San
Joaquin County
Biographies
MRS. GRACE J. SOUTH
One of the pioneer families in the
Golden State is that which now finds a worthy representative in San Joaquin
County in Mrs. Grace J. South, the only daughter of the late Franklin Lafayette
Johnson, who came to California in 1851.
Mrs. South has inherited many of the sterling qualities that made her
father such an influential man in his locality and since the death of her
husband, C. W. South, has continued the management of his interests at Ripon in
a most capable manner. Grace Johnson was
born near Elliott, California, and is the only child of Franklin Lafayette and
Una A. (Paulk) Johnson, natives of Georgia and Ohio, respectively. Mr. Johnson was born in 1834 in the village
of Griffith near Atlanta, Georgia, and in 1851 joined a party for California
via Panama, the journey requiring ten weeks to complete. The party experienced some sickness en-route
to California and when the California coast was reached, Mr. Johnson was so ill
that he was obliged to land at San Juan, where he remained until he had
recovered. He then went to Santa Clara
Valley and worked for a year, then engaged in freighting to Carson City,
Nevada. His work was rewarded and he
concluded to engage in farming. On March
2, 1876, he was married to Miss Una A. Paulk, a native of Ohio and a sister of
Judge C. C. Paulk, a prominent lawyer in the early days of Stockton. Mrs. Johnson was a finely educated woman, a
teacher by profession, having taught in her native state of Ohio, then in Iowa
and after her removal to California taught in the schools here. For her activity and long years of teaching
she was granted a life diploma, which is now in the possession of her daughter,
Mrs. South. Besides his farming pursuits,
Mr. Johnson kept a general merchandise store at Elliott, where he was also
postmaster. Later he moved to San Jose,
where he likewise was engaged in merchandising pursuits. Then he removed to Modesto, and farmed
northeast of that city. Selling this farm
he went back to San Jose where he had retained his interests in the store. His next move was to Stockton, where he had a
home, but soon had a farm on the Mokelumne River, near Clements, and moved out
there when Mrs. South was a little girl of three and a half years; selling that
farm to good advantage he moved back to San Jose and lived there retired from active
business for a number of years. His next
move was to Valley Springs in 1895, where he purchased a store. In the meantime he had purchased lands near
Ripon. He moved onto his place near
Ripon in 1898, but he was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his labors very
long, for he passed away in 1899. After
the father’s death, the mother and daughter removed to Pasadena, California,
where the mother resided for many years.
Grace Johnson received an excellent education in both public and private
schools and took the literary course at the College of the Pacific in San Jose,
California, and while at Pasadena, specialized in elocution and physical
culture, and later taught those branches and gave numerous private and public
readings.
On October 8, 1901, at Pasadena,
Miss Johnson was united in marriage with C. W. South, born near Newman,
California, May 23, 1873, a son of Albro W. South, an honored pioneer of the
West Side, Stanislaus County. The young
couple made their home on their ranch near Newman, where they engaged in
stockraising and farming until 1903, when they removed to Ripon and took charge
of the Johnson ranch, and here Mr. South was with the late J. S. Moulton among
the first to engage in alfalfa raising in the South
San Joaquin Irrigation District. On
August 25, 1915, Mr. South met with a tragic death when his automobile turned
over killing him instantly. At the same
time their son Laurence Albro, aged four years, who was riding with his father,
was killed. The death of the husband and
son was a most severe shock to the family, but with true heroism, Mrs. South
has continued the management of the farm and is rearing and educating her
children in an excellent manner. Five
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. South:
Marie E. was graduated from the Ripon Union High School with the class
of ’22, and during the spring of 1922 she taught the first year classes in
Spanish in the same school; Donald F. graduated from the Ripon High School in
1921; Louis Watkin died in infancy; Laurence Albro as
noted above is also deceased; Arthusa Aurelia is a
student in the grammar school in Ripon.
The South family resides near Ripon in a beautiful and comfortable
residence and is highly respected and influential in social and educational
circles. Mrs. South serves as
vice-president of the Parent-Teachers Association at Ripon, and was a member of
the board of trustees of the Ripon Union High School and of the Ripon branch of
the W. C. T. U. The family attends the
First Congregational Church at Ripon.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1011-1012. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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