San
Joaquin County
Biographies
LEON JAMES LUCAS
For the past thirty-nine years Leon
James Lucas has resided on his home ranch west of Woodbridge on the Thornton
Road. He is a fine example of the
enterprising man who came to this state and centered his activity in one
locality, and by industry and the best of business management built up a solid
and permanent success. He is a native of
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, born on June 25, 1859, a son of Isaac and Sarah (Phillips)
Lucas, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively.
Grandfather Adam Lucas was born in Germany. With his wife he immigrated to America and
located in Pennsylvania, later removing to Johnsville near Mansfield, Richland
County, Ohio, where he followed farming until his death.
Grandfather Thomas Phillips was born
in Vermont, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. He became a farmer in Ohio, and it was there
that his daughter Sarah was reared and educated. She was a woman of much amiability and native
charm.
Isaac Lucas followed farming in
Ohio. In 1852 he moved to Iowa, locating
on a farm near Cedar Rapids and continued husbandry there for ten years. It was during his residence there that Leon
James was born. In 1862 Mr. Lucas, with
his family, moved back to Richland County, Ohio, and there he was a farmer
until his death. Eleven children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Lucas: Darius, of
Cleveland, Ohio; Upton, in Richland County, Ohio; William and Allen, deceased;
Leon James, our subject, and his twin sister, Leah Jane, who passed away when
six months old; Jerome, deceased; Thomas, of Richland County, Ohio; Mrs. Emma
Rinehart, of Morrow County, Ohio; Mrs. Roby Snyder, and Laura, both deceased.
Leon J. Lucas received his education
in the public schools of Richland County, Ohio.
He was an adept pupil and good student, so that when eighteen years old
he had already received a certificate to teach school. He taught school in that county for two
years, and then resolved to come west and cast in his lot with California. In 1883 he came to San Joaquin County, where
he engaged in farming.
On September 5, 1888, on the Richard
Woods ranch west of Woodbridge, Mr. Lucas was married to Miss Carrie L. Woods,
a native daughter of San Joaquin County and a daughter of Richard and Mary Ann
(Durbin) Woods, born in Virginia and West Virginia, respectively. Grandfather Thomas Woods was a planter in
Virginia. After their marriage in West
Virginia, Mr. and Mrs. Woods removed to Lisbon, Iowa, where they farmed until
1863, when they crossed the plains in an ox-team train of about forty wagons,
the journey occupying from May until November.
They had considerable trouble with the Indians, who seemed intent on
getting their stock. At various times,
while passing through the Snake River country, when they were corralled at
night, the Indians would surround them.
The train arranged their wagons in a circle, in frontier style, and dug
a large hole in the center for protection to the women and children. One night Richard Woods was wounded in the
leg; but it was only a flesh wound, so they were not delayed. It was by surrendering some of the stock that
they finally got through that section, and they were all glad when they arrived
in California. Mr. Woods located in
northern San Joaquin County, then covered with brush
and live oak. He purchased 160 acres of
land, cleared and improved it, and then farmed until he retired. His wife died in 1903, aged seventy-three,
after which he made his home with Mr. and Mrs. Lucas until his death in 1913,
aged ninety years and six months. They
had ten children. The first baby, named
John, died in West Virginia. The others
were Mrs. Barbara Sollinger, of Lodi; Mrs. Addie
Perrott, deceased; George A., in Alaska; William A., living in Lodi; Achsa, now Mrs. Hughes of Sacramento; Carrie L.; Mrs.
Lucas; Charles R., deceased; James A., of Walnut Grove; and Melvin O., living
in Stockton.
After his marriage, Mr. Lucas
followed grain farming until 1894, when he began orcharding
and raising fruits. In 1903 he purchased
his present place of ten acres on the Thornton Road, one mile west of
Woodbridge, which he set out to grapes, and which is today a splendid
full-bearing vineyard. He made all the
other improvements, including residence and farm buildings, and set out the
ornamental trees and small orchard. It
is a sightly place and a comfortable home.
Mr. and Mrs. Lucas have four
children: Roby, wife of R. N. Welsh, a
rancher, in this county; Erma, the wife of Ray L. Allen, a civil engineer in
Sacramento; Mrs. John A. Roseberry, wife of a rancher at Lodi; and Richard, a
rancher at Acampo. Mr. and Mrs. Lucas
have nine grandchildren.
Mrs. Lucas is a member of the
Woman’s Improvement Club of Lodi; the White Apron Club at Lafayette; and the W.
R. C. in Lodi, of which she served as treasurer. She is also a member of the W. C. T. U., and
is a strong Prohibitionist. In politics,
Mr. Lucas is a Republican, and in voting with his party he takes a good
citizen’s interest in all public affairs.
He and his wife are members of the United Brethren Church at Stockton.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
840-843. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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