San Joaquin County
Biographies
JOSEPHINE MELVINA TODMAN
JOSEPHINE MELVINA TODMAN, an
attorney of Stockton, was born in Silver City, Nevada, November 16, 1862, a
daughter of John H. and Melvina (Grist) Todman. The father, born in Canada
about 1835, of English parentage, came to Silver City as a mining expert, and
superintended the erection of the first quartz mill in that region. He is still
interested in 1890 in the Coeur d’ Alene and other mines. The mother, born in
Pennsylvania of German parentage, about 1840, died in Silver City, November 21,
1862. Grandfather Zachariah Grist, born some time in the first decade of this
century, was accidentally killed in Oakland about 1886.
From childhood Miss Todman has been reared
in San Francisco, residing chiefly with Mrs. Hattie A. Leonard, the mother of
Mr. Todman’s second wife, and was there educated in the public schools, and at
the age of seventeen entered as a student in Hastings’ Law College, a
department of the University of California. She was graduated an A. B. from that
institution in April, 1883, and was admitted to the bar December 21, 1883,
being it is thought, the youngest lady candidate who ever sought or obtained
that recognition. Miss Todman then treated herself to a needed rest for about a
year at the home of a maternal aunt, Mrs. William More, of Los Gatos. Miss
Todman opened a law office in Stockton, California, in February, 1885, and
eight months later occupied a position in the office of Hon. James H. Budd, as
assistant and clerk. In 1890 she still fills that position, utilizing her legal
knowledge almost entirely in office work.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 504-505. Lewis Pub.
Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
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