San
Joaquin County
Biographies
FRED J. McKAIN
Coming to Stockton with his parents
when but four years of age, Fred J. McKain has spent practically his entire
life in this city, and he is well known in business circles as assistant
manager of the Simpson-Gray Lumber Company, a position he is most capably
filling. He was born at Rising Sun,
Indiana, June 17, 1871, of the union of James and Maria Rebecca (James) McKain,
who were also natives of the Hoosier State, and both are now deceased. In 1851 the father came to California via
Panama, locating at Stockton, where for a time he followed the plasterer’s
trade and then returned to the east, but in 1874 he again took up his residence
in Stockton. Mr. and Mrs. McKain became
the parents of six children, four of whom grew up. Edward was a banker in Merced for twenty-five
years, then became a merchant in Berkeley, where he
died at the age of fifty-five years; Kate, Mrs. W. R. Stone, resides in Stockton;
Reuben died in Stockton, still a young man, and Fred J. is our subject.
Fred McKain attended school in
Stockton till the age of eighteen years, when he started out in the world on
his own account. He entered the Government
mail service as letter carrier, filling that position for two years, and was
general delivery clerk for one year. On
resigning that position he became connected with the Stockton Ice and Fuel
Company, with which he remained for six months, and on October 2, 1892, entered
the employ of the Stockton Lumber Company, conducted by Joseph Fife, and for
ten years was with the concern during which period he gained a thorough
knowledge of the lumber business. He
next joined the Scott-Van Arsdale Lumber Company,
which was later purchased by the McCloud Lumber Company, and his identification
with those two firms covered five years.
On the expiration of that period, in association with W. F. Barnickol, F. L. Balkwill, Walter
Vincent and R. A. Bacheller, he organized the
Sterling Iron Works, but sold his interest in that undertaking in 1910 and
became a clerk in the county treasurer’s office under W. C. Neumiller, where he
continued until January, 1913, when he was made assistant manager of the
Simpson-Gray Lumber Company. He brought
to the office broad experience, a comprehensive knowledge of the lumber
industry and marked capability and is doing all in his power to promote the
success of the enterprise. He has great
faith in the future of his city and has made judicious investments in real estate.
Mr. McKain was married in Stockton
to Miss Susie Plummer, who was born in Woodbridge, San Joaquin County. She acquired her education in the San Joaquin
Valley College at Woodbridge and is a member of one of the pioneer families of
this part of the state. Mr. McKain is
prominent in club and fraternal circles, belonging to the Rotary Club and to
the Hoos-Hoos, the latter organization being composed of lumbermen. He is a Mason in high standing and is a
member of San Joaquin lodge, No. 19, F. & A. M., of which he is a past
master; is a member of Stockton chapter, No. 82, R. A. M.; Stockton Commandery,
No. 8, K. T., of which he is past commander; is also a Scottish Rite Mason and
belongs to Aahmes Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. of Oakland. He also belongs to Stockton lodge, No. 11, I.
O. O. F., of which he is past grand, and to Stockton lodge, No. 218, B. P. O.
E.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1168. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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