San
Joaquin County
Biographies
GEORGE E. MINGES
In the history of agricultural
development of San Joaquin County mention should be made of George E. Minges,
whose business career has been crowned with a gratifying measure of success
that has been honorably won. He is a
native son of both California and San Joaquin County, where he was born April
22, 1864. His parents, John and Philipena (Leicht) Minges, were natives of Germany who immigrated to America
in 1849. When John Minges landed on the
Atlantic Coast, he made his way westward, crossing the plains to the Pacific
Coast, and first located in southern California, but in 1850 located in
Stockton, where he conducted a gunsmith shop.
He also conducted one of the first bakeries in Stockton and was likewise
proprietor of a hotel, and his name became closely identified with the
development and substantial upbuilding of the town. In 1859 he removed from Stockton to Atlanta,
where he remained for many years. He
also resided for several years on the west side of the San Joaquin River in
Stanislaus County, but subsequently returned to Stockton, where his last years
were passed, an esteemed and honored pioneer of the
county. His death occurred November 23,
1893. He was a Republican in politics
and his religious faith was that of the German Methodist Episcopal Church. Nine children were born to this worthy
pioneer couple of whom George E. Minges is the youngest.
George E. Minges was reared to man’s
estate in San Joaquin County, and acquired his early education in the public
schools near his home. Later he attended
the San Joaquin Valley College, at Woodbridge, California, and there, on the
completion of a course in the business department, he was graduated. Early in life he became familiar with all the
duties and labors attendant on the life of an agriculturist, for he assisted in
the farm work of the old family homestead.
Throughout the greater part of his life he has followed farming and
stockraising, and in buying and selling stock he has realized a handsome competence. For several years he has taken a very active
interest in the matter of irrigation throughout the county, and is recognized
as among the most prominent advocates in its behalf. He labors untiringly to secure the adoption
of irrigation methods in the district, realizing the value thereof in promoting
agricultural interests. His former
extensive holdings of 1,120 acres are nearly all under irrigation and his
fields are now extremely productive. In
all of his farming methods he has been progressive, and so gained a very
desirable measure of prosperity.
On November 24, 1887, Mr. Minges was
married to Miss Birdie Williams, of Woodbridge, California, a daughter of
Richard W. and Amanda (Irelan) Williams, early
settlers of San Joaquin County. They are
the parents of eight children: Georgia
Avis, deceased; Eva May, Mrs. Cary Nicewonger, has
four children and resides at Palo Alto; Beulah, Mrs. Bernard Grogan, has three
children and resides at Atlanta, California; George W., resides at Orange Cove,
California. He served in the World War
as a machine gunner in Company B, Thirty-ninth Infantry, Fourth Division A. E.
F., and was honorably discharged August 18, 1919; Leslie A. is a rancher at
home; Walter is also a rancher on the home place; Leland and John Richard. The family is prominent in social circles and
the Minges household is noted for its generous hospitality. For a number of years Mr. Minges served as a
trustee of the Castle School District and for a portion of the time was clerk
of the school board. Mr. Minges and his
wife are members of the Atlanta Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has
served as steward, and his wife as president of the Aid Society; she is also a
member of the W. C. T. U. and the Y. W. C. A. and both are interested in the local
farm bureau. In October, 1922, Mr.
Minges traded his ranch for improved property in Stockton, where they now
reside.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
964. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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