San
Joaquin County
Biographies
MARY A. TREDWAY
One of the pioneer families in the
Golden state is that which now finds a worthy representative in San Joaquin
County in Mary A. Tredway, herself a pioneer of 1868 and the widow of William
H. Tredway, a pioneer of 1854. Mary A.
Tredway in maidenhood was Mary A. Ring, who was born in the state of New York,
February 15, 1845, a daughter of Greenleaf and Betsey (Bunker) Ring, her father
a native of New Hampshire and her mother of Vermont. Greenleaf Ring was a farmer in his native
state who moved to New York state shortly after his
marriage and remained there until after the birth of our subject. She was ten weeks old when her parents
removed to Illinois, and the father purchased a quarter section of land west of
Wheaton which he farmed. For the benefit
of his growing family, they lived in the town of Wheaton on account of the good
educational advantages. There were six
children in the family: Orvis was a
member of the first graduating class of Wheaton College. He came west and settled in Nevada, where he
became prominent in educational affairs and for twenty years was state
superintendent of schools. Although
unmarried, he has to his credit the education of several young men and left a
lasting memory of the early days of that pioneer country. He was a thirty-second degree Mason and an
Elk and died at the age of seventy-seven.
Austin Ring died at the age of seventeen; Angelia, Mrs. Batchelder, was
the wife of a Civil War veteran who gave his life for his country; Susan, Mrs.
Hicks of Nevada, Iowa, passed away January 19, 1922; Mary A. is the subject of
this sketch; Henry Sylvester is
deceased. Greenleaf Ring was born April
11, 1808, and died December 30, 1877, and the mother was born May 3, 1810, and
passed away February 15, 1875.
Mary A. Ring received her education
in the grammar schools of Wheaton, Illinois, and finished with a course in the
Wheaton College and in 1868 came to California, making the journey via the
Isthmus route. On May 19, 1870, she was
married to William H. Tredway, who was born in Steubenville, Ohio, September
30, 1844. When he was ten years old, he
accompanied his parents and other children across the plains from Ohio to this
state. His father, Sylvester V. Tredway
was a California ‘49er, who was born December 21,
1820, and crossed the plains to California in 1849, and after his arrival mined
gold for some time. In the fall of 1853
he returned to Ohio via the Isthmus of Panama, and in March, 1854, brought his
family, consisting of wife and three children, of whom William H. was the second
child, across the plains to the Pacific coast.
His route was by way of St. Joseph, Missouri, and he brought along a
band of cattle and horses, arriving in San Joaquin County on September 10,
1854. For the first time the father
mined for gold in Calaveras and Amador counties, and also established and
conducted several trading posts in those two counties. He located on the ranch in San Joaquin County
in the year 1852, and was among the first settlers, and resided there until the
day of his death. He was a member of the
San Joaquin Society of California Pioneers, a Republican in politics, and was
affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Stockton and also with Jefferson
Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Woodbridge. He
married Miss Isabella McLaughlin, a native of Ohio, by whom he had three
children: George W., William H. and
Rebecca J.
William H. Tredway was reared to manhood in
San Joaquin County, finishing in the public schools of the county the education
which he had begun in Jefferson County, Ohio, and he also attended Napa College
at Napa. He taught school for a short
time in Napa County, but from youth up he was extensively engaged in
farming. He became one of the leading
ranchers of the county, and at one time owned 1,100 acres, forty acres of which
was devoted to vineyard, and the rest to grain and pasture. Here Mr. and Mrs. Tredway made their home and
reared their five children, namely:
Sylvester Greenleaf Tredway, born May 23, 1870, married Miss Grace Maddocks and they were the parents of two children,
Winthrop Henry and Marjory Lucile. He
died January 27, 1912, at Sebastopol, California, and his widow in October,
1922; Orvis Wesley Tredway, born May 6, 1871, married Miss Sarah Cook of
Glenbrook, Lake County, California, and they have five children: Harmon, William, Bessie, Cecil and Kenneth;
he died November 15, 1913; Bessie Bell,
widow of Warren Fowler now resides in Stockton; Susie May is Mrs. Leon L.
Kaiser, and with her husband resides on the home place; Ora R., Mrs. John Emde, the only one born on the old home place, resides in
Lodi and has two children, George William and Ora Lois.
For thirteen years Mr. Tredway
served as deputy county assessor of San Joaquin County and was a staunch
Republican in politics, casting his first vote for Lincoln. He was a Mason and served as chaplain of
Woodbridge Lodge No. 131, F. & A. M. of which he was a past master; he was
also a past patron of Woodbridge Chapter No. 18, O. E. S.; he was also a member
of the Scottish Rite Consistory, and was just preparing to have the Shrine
degree conferred upon him when he died.
Mrs. Tredway is a member of the Eastern Star Chapter of Woodbridge. Mr. Tredway passed to the Great Beyond in
November, 1911, mourned by the residents of San Joaquin County for he was a prominent
and influential citizen of that county.
The present real estate holdings of Mrs. Tredway consist of 750 acres of
well-improved land, thirty acres of which is in vineyard and the balance is
used for grain and pasture, her stock averaging about 100 head. She has seen the county emerge from wild
pioneer conditions to take its place among the leading counties of the great
commonwealth, and her mind is stored with many interesting reminiscences of the
early days.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
486. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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