San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WALTER D. HARRINGTON
A man of enterprise, practical and
progressive, Walter D. Harrington is now serving in the capacity of city
engineer of Tracy, San Joaquin County.
His birthplace was Virginia City, Nevada, and he first saw the light of
day on November 16, 1879. His father,
John D. Harrington, is of English and Scotch extraction, while his mother, Mrs.
Estella Harrington, comes from the old Stover family originating in Perth,
Scotland; both were born and reared in New England, whither their parents had
removed before the Revolutionary War.
Walter D. received his education in the schools of Nevada and after
finishing high school entered the University of Nevada from which he was
graduated as a mining engineer in 1903.
After his graduation he followed mining engineering for a short time;
then was engaged as hydraulic engineer by the United States in U. S. Geological
Survey; in the fall of 1904 he became an engineer in the U. S. Reclamation
Service and this work covered a period of ten years, with the exception of a
short time when he was with the War Department.
He then became construction engineer for the Southern Pacific Railroad
Company in California and for the Oregon Short Line at Salt Lake, and finally returned
to California and has since followed irrigation and general hydraulic work.
On June 24, 1909, in Provo, Utah,
Mr. Harrington was united in marriage with Miss L. Katherine Dobler, a daughter of Jacob Dobler. Her father was at one time an active member
in one of the few successful co-operative colonies in western Colorado. In 1919 he and his family removed to
California. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington are
the parents of three children: Fontaine,
Mildred, and Walter Delbert, Jr. Mr.
Harrington was appointed city engineer of Tracy in May, 1920, and his expert
knowledge has proven him of great value to the community. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree
Mason, a Shriner and Sciot, and also a member of the Knights of Pythias. Politically he gives his support to
progressive, constructive legislation, regardless of party line, supporting the
best man for public office. In his
religious faith he is a member of the Presbyterian Church and is the president
of the board of trustees of that body.
During the Spanish-American War he served as trumpeter of Troop M of the
Rough Riders in Cuba.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
808. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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