San Joaquin County
Biographies
GEORGE L. MOSHER
GEORGE L. MOSHER, one of our
most substantial citizens, is a native of Oswego County, New York, where he was
born August 18, 1841. When he was eight years of age he was left an orphan. His
father, Lemuel Mosher, died of cholera on the Erie
Canal, he being the owner of two boats that plied there. He was a young man at
the time of his death, being about thirty-eight years of age, and was the head
of a family of nine children, six of whom are now living. Our subject spent
some time in New York after that, then went to Kane County, Illinois, where he
remained up to 1857, when he fell in with a friend, who, seeing his industrious
habits, advised him to go to California, offering to advance the money to pay
expenses. This, however, Mr. Mosher refused, saying
that he might die in the land of gold and then his would be benefactor would be
deprived of his money. He continued at his work, and finally had enough to pay
his way. He sailed from New York in November, coming by way of Panama, and
landing in San Francisco, proceeded direct to
Stockton. There he arrived sometime in December, 1857, $9 in debt. He went
north on the Mokelumne river, and commenced chopping
wood for McMullen & Beckworth, continuing till
about the middle of May, and, to cap the climax, was swindled out of his wages.
This was rather a hard experience for a young man in a new country. He then
hired out to Trahern & McMullen, his work being
to handle and brand cattle; his employers at that time were the largest cattle
dealers in the country. After that he turned his attention to farming, working
by the month. In the fall of 1859 (?) he purchased 131 acres of land, six and a
half miles from Stockton, and worked the place awhile during the summer months.
Next he turned his attention to teaming, carrying freight to almost all the
little mining towns in this vicinity. In the spring of 1862 he made his first
trip with freight to Virginia City, Nevada, and continued going there in the
summer months for six years steadily. He had to encounter many hardships, but
succeeded in making money at it. During this time his farm work was being
carried on by hired men. When he found that there was no longer any money in
the teaming business he gave it up, and since then has given his attention
entirely to farming. In 1870 he purchased another tract of land, containing 240
acres, adjoining the land he already owned, making 371 acres in all. The ranch
is situated on the Cherokee Lane road, and is devoted to grain-raising
principally and to stock-raising. It is one of the best improved places in the
county. His residence, a view of which appears in this volume, was erected in
1886, and in point of architectural beauty is one of the finest places in the
county and a very valuable piece of property. Mr. Mosher’s success in business
has been a noted fact among our people, and can be attributed to his good
judgment and business tact. He was married in December, 1866, to Ella Warner, a
native of New York, who lived but seven months after her marriage. Mr. Mosher
was again married in the spring of 1870, while on a visit to New York, to
Martha Clock, a native of Oswego. They have a family of two children, a son and
a daughter.
Mr. Mosher is a member of Truth Lodge, No. 55, I. O. O. F., of Stockton, which he joined when it was first instituted, December 18, 1884. He is a man of broad ideas, and has, by the intelligent direction of his labor, made himself independent. He is one of the best types of the hospitable Californian, and was one of the foremost in entertaining the visiting teachers when the National Educational Association held its meeting in California. When his beautiful and spacious residence was finished, he gave one of the most notable house-warmings that has ever occurred in the history of San Joaquin County.
It occupied two evenings, on one of which
his friends from the country were received and royally entertained. On the
other evening 150 leading city people, mostly from Stockton, enjoyed themselves
in the handsome residence and about its beautiful grounds, and sat down to a
feast prepared in their honor by the host and hostess.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 425-426. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
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