San
Joaquin County
Biographies
MICHAEL HANDLIN
An old settler of San Joaquin County
who has continuously resided in the Lodi section of the county for the past
fifty-two years is Michael Handlin. His
birth occurred in County Kildare, Ireland, in 1844 and he is the second oldest
in a family of five children born to Dan and Nancy (Burns) Handlin, both
natives of Ireland. The children are as
follows: Peter, Michael, the subject of
this sketch, Dan, Thomas and Sarah. The
father was a farmer by occupation and lived to be eighty years old, while the
mother passed away at sixty-five years.
At sixteen years of age, Michael
Handlin started out in life for himself, working at odd jobs on farms in the
neighborhood of his home and thus ten years were consumed. In 1870 he embarked for the United States and
came directly to California, where he settled at Lodi, then Mokelumne
Station. At first he rented a 240-acre
ranch east of Lodi on the Lockeford Road and farmed to grain for about seven
years, when he purchased the place and it has since been known as the Handlin
ranch. Mr. Handlin rented out some of
his ranch which was used for raising watermelons, but a large part of it was
used for raising grain. Portions of this
ranch have been sold from time to time until Mr. Handlin now owns seventy
acres, twenty-five acres of which is in vineyard and the balance used for grain
and alfalfa. The ranch is irrigated by a
five-inch pump driven by an electric motor, thus furnishing ample water for the
proper care and cultivation of the entire seventy acres.
The marriage of Mr. Handlin which
occurred in 1889 in San Francisco united him with Miss Kate Kelly, a native of
County Tyrone, Ireland, and a daughter of Joseph Kelly, a farmer of that
country. Mrs. Handlin left Ireland alone
and came to California to visit her sisters and here she became acquainted with
Mr. Handlin. Mrs. Handlin passed away in
1913, leaving two daughters: Anna, Mrs. Kels, who resides in Lodi, and Mary. In 1914 Mr. Handlin took up his abode at 12
North Stockton Avenue, with his daughter Mary, who presides over the home,
devotedly ministering to his comfort.
Mr. Handlin is a Democrat in politics.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1152. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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