San
Joaquin County
Biographies
MAJOR WALTER E. GARRISON
To the enterprise and industry of
such forceful men as Walter E. Garrison is due the continued prestige of this
section of California. His position in
the public regard, however, has not come merely as a tribute to his success,
but is in recognition of his personal worth and the honorable and
straightforward methods he has ever employed in his business career. He was born on his father’s ranch west of
Modesto, California, December 30, 1876, the youngest son of Clinton and Amanda
(Watts) Garrison, natives of Tennessee and Pennsylvania, respectively. Clinton Garrison was born on his father’s
farm of 160 acres near Nashville, Tennessee; and when he was a lad of four
years his parents removed to Missouri, where his mother died. His father married again, and Clinton left
home at the age of fifteen and started life for himself. He eventually came to California in 1857,
stopping for a time in San Joaquin County, but in 1865 became one of the early
grain farmers in Stanislaus County, where he owned and operated 1,600 acres
until 1908, when he retired from active business and the property was
divided. This branch of the Garrison
family is in the direct line of descent from a fine old English family, their
direct ancestor being Lord Garrison. Our
subject’s mother was Miss Amanda Watts, a native of Pennsylvania and of Scotch
descent. They had two sons: W. Henry, who is an extensive rancher near
Modesto, influential in civic and social life; and Walter, E., the
younger. The mother passed away at the
age of forty-five, the father surviving her.
He makes his residence in Santa Cruz, and is eighty years old.
Walter E. was reared upon the family
homestead near Modesto, early becoming familiar with farm work in its various
departments. The summer months were
spent in the field, and during the other seasons of the year he attended the
district schools until he had mastered the elementary branches in English. He then entered the Modesto High School and
still later the San Joaquin Valley College at Woodbridge, from which he was
graduated in 1895 with the degree of B. A.
When the division of the family homestead was made, Walter E. received a
half-section of land, which he farmed for twelve years. In 1914 he moved to Lodi, where he purchased
eighty acres in vineyard. Besides his
eighty-acre ranch, he leases 240 acres, forty of which is in orchard and the
balance in vineyard and general farming land, irrigated from the
Stockton-Mokelumne ditch.
Walter E. Garrison enlisted for the
Spanish-American War in the 1st California Volunteer Infantry as a
private in Company B, for service in the Philippines, and was in the first
expedition to leave the shores of the United States for service in a foreign country,
going to Manila, where he remained for one year, from 1898 to 1899. During his service he was promoted to the
rank of corporal and he was honored by the award of the McKinley Medal from the
Congress of the United States.
The marriage of Major Garrison
occurred at Woodbridge on the old Robert Boyce ranch, October 22, 1901, and
united him with Miss Martha Boyce, who was born on the same ranch, a daughter
of the late Robert Boyce and Lorah k. (Turner)
Boyce. Robert Boyce was a native of
Ohio, and was twelve years old when his parents came across the plains to
California and settled near Woodbridge.
In 1871 he purchased 160 acres adjoining his father’s farm, which he
farmed to grain for many years. Later he
planted a vineyard of thirty-three acres, and still later sixty acres were
planted to Tokay grapes. He passed away
in 1914 at the age of sixty-seven years.
The mother makes her home in Lodi and takes an active part in social and
civic affairs. She still owns the
valuable ranch property left her by her husband. Mrs. Garrison is the only child of this
worthy pioneer couple. Her early
education was obtained in the district schools of the county. She then entered the San Joaquin Valley
College at Woodbridge and there was a classmate of her husband. Major and Mrs. Garrison are the parents of
two daughters, June and Roberta.
On the day Congress declared war on
Germany Walter E. Garrison offered his services to his country. He entered the first officers’ training camp
at the Presidio, and later received a commission as captain, taking command of
Company D, 363rd Infantry, of the 91st Division. Later he was transferred to Headquarters
Company, and was in command of the 1st Battalion of the 363rd
Infantry, which left for France in July, 1918.
After landing at Glasgow, Scotland, they proceeded to Southampton and
crossed to Cherbourg, France. Previous
to his service at the front, Major Garrison trained at Montigny-Le-Roi; and his battalion went into the reserves of the St.
Mihiel drive and took part in the first Meuse-Argonne offensive. Later he fought with the French troops in
Belgium. After the Meuse-Argonne he was commissioned Major of the 3rd
Battalion, 363rd Infantry.
Major Garrison was twice wounded, once by a machine-gun, in Belgium; and
he was also gassed while in the Meuse-Argonne battle. He was sent to the base hospital at London,
and while there he organized a provisional battalion of hospital evacuate and
returned to France with them, each soldier returning to his own regiment, Major
Garrison returning to his own battalion in December, 1918. He left St. Nazaire for New York with the 91st
Division, arriving at the Presidio, San Francisco. After disbanding he was discharged from
active duty. For services at the front,
he was decorated by Marshal Petain with the Croix de Guerre with the Gold Star.
On his return to Lodi, Major
Garrison resumed his ranching enterprise, which Mrs. Garrison had been bravely
carrying on during his service overseas.
He is the present commander of Lodi Post 22, American Legion; president
of the San Joaquin Council of Boy Scouts of America; president of the Rotary
Club of Lodi; and vice-president of the Associated Growers, Inc., of Lodi. Fraternally he is a member of the N. S. G. W.
of Modesto, and has passed through the chairs of the order; he belongs to the
Modesto Lodge of Elks. While in the
army, Major Garrison made a record as an expert rifleman, and he is at present
the president of the Lodi Gun Club.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
599-600. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases