San
Joaquin County
Biographies
ELMER E. THOMPSON
A useful and prosperous citizen of
San Joaquin County may be found in Elmer E. Thompson, who has continuously
resided in this county for more than thirty-five years. The country, the time and the people have
changed wonderfully since he made permanent settlement in this part of the
state, and besides being a witness of all these transformations he has also
taken no inconsiderable part in all the affairs of his county. He was born near Lawrence, Douglas County,
Kansas, December 25, 1861, and is the eldest in a family of seven children born
to John and Catherine (Shank) Thompson.
The former, a native of Pennsylvania, was born in 1838, a son of James
and Elizabeth Thompson, natives of the north of Ireland, who early in life
immigrated to Canada and subsequently moved to Pennsylvania.
John Thompson was reared and
educated in his native county, and at the age of eighteen went to Illinois
where he followed farming; he then removed to Kansas, and from that state, in
1874, he came to California and engaged in farming near Lathrop and
Linden. He then purchased 160 acres four
miles northwest of Woodbridge on which was planted one of the early vineyards,
which was one of the most profitable branches of his enterprises. He was married in Illinois in 1859 to Miss
Catherine Shank, a native of Ohio, whose parents were both natives of
Germany. John Thompson served for a
number of years as trustee of the Ray school district and was affiliated with
Jefferson Lodge No. 98, I. O. O. F., at Woodbridge, and he and his wife were
both members of the Rebekahs at Lodi.
Mr. Thompson was a Republican in politics, and in many ways manifested
his interest in the affairs of his community.
Elmer E. Thompson received his education in the Henderson district
schools, now the Ray school, and as he grew to manhood assumed charge of the
home place, where he remained until 1905, when he moved to Stockton. Since 1897 he has been engaged in buying,
developing and selling country property throughout the county, and also in the
produce commission business, buying large quantities of potatoes, onions and
beans and shipping them to San Francisco and Sacramento. Three times each week he
loaded three river steamers with from 5,000 to 7,000 sacks of potatoes, etc.,
which were shipped to the markets in San Francisco and Sacramento. He is the owner of a 215-acre ranch near
Linden, devoted to alfalfa and grain.
Mr. Thompson has also been a successful realty operator in Stockton,
where he was engaged in buying vacant property, erecting residences and flats
and then selling them. During 1897 –
1899, he served as deputy assessor.
On June 2, 1891, Mr. Thompson was
married to Miss Carrie M. Fowler, a native of San Joaquin County, the daughter
of Joseph M. and Eliza (Bromley) Fowler, pioneer settlers, also represented in
this work, and they are the parents of two children: Clarence Ellsworth married Miss Ruby Eaton
and they have one daughter, Helen; and Bessie B. Thompson. Mr. Thompson is a Republican in politics and
since August, 1896, has been a member of the Jefferson Lodge No. 98, I. O. O.
F., of Woodbridge, in which he is past grand; he also served as clerk of the
school board of the Ray school district.
Mrs. Thompson is a member of the N. D. G. W., the Rebekah at Lodi, and
an honorary member of the Daughters of Pioneers.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
595-596. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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