San
Joaquin County
Biographies
FRANCIS H. SAUNDERS, D. V. M.
A young man of energy and
enterprise, who has made a place for himself in the professional circles of
Stockton, is Francis H. Saunders, D. V. M., who is conducting a hospital at 336
East Lafayette Street with pronounced success.
He was born on his father’s ranch on Roberts Island, San Joaquin County,
California, June 3, 1897, a son of Ira E. and Elizabeth (Watson) Saunders,
natives of Rhode Island and California, respectively.
Ira Saunders was born at Central
Falls, Rhode Island, in 1848, his parents being Moses and Eliza (Sprague)
Saunders, also natives of that state, and in the maternal line Ira Saunders was
of Scotch descent. In the year 1851,
Moses Saunders, the grandfather of our subject, came to California via
Panama. He engaged in gold mining in
Calaveras County, where he died in 1877.
In 1857 when a mere boy, Ira Saunders came with his mother and other
members of the family to California, also via Panama; they made their way
direct to Calaveras County where they joined the husband and father. There Ira grew to manhood and attended the
public schools of that county. He
engaged in mining and sheepraising in the early days, but in 1886 he settled on
the San Joaquin River, the portion of the county known as Roberts Island, where
he purchased 230 acres of farming land; he drained the swamp land and otherwise
improved the ranch with farm buildings, dairy barns, etc. On December 24, 1882, he was married to Miss
Elizabeth Watson, a daughter of David Watson, and seven children were born to
them: Addie V., Elizabeth A., Ira E.,
David G. Moses R., Francis H., and Lolita.
Fraternally he was a member of Mineral Lodge, I. O. O. F., at
Copperopolis, California, and in politics was a Republican; he also served as
clerk of the board of trustees of the Fairchild School District. He passed away in 1912, his wife surviving
him until 1917, when she too passed away.
The home ranch on Roberts Island is still in the possession of the
family, and is operated by the older brothers of our subject.
Francis H. Saunders began his
education in the grammar school of Stockton, then entered the Stockton high
school for three years, at the end of which time he entered the San Francisco Veterinary
College where he remained one year, then entered the Washington State College,
from which he was graduated in 1921. He
enlisted and remained in service three months during the World War. In 1922 he formed a partnership with C. L.
Wrinkle and they conduct a veterinary hospital at 336 East Lafayette Street,
Stockton. He is a member of the San Joaquin
County Veterinary Association, the Stockton Kiwanis Club, the Whitman Lodge,
No. 49, F. & A. M., at Pullman, Washington, and Pacific Parlor No. 10, N.
S. G. W., of San Francisco. He is
honorary member of the Veterinary College Fraternity, Alpha Psi.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1495. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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