San
Joaquin County
Biographies
ROBERT J. HEATH
A well-known and successful grain
farmer and stockraiser is Robert J. Heath, who resides on his ranch four miles
east of the town of Peters, San Joaquin County.
He was born on his father’s ranch two miles west of his present home
place, January 8, 1872. His father,
Patrick Heath, was a native of County Mayo, Ireland, who came to America in the
late ‘50s, and as early as 1861 began farming in San Joaquin County with a
single plow and a yoke of oxen. He
married Miss Johanna Lyons, also a native of Ireland, who came to California
via Cape Horn. Three sons and one
daughter constitute the family of this pioneer couple: Robert J., the subject of this sketch; George
J. resides in San Francisco; Mary Ann died at the age of seven years; and Fred
Thomas resides in Farmington. Patrick
Heath passed away in November, 1906, his wife preceding him in July of the same
year. Robert J. attended the district
school in his vicinity and being the eldest of the family, early in years
assumed the responsibilities of farm life and became associated with his father
in grain and stockraising.
On February 4, 1906, Mr. Heath was
united in marriage with Miss Catherine Dorgan, born in County Clare, Ireland, May
1, 1869. She left Ireland in her
sixteenth year, in company with her sister Mary, and arrived in San Francisco
in August, 1886. Mary Dorgan entered
Notre Dame in San Francisco, where she became Sister Mary Verimus,
and for twenty-five years she devoted her time to the Church and passed away in
San Jose, California, in 1915. Mr. and
Mrs. Heath are the parents of two daughters:
Mary Catherine Gabriella and Helen Johanna Marie, and both are students
at the Notre Dame Convent in San Francisco.
Mr. Heath’s activities as an agriculturist have been of the highest
order, as can be seen on his fine ranch of 320 acres east of Peters; he employs
only the most modern machinery and methods in farming, which invariably are
productive of the best results. Mr. Heath
cooperates in local affairs by belonging to the farm bureau at Farmington.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1479-1480. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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