San Joaquin County
Biographies
ORRIN GREEN LANGMAID
ORRIN GREEN LANGMAID,
ex-Chief of Police of Stockton, was born in Vermont, December 5, 1829, a son of
Solomon and Nancy (Green) Langmaid. The father, born February 17, 1795, a young
soldier in the war of 1812, afterward became a farmer, and is still living. The
mother died at about the age of forty years, leaving three sons and one
daughter, all living. Grandfather William Green lived to the age of seventy
years, and his wife was also well advanced in years when she died. The subject
of this sketch received a district-school education, and was brought up to farm
work on his father’s place. He left Boston in November, 1849, for California,
by way of Cape Horn, arriving in San Francisco, May 5, 1850. He proceeded by
way of Sacramento to the mines at Hangtown, and afterward mined in Tuolumne
County, following that pursuit about fifteen years. In 1866 he came to this
city and went to work for Ladd Brothers as a teamster to the mines, chiefly on
the Mariposa route, continuing in that line of work about six years. In 1872 he
was elected constable for this city, serving in that capacity until he was
elected Chief of Police in 1878. He was twice re-elected to that position, and
after an interval of five years was again re-elected in November, 1887, for the
term beginning January 1, 1888. By the adoption of the new city charter in
June, 1889, his services as chief of police terminated. Since then he has
filled the peculiar position of “watchman of Chinatown,” being a quasi-official
guardian of the Chinese. He filled the same position at intervals between his
two periods of service as chief of police.
Mr. O. G. Langmaid was married in Stockton
May 7, 1873, to Miss Leonora Mallard, who was born in Iowa, February 27, 1855,
a daughter of Fayette and Catherine (Osborn) Mallard. The family came to
California, across the plains, in 1863. The father, born in Vermont in 1810,
died in this city in 1885; the mother, a native of New Jersey, is still living
here, at the age of sixty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Langmaid have five children:
Effie, born May 31, 1874; Birdie and Eddie, twins, born November 5, 1875;
Eureka, June 11, 1882; and Emily, March 29, 1889.
Mr. Langmaid is a charter member of
Stockton Lodge, No. 23, A. O. U. W.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Page 542. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago,
Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Genealogy Databases