San
Joaquin County
Biographies
RALPH EMMETT MILLS
Well-known in connection with
agricultural interests, Ralph Emmett Mills makes his home at Lafayette Hall,
four and a half miles west of Lodi on the Sargent Road, where he owns twenty
acres, one-half of which is in vineyard and the other half in alfalfa. During his residence on this property he has
wrought a great transformation in its appearance, making it one of the highly
cultivated tracts in this portion of the county. He was born on the old Mills ranch south of
Woodbridge, April 23, 1880, a son of George A. and Mary (Bucher) Mills. The father was a native of Illinois. The grandparents, Freeman and Minerva (Grace)
Mills, natives of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, respectively, crossed the
plains to California in the early pioneer days.
He engaged in mining in Sierra County and was then in business in Colusa
County. In 1857 he located at
Woodbridge, on eighty acres of land, and later added another eighty acres,
which was thickly covered with timber.
He became an extensive grain farmer in that section and was also very
prominent in local politics and fraternal circles. When Ralph Emmett Mills was two years old,
his parents removed to San Luis Obispo County and located on a 320-acre grain
ranch near Paso Robles, which the father farmed to grain for twelve years; then
he moved back to the old home place at Woodbridge, where he spent his remaining
years. There were six children in the
family: Ralph Emmett, of this sketch;
Estella, Mrs. Knight, of Los Angeles; Claude, of Acampo; Ethel, Mrs. McCann, of
Stockton; Glennie, Mrs. Nelson, of Stockton; and Roy,
of Lodi. The father lived to be
sixty-five years old; the mother passing away at the age of fifty-two.
Ralph Emmett Mills received his education
in the public schools of San Luis Obispo County and was trained to the work of
the farm from early childhood. Returning
to Woodbridge when sixteen years old, he remained home until nineteen years of
age, and then began making his own way in the world, at first working on
ranches in different parts of San Joaquin County. He then rented the Don Ray ranch of 320 acres
at Acampo; this was a grain farm, and during the five years that Mr. Mills
leased it he set out eighty acres to vineyard, receiving forty-five acres of
the vineyard for developing it. At the
end of his lease he sold his portion and moved to Woodbridge, where he resided
for a few years. Then he purchased sixty
acres five miles west from Woodbridge.
Twenty acres of this place was in vineyard, and Mr. Mills planted thirty
acres more. Within two years’ time he
sold it, and then purchased his present place of twenty acres, one-half of
which is in vineyard and the other half in alfalfa.
The marriage of Mr. Mills occurred
on December 27, 1903, uniting him with Miss Inez Mayberry, born in San Joaquin
County, a daughter of Wiley W. and Joanna (Hunting) Mayberry, natives of
Pennsylvania and Iowa, respectively. Her
parents came across the plains to California with their respective parents while
they were yet young people. Subsequent
to their marriage, they settled in north San Joaquin County in the Telegraph
school district. Her parents are living
retired in Lodi. Mrs. Mills is one of
five children: Rena, Mrs. Henley, of
Lodi; Maude, Mrs. Elda Brown, of Lockeford; Edith, Mrs. George Harrison; Inez,
Mrs. Mills; and Donald. Mrs. Mills
received her education in the Telegraph district school. Mr. and Mrs. Mills are the parents of two
children: Mervin and Emmett. While Mr. Mills’ ranch is under the
Stockton-Mokelumne Irrigation District, he also has his own pumping plant,
which consists of a six-inch pump driven by a fifteen-horsepower motor, which
furnishes ample water for irrigation. In
politics he is a Republican; and fraternally he is a member of Lodi Camp of
Modern Woodmen of America.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1223. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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