of General Schofield; later was under General Thomas;
although in active service all the time, he came out without a scratch. His service continued until October 31, 1865,
when he was mustered out, and then returned to his home in Illinois. In 1867, removing to Iowa, he bought a farm
near Afton, consisting of eighty acres; his father and one of his brothers also
owned farms in that location. He spent
twelve years on his place, which was devoted to the raising of grain, then he removed to Denver, Colorado, and became interested
in politics. He was appointed by the
mayor and served four years as a member of the police department, and then for
two years was city jailer. On account of
a change in administration Mr. Delmege left the employ of the police
department, and at the current election worked for a particular candidate for
county sheriff, who was elected and who, in appreciation for services rendered,
appointed Mr. Delmege county jailer, serving two years. Trading his Denver property for a farm, he
then went to Boulder, Colorado, farming there for four years, then resided in Boulder for two years. In the fall of 1899 he was sent to Des Moines
as state agent for the Anchor Mutual Fire Insurance Company, being appointed by
his brother, who was president of the company; then he was in the lumber business
for two years at Larimore, Iowa, and was also interested in the real estate
business there. From Iowa he removed to
Knox, North Dakota, and went into the real estate business, and while residing
there took up government land, which he farmed for four years; then in 1906 he
came to California and bought a ten-acre tract of land at Manteca, which he
planted to wine grapes. While his vines
were maturing he conducted a poultry business, and after twelve years sold out
and moved to Stockton, where he has since resided.
The marriage of Mr. Delmege occurred
at Afton, Iowa, on November 8, 1870, and united him with Miss Amanda Keating, a
native of Ohio, and they are the parents of two sons: Clarence A. of Sheridan, Wyoming, who is
married and has three girls, one of whom has a daughter; and Louis J. is
married and lives in Manteca. Mr.
Delmege is past commander of Rawlins Post No. 23, G. A. R., of Stockton, while
Mrs. Delmege is a member of the Woman’s Relief Corps and the Ladies’ Circle of
the G. A. R. and during the World War was an active Red Cross worker. Both Mr. and Mrs. Delmege attend the
Christian Science Church of Stockton.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1582. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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