San
Joaquin County
Biographies
J. M. KILE
A successful practicing lawyer of
Stockton and a Californian by birth, J. M. Kile was born on his father’s ranch
near Thornton, San Joaquin County, on February 16, 1865, and is the son of
Joseph and Katherine (Hardesty) Kile, the former a native of Ohio and the
latter of Indiana. In 1849 Joseph Kile
crossed the plains to California and after a short stay in the mines in the
year of 1850 took up a Government claim near Thornton which was devoted to
cattle raising and grain farming. In 1873 he removed to Stockton where he spent
the remainder of his days. He was
identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and was a member of the
San Joaquin Pioneer Society, and was also a Mexican War veteran. During the early days of his residence on the
ranch he erected a house which was considered in those days very fine, and it
is still standing. This old home place
is still in the possession of the family and is probably the oldest ranch in
the county, founded over seventy years ago, to remain in the possession of the
descendants of its original owner. This
ranch consists of 750 acres, about 700 acres of which is owned b y our subject
and the remaining portion by Joseph Horton, his son.
J. M. Kile was educated in the
Stockton grammar and high schools; then entered Vanderbilt University at
Nashville, Tennessee, graduating in law with the class of 1886. Returning to Stockton he began the practice
of his profession and is now one of the pioneer attorneys of Stockton.
The marriage of Mr. Kile in
Tennessee united him with Miss Rachel Horton, a native of that state and a
grand-daughter of ex-Governor Cannon, and they are the parents of one son,
Joseph Horton Kile, a graduate of Stanford University, who has erected a fine
house on the portion of the ranch owned by him, where he resides. Sixty acres of this ranch is devoted to
orchard and vineyard and some 500 acres is rented out as a dairy and alfalfa
ranch. The family have
always been active members of the Methodist Church South, and for many years
Mr. Kile was a member of the board of stewards.
He is a member of Stockton Parlor, N. S. G. W., is a director in the
Roberts Island Dredging Company and the Yosemite Theater Company. The latter company erected the Yosemite
building and theater. He is also a
member of the San Joaquin County Pioneer Society.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
363. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
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