San Joaquin County
Biographies
HENRY TULLY DORRANCE
H. T. DORRANCE.--In the
business circles of Stockton no name stands higher than that with which this
sketch commences. Mr. Dorrance is a native of
Middlebury, Addison County, Vermont, born November 6,
1819. His father, Joseph Dorrance, came of an old
Providence, Rhode Island, family, and was a hatter. His
mother, whose maiden name was Esther Martin, was a native of Vermont.
H. T. Dorrance was
reared and educated at his native place, and in 1846 removed to Rutland,
Vermont, where he engaged in the saddlery and harness
business in connection with Judge Hall. After the latter’s death, which
occurred in 1850, Mr. Dorrance carried on the
business alone. In 1850 he came to California to join his brother-in-law, M. L.
Bird, a pioneer, leaving New York June 26, on the steamer Star of the West, and
arriving at San Francisco on the 19th of July. Two or three days
later he came to Stockton and went to work at the location where he now does
business, in the employ of his brother-in-law. He worked there until March 1,
1866, when he assumed the duties of County Clerk, to which office he had been
chosen at the preceding election. He was re-elected in 1867, and held the
office until the first Monday in March, 1870. In 1869 he had purchased the
business of Mr. Bird and carried it on for one year in partnership with J. T.
Oldham. Since that time he has not had any partner.
Mr. Dorrance has
been a resident of Stockton for nearly a third of a century, has been a
business man here much of that time, and has served the people of the city and
county in many places of trust. To his credit it may be said that he ranks
to-day, as he always has, among the most honored and esteemed of the county’s
citizens. His unfailing integrity in business, his high intelligence, and his
dignified and courteous treatment of those with whom he comes in contact, have
won for him the lasting friendship of his fellow citizens.
Mr. Dorrance was
married February 7, 1841, at Hinesburg, Vermont, to Miss Achsah
L. Bird, who was also a native of Addison County, Vermont. She died in this
city February 18, 1882, leaving three children, viz: Achsah W. (Mrs. H. M. Clays), Sarah C., wife of Chas. E. Owen,
and C. Fred Dorrance. The latter is a resident of
Portland, Oregon, and is with one of the large houses of that city, that of L.
C. Hendrichsen, jeweler.
Mr. Dorrance was
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Vermont, I. O. O. F., when he came out here.
He is one of the most distinguished Odd Fellows of California, and was Grand
Representative to the meeting of the Supreme Lodge at Minneapolis in 1884, and
to that at Baltimore in 1885. He is now a member of Charity Lodge, No. 6. He is
also a member of Morning Star Lodge, F. & A. M.
In the days of the old-time Whigs Mr. Dorrance was a stanch advocate of the principles of that
party, and cast his first presidential vote for William Henry Harrison. He was
one of the first to rally to the flag of Republicanism, and voted for the first
presidential candidate of the party--John C. Fremont. He has always taken an
active part in matters effecting the public interest
and especially in educational affairs. For the eight years ending with 1872 he
was one of the school trustees of Stockton, and was a member of the committee
to grade the schools when the high school was established. When the institution
held its first commencement he had the honor of presenting the diploma to the
first graduates of the Stockton High School--Miss Lottie
Grunsky, Otto Grunsky and
Miss Randall (now Mrs. Dorr). He again served as a member of the school board
from September, 1887, to September, 1889. He is now, by the appointment of the
Governor, a member of the Board of Trustees of the State Hospital for the
Insane at Stockton.
His present wife, to whom he was married
November 26, 1889, was formerly Miss Frances C. Bird, a native of Pennsylvania,
reared at Brownsville, in that State, but for some time a resident of
Pittsburg.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 407-408. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
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