San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOSEPH F. MERRILL
Among the younger generation of
ranchers in San Joaquin County is Joseph F. Merrill, a native son, who is a
prosperous and enterprising agriculturist and vineyardist
residing about three miles southeast of Lodi on Harney Lane. He was born at Lodi, California, on January
11, 1895, a son of Eugene and Anna Virginia (Whitaker) Merrill, the former a
native of New York and the latter of California. The father came to California in an early day
and was a building contractor and farmer and built many homes in Lodi and
vicinity. The mother is the daughter of
F. M. and M. J. Whitaker, natives of Kentucky and Arkansas, respectively. Grandmother Whitaker came to California with
her parents in 1861, and they purchased a home in San Joaquin County. In 1865 Grandmother Whitaker purchased
property and in order to obtain a clear title had to pay for it twice. Grandfather Whitaker came to California in
1854 and was a blacksmith by occupation, but followed
farming later in life. He passed away in
1876 at the age of forty-four years.
Mrs. and Mrs. Eugene Merrill had four children: Mamie Adaline, Mrs.
C. C. Wright of Chowchilla; Nellie, Mrs. Howard Gillespie; Henry F. of Lodi and
Joseph F. The mother inherited fifty
acres of the old Whitaker homestead and from time to time portions have been
sold off until she now owns twenty acres, which her son Joseph leases and on
which he resides.
Joseph F. Merrill received his
education in the Live Oak and Alpine district schools of San Joaquin County and
became well versed in agricultural pursuits in his youth. On September 1, 1917, he entered the U. S.
Army and was sent to Camp Lewis in the 363rd Infantry, where he
trained for one year; then was transferred to Camp Fremont and while there was
taken ill and placed in a casual camp of convalescent soldiers, where he
remained for six months and was then discharged November 30, 1918.
At Stockton on October 7, 1919, Mr.
Merrill was married to Miss Florence Margaret Bucknell,
also a native of California, a daughter of Frank and Georgia Bucknell, both natives of the Golden State whose families
were early pioneers. Mr. and Mrs.
Merrill are the parents of three children:
Margaret Virginia, Joseph Eugene, and Helen Elaine. Mr. Merrill owns ten acres on Harney Lane
near where he resides, two acres of which is in peaches and almonds and five
acres in young vines, and it is Mr. Merrill’s intention to build a modern house
on this place. He is a Republican in
politics and a member of the American Legion of Lodi.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1551-1552. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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