San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JAMES M. PRENTICE
The youngest packing house manager
in San Joaquin County at the time of his appointment, when but twenty-seven
years old, James M. Prentice, nevertheless made a splendid success from the start
and is now a leader in the fruit packing and shipping business of the
county. Stockton was Mr. Prentice’s
birthplace, the date of his birth being June 4, 1890; and his boyhood days were
spent in the Weber, Jackson, Fair Oaks and Lafayette schools. He continued his education at the Lodi union
high school, graduating from that institution.
He then entered the employ of the Wells Fargo Express Company, and later
of the Biggs Fruit Company, in Lodi.
After two years with them, he entered St. Mary’s College at Oakland for
a three-year commercial course, being graduated in 1916. While there he was very prominent in
athletics, making the baseball, basketball and football teams the first year.
Coming to Lodi immediately after his
graduation, Mr. Prentice entered the employ of the Biggs Fruit Company as
office manager. In 1918 when the T. H.
Peppers Company entered the packing field in San Joaquin County, Mr. Prentice,
although young in years, was selected for the position of district agent,
covering all of San Joaquin County.
Ambitious and energetic, he was successful from the beginning, shipping
160 cars the first year, 660 cars the second year, and 1230 cars in 1920,
leading all the packers in the county; and unstinted credit is due Mr. Prentice
for this output. This company owned 360
acres of vineyards in San Joaquin County, and operated 900 acres on lease,
having ten packing houses in the county.
In 1920 they shipped 25,000 tons of Tokay and wine grapes, their
business extending all over California.
In 1921 the T. H. Peppers Company was absorbed by the American Fruit
Growers, Inc., and Mr. Prentice was continued in charge. In 1916 Mr. Prentice was married to Miss Delma Wakefield, a native daughter of San Joaquin County,
whose father, J. W. Wakefield, was a pioneer farmer at Youngstown, in this
county. Besides his responsible
managerial position, Mr. Prentice is extensively interested in viticulture,
having some very valuable properties. He
is the owner of a sixty-acre vineyard at Youngstown, known as the Titus ranch,
and a twenty-acre vineyard at Victor, a part of the Green ranch. Both are highly improved to Zinfandel and
Tokay grapes, and are in full bearing, averaging six tons to the acre in
1920. Numbered among the most
progressive young men in the district, Mr. Prentice is a member of the Eagles
at Lodi and the Elks of Stockton, as well as the Lions Club at Lodi.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1088-1091. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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