San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM MORTENSON
Among the more recent agriculturists
of the Lodi section of San Joaquin County is William Mortenson, who permanently
settled in that portion of the county in 1912 and there purchased twelve acres,
which is devoted to the cultivation of grapes and berries. A native of Wisconsin, he was born in Racine
County on August 1, 1864 a son of James and Karen (Olsen) Mortenson, both parents natives of Denmark, and they were the parents of
twelve children: Mary, Hans, Anna and
William, Julius, Ella, Lena, John, Charles, Tilly, Henry and Ferdinand. When William was four years old his parents
removed to Minnesota, forty miles west of Mankato, and here the father bought a
quarter-section of land on the Sioux Indian Reservation. He passed away at the age of eighty-four and
the mother at the age of seventy-six.
William Mortenson remained at home
with the family until he was of age, then took up the
carpenter’s trade. Later he went to
Mount Angel, Oregon, where he established a sawmill
which had a capacity of 10,000 feet of lumber per day. He conducted this mill from 1889 until 1912,
when he sold out and came to Lodi where he purchased his present twelve-acre
ranch, about one mile south of Lodi on South Stockton Street. Six acres of this ranch is in vineyard and
the balance is devoted to the growing of the Cory thornless blackberry; Mr.
Mortenson has also built a fine residence on this ranch as well as fine farm
buildings.
The marriage of Mr. Mortenson
occurred at Oregon City, Oregon, on February 19, 1894 and united him with Miss
Margaret Jensen, a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, a daughter of Lars P. and
Mary Jensen. Her father came to the
United States when she was two years old, and settled in Freeborn County,
Minnesota, and there the daughter received her education in the public
schools. There were five children in the
family: George, Mrs. Margaret Mortenson,
Hazel, Emma and James. Mr. and Mrs.
Mortenson are the parents of three children:
Alberta, the wife of James R. Voris, of Los
Angeles, and the mother of three sons; Raymond and Florence. The family are
members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Lodi.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1610-1611. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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