San
Joaquin County
Biographies
FRED SPROTT
Five miles west of Lodi on the Kelly
Road is located the fine ranch property of Fred Sprott, consisting of 110
acres, forty-five acres of which is in vineyard and the balance grain
land. He has been successful as a
farmer; and as a friend and loyal supporter of education and progress he has made
his influence felt in his locality. He
was born at Hillsboro, Iowa, January 20, 1872, a son of Samuel and Sarah (Streight) Sprott, natives of
Pennsylvania and Virginia, respectively.
The father removed from Pennsylvania to Hillsboro, Van Buren County,
Iowa, where he purchased 220 acres and engaged in farming. There were eight children in the family: Samuel, Jr., deceased; Mrs. Ida Bryson,
deceased; Fred, the subject of this review; John, Frank, Mrs. Kate Kendall, and
Walter, all of Hillsboro, Iowa; and Lynn, deceased. The father lived to be sixty-eight years old,
and the mother was seventy-eight when she passed away.
Fred Sprott received his education
in the public school of Hillsboro, and at the age of sixteen began to earn his
own living, working on farms in the neighborhood of his home. In 1894 he made his way to California, and
worked in the mines and on farms in Amador County. In 1897 he went to Walla Walla,
Washington, and remained there, with the exception of trips back to Iowa, until
he joined the U. S. Army, in which he enlisted in February, 1898. His first service was with Troop A of the 4th
Cavalry, and he trained at Walla Walla,
Washington. At the end of three years he
was honorably discharged as corporal. He
immediately re-enlisted and joined Troop F, 8th Cavalry and served
in Cuba for about three years. At the
end of that enlistment he was mustered out at San Francisco in the celebrated
Morro Castle, as sergeant. Then he re-enlisted
in Troop H, 13th U. S. Cavalry, and served in the Philippines under
General Pershing for nearly three years, returning to Fort Meyer, Virginia,
where he was stationed until he was mustered out in 1907, after nine years of
service, having almost seventeen years to his credit on account of foreign service. Each
time he enlisted as a private and promotion followed promotion until he was
sergeant. After his final discharge in
1907, he resolved to take up the life of a civilian. Going to New Mexico, he rode the range near
Roswell for six months, and then came to San Joaquin County, where he followed
farming.
On September 6, 1916, at Stockton,
Mr. Sprott was married to Miss Clara Bell Harshner, who was born near Lodi, a
daughter of Andrew M. and Mary Ann (Garber) Harshner, natives of Ohio,
prominent pioneers and farmers in San Joaquin County. The father crossed the plains with a band of
horses in the early ‘60s, and became a successful farmer and stockraiser near
Lodi. The mother came via Panama. Both lived useful and enviable lives until
they passed away. Clara B. (Harshner) Sprott is the second oldest of four
living children. She received her early
education in the Turner public school, and also studied music in Woodbridge
College. Reared in an atmosphere of
culture and refinement she presides gracefully over their home. Mr. and Mrs. Sprott own and reside on a
portion of the Harshner homestead, which consists of 100 acres, forty-five
acres of which is in vineyard. In 1916 they
built a comfortable, modern residence, and the ranch is also improved with good
farm buildings and is well irrigated from the Stockton-Mokelumne Ditch. In 1921 Mr. and Mrs. Sprott made a trip east,
visiting throughout the South and in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa, and
then returning back home, pleased with their trip, but delighted to get back to
the land of gold and sunshine. In
politics Mr. Sprott is a Democrat. His
active and well spent life has won for him the confidence and esteem of the community.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1136-1139. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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