San
Joaquin County
Biographies
GROVER A. GRIDER
A pioneer in the electrical business
in Stockton, Grover A. Grider is still engaged in his chosen line of work,
which he has followed since 1903. The
Grider Electrical Company is located at 409 East Weber Avenue, fully equipped
to furnish everything in an electrical way; specializing in artistic
chandeliers for fine residences and other buildings.
He was born at La Grange, California, May 2, 1888, but was a babe in
arms when his parents settled in Stockton and here he attended the public
schools until he was fifteen years old.
Leaving school at that age, he entered the employ of Noble D. Powell,
the first man to establish an electrical store in Stockton. For the first eight months his wages were two
dollars per week, but were steadily increased until he received a foreman’s
wages; then for the last few years that he was with them he was manager of the
establishment, leaving them in 1909 to run a store of his own in Modesto, which
he continued until 1912 when he sold out.
He then returned to Stockton and two years ago he purchased the business
now known as the Grider Electrical Company from N. D. Powell. Some of the first work Mr. Grider did was the
wiring of many of the fine old homes in Stockton, among them being the Cobb
residence on North Sutter Street; he also wired the old Russ Hotel and many
other buildings in the old section of Stockton; he wired the river steamers
Mary Garrett, Pride of the River, J. D. Peters and others. Among the later and more modern buildings are
the following: A. M. Noble, Charles Finkbohner, A. A. Sattui
residences and the City Tennis Courts at Oak Park.
For the past three seasons Mr.
Grider has had the contract for lighting the fairground buildings for the San
Joaquin County Fair held annually in Stockton.
Night-time horse shows were made possible by a unique lighting system
which Mr. Grider is the originator. It
consists of thirty Ivanhoe reflectors with 1,000 Watt Edison Mazda lamps,
spaced 35 x 35 feet. The reflectors were
suspended from messenger wires run between wooden poles thirty feet high set on
top of the ground and guyed in place. This
lighting system was so constructed as to be easily erected and taken down,
which was done each day of the fair. The
area lighted was 350 x 115 feet directly in front of the grandstand and the
night exhibits were a pronounced success on account of this excellent
system. Mr. Grider received recognition
for his splendid work from the manager and board of directors of the fair and
this achievement was written up in a special article which recently appeared in
the columns of the Journal of Electricity.
The electric wiring in all the theaters in Stockton was done by Mr.
Grider and only recently he rewired the Lyric Theater; also all of the electric
decorations in the new State Theater, including the lighting effects behind the
organ and side walls. Mr. Grider uses
the best material that can be purchased and his workmanship is of the very
highest grade and on all contracts satisfaction is guaranteed. He is actively associated with the California
Cooperative Electric Campaign that was formed to educate the people to demand a
better and more dependable class of electrical work.
The marriage of Mr. Grider on August
25, 1909, united him with Miss Ethel Sturcke, a
native of San Joaquin County, whose father was a pioneer and for many years a
deputy sheriff of the county. Mr. Grider
is a member of the Weber Avenue Improvement Club, the Red Men, Charity Lodge
No. 6, I. O. O. F., and the Encampment.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
780-783. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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