San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN W. MONTGOMERY
A progressive rancher of the type
that always profits from experience is John W. Montgomery, the owner and
proprietor of a grain warehouse in Lockeford.
A native Californian, he was born near Lockeford on October 26, 1856, a
son of Chandler R. and Olive (Whitmore) Montgomery, the father a native of
Rocklin and the mother of Camden, Maine.
Chandler R. Montgomery came to California in 1850 and for awhile he
mined at Placerville; later he engaged in teaming between Sacramento and
Placerville. For a short time he was at
Mokelumne Hill and in 1852 came to a point on the river where he preempted a
quarter section of land east of what is now Lockeford, where he engaged in
grain and stockraising. From time to
time he bought preemptions from several men until he had acquired some 1,400
acres and engaged in raising grain on a large scale. Of their family of thirteen children the
following are now living: John W.; Mrs.
Alice E. Barber of Deer Isle, Maine; Winifred S.; Olive; Chandler R., of
Lockeford; Florence, Mrs. W. E. Taggert; Elizabeth, a
teacher; and Mrs. Carrie Earle of Los Angeles.
John W. Montgomery, the eldest of
the family, attended the grammar school in Lockeford, then took a business
course at Stockton, after which he engaged in ranching, having acquired 330
acres of land to which he added from time to time until he came to own 400
acres on which he was engaged in raising grain for many years. He still owns 275 acres of this ranch.
The marriage of Mr. Montgomery on
May 15, 1884, occurred at Atlanta and united him with Miss Rosa M. Minges, born near Atlanta, a daughter of John and Phillipina (Leicht) Minges, the former a ‘49er and a well-known man in the
early days in San Joaquin County. Three
children were born of this union: John
M. graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in electrical
engineering and won high ranks as lieutenant-colonel of the Cadets and was
captain of the rifle team, winning the gold medal in 1907, and the silver medal
in 1908, for individual shooting. His
team frequently was pitted against opponents and easily won their share of
medals for marksmanship. He died
December 31, 1908, at the age of twenty-four.
Olive P., graduated from the University of California and taught school
in Contra Costa, Yolo and Modoc counties until her marriage to Robert L. Cooke,
now a teacher of the science of radio in the Merced high school. Lester M. is the youngest and after finishing
his schooling selected ranching as his field of opportunity and is now meeting
with success in his operations near Lockewood.
For many years John W. Montgomery has conducted a large grain warehouse
at Lockeford, which is equipped with modern machinery for handling grain and he
also has a small rolling mill with which he crushes feed for the local ranchers. In his political affiliations he is a
Republican and fraternally is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at
Stockton.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
877. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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