San
Joaquin County
Biographies
FREDERICK WILLIAM OTT
Among the upbuilders of San Joaquin
County who have been most prominent in the promotion of its interests and in
its development is numbered Fred W. Ott.
He has for a long period of time been recognized as a forceful and
honored factor in agricultural and business circles of this portion of
California. His connection with the
public interests of San Joaquin County has been far-reaching and beneficial,
and he is now serving his fifth year as deputy county assessor of the Island
district. A native of San Joaquin
County, he was born on the Ott homestead seven miles southwest of Stockton on
June 23, 1879, the only son of Martin Ott, a native of Germany who came to
America with his parents when he was six years old and grew up in New York
City. He worked in a large department
store in New York City until 1868, when he came to California. Here he obtained work in the southern mines,
working for a period of nine years. He
accumulated a good fortune in the mines and, on his removal to San Francisco,
met C. A. Bachman, who owned a large ranch in this county. Martin Ott purchased 300 acres of rich bottom
land for three dollars per acre in 1869 and the same year took up his residence
on the property. In 1875 he made a visit
back home to Germany, where he married Marie Wille, a
native of Wurttemberg. Mr. and Mrs. Ott
sailed for America soon after marriage, Mrs. Ott being but seventeen years
old. They settled in San Joaquin County. Martin Ott passed away February 8, 1897. The mother resides at her home, 127 W. Willow
Street, Stockton.
Fred W. Ott attended the public
schools at French Camp and finished in 1893; then for five years he was
employed on his father’s ranch. He then
entered the Western School of Commerce at Stockton, from which he was
graduated. After his father’s death he
returned to the ranch. With the
exception of two years spent as proprietor of the Bogue
& Ott grocery store at Stockton and fourteen
months with the Stockton Railroad Company, Mr. Ott has been occupied with
farming pursuits.
Mr. Ott’s
marriage occurred February 15, 1905, which united him with Miss Myrtle Frances
Scott, born near Danforth, Maine. Her
father, Frank Scott, was a descendant of an English family who had settled in
Maine; while her mother, Julia Ann (Preston) Scott, was the daughter of a
prominent Southern family. Mrs. Ott came
to California with her parents when she was two years old and was reared and
educated in Mariposa County and attended the Western School of Commerce at
Stockton, pursuing the normal course.
For five years before her marriage she taught in the public schools of
Mariposa County. He mother passed away
in 1903, her father surviving until 1913.
Mr. and Mrs. Ott are the parents of six children: Martin F., Thelma M., Anna Julia, Allen F.,
Barbara M., and Frederick William, Jr.
Mr. Ott cultivates 200 acres to grain.
He has always been active in farm circles and is a member of the Farm
Bureau of his locality; he is also serving as school trustee of French Camp
district and has proved to be a most capable official. There has been nothing sensational in his
life record, but his entire career has been marked by steady progress that has
resulted from diligence and perseverance.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1490-1491. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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