San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN W. SHATTUCK
A leader in the commercial circles
of Lodi, and a prominent lumberman of the San Joaquin Valley, is John W.
Shattuck, the enterprising president of the Business Men’s Association of
Lodi. He was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts,
and when he was but a small lad his parents removed to Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, where he was reared and educated.
He came to California in 1886, took up architectural drawing, and found
employment with the Valley Lumber Company of Fresno, California. Later he was with the Kings River Lumber
Company, of Sanger; the L. W. Blinn Lumber Company,
of Los Angeles; and the Wending Lumber Company, of Hanford. His years of experience in the lumber
business gave him a thorough knowledge of all branches of the industry. Removing to Washington, he went into business
for himself at Arlington, manufacturing shingles and doing a general lumber
business. He then returned to
California, stopping at Vallejo Junction, and was employed by the Port Costa
Lumber Company; afterwards, for a time, he was employed by the Hidecker Company, of Oakland. During the year of 1910 he settled in Lodi
and entered the employ of the Moorehead Lumber Company, the pioneer lumber
company of the city, established in 1884 by A. W. Simpson of San Francisco; and
later he was taken into partnership.
This company changed hands a number of times, and on January 1, 1921,
the name was changed to the Reliance Lumber Company and Mr. Shattuck became
manager and president of the company, with a controlling interest in the
business. The company also operated a
planing mill in connection with their lumber business, and was thus able to
turn out finished products of their own manufacture. A disastrous fire on July 2, 1921, destroyed
the Reliance Lumber Company’s property at Lodi, and Mr. Shattuck’s savings of a
lifetime were utterly wiped out.
Mr. Shattuck has been connected with
the lumber industry in California and Washington for thirty-three years, and
built up an institution that was one of the largest in the county. He is active as a member of the Western
Retail Lumbermen’s Association of the Pacific Coast, of the San Joaquin County
Lumber Association, and the Sacramento Lumber Association. At present he is the manager of for the Valley
Lumber Company at Lodi. The business men
of Lodi, recognizing his unusual capabilities, elected him president of the
Business Men’s Association for the year of 1921; this association was organized
in 1914 and considers all matters connected with the growth and improvement of
their city and county. At the April
election in 1922, Mr. Shattuck was elected as a member of the board of trustees
of the city of Lodi for a four-year term.
Upon the organization of the board, he was selected chairman; and he is now
functioning as “Mayor of Lodi,” in a most creditable manner.
The marriage of Mr. Shattuck united
him with Miss Meta E. Hovey, a native of Arkansas; and they are the parents of
one son, Lyle, a lad of seven years. Fraternally,
he is connected with the Masonic Blue Lodge, No. 256, of Lodi.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1047. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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