San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JAMES E. THORP
A native Californian, who has added
to the wealth of the Golden State by his intelligent and successful breeding of
pure-bred Jersey cattle and Duroc hogs, is James E. Thorp, a rancher and
stockraiser of San Joaquin County. He
was born in Santa Rosa on March 1, 1879, a son of John Bailey and Jennie
(Zimmerman) Thorp. In young manhood John
Bailey Thorp came to California with an ox team from Texas and located near the
town of Wallace, Calaveras County. While
living there, he enlisted, when only nineteen years old, for service in the
Civil War. His service consisted wholly
in quelling Indian outbreaks. He became
an extensive stock and sheep breeder and for many years was the dairy
superintendent at the state asylum at Stockton.
There were four children in his family:
Mrs. M. J. Beck; Mrs. Josephine Cheesewright; James E., of this sketch;
and Charles, who was in the employ of the United States government in the
transportation paymaster’s office in the Philippines at the time of his
death. The father and mother reside
about three miles from Stockton on the Waterloo Road.
James E. Thorp attended the Stockton
grammar schools and completed his schooling with a commercial course in the
Stockton high school. At the age of
sixteen, having been reared in the environment of farming and dairying, he took
up ranch work and became especially interested in creamery work. In 1900 he took a dairy course at the
University of Wisconsin at Madison, and while there determined to become a
stock-breeder. Upon finishing his course
and returning to California, he purchased a couple of Jerseys, and as the years
have passed he has developed his own herd, mostly of the “Raleigh” and “St.
Lambert” strains of Jersey cattle, although he has some of the “Financial King”
breed, and now has about fifty pure-bred Jersey cattle. He also has some twenty Duroc brood
sows. Mr. Thorp has had the good fortune
to breed prize-winners, and possesses one cow, now twelve years old, that is a
champion. This cow he has exhibited for
the past ten years at various fairs in California and Oregon, and she has been
grand champion at the State Fair several times.
In 1921 he took this cow to the Portland Fair, and there she took second
place against a strong competitive field.
Other cattle, as well as Duroc hogs, were exhibited with much
success. He was the first Jersey breeder
from California to enter the competitive lists at the Pacific International
Exhibit at Portland. In March, 1922, in
partnership with L. K. Marshall, Mr. Thorp bought the famous Locke estate, consisting
of 370 acres, located just north of Lockeford, which is being developed to a
fruit and stock ranch.
Mr. Thorp’s marriage occurred on
August 15, 1906, and united him with Miss Theresa Locke, a daughter of Dr. Dean
J. and Delia Locke, whose life history appears in this work. Mrs. Thorp was born in Lockeford and attended
the grammar and high schools of Stockton; later entering the Woman’s Hospital,
San Francisco, from which she was graduated.
They are the parents of two children:
John Willard and Delia Marcella.
Politically, Mr. Thorp is a Republican.
He is an active member of the California Jersey Breeders’ Association
and the California Duroc Hog Breeders’ Association. He is also a member of the Milk Producer’s
Association, with headquarters at Modesto, and has served as president of the
board of directors for two years. He is
a charter member of the Lodi Lions Club.
Mr. Thorp’s foresight and industry have been potent factors in the
growth and improvement of dairy stock in the San Joaquin Valley, for which the
central portion of California has become famous; his optimism and belief in the
future of San Joaquin County have enabled him to win success both for himself
and for the entire county.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1059. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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