San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM EDSON HANKS
Prominent among the most interesting
of early pioneers in San Joaquin County is William Edson Hanks, the retired
contractor and brick-mason, who was born at Augusta, Maine, on April 2, 1854,
and accompanied his mother and sister to California. They set out from New York, intending to
cross the Isthmus of Panama, but when once on the Atlantic, their vessel, an
old side-wheeler, was struck by lightning and disabled, reaching Aspinwall
after thirty days. From
the Isthmus the Hanks party came up the coast of the Pacific on the steamer,
“Star of the West,” landing in San Francisco in the fall of 1862. His parents, Robert and Delia (Hudson) Hanks,
were also both natives of Augusta, Maine, and Grandfather Hanks was prominent
in early Colonial history as a sea captain.
He was master of the ship “Augusta,” and was known far and wide as
“Captain Bob.” Robert Hanks, the father,
was a sailor, but he had learned ship carpentering as a trade.
Robert Hanks had come on ahead to
California, seeking gold in 1856, and he came direct to the mines via Panama
and went near Table Mountain, Tuolumne County, and for twelve years was
successful in prospecting. He moved to
Stockton in 1867, and with Steve Davis at Lindsay Point, Stockton, followed his
ship carpentering trade. Robert Hanks
also served as deputy sheriff in Tuolumne County under Dan Patterson, and on
coming to Stockton was prominent for years in political circles. He lived to reach the age of eighty-seven,
passing away on May 20, 1916. Mrs. Hanks
had died in 1872.
Ed Hanks, as he is familiarly called
by all, who know him, enjoyed the best obtainable educational advantages,
attending the Franklin and Lafayette schools at Stockton. Then he entered the employ of William Confer &
Brother, brick masons, and when two years with them, he started in business for
himself, soon taking as a partner Sol Confer, son of his former employer. They built the Union Mill in 1890, and then
completed the county jail in 1891. They
also erected the Southern Pacific Depot in 1900-01, and put up the Clark-Henery Building in 1900, and scores of other fine buildings
in Stockton and the county. In 1901,
however, Mr. Hanks had the misfortune to lose his partner by death. He next operated alone for six years, and
after that he entered into partnership with H. E. Robbins, and during 1907 and
’08 they did an extensive business in rural buildings, going away as far as
Fresno, Mr. Hanks holding a unique position as an authority on the construction
of fireplaces, and he has been called to very distant cities to supervise their
installation.
At Modesto, in 1884, Mr. Hanks was
married to Miss Harriet Bacon, who was born at Pine Log, Tuolumne County,
daughter of pioneer parents, and four children were born to them: Edward W., Delvin
O., William Robert, and Emma. Edward
resides in Oakland engaged in the insurance business. Mrs. Hanks passed away on October 2, 1916,
leaving a void in the home difficult to fill.
Mr. Hanks has been an eyewitness to the remarkable growth of Stockton
and San Joaquin County in which he himself has so actively participated, and it
is not surprising to find him a member of the exempt Board of Stockton
firemen. He has served for nine years as
president of Union No. 4, International Bricklayers Union of America. Since 1891, Mr. Hanks and his family have
resided at 228 East Clay Street.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1036. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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