San
Joaquin County
Biographies
EMERY A. THOMPSON
A representative of a family who
were early settlers of the San Joaquin Valley may be found in Emery A.
Thompson, field man for the Earl C. Anthony Company in the Lodi district. He was born in Douglas County, Kansas, on
October 5, 1866, a son of John and Catherine (Shank) Thompson, the former a
native of the state of Pennsylvania. His
father worked as a tow-boy on the Erie Canal, and in his young manhood removed
to Illinois and was occupied with farming pursuits; and while residing there he
met and married his wife. During the
year 1864 he drove across the country from Illinois to Kansas with an ox team,
and during the Civil War did teaming from Kansas to Missouri. He remained in Kansas for ten years, during
which time he engaged in farming, and in the fall of 1874, with his wife and
five children, started for California on an immigrant train. The first stopping-place was at Lathrop,
where their stay was short, and thence they went to San Jose. He then bought a place near Linden, which he
sold within one year and with his family started north to Woodland in a
two-horse wagon; but being undecided, they turned back and located at Tyson on
the Rees Thompson ranch. Later he rented
the John Bennett ranch and farmed there for three years. In the year of 1877 he bought 160 acres
situated four miles northwest of Woodbridge.
This became the home place, and he farmed it successfully for many
years, planting it to grapes. It is now
one of the oldest vineyards in the county.
He was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge of Woodbridge. There were seven children in the family, and
the following are living: Elmer E.,
living in Stockton; Emery A., of this review; Wilson H. residing in Lodi; Ana
Isabel; and Letty.
Emery A. Thompson attended the
Linden, Bellota and Ray schools, and later was a student in the old Woodbridge
College. At the age of twelve he began
work on a header, and by the time he was fourteen could do a man’s work in the
harvest field. He also hauled grapes to the west winery, a distance of
seventeen miles; it was an all-day trip, for when he reached the winery there
were from fifty to seventy-five wagons ahead of him waiting to be
unloaded. Grapes were selling at that
time for $6 per ton and in Stockton at $10 per ton. Since he left the home place at seventeen, he
has followed various lines of work. At
one time he was a photographer in Stockton; afterwards he was with the River
Express Company of that city; then he went to Tulare County and worked on a
farm; and later he worked as a salesman for the Sampson Iron Works of Stockton,
selling gas engines. He then became
connected with the first fruit-packing establishment in Lodi; and has also been
in the employ of the Frank H. Buck Company and the Pacific Fruit Exchange, as
field man, and at the present time serves in that capacity for the Earl C.
Anthony Company, for the Lodi section.
In various real estate transactions, also, he has bought, developed and
sold a number of vineyards throughout the county.
Mr. Thompson’s marriage united him
with Miss Mattie Christie, a native of Ohio.
Fraternally, he is a charter member of the Lodi Lodge, No. 848,
Fraternal Order of Eagles, and has passed through all the chairs; and is also a
member of the Knights of Pythias.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1048. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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