San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN M. PERRY
A worthy representative of a pioneer
family is found in John M. Perry, and his prominence in financial circles and
civic affairs have placed him in the front rank of the most substantial and
dependable of Stockton’s citizens. He
was born in Stockton, San Joaquin County, December 14, 1872, a son of George
and Susannah (Nightingale) Perry, the former a native of New York and the
latter of Pennsylvania. George Perry
came to California as early as 1852 across the plains in an ox-team train and
engaged in hauling supplies to the mines with Stockton as headquarters; later
he engaged in the real estate and insurance business and served his community
as constable in those early pioneer days.
Fraternally he belonged to the Red Men of Stockton. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Perry: Sarah Elizabeth and George Edward
are deceased; John M., our subject, is the third oldest; Frank died at four
years of age; Walter A. and Mrs. Stella Washington also reside
in Stockton. George Perry died in 1881,
his widow surviving him until 1906.
John M. attended the grammar and
high schools of Stockton and while a young lad of twelve years he began working
before and after school and vacations for William P. Miller, a carriage
manufacturer, assisting in the office until he completed school, and then he
entered the employ of the Monarch Publishing Company as bookkeeper and clerk,
where he remained for four years. In
1894 he was employed by the union Transportation Company, who were operating
daily steamers between Stockton and Francisco, as assistant to the president,
and two years later was elected secretary of the company. During the time of his service with this
company, there was a rate war on between the rival steamboat companies, and
passengers were carried to San Francisco for ten cents and freight rates were
correspondingly low. Mr.
Perry worked early and late, his service covering a period of eight years;
years of hard, conscientious work.
In 1903 he formed a partnership with
G. S. Melone, under the firm name of Melone & Perry, in a grain and
warehouse business. As early as 1900 Mr.
Perry became interested in farming in the San Joaquin Delta and since that time
has been instrumental in the first cultivation of many thousands of acres of
virgin soil. He has been extensively
engaged in raising beans, onions, potatoes, asparagus and other vegetables, as
well as grain, at times cultivating as many as 3,500 acres in a season. This extensive farming is accomplished not
only on his own land, but on leased properties.
He is also interested in viticulture and as early as 1906 he purchased a
tract of raw land near Woodbridge, which he planted to vineyard and almonds,
which he operated and had the pleasure of seeing develop into one of the finest
vineyards in this section. In 1918 he
disposed of this property. Mr. Perry’s
close connection with the agricultural interests of the county has enabled him
to become an authority on land valuations, soil productiveness, irrigation
problems, as well as the marketing of the farm products. He is a member of the San Joaquin Farm
Bureau; and since 1911 has been a director of the State Board of Agriculture
and during the years of 1915-16-17 served as president of that body, which made
him an ex-officio member of the Board of Regents of the University of
California. In 1907, Mr. Perry was
elected a director of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce and two years later was
elected its president and served two terms.
This was the time of the bond issue for the improvement of the country
roads, when many miles of paved roads were built in the county. He was the first president of the City
Planning Commission, serving efficiently until his resignation in the summer of
1921.
The marriage of Mr. Perry, in
Stockton, united him with Miss Jennie E. Hogan, a native of Lodi, a daughter of
George Hogan, an early settler and farmer of the county. Mr. Perry is connected with a number of the
fraternal orders of Stockton, among them being San Joaquin Lodge No. 19, F.
& A. M.; Stockton Chapter No. 29, R. A. M.; Stockton Commandery No. 8, K.
T.; Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco, and of the Sciots; he is
a past noble grand of Stockton Lodge No. 11, I. O. O. F.; past president of the
Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W. He is
a member of three social orders, the Yosemite Club, the Stockton Golf and
Country Club and the Olympic Club of San Francisco. He is a director in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin chain of banks and a member of the advisory board of the Stockton
branch of same, and he was formerly vice-president of the Farmers &
Merchants Bank and one of the founders and president of the Morris Plan Bank
since its organization. During the late
war he was a member of the advisory board under Ralph P. Merritt, food
administrator for California; was on the executive committee for all Liberty
Loan drives in the county and was county director of War Savings Stamps all
through the war, and a member of the State Council of Defense. He is a Republican.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
751-752. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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