San
Joaquin County
Biographies
GEORGE MILTON KOONTZ
A life-long resident of San Joaquin
County, George Milton Koontz was born on the old Koontz ranch in the New Hope district of San Joaquin County, December 30, 1883, a son of
Henry and Clemence (Hay) Koontz, the former a native
of Ohio and the latter of Illinois. The
father was two years old when his parents left Ohio for Illinois. There he remained until he was twenty years
old when he came to California. He came
via Panama and upon his arrival in San Francisco remained there but a few days,
proceeding thence to San Joaquin County.
He purchased land in the vicinity of New Hope, and there spent the
remainder of his life. In 1874 he was
married to Miss Clemence Hay, and to them were born
six children: John L.; Elizabeth,
deceased; William Henry; Katherine, Mrs. L. R. Burrow; Clemence
A., Mrs. Robert Thisby, deceased; and George Milton,
of this review. The father passed away
in December, 1913, when seventy-seven years old; the mother died when only
thirty-two years old.
George Milton Koontz was reared on
the home farm, assisting his father in farming, and received his education in
the New Hope district school. At
thirteen years of age he began to make his own way and learned the painter’s
trade, which he followed for two years.
He then worked on a dredger for five years, building levees in various
reclamation districts of the county. In
1908 Mr. Koontz became pump and bridge tender for the Western Pacific Railroad
at Thornton; and he has held that position ever since. He owns thirty-four acres of the old home
ranch, which is devoted to orchard and alfalfa.
On September 10, 1912, in Stockton,
Mr. Koontz was married to Miss Ethel Elizabeth Mills, a native of San Francisco
and a daughter of Bertram and May Bell (Binkley) Mills. Her father was a native of England, who came
to Salt Lake City with his parents when he was five years old, and was there
reared and educated. In 1887 he came to
San Francisco where he engaged in seafaring.
He was engineer on the steamship Big China, plying between San Francisco
and China ports. Mrs. Koontz is the
eldest of a family of three children, the others being May Bell, Mrs. Ford of
Sacramento; and Gladys Henrietta, Mrs. Molakidis,
residing in San Francisco. Mr. and Mrs.
Koontz are the parents of three children:
Dorothy Gladys; Milton George, deceased; and Bernice Mae. Mr. Koontz is a member of the Native Sons of
the Golden West, of Galt.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1472-1473. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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