San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM A. SPOONER
A career of more than ordinary
interest and prosperity is that of William A. Spooner, among the most
successful viticulturists of the Lodi section, whose expert knowledge of the
grape industry has been of great benefit to the community. A native of San Joaquin County, he was born
at Stockton, California, on January 10, 1878.
His father, Alden Spooner, a native of Massachusetts, left his native
state when seventeen years of age, with a party of friends who chartered a
small whaling schooner sailing from New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the fall of
1849. The sailed around the Horn to
California and after landing in San Francisco, where they obtained additional
supplies, sailed up the San Joaquin River and arrived at Weber Point, near
Stockton, on July 4, 1850. He spent some
time in the mines in Tuolumne County and later ran a general merchandise store
there. Upon his return to Stockton, he
went into partnership with Mr. Mix in the operation of a planing mill under the
firm name of Spooner & Mix. Later he
plied his trade of ship joiner with the California Navigation & Improvement
Company, and also with the P. A. Buell Company, and became a very familiar
figure on the waterfront for many years.
He had married Miss Eliza S. Williams while residing in Stockton and on
September 17, 1894, they removed to Lodi, where they purchased a fruit ranch on
Cherokee Lane, on the Mokelumne River.
This he later sold to good advantage and moved onto the Williams ranch,
where he passed away. He joined the Odd Fellows in San Francisco and was a
charter member of the Truth Lodge of Odd Fellows in Stockton. There are two children in this family: Clarence E., of Stockton, and William A., our
subject. The mother is still living,
making her home in Stockton.
As a boy, William A. Spooner
attended the Weber and Freemont schools in Stockton, and later was graduated
from the Lodi high school. After
finishing school, he assisted his father on the ranch for a time, but in 1901
he entered the employ of Henderson Brothers, hardware dealers, as a clerk. In those days the business was small and he
was the only clerk. In 1906, the
business was incorporated, and three years later the corporation absorbed the
Henderson interests and Mr. Spooner became the president of the company, where
he remained for eleven years, during which time it became one of the largest
hardware firms in the county, at the present time employing twenty men. On July 1, 1920, Mr. Spooner sold his
interest and retired from the firm to devote his full time and attention to his
realty interests. He is associated with
Louis Sanguinetti and James G. Anderson in an
eighty-seven-acre vineyard of Tokay and wine grapes, which requires a vast
amount of care to bring the most satisfying results.
The marriage of Mr. Spooner united
him with Miss Mary L. Anderson, a native Californian, a daughter of James A.
and Mary L. (Hummer) Anderson, early settlers of the San Joaquin Valley. They are the parents of one child, William
Anderson Spooner. Fraternally, he is
past master of Lodi Lodge of Masons, No. 256, and a member of Stockton Chapter,
No. 28, R. A. M., of the Stockton Elks, No. 218, and Lodi Parlor, No. 18, N. S.
G. W. In July, 1922, Mr. Spooner was
appointed a member of the city council to succeed C. A. Rich, and is chairman of
the Public Utilities Committee.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
634. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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