San
Joaquin County
Biographies
THOMAS LANE
A representative ranchman of San
Joaquin County, prominent among the most successful stockmen in California, is
Thomas Lane, a native son proud of his association with the Golden State, who
was born near Kelseyville, Lake County, on October 8, 1875, the son of William
and Anna (Rich) Lane, the former a native of England, who had the hardihood to
come to California as a forty-niner, first going into the mines in Nevada
County. He later came into Lake County
and took up government land, acquiring 160 acres, which he used for the raising
of stock. It thus happened that, under
the careful guidance of his father, our subject thoroughly learned the stock
business, while and after attending the Lake County schools.
When Thomas was fourteen years of
age, his father removed to Amador County, where he bought a quarter-section of
land; and Thomas finished his schooling at Ione. The lad remained at home with his parents
until they passed away, both at Ione, and both at the age of sixty-two, and
then he went to work for Charles Swift, who was the largest rancher on Dry
Creek, having some land in San Joaquin County, and some in Sacramento
County. There he remained for seventeen
years; and when he left the Swift service, he was the head man on the
rancho. Mr. Swift raised grain, stock,
mules, etc., all extensively; and during this time, Thomas Lane learned the
butcher’s trade, and for a couple of years he was government instructor at the
Preston School.
He then settled at Clements, leasing
the ranch of sixty-three acres owned by George Chrisman, and he also farmed the
Gillies Ranch, due east of Clements. In addition, for a number of years, he
cultivated over 100 acres of vineyard, although at the present time he has only
twenty-five acres of vineyard, leased from Gillies,
the vineyard lying at the edge of Clements on the east. Just now, Mr. Lane has leased 150 acres of
land near Clements of Mr. Magee, and he has a pasture and range land of 800
acres leased near Comanche. He engages
in the stock business, and runs about 100 head of cattle in Calaveras
County. Three years ago, he bought
twenty-four acres, due east of Clements, and put down a well 514 feet deep, and
lately his pump tested out to throw 1,200 gallons a minute for irrigation
purposes. This is the first deep well
ever sunk with success in the Athearn district. He has built a barn on this ranch, and as
soon as possible he intends to erect there a commodious, comfortable and
attractive home. His pump, by the way,
is driven with electricity, and this is only one of many modern appliances of
this up-to-date ranch.
At Sacramento on January 16, 1904,
Mr. Lane was married to Miss Anna Hodges, a native of Santa Cruz, California,
and the daughter of J. S. and Helen E. (Hackett) Hodges. Mr. Hodges was born in Franklin County,
Missouri, on September 15, 1850, the son of Daniel and Frances Marian (Vance)
Hodges, who set out for California with the old-time ox-team. Mrs. Hodges died of cholera on the way in
1852, breathing her last along the River Platte. Not less than sixty-five of the train
perished en route. This train consisted
of about seventy-five wagons, and six months were required for the emigrants to
cross the Great Plains. At first Daniel
Hodges settled for awhile on the Calaveras River, and then went to Ventura
County, later removing to Mariposa County, and there he engaged in quartz
mining for four or five years. He then
went to Volcano, in Amador County, and mined for one year. Quitting the mines, he went to Santa Cruz,
where he farmed for awhile. Later, he
went north to Jackson County, Oregon, and for twenty years farmed there, dying
at the ripe old age of seventy-six. Mrs.
Lane’s father had left home when he was ten years old, and did not go on to
Oregon, remaining in California instead, and going to work on ranches. Later he moved to Paso de Robles, and there
took up cattle raising; he had about 150 head of
cattle, and continued in that locality and field of industry about twelve
years. When he sold out, he went into
Santa Cruz County and conducted a dairy of thirty head of cows for five years,
just three miles out of Santa Cruz City.
He next came to Clements, and he has since lived here. Mrs. Lane’s mother, Helen E. Hackett, was a
daughter of George and Martha Hackett.
She was born in Ohio, and came out to California via the Isthmus route
in the sixties, and in California, in 1875 she was married. Four children were granted this worthy
couple. Anna L. is Mrs. Lane; Samuel
Percy is in Oregon; George Francis is in Clements; and Edwin Putnam is in
Sacramento. Mrs. Lane attended the Athearn School in Clements.
Mr. Lane is also a breeder of Percheron draft horses; and he was also once in the grain,
stock and timber business. When he
started to work for Mr. Swift, he drove a sixteen-horse team from Stockton to
the mountains, hauling general provisions, and he worked for seventy-five cents
a day, and for long hours, in the beginning.
He also teamed through Placerville, Sonora, and elsewhere, and saw much
of the interesting life there in those days.
Two children, Eldred and Kenneth, now listen to his tales. He has no party affiliations, but keeps
himself free and independent in political activity. He belongs to no lodge, and is content to
apply the Golden Rule whenever he can in his dealings with his fellow men. San Joaquin County may well be proud of such
substantial citizens as Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lane.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1538-1539. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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