San
Joaquin County
Biographies
MR. and MRS. JAMES HAMLINE HIGH
In August, 1905, Mr. and Mrs. James
Hamline High located in Lodi, California, and bought a fifteen-acre ranch in
the Kettleman tract, on Cherokee Lane, now known as the High Ranch, where they
passed their sunset days in peace and quietness. James Hamline High was born in Hillsdale
County, Michigan, on April 16, 1844, a son of Hiram and Rebecca P. (Kellogg)
High, the former a native of Lyons, New York and the latter of Connecticut,
both families living close to the state lines of Connecticut and New York.
The first marriage of Mr. High
occurred on December 11, 1867, at Sharon, Michigan, and united him with Miss
Phebe A. Peck, a native of Michigan and the daughter of Wait and Lucinda
(Mills) Peck, both natives of Connecticut, their forebears dating back to
Revolutionary days. They were pioneers
of Michigan when it was still a territory and the patent to their land was
signed by President Andrew Jackson. Mr.
High with his young wife settled on a small farm in Cass County, Missouri,
where they endured the hardships of pioneer life in a new country, starting at
the bottom round of the ladder. The
first great sorrow that entered his life came in March, 1870, when his wife
died and left him with an infant daughter only ten days old, now Mrs. P. H.
Walker of Lodi, the mother of two daughters, Irene and Elizabeth. Mr. High manfully entered into his new task
and became a devoted, loving father and tenderly cared for the little life entrusted
to his keeping. He was of the hardy,
vigorous, energetic type and entered into farming and stockraising with zeal
and determination, and success crowned his efforts.
Mr. High’s second marriage occurred
on April 18, 1871, near Harrisonville, Missouri, and united him with Miss
Elizabeth A. Cook, a daughter of John and Mary (Campbell) Cook, both parents descendants of early Virginian stock who had
migrated to Missouri in frontier days.
She assumed the responsibility and care of the daughter and reared her
with all he loving care of a mother. After
a lapse of fourteen years, during which time the family came to California
intending to locate, the conditions not being favorable he, with his wife and
daughter, moved to North Dakota, where he engaged in agriculture and sheep
raising on a large scale. His land was
in the hard wheat belt and products from that vast prairie district were
mentioned as coming from the “bread basket of the world.” After the hardships of twenty years in the
extreme cold north, both Mr. and Mrs. High began to feel the inroads of the
severe winters on their health and felt a change was necessary, so they sold
the land and stock and after traveling a few years, settled down once more,
this time in the beautiful fertile county of San Joaquin, and here Mr. High
made a new venture, in a new place, that of viticulture. When they located in this vicinity they
became an integral part of all that was good and best in the community. They united with the Congregational Church
and devoted their lives to the welfare and uplift of humanity and for the
furtherance of the Kingdom of God; they loved their neighbors and friends and
always extended the cordial hand to the stranger for the betterment of those
around them.
Mr. High was a faithful member of
the Masonic order, being a Knight Templar and a Shriner, but his favorite place
was among his brothers of the Blue Lodge and he carried its teachings
throughout his life; his “compass” pointed to truth and veracity and his life
was measured on the “square” to his fellowmen.
Mr. and Mrs. High enjoyed, beside their church affiliation, the social
order of the Eastern Star where they found enjoyment in mingling with men and
women interested in the affairs of life.
In politics he was a Republican, but maintained the independence of
personal thinking where he put man above party and principle above
platform. He was always vitally
interested in local, national and international affairs. He was a student of moral policies and was
ever alive for the moral, social and industrial welfare of our country.
As the sun goes down on the western
horizon, so he went down at the close of a well-spent life and his posterity
rise up to call him blessed. He passed
away on October 23, 1917. Mrs. High
tarried a few years, but the empty void in her life bore down upon her frail
body after her husband departed this life and she quickly succumbed to the
ravishes of disease and joined him on July 6, 1920, in “a home not made by
hands, eternal in the heavens.” Her life
was gentle, sweet and lovable and she was endeared to all who knew her. Where her body was frail her mind was strong
in the faith of God. While their ashes
have returned to the dust of Mother Earth, their spirits have taken flight to
the God who gave them and the sweet memories of their lives will abide and live
in the hearts of all who knew them.
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Live
of great men oft remind us, We
can make our lives sublime And
departing leave behind us Footprints
on the sands of time. |
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Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1004-1007. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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