San Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN TUNNICLIFF HICKINBOTHAM.
JOHN TUNNICLIFF HICKINBOTHAM,
a merchant of Stockton, dealing in hardwood lumber and in carriage-making
materials of all kinds, was born in New Hartford, Oneida County, New York, July
8, 1829, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Tunnicliff) Hickinbotham. His father, born in Derbyshire, England,
about 1800, came to America in early manhood, and was married in Otsego County,
New York. He became a farmer and
veterinary surgeon in New Hartford, Oneida County, New York, where he died
about 1851. His mother, born in Otsego County in 1803, a daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Jonathan Tunnicliff, died about 1845; but her
parents lived to an advanced age, and her brother, Walter Tunnicliff,
was seventy-five years at his death. The Tunnicliffs
settled in Otsego County before the Revolution, owning large tracts of land.
Four children of Samuel and Elizabeth Hickinbotham
are living: Samuel, in Ostberg, Sheboygan County,
Wisconsin, aged sixty-eight; Elizabath, Mrs. Otis
Howe, of Levanna, Cayuga County, New York, aged
sixty-five; the subject of this sketch, and Edwin, born October 31, 1831, a
resident of this city (with brief interruptions) since 1851. Edwin Hickinbotham, leaving New York city
in March, 1851, and arriving in San Francisco by way of Panama, in the summer
of that year, went to mining at Mokelumne Hill, where
he spent three months, and came to Stockton before the close of the year. He
worked here in 1851 at his trade of carriage-making, which he had learned in
Richfield Springs, Otsego County, New York, with a brief trial of one month in
mining at Fourth Crossing, in Calaveras County; he resumed work at his trade in
this city, and in 1852, on the arrival of his brother, the subject of this
sketch in that year worked with him under the style of Hickinbotham
Brothers. Losing his health in 1855 he went East, not expecting to recover, but
finding his health restored he returned in 1856, and has worked with his
brother to the present time. Edwin Hickinbotham has
been a member of the city council one term, and of the
volunteer fire department from 1853 until the organization of the paid fire
department. He is also a member of the Improved Order of Red Men.
John T. Hickinbotham,
the subject of this sketch, after receiving the usual course of schooling,
learned the trade of carriage-maker in Richland Springs, New York. He left New
York city May 24, 1852, and arrived in San Francisco
by the Panama route, June 30, 1852. Coming to Stockton he formed a partnership
with his brother, Edwin, under the style of Hickinbotham
Brothers, carriage and wagon makers. Upon the withdrawal of his brother through
ill-health, in 1855, he continued the business under his own name - J. T. Hickinbotham - and a few years later changed the line of
business to carriage materials, both business and style remaining unchanged
since that time, except that the volume of business has of course grown very
considerably in that long interval, being now perhaps second to none in that
line in central California. Mr. John T. Hickinbotham
went East, to Richland Springs, New York, by the
Panama route, in 1863, and was there married. Mr. Hickinbotham
returned to business in Stockton, accompanied by his wife, taking the Panama
route, and they have resided here ever since. They have three sons, born in
this city: George West, John Edwin and James Henry. All three have followed the
usual course of education in the public schools, George West being a graduate
of the high school.
Mr. John T. Hickinbotham was a member of the city council in 1863, when
he resigned to go East. He has been a member of the I.
O. O. F. for many years, but his chief interests lie in the prosecution of his
business and the care of his family.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 450-451. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
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