San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN GRANT MAINLAND
A citizen well known as a grower of
flowers is John Grant Mainland, who has his nursery and greenhouses on Sargent
Road just west of the city limits of Lodi and his entire two acres are devoted
to the growing and propagation of flowers, from which he supplies his florist
business in Lodi and also supplies different florists in Stockton. His birth occurred in Kirkwall, Orkney
Islands, Scotland, on October 24, 1879 and he is a son of William and Isabelle
(Grant) Mainland, and the second oldest of five children. The father, William Mainland, was in the dry
goods business at Kirkwall until 1888, when he removed his family to Oakland,
California, where he is a dry goods merchant; the mother passed away at the age
of seventy years in Oakland.
Coming to California in 1888, John
G. Mainland received his education in the Garfield school at Oakland and at the
age of sixteen took up jewelry ornamentation work in San Francisco. He became a very efficient workman and
followed his trade with various firms until he established himself in business
on Geary Street, San Francisco, where he continued until 1919, when he located
in Lodi. His marriage occurred in 1908
at Oakland and united him with Miss Rachel Esther Dunn, a native of Rich Hill,
Missouri, a daughter of George and Fannie (Willbert)
Dunn. Mrs. Mainland comes of
Revolutionary stock, her great-great-grandfather, General John Matoon, taking part in that war. His portrait was painted at the same time
that Generals Washington and LaFayette were painted by the noted artist
Trumbull. George Dunn was a native of
Illinois and a carpenter by trade, who moved to Missouri, and there the mother
passed away. After the mother’s death,
the father moved to Lexington, Kentucky, and in that state, Mrs. Mainland
received her education and in 1908 came to Oakland, California. When Mr. Mainland removed to Lodi he
purchased two acres of land on Sargent Road for nursery purposes and thereon
built two greenhouses, and the entire acreage is devoted to nursery stock. Mr. and Mrs. Mainland are the parents of two
children, John Grant, Jr., and Isabelle.
Mr. Mainland believes in voting for the man best qualified for the
duties of the office regardless of strict party lines, and is public spirited
in all matters pertaining to community growth and progress.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1319-1320. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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