San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN A. FEELEY
A native son of California, born in
Stockton forty-four years ago, is John A. Feeley, whose entire life has been
spent within the confines of San Joaquin County, where he has engaged in
farming, building contracting, and carpentry.
His birth occurred at the Beaver Street home of his parents, James
William and Bridget (Norton) Feeley, April 1, 1879. Both parents were born in Roscommon,
Ireland. James W. Feeley was eighteen
months old when his parents came to America.
They settled in Ohio, where he grew to young manhood. At eighteen years of age he joined a group of
thirty young men, to seek his fortune in California; his brother John F. Feeley
had already made a stake in the mines at Nevada City. The party of thirty young men came west via
the Nicaragua route, by steamer to San Francisco, and after a long, perilous
journey, arrived in Nevada City. Nine
years were spent in the mines. From
there he went to the Almaden Mine, in Santa Clara
County, where he worked as a carpenter.
At San Jose, California, on June 28, 1874, he was married to Miss
Bridget Norton, who came to California in 1852, and was reared in San
Francisco; the year following they removed to Stockton, where James W. Feeley
became a building contractor with J. A. McDougall. He was thus occupied until 1882, when he
bought a ranch of 350 acres near Burwood, on the
Stanislaus River. This he operated for
fourteen years, and then sold out and removed to a ranch near Farmington, which
he farmed until 1906, when he removed to Stockton and built a home at 1705
North California Street. Four children
were born to this pioneer couple: Joseph
and Mary, both deceased; James Patrick, who resides in Oakland; and John A., of
this sketch. James W. Feeley was a
member of the California National Guard, and of the Board of Exempt Firemen,
having served as assistant foreman of Eureka No. 2. In politics Mr. Feeley was a Democrat. Mrs. Feeley passed away on February 17, 1919,
aged eighty years. Mr. Feeley lived
until March 7, 1922, when he passed away at the family home in Stockton.
From 1891 to 1894, John A. Feeley
attended St. Mary’s College in Oakland.
The then became a partner with his father in building operations and
thoroughly learned the carpenter’s trade.
For five years he worked at contracting in Stockton with his father, and
then for three years was in partnership with his brother, James P. Feeley. Mr. Feeley is a member of Carpenter’s Union
Local No. 266 and for eight years has served as secretary of this branch; in
1920 he attended the national convention held at Indianapolis, taking his
father for a visit to old friends and acquaintances in Ohio.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1123-1124. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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