San Joaquin County
Biographies
JAMES GARFIELD
KERR
The enterprising proprietor of the
harness shop in Lockeford, James Garfield Kerr, is a man whose force of
character and determination has overcome many obstacles in reaping the success
in life that is deservedly his. He was
born in Lockeford, California, on July 30, 1880, a son of John Crawford and
Eliza Ann (Stacy) Kerr. The father, John
Crawford Kerr, came to California via Panama in 1851, and his first stay in
Lockeford covered the short period of about six months; he then made a trip
into Idaho, but returned to Lockeford in 1852, where he went to work for Mr. Athearn on the River place and later worked for Captain
Holman. He then purchased a large piece
of land in partnership with B. F. Langford on the south side of the Mokelumne River just west of Lockeford; later this property
was divided and John C. Kerr took the upper 328 acres. This piece is now the property of N. H.
Locke, whose sketch is also in this volume.
John C. Kerr ran a threshing machine from 1867 until 1886; he also owned
160 acres in Calaveras County above West Point, and at Blue Mountain he
controlled 1,700 acres of range land and had from 300 to 400 head of cattle on
the ranch. There were four children in
the family: James Garfield; John
Alexander resides at Corcoran; Harriet Elizabeth died in 1920; and Joseph
Thompson died in 1915. John C. Kerr was
extensively engaged in stockraising and operated a
dairy ranch for many years; he also raised large quantities of potatoes on the
rich bottom land. He passed away in 1909 at the age of
seventy-seven years; Mrs. Kerr died in 1919.
James Garfield Kerr was educated in
the grammar school of Lockeford and when he was sixteen years old started out
for himself and decided to learn the harnessmaker’s
trade. He served his apprenticeship in
Lockeford for one year and the balance of it at Valley Springs; for eighteen
months he worked for Van Voorhies & Company in
Sacramento, then opened a shop of his own at Valley Springs, which he ran until
1904, when he located in Lockeford and engaged in dairying with his father
until his father passed away. In 1911 he
opened a harness shop in Lockeford, which he has continued to the present and
has worked up a fine trade, all work being of the best grade and fully
guaranteed.
The marriage of Mr. Kerr occurred at
Valley Springs, California, on March 12, 1902, and united him with Miss Ella
McCann, a native of Sacramento, California, a daughter of James and Julia
(O’Hare) McCann. The father of Mrs. Kerr
came to California from Canada in 1887, and after living in Sacramento for some
time removed to Campo Seco, where Mrs. Kerr received
her education. They are the parents of
two sons, William and Raymond.
Politically Mr. Kerr is a Republican, and fraternally is a member of
Progressive Lodge No. 134, I. O. O. F., of Lockeford and is past grand; a
member of the Vesper Lodge No. 94, Knights of Pythias
of Lockeford and is past chancellor of that
order. Mrs. Kerr is past noble grand of
the Rebekah Lodge of Lockeford and is also a member of the Pythian
Sisters and of the Native Daughters. Mr.
Kerr is also identified with the Woodmen of the World of Stockton.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1536-1537. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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