San
Joaquin County
Biographies
REES HARRY
A well-known Odd Fellow of many
years’ standing, who very faithfully did his duty in regard to the great
question of temperance, was the late Rees Harry, who was born in Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania, on January 27, 1822, and died at Stockton on September
30, 1884. Although he thus passed away
many years ago, he is still affectionately remembered by the old-time residents
of Stockton, where he made his home for sixteen years.
He was a descendant of good old
Revolutionary stock, his grandfather having figured prominently in the conflict
between the mother country and the Colonies, a fact in which he took
considerable pride. He was educated in
the public schools of his native state.
He learned the trade of millwright and carpenter; and so it happened
that when he arrived in Stockton in 1868, he readily found employment with the
Pioneer Sash & Door Mill Co. Later
he took up building and contracting in Stockton, and followed that for a number
of years with marked success. He was one
of the pioneer builders of Stockton, and contributed to its material expansion.
He was twice married, and had two
children born of the first union: a
daughter, later Mrs. Cecilia Humphreys, and a son, Joseph M. Harry, of
Stockton. His second marriage took place
in Philadelphia, in 1861, when he was united to Miss Sarah Condy;
and of their four sons, two are still living:
Dr. Charles R. Harry, the prominent physician of Stockton, and Sydney C.
Harry. For thirty years or more Rees
Harry was a well-known Odd Fellow, and as an honored and influential member of
the Episcopal Church in excellent standing, he worked hard to bring about saner
views with regard to temperance reform.
The second Mrs. Harry, before her marriage, was a teacher; and of the
fifteen years in which she taught school in San Joaquin County, eleven were
spent in the schools of Stockton.
Californians love to honor such pioneer patriots, and there is no doubt of
the position which will always be accorded Mr. and Mrs. Rees Harry, whenever
the annals of San Joaquin will be written and re-written.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1235. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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