San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN DUNCAN McDOUGALD
A man of affairs who aided
materially in the development of the natural resources of San Joaquin County
was the late John Duncan McDougald, who was born in Ontario, Canada, and descended
from an old and prominent family of Scotland.
His boyhood was spent on the Canadian farm, where he learned the habits
of industry and good management that stood him in such good stead after his
arrival in this great fertile valley, where in his optimism he grasped the
great opportunity offered to men who applied themselves energetically to the
task of producing. In his native place
he received a good education in the local schools, but he was not content to
remain within the narrow confines of the rigorous east, so decided to migrate
to California to investigate the opportunities offered in the new country of
which he had read such glowing accounts, so he came hither and was an early
settler of the San Joaquin Valley, his place of location being near the city of
Stockton, where he became a very successful rancher. Aside from becoming a large landowner he did
much work in the early days as a contractor, being well qualified in this line,
the Modesto Irrigation District being one of the large contracts he
handled. He was a very active and
enterprising man and could always be counted upon to give his aid and influence
to all matters that had for their aim the development and building up of this
locality.
The marriage of Mr. McDougald, which
occurred in Stockton, united him with Miss Caroline Moss, a daughter of Capt.
William S. Moss, a pioneer of California who became a large landowner in San
Joaquin County and who was the founder of the San Francisco Examiner, his
biography appearing on another page of this history. The union of Mr. and Mrs. McDougald was
blessed with the birth of a daughter, Carolyn, who is the wife of Paul E.
Weston of Stockton. Mr. McDougald was
not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his labors to the fullest for he was
called by death, November 17, 1898, and when he passed away, the city of
Stockton and San Joaquin County lost one of its most loved and honored
citizens. He was a popular member of the
Odd Fellows and the Elks.
Since her husband’s death Mrs.
McDougald has continued to reside in Stockton where she has a comfortable
residence at the corner of North and Center streets, the lawn and gardens being
beautified with many trees and shrubs, among them several majestic oaks,
splendid symmetrical specimens which lend an artistic setting to the
residence. From her home she looks after
large interests left by her husband as well as those she inherited from the
estate of her father, the late Capt. William S. Moss. She is deeply interested in horticulture and
is also a lover of fine stock and enjoys the great outdoors. Like her husband, she is very enterprising
and progressive and is keenly desirous of doing all she can to help build up
this fertile section of the garden spot of the world.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
771-772. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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