San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN VERNON THOMPSON
Since 1908 John Vernon Thompson has
been actively identified with the agricultural interests of San Joaquin County,
with the exception of three seasons spent in Albert. He was born in Exeter, Ontario, December 27,
1868, a son of Smithson and Elizabeth (Wahn)
Thompson, natives of Ontario and Germany respectively. The father was in the lumber business in
Ontario, where he owned and conducted a sawmill until
1882, when he moved to Barnes County, North Dakota, where he preempted a stock
and timber claim of 480 acres. There were twelve children in the family: Caroline, Mrs. James Howden,
deceased; Jennie, Mrs. William Howden, resides in
Tacoma, Washington; Edward resides in Sanborn, North Dakota; Alfred G. resides
in Lodi; Anna, Mrs. Benjamin Howden, resides at
Cooperstown, North Dakota; John Vernon of this sketch; Millie, Mrs. Charles Reichard, resides in Lodi; Minnie P., Mrs. Wheeler, resides
at Porterville, California; William H. resides at Carpio,
North Dakota; Clara May, Mrs. William Remick, resides at Lodi; Arthur A.
resides at Ontario, California; and James A. in Saskatchewan. Both
parents are deceased, the father at the age of seventy-four and the mother at
the age of fifty-seven.
John V. Thompson had very little
opportunity for an early education as their home was located in the woods and
schools were scarce in that section. He
was fourteen years old when his parents located in North Dakota and there he
attended the grammar school; later he attended three terms at the normal and
business college at Dixon, Illinois.
Returning to his parents’ home in North Dakota he was a teacher in the
grammar schools of Barnes County for four years. In 1895 he made his first purchase of land, consisting
of 160 acres of wheat land in Barnes County, North Dakota, adding to this from
time to time until he owned 700 acres; this he farmed to wheat for thirteen
years when he disposed of 320 acres and removed to California, arriving on
January 1, 1908. He came direct to San Joaquin
County and bought a thirteen-acre ranch on Kettleman Lane south of Lodi; this
ranch was in a six year old vineyard and Mr. Thompson stayed there for two
years when he sold it and went back to his native country, where he took up 640
acres of script land near Brooks, Alberta; he remained there for three seasons
breaking the soil and putting in crops and proved up on a half section of this
land. The call of California proved too
inviting, however, and in 1913 he returned to Lodi where he established in Lodi
the Variety Bazaar on Oak Street, which he conducted for three years when he
disposed of it. He then purchased a
business lot on School Street where he erected a store building which is leased
by his successors to the Variety Bazaar.
On September 12, 1920, in Lodi Mr.
Thompson was married to Mrs. Myrtie (Green) Shattuck, born at Cambridge,
Vermont, a daughter of Julius Warner and Emily S. (Raymore) Green, both natives
of Vermont. Her father owned a 270-acre
farm in Vermont and engaged in general farming until 1908. He first came to Lodi, California, and since
then has divided his time between his old home and his city. The mother passed away in Lodi in June,
1920. Mrs. Thompson is the eldest of a
family of four children and the only daughter; her three brothers are Frank, J.
W. Jr., and Pearl. Miss Myrtie Green was
first married to Merton C. Shattuck on October 22, 1890, and in January, 1907,
they removed to California and purchased a vineyard near Lodi, but Mr. Shattuck
was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his labors, for he passed away in
1909. In October, 1920, Mr. Thompson
purchased forty-five acres one mile north of Acampo, thirty-seven acres of
which is in vineyard and eight acres in a cherry orchard, a part of the old
Peter Jahant ranch.
In politics Mr. Thompson is a Republican and fraternally he was made a
Mason in Sanborn Lodge, No. 14, A. F. & A. M., and is also a member of the
Royal Arch of Valley City, North Dakota.
He is now a member of Lodi Lodge.
Mrs. Thompson is a past matron of Harmony Chapter, O. E. S., of East
Fairfield, Vermont, and is a member of the Lodi Woman’s Club.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1589. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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