San
Joaquin County
Biographies
HON. CHARLES LAMB
A resident of California from his
earliest recollections, the late Charles Lamb was a typical and thorough
Californian in his tastes, although he spent considerable time in other
localities, where he passed through many interesting experiences as a cowboy
and later a mining prospector. Mr. Lamb
was born at Charleston, Lee County, Iowa, on January 18, 1859, and when he was
nine months old his parents, James and Sarah Lamb, crossed the plains to
California first locating in Amador County, but later settling in the northern
part of San Joaquin County. Here Charles
Lamb was reared on the home ranch, attending the country schools, and remaining
there until he was twenty-one, when he started out to see something of the
world.
Going to Mason Valley, Nevada, Mr.
Lamb did not remain there long, but continued on to Eastern Oregon, where for a
year he rode the range, an experience that proved of untold value in later
years, giving him a rugged constitution which enabled him to withstand exposure
and hardship. From Oregon Mr. Lamb
returned to California, and for fourteen years engaged in ranching and
stockraising in Tulare County, going to Los Angeles in 1894, where for two
years he was in the employ of the Los Angeles Street Railway. Leaving there, he made the long journey to
Alaska, reaching the Yukon district in June, 1896, before the discovery of gold
made that locality famous. He took up a
number of mining claims, which yielded large returns, the most productive being
the Number 8 El Dorado Creek mine. His
experiences in the rugged north would have made an interesting volume, could
they have been written, so primitive were the conditions at that time. There were no steamboats on the upper Yukon
and he and his companions were obliged to pack their supplies across the
mountains to the river, where they constructed boats in which they navigated
the lake and descended the river.
Hardships and privations met them on every hand, but thanks to his
sturdy physique, Mr. Lamb was able to come through them all safely. He later returned to Stockton, but made
frequent trips to Alaska, looking after his mining interests there, meanwhile
becoming more and more interested in farming in San Joaquin County, in which he
made an outstanding success. He owned
considerable ranch land in the county, and on his ranch at Newhope,
now called Thornton, he was extensively engaged in raising grain and beans and
was attended with very good success.
At Visalia on December 16, 1887, Mr.
Lamb was married to Miss Belle Norcross, a native of the typical old New
England town of Farmington, Maine, and one daughter blessed their union, Edna,
the wife of Amerigo E. Gianelli, and they have a son,
Edward. After his initial trip to Alaska,
Mr. Lamb was accompanied by his wife on his subsequent trips, with the
exception of one year. As the country
improved and became less rough and crude, she enjoyed the experience of the
trips, having made both the outside and inside passages to the frozen
North. In 1897 and 1900 they were also
accompanied by their daughter.
Mr. Lamb was a staunch Republican,
active in the affairs of his party and was a member of the assembly of the
California State Legislature from Stockton in the thirty-fourth session, 1919,
and while there served on important committees, taking a leading part in
progressive legislation. During his
mining career, Mr. Lamb with his family passed their winters in San Francisco, where
he had many warm friends among the business and professional men, being almost
as well known there as in Stockton.
After 1912 they made their home in Stockton and here on January 6, 1920,
Mr. Lamb passed away, while still a member of the assembly. He was a very popular member of Stockton
Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. E. A self-made
man in every sense of the term, Mr. Lamb left behind him an honored record in
all of his affairs in which he had met with an unusual degree of success.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
368. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget
Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget
Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy Databases