San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOSEPH LESLIE RODGERS
Five and one-half miles east of the
town of Acampo is the ranch owned by Joseph Leslie Rodgers, consisting of
eighteen acres planted to vineyard interest with almond trees, which has been
brought to a high state of cultivation. He was born at Jenny Lind, Calaveras County,
California, on March 25, 1895, a son of Albert F. and Sarah (Jourdan) Rodgers.
Albert F. Rodgers is also a native of Jenny Lind, and was born on August
23, 1859, the son of Joseph A. and Margaret Ann (Milliken) Rodgers, both
natives of Holland. Grandfather Rodgers
came around the Horn to California in 1852, followed by Grandmother Rodgers two
years later. Albert F. Rodgers
pre-empted a quarter-section of land near Jenny Lind, which was sold in 1909;
then he purchased a twenty-seven-acre vineyard near Dougherty Station, which he
still owns and on which he resides a portion of the time. Albert F. Rodgers’ first marriage occurred in
the fall of 1884 and united him with Miss Lilly Dustin, who passed away two
years later. His second marriage
occurred in 1889, and united him with Miss Sarah Jourdan,
a native of Williamson County, Illinois, who came to California in 1887 with an
aunt and uncle. They were the parents of
four children: Bethel, deceased; Emile;
Joseph Leslie, our subject; and Ross, deceased.
Joseph Leslie Rodgers began his
education in the schools of Jenny Lind and finished at the Lodi high
school. After leaving school he
accompanied his aunt to Illinois where he remained over two years working in
the coal mines at Johnson City, Williamson County, doing all kinds of work,
from driving mules to digging coal; he then returned to California and went to
work for the Earl Fruit Company and since that time has been employed by a
number of fruit companies on the coast.
The marriage of Mr. Rodgers occurred
on February 14, 1917, and united him with Miss Erma Mae Smith, born in San
Francisco, a daughter of Henry H. and Anna R. Smith. Miss Smith was taken by her parents to Nevada
when a small child and the family remained there for six years; then they
returned to California and were in Sacramento for a time, then in Napa,
California, the daughter attending school in all the above cities. Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers had one child who died
in infancy. In 1919 Mr. Rodgers became
the owner of the beautiful vineyard interest with almond trees, which he
expects to graft to plums. Politically
he is a Republican and fraternally he is identified with the Eagles of
Lodi. The present residence of the
family is near Youngstown on the Acampo-Lockeford Highway.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1524. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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